Buckling analysis of orthotropic plates by boundary element method (Q920690)

We propose a general direct boundary integral formulation for the buckling analysis of orthotropic plates according to the Kirchhoff theory. The boundary integral equations necessary for solving the buckling problem are obtained from the integral representations earlier developed for the orthotropic plate bending analysis [e.g.: the authors, Commun. Appl. Numer. Methods 5, No.8, 527-537 (1989; Zbl 0679.73043); and J. Composite Mat. 22, No.8, 694-716 (1988)], by considering the in-plane buckling forces as unknown loadings distributed transversally in the plate domain. A simple discretization scheme for the plate boundary and its interior domain is adopted in order to establish the integral equations in matrix form. By eliminating the conventional boundary unknowns in the matrix formulation, the classical buckling problem is finally reduced to an equivalent eigenvalue problem in which the first eigenvalue corresponds to the critical buckling load of the orthotropic plate under consideration. The current method is illustrated by several computational examples of some square orthotropic plates subjected to a uniform axial compression, in the cases of simply-supported and clamped boundary conditions.