Effect of ply stacking sequence on buckling behavior of E-glass/epoxy laminated composites

• The influence of stacking sequence is investigated on the bucking behavior.
• Linear and nonlinear finite element analyses are used for prediction of buckling behavior.
• Buckling tests were performed on cross-ply and angle-ply square composite laminates.
• Different failure criteria are validated for prediction of buckling modes of failure.

The aim of this study is to find a comprehensive viewpoint about the results of analytical and finite element methods usually used for prediction of buckling behavior, including critical buckling load and modes of failure, of thin laminated composites with different stacking sequences. To this end, a semi-analytical Rayleigh–Ritz approach is first developed to calculate the critical buckling loads of square composite laminates with SFSF (S: simply-support, F: free) boundary conditions. Then, these laminates are simulated under axially compression loading using the commercial finite element software, ABAQUS. Critical buckling loads and failure modes are predicted by both eigenvalue linear and nonlinear analysis in conjunction with three well-known failure criteria, i.e., Hashin, Tsai-Wu and Tsai-Hill criteria. To validate the analytical and numerical results, layups of [0°/90°]s, [±30°]s and [±45°]s are tested under uniaxial buckling load. Since there is no standard for buckling test of composite plates with simply-supported boundary conditions, a new test setup is designed. Results showed that nonlinear finite element analysis predicts the critical bucking loads of multidirectional laminates with a good accuracy in comparison to experiments. In addition, non-linear finite element analysis associated with the Tsai-Wu and Tsai-Hill failure criteria are more efficient in prediction of buckling modes of failure in comparison to the Hashin criterion.