Comparison between experimental and boundary element predictions of plate buckling behaviour

✍ Scribed by S. Syngellakis; A. Elzein; A.C. Walker

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 609 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0955-7997
• DOI: 10.1016/0955-7997(91)90059-3

✦ Synopsis

Plate buckling is an important design factor in consideration of the endurance and integrity of a variety of structures. Exact analytical formulations for the prediction of critical loads and modes exist only for a restricted set of idealized loading and boundary conditions. More practical conditions and post-critical behaviour have no exact formulation and resort must be made to numerical and experimental techniques.

Tests on rectangular plates have made a significant contribution to the assessment of the effect of various design parameters on practical buckling behaviour. The paper reviews some of these aspects of plate buckling brought to light by experimental investigations and presents some data which are subsequently simulated by applying a new, quite general in scope, boundary element solution of the analytical problem. The analysis procedure includes a BEM formulation for the determination of the membrane, elastic, pre-buckling state of stress and it can identify the critical loads as well as the incrementally determined non-linear deflexion initiated by imperfections. The excellent agreement noted in the comparison of the numerical and experimental predictions validates the effectiveness and versatility of the proposed new numerical approach and points to the direction of its further development.