6

BUCKLING
OF PLATES

6.1 INTRODUCTION
In thc prcccding chaptcrs we dealt with thc buckling of onc-dimcnsional
mrmbc; such as bcams and columns. The analysis of thcsc mcnbcrs is
rclativcly simplc bccauscbcnding can bc assumcdto takc placc in onc planc
only. By comparison,thc buckling of a platc, which is.the.subjcctof this
cn#cr, invottcs tcnding in two plancsand is thcrcforcfairly involved'From
a mathcmatical point of vicw, thc main diffcrencc bctwccn columns and
platcs is that quantitics such as dcffcctions and bcnding momcnts which arc
iunctions of a single indcpcndcntvariablein columns bccomefunetionr of
iwo indcpcndcnt variables in Plates. Conscqucntly, thc bchavior o,f platcs is
dcscribcd by Partial diffcrential cquations, whcrcas ordinary diffcrcntial
equations sufrce for dcscribing the bchavior of columns'
A sigoificant diffcrencc bctwccn columns and Plat6 is also apparentif onc
compa; thcir buckling charactcristics. For a column, buckling terminrt's
thc
thc ability of the mernbcr to rssist axial load, and thc critical load is thus
platcs'
Thcsc
failure load of thc mcmbcr. Thc samc is' howcvcr, not true for
sructural clcmcnts can, subscquentto rcaching the critical load' continuc to
resist increasing axial forcc, and thcy do not fail until a load considcrably in
cxcessof the ciitical load is rcached.The critical load of a platc is thcrcfot:
not its failure load. Instcad, onc must determinc thc load'carrying capacity
of a platc by considering its postbuckling bchavior'
238

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e ur saueldnuutrsep ol /fu"urotsnJsr lI .a se6$Jlstuu"aqs oi\l pu" , s$rls
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19 q.{

(q)

t
I

zP

(D)

.,

----------____1.

rq.L 'BIj 't1g ul uAoqs y sseulqql ulo.Iun Jo rteld aqgroprsuor sn lcr1

sereld utqf to Aioeql uollceueo- Euts
'sqEJJns
tsu atrq tur^"q 3lnlruls {u? uJ
punoJ rq ,("ur s" qrns 'slaued leg drzurpro sr s:y1dder'ldsqJ slql u! l"uqpur
3qf qqq^\ ol srrqd Jo /gotr1m J3qro aql .tulqtnq prot s? or pauqtar
{lFnsn sr J3qr[rur " Jo tuauale c1e1de 3o turHJ|rg 'p3n[oJep ssrnooeq
Jaqu:xr eJllut rqt tou pu" lurutqe l"ql fluo.sqlrnq tu3utalcuB qc{rsucqA
'pc.odutoJ.r" sqtu" pu? .slsuupq3,su".g s" qsns sad?qspJnlcnJls q q^\
I
JOstu.uF{3'|91d lpus {p,rr1e1a.l3ql $pnlsur auo .setBldJo sdnoJt lJqllslp
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6ga

oclt nrrot tt

t'9'tw

2tto

,ucuitry ol H.t-

Ct.a

mcmbrrns. If the thictncss of a platc is sirablc comparcd to thc otbt

dimcnrions, transvc$c shcar dcformations tend to be of thc samc ordcr of
magnitudc as bending dcflcctions and must bc considcrcd' Such pletcs erc
czlicd rhick ptates.By comparison' Platcs arc considcrcd thin plates if tfuit
thickncs is srnall comparcd to thc othcr dimcnsions and transvenc sbcar
dcformations arc ncgligiblc compared to bcnding &f,cctions' A third group'
knovtn rs mcmbraneJ,cronsistsof Plateswhoce tiickness is so small that thc
bcnding stifrnesstcnds to vanish, and transvcrscloads nust bc rcaistcdalmod
cntirclf by mcmbranc action. Of thcsc thrcc typcs, only thin platcs will be
considcrcd in this chaPtcr'
It is custom.ry d mrkc rhc following two asunPtioos rcgarding thc
bchavior of thin plates:

