Simplified buckling and ultimate strength analysis of composite plates in compression

The work presented here concerns the ultimate strength predictions of simply supported, square plates of laminated composite material subjected to uniaxial in-plane compressive load. Plates having a range of thicknesses and initial geometric imperfections have been investigated. Several models are established, each based on first order shear deformation theory and assumption of small deflections. The approaches give reasonable but somewhat conservative estimates for the thicker plates considered, while for the thinner plates, neglect of the post-buckling behaviour makes the results very conservative. It will be necessary to use a large deflection plate theory for some of the models to realise their full potential.