Budding analysis of cross-ply laminated conical panels using GDQ method

The buckling analysis of cross-ply laminated conical shell panels with simply supported boundary conditions at all edges and subjected to axial compression is studied. The conical shell panel is a very interesting problem as it can be considered as the general case for conical shells when the subtended angle is set to 2 pi and also cylindrical panels and shells when the semi-vertex angle is equal to zero. Equations were derived using classical shell theory of Donnell type and solved using generalized differential quadrature method. The results are compared and validated with the known results in the literature. The effects of subtended angle, semi-vertex angle, length, thickness and radius of the panel on the buckling load and mode are investigated. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.