Investigations of fml profile buckling and post-buckling behaviour under axial compression

•Investigation of buckling and load carrying capacity of thin-walled Fibre Metal Laminates members.•Application of three different methods of analyses.•Comparison of results determined from three different approaches.•Application of obtained conclusions for modelling buckling response of FML profiles.•Validation of numerical method for engineering application.

The buckling and post-buckling behaviour of thin-walled Fibre Metal Laminate (FML) profiles subjected to axial loading is discussed. Study concerns open cross-section profiles which consist of alternating thin layers of aluminium and fibre-reinforced unidirectional prepreg. Laboratory tested specimens were manufactured by autoclaving technique. Depending on fibres alignment, various 3/2-layer stacking were considered and subjected to axial compression in buckling tests. Carrying out an experiment allowed one to determine buckling load and equilibrium paths in buckling and post-buckling state. The results of substantial experimental investigations were compared with FML panel/columns modelling in FEA and with analytically examined based on Koiter's asymptotic theory. In conducted experiments the careful design of simply support boundary conditions of loaded edges of thin-walled columns is examined and discussed. Detailed analysis was also performed to assess the influence of the various fibres alignment on the specimen buckling and post-buckling response.