Buckling analysis of Levy-type orthotropic stiffened plate and shell based on different strain-displacement models

In the present work a model able to predict the buckling behavior of thin, orthotropic, stiffened plates and shells subject to axial compression is proposed. In the context of the Kirchhoff-Love plate theory and making use of different strain-displacement models – namely the von Kármán model, the Koiter–Sanders shell model, an enhanced von Kármán model and a spurious model commonly adopted in literature – the equilibrium equations have been solved by the Levy-type approach. The results obtained highlight the influence of each non-linear strain-displacement term and show that the von Kármán model can noticeably overestimate the buckling load when the critical mode involves significant in-plane displacements.

► A model able to predict buckling behavior of orthotropic stiffened plates is proposed.
► Different strain-displacement models has been adopted and differences highlighted.
► The equilibrium equations have been solved applying the Kantorovich method.
► Results show that the Von Karman model can sensibly overestimate the critical load.