Sohrabi - Aerospace Engineering Department And Center of Excellence In Computational Aerospace Engineering
Ovesy - Aerospace Engineering Department And Center of Excellence In Computational Aerospace Engineering
Morada - Aerospace Engineering Department And Center of Excellence In Computational Aerospace Engineering

A higher order shear deformable spline finite strip method is developed for predicting the non linear postbuckling behavior of isotropic and composite laminated plates subjected to end shortening which may have arbitrary lay-ups and boundary conditions. The spline finite strip method is developed in the context of Reddy`s third order shear deformation plate theory. Transverse shear deformation can now be effectively evaluated in the absence of shear correction factors. Geometric non-linearity is introduced in the straindisplacement equations in the manner of the Von- Karman assumption. Non-linear equilibrium equations of problem are solved by a Newton-Raphson procedure. A notable feature of the present capability is that the higher-order displacement fields are assumed to account for the non-linear variation of transverse displacement through the plate thickness. By reduction, the method is also developed in context of classical plate theory and results have been compared with higher order theory. Frequent comparisons are made with the results of other approaches which are based on the finite element method, semi analytical finite strip method and experimental study. Comparison with results of earlier-developed methods based on classical plate theory shows the effect of through-thickness shearing action in different condition.

Third-order shear deformation plate theory, Spline finite strip, Post-buckling, Composite laminated plates