2-4 ELASTIC BUCKLING OF PLATES

where Am is the unknown amplitude of the defl ection

function, and m is the buckling half-wave number

in the x-direction. Substitution of (12.2.10) into

(12.1.9b) yields

y4F y4F y4F —– + 2 ——– + —– yx4 yx2

yy2 yy4

m2
4

EA2

m 2m
x2
y = – ———— cos ——– + cos —––(12.2.11) 2a2b2 a b

The solution of (12.2.11) with regard to the

Airy stress function F is obtained as follows.

y2 x2

F=x—+y—22

EA2

m a2 2m
x m2b2 2
y + —— —— cos ——– + —— cos ——32 m2b2 a a2 b

(12.2.12)

By substituting (12.2.10) and (12.2.12) into

(12.1.9a) and applying the Galerkin method with

p = 0, the following equation is obtained.

y4w y4w y4w µ0

µ0

D—– + 2 ——–– + —–yx4 yx2yy2 yy4

y2F y2w y2F y2w y2F y2w –t

—–– —–– – 2 ——– ——– + —–– —–– yy2 yx2 yxyy yxyy yx2 yy2

m
x
y × sin —–— sin —— dxdy = 0 (12.2.13) a b

By performing the integration of (12.2.13) over the

entire plate, a third-order equation with regard to

the unknown variable Am is obtained as follows.

2E m4 1 m2

Am—— —– + —–A2

m + —– x 16 a4 b4 a2

1
2

D m2

+ — y – —— —– + —–

= 0 (12.2.14) b2 t a2 b2

Non-zero solution of Am is readily given by

16 m2 1 Am =
– —————–—— —– x + —– y
2E(m4/a4 + 1/b4) a2 b2
2

D m2

1 – —— —– + —–

1/2

(12.2.15) t a2 b2

In the post-buckling regime, the plate defl ection is

fi gured out of (12.2.10) with (12.2.15). Also, the

membrane stresses at the mid-thickness of the plate

can be calculated from (12.1.10) with (12.2.12).

Since the deflection immediately before the

plate buckles must be zero, i.e., Am = 0, the

following equation representing the buckling

condition is obtained.

m2 1
2D m2 1 —– x + —– y – —— —– + —–

=0

a2 b2 t a2 b2

(12.2.16)

If the loading ratio between x and y is kept

constant, the buckling stress of the plate can be

obtained as follows.

Table 12.1 Buckling Coefficients for a Simply Supported Plate Under a Single Component of Normal
or Shear Stress for

a/b v 1

Load type E k

Uniaxial compression in

the x-direction, x =Nx /t

xE,1 a mob kx = —— + ——

, in which mo is the buckling half-wave number for the plate mob a

in the x-direction, which is the minimum integer satisfying a/b f m o(mo + 1).

For practical use, the buckling coefficient is often approximated to kx = 4.

Uniaxial compression in

the y-direction, y = Ny /t

yE,1 b ky = 1 +

—2

Uniform edge shear,

= Nxy /t

E,1 b k
=4

2
+ 5.34 a

Pure in-plane bending in

the x-direction, bx

bxE,1 kbx = 23.9

Pure in-plane bending in

the y-direction, by

byE,1 a 23.9 for 1 f — f 1.5 b

a b a kby =
15.87 + 1.87

+ 8.6

for — > 1.5 b a b

Notes: (1) Subscript ‘1’ represents buckling under a single load component.

(2) Pure in-plane bending means that the maximum (edge) stresses are ± b.

12.2 SIMPLY SUPPORTED EDGES 12-5

2D (1 + m2b2/a2)2

xE = —— —————— (12.2.17a) b2t c + m2b2/a2

where c = y /x, xE = buckling stress component

in the x-direction, yE = cxE = buckling stress

component in the y-direction. The buckling halfwave number m is determined as the minimum

integer that satisfies the following condition (Paik

and Thayamballi, 2003).

(m2/a2 + 1/b2)2 [(m + 1)2/a2 + 1/b2]2

—————— ———————––– (12.2.17b)

m2/a2 + c/b2 (m + 1)2/a2 + c/b2

When only longitudinal axial compression is

applied, i.e., c = 0, (12.2.17b) is simplified to

(12.2.9).

Figure 12.3 shows the elastic buckling strength

interaction of a long plate with a/b = 5 between

the biaxial compression. When the longitudinal

axial compression is predominant, the buckling

half wave number m is 5, but it decreases as the

transverse axial compression increases, and,

eventually, one half wave appears when the

transverse axial compression is predominant.

An empirical expression of the plate buckling

strength interaction relationship between biaxial

compression is given as follows.

xE yE —––

+ —––

= 1 (12.2.18)

xE,1 yE,1

where 1 and 2 are constants that are a function

of the plate aspect ratio. Based on the computed

results, these constants may be determined

empirically as follows.

1 = 1 = 1 for 1 f — f 2, b

aaa

1 = 0.0293—

– 0.3364—

+ 1.5854— – 1.0596 b b b

aaa

2 = 0.0049—

– 0.1183—

+ 0.6153— + 0.8522 b b b

a for — > 2. b

12.2.4 Combined Longitudinal Axial

Compression and Longitudinal In-plane Bending

Th