Buckling of rectangular plates with variable thickness: an analytical and numerical study

In this paper, the buckling of rectangular sheets with variable thickness under in-plane loads is investigated. Each sheet structure under compressive load may buckle at a certain level of load and lose its stability. In analyzing the stability of a low-thickness structure, determining the buckling load is important and necessary. The buckling load depends on some parameters such as geometric features, boundary conditions and type of loading. In this paper, the amount of buckling load was obtained for changes in sheet thickness with different patterns and different boundary conditions. For thickness changes, various modes such as how the changes, starting location, and intensity of the changes are examined. The buckling load was calculated using the Galerkin method as well as numerical methods and compared with the available results. The results showed that the amplitude of thickness changes is the most important parameter affecting the reduction of buckling load. For sheets with trapped edges, the effect of these parameters is more noticeable. Also, asymmetric thickness changes will have a significant effect on the buckling load.