l- Thc shcar strains 7,, and 7r, arc negtigiblc' and lincs normal to thc
middlc surfacc Prior to bcnding remain straight and normal to thc
middlc surfaceduring bcnding'
2. Thc Dormal strcssa' and thc correspondiagstrain e' are ncgligiblc, and
thcrcforr thc transvcrscdcficction at any Point (t, /, z) is cqual to the
transvcrsc dcicction of thc corrcsponding point (x, y, 0) along th
middle surfacc.
ln addition to limiting thc analysisto thin platcs, thc following idcalizations are made.
3. The transvcrsc deflcctions of thc platcs arc small comparcd to thc
thickness of thc plate. Thus middle'surface strctching caused by
bcnding can be neglected;that is, mcmbranc action rcsulting from
ffexure is negligible comparcd to thc flcxurc.
4. Thc matcrial ofthc platc is homogencous'isotroPic, and obcysHookc's
law.
As a conscquenceof assumPtionsI and 2' rhc platc can bc trcatcd as a
two-dimcnsional strcssproblcm, and assumptions 3 and 4 makc it possiblc
to describe the behavior of thc Plate by linear difrcrcntial cquations with
constant cocmcicnts.
5.2 DIFFERENTIALEOUATION OF PI-ATE
BUCKLING: LINEARTHEORY
To dctcrminc the critical in'plane loading of a f,at plate by thc conccpt of
neutral equilibrium, it is ncccssaryto havc ths cqualion of cquilibrium for thc
plate in a slightly bcnt configuration. This cquation will be dcrivcd hcre for
u t*aing condition consisting of constant biaxial cornpressionforccs and

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-!pu! t! tult.s ueq r. nFod-.-6.croJ

.reJ:ms-.lplrlur pellddv Z9 ''l

--.-==-!!---,i

ItZ

tultwg

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?'9'rtf

X2

Do.ttlna c, Pt.t

#**(#J*

?g*3 /*\

In-plrnc forccs on plstc clcrncnt-small dcicctioos' (Adsptcd

Fk;63
fiom Rcf. 6.1.)
Similady, thc s dircction comPoneots of thc rcmaining forccs acting on tbc
clemnt arc

(n,#* n,,#+ x,,ffi)a'ar

(6.2)

In detcrmining thc z componcnts of thc shcar forccs, the curvaturc of th

cdgcson which thcy act is ncgectcd. It is pcrmi$sibleto do this bccausthc
tcrrns that would rcsult from including thc curvaturc ar of higbcr ordcr than
the rcmainingterms in the exprcssion'
Noting that N',: N,, for momcnt cquilibrium about thc z axis' and
adding thi tcrms in (5.1) and (5.2), one obtains for thc rcsultant of thc
middle.surfacc forccs in thc z dircction

(o#* n,#*zx-!ff)a'ar

(6.3)

(s'9)

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(r'e)

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ti'qd

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6tZ

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a'9 Iry

ltlo

ch. 6

eu*liae ol F .t t

24

Thc condition that thc sum ofthc momcnts about thc r axis must Yaaish
grvcs

ffata'

-S'a'ay -*b+!

-fta' atat:o
- e,dxtty

If thc highcr-ordcr tcrms arc ncglccted,this rclation rcducesto

$(ty- $ , -dx
e,-o

(6.6)

Similarly,momentcquilibrium about thc y axis lcadsto

'#-'+-e.:o

(6.7)

Equations(6.5), (5.6), and (6.7) are threc cquilibrium cquationsof Plate

buckling-As is often the casc,it is possibleto combinetheseequationsand
thus eliminatesomeofthe variablcsin thc problem. Differcntiation of (6.6)
and (6.7) gives

and

4oj , : d 4oy' _ dzM,,

.Ay

(6.8)

rox% : ox'
d + -drM,,
EAy

(6.e)

If one now substitutesthc expressionsin (6.8) and (6.9) into Eq. (6.5), one
obtainsa singleequation of cquilibrium from which the shearforces have
becneliminated.Thus

'# -ru# *W * n.u#**,u#+2N-#:o (6'10)

Equation(6.10)containsfour unknown futrctions,M,, Mf M',, and t"
To obtain a solution, it is obviously ncccssaryto have threc relations, in
addition to (6.10),arnongthescvariables.Sinceit is not possibleto w'ite any
more equations of equilibrium, the additional r.lations will have to be
obtained by considcring thc dcformation of thc platc.
Moment-^isplacement Bslations
will be
E4uationsthat exprcssthe momcntsin tcrms ofthc displacemcnts
the stressesto thc strains,
obtaincdby relating the momentsto -he stresses,
The momentsM, , M,, and M,,
and finally the strainsto the displacements.
whosemagnitudeis Proportionalto the
are dueto normal and shcarstresses
distanceof the stressfrom the neutral surface(Fig. 6-5). Conscquently,

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(dt

| : 's
1-'4til :,

sslBlqo auo 'surens aql Jo srrJsl ur s:xsaulsaqr :og EmlJog

(et'9)

*'Or+ffi:('r?:*,
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('t-e)

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Gr'9)

:'t

3rB aEld eql JoJ suop"lcJ uJslHsarts aql 'uonacjlp

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'9-9 puz
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79
B sassrqs pus slueuo|rl rql 'c^rtrsod a.r?ss{uls lEurrou cql pu? z uaq^r
cnrysod :re (91'9) pue (1 1'9) 'sbg u1i4r puu 'Jnl 'uosusdrloc {g 'e,rr1xodcre
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(r'9)

,t;'r''irl-:'n
,e *o'"*[ :.n

(rr'9)

trto'J:'ry

(zl'9)

-rq,tr| p|ll arlptr.q or A{puodr.!o.

('19 'J.l| nrorJ padlpv) l|ur!oq!

tu!
8.8sarF.[.qs pu! llrr|roN S9 ti

y'_ry____/
nt.

tulpne

outd to,tqtt

bt t traE

t'9'rw

lIO

215

B.tctlirrt

ch. I

of Pr.E

o , -f i { r , + r ' c )

(6.rE)

t*:ffir-

(6.re)

Thesccxprcssionsarc cqually valid for rclating bcndingstrcsscsto bcnding

strains,which is what wc ar: doing, or for rclating total strcsscsduc to in'
planc forccsas wcll as bcndin8to the correspondingtotal strains.
To obtain a sct of bnding strain{isPlaccmcnt rclations, we dcnotc thc
.:,1 and z componcntsof thc bcndingdisplaccmcntof a point in thc Platcby
u", o", znd *. The subscripts arc used to diferentiatc the bcnding displaccAt any point in thc platc, thc total dis'
mcntsfrom thc total displaccmcnts.
placrmcntconsistsof two parts: that dueto in-Plancforces,which is constant
ovcr the thickncss,and that due to bcnding,which rirics from zcro at thc
middle surfaccto a maximum at thc outcr surfaccs.Thus
lt:tlo*ttt

(5.20)

o-oo*0t

(6.2r)

madc up of the displaccmcntsuo

whcre z and r,,arc thc total disPlaccmcnts
and uo of thc middlc surfaceplus the displaccmcnlsur and '' relativcto thc
middle surfaccduc to bcnding. Sincer, is neglcctcd,w is constantovcr th
thickncss,and no exprcssionis requircdfor r.
During bcndingofthc plate,a thin laminaabcdlocatcda distancct abovc
rhc middle surfaccundcrgoesthe displacementand distortion shownin Fig.
66a. From the dcfinition of strain it is evidentthat the strainof fibcr ab in
tbc .x dircction is givcn by
c':

- us * q * (duJix) dx - dx
a'b'
'------i- sb : dx
dx

or simply

, '- :d! *x

(6.22)

aDd thc strain of fibcr od in thc y dirrction by

, '. : *el y

(5.23)

Thc shearstrainis cqual to thc changein the anglcdo6.This is givcn by

,-:H**

(6.u)

poo& JoocdoF 3 r||sod a pus z e^o8eu" faql sals3lpul ufis 3^-rlrl'3u 3qI

(Ez'e)

to
tNp

uorrsJlp tr rql ur i{FB[Ers

(ez'9)

{!-2 - : 'n
.rP

rq ur^6 aroJ..reqlsr (q99

'trl) oc"JmsqpprB .ql 3^oq"z ccue$lps l" ptlarol t lulod Jo h tu.Eeld
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'aqd a u! $q.qreftslp
auoldZ-X

tqlpq.A

9t qJ

(q)

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t

l-l

,p

Ae
"^g

---tt

3T-----

I
I
I

Ap
I

,p#*""-l i-xe-l

Oa

tufrpna

Ntd

llo uoltnbt

p!tu...tttt!O

24

ts&lnt

ch. c

o, Pt a.t

to a positivc displacrment, Substitution of thc cxpttssions for thc dkplacc'

mcntsgivcn by (6.5) and (6.26)into Eqs. (6.22),(6.23),and (6.24)lcadsto

c,:

0zw
-zd-x,

02w
at: -zAF

h: -2,#,

(6.n)
(6.28)

6.2s1

Thesecxprcssionsarr thc bcnding strai*{isptaccmcnt rclations for thc platc.

Thcir substitutioninto Eqs. (6.17),(6.1E),and (6.19)gives
o,:

dtw\
--l Ez ldzw - I'W)
- pz \T-x2

Ez l02w , dzw\
d': -l=Vt\a-y,t p1

t-:

Lz
d.w
-Fididy

(6.30)
(6.3r)
(6.32)

Finally, by substituting(5.30),(6.3t), and (6.32)into Eqs.(6.11),(6.12),and

(6.13) and carrying out thc indicated