Buckling Analysis of Variable Stiffness Composite Laminates by Semi-Analytical Finite Strip Method

Plates made of laminated composite materials with variable stiffness can have wide applications in various branches of engineering due to such advantages as high strength /stiffness to weight ratio. In these composites, curved fibers are used to reinforce each lamina instead of the straight fibers. In this paper, the application of finite strip method for the buckling analysis of moderately thick composite plates with variable stiffness is investigated. For buckling analysis, a semi-analytical finite strip method based on the first-order shear deformation theory is employed. In this method, all displacements are presumed by the appropriate harmonic shape functions in the longitudinal direction and polynomial interpolation functions in the transverse direction. The minimum potential energy method has been used to develop the stability formulations. This analysis examines the effect of using curved fibers instead of straight fibers on the laminate composites. The critical loads obtained from this analysis are compared with those of other researchers and the efficiency and accuracy of the developed finite strip method are confirmed. Comparison of the analysis results of these plates shows that changing the slope of the fibers can lead to a significant change in the buckling response. Also, increasing the number of the terms of shape functions in the longitudinal direction has a significant effect on the convergence to the desired results.