Chapter 2 Literature Review

Stability studies of composite plates is an active and advanced field of research. Among the various

composites, Fibre reinforced polymer(FRP) composite is the most widely used for study because

of their superior properties such as high strength , light weight and many other attractive dynamic

characteristics such as damping and high stiffness. In the field of laminated composite plates

incorporating cutouts extensive research was done in the past three decades covering various

aspects and parameters. There have been a few studies on buckling analysis of laminated

composite plates with cutout under linearly varying loads. Some of the previous studies have been

summarized below.

Buckling of laminated composite plates using higher-order shear deformation theory is

investigated by Qing-Qing Ni et al [1]. In the buckling analysis of laminated composite plates,

classical thin plate theory is mainly used due to its analytical simplicity without considering the

out-of-plane shear deformation. However, recent researches have verified that this simplification

has resulted in a significant difference of analytical results. To overcome this difference, several

shear deformation theories have been proposed. In this paper, a higher-order shear deformation

plate theory was used, and buckling loads under various edge supports were calculated accurately.

Hsuan-Teh Hu & Bor-Horng Lin [2] studied buckling of symmetrically laminated plates with

various geometries and end conditions using ABAQUS. The buckling resistance of symmetrically

laminated plates with a given material system and subjected to uniaxial compression is studied.

Significant influence of plate thicknesses, aspect ratios, central circular cutouts and end conditions

on the optimal fiber orientations and the associated optimal buckling loads of symmetrically

laminated plates are found.

Ghannadpour et al [3] studied the buckling behavior of cross-ply laminated composite plates with

circular/ elliptical cutouts under uni-axial compression by finite element analysis using first order

shear deformation theory. They studied the effects of a cutout on the buckling behavior of

rectangular plates made of polymer matrix composites. The effect of cutout size, shape, plate

aspect ratio and boundary conditions are studied.

Husan Qablan et al [4] investigated the behavior of square composite plates with circular cutout

subjected to shear load, uniaxial load and biaxial load using ABAQUS. The effect of cutout size,

location of cutout and fibre orientation is studied. The reduction in the buckling load due to the

increase of cutout was significant in the case of shear loading as compared to uniaxial and biaxial

compression. For relatively small size cutouts, a better performance was achieved if the cutout is

kept close to the edge of the plate, however, for relatively large size cutouts, a higher buckling

load is achieved if the cutout is kept in the middle of the plate.

Lakshmi Narayana et al [5] carried out buckling analysis of quasi isotropic laminated composite

plates with rectangular and square cutout under varying edge loads. The effects of size of

square/rectangular, cutout orientation, plate aspect ratio(a/b), plate length/thickness ratio(a/t) and

boundary conditions on the buckling behaviour of symmetrically laminated rectangular composite

plates subjected to various linearly varying in-plane compressive loading is studied.

Eiblmeier and Loughlan [6] used fem to find the effect of different size of cutouts, with various

types of reinforcements boundary conditions and width of the circular reinforcement rings on the

buckling behaviour of symmetrically laminated CFRP square panels.

Panda and Ramachandra [7] studied the effects of boundary conditions, non-uniform in-plane

loading, plate aspect ratio and length/thickness ratio on the buckling behavior of rectangular

composite plates without cutout.

Dinesh and Singh [8] investigated the effects of different boundary conditions on buckling and

post buckling of uni-axially compressed quasi-isotropic laminated plate with various shaped

cutouts of various sizes using the finite element method.

Srivastava and Singh [9] studied the effect of aspect ratio on buckling of composite plates.

Nemeth [10] carried out buckling analysis of infinitely long symmetrically laminated

graphite/epoxy composite plates that are subjected to linearly varying edge loads, uniform shear

loads or combination of these loads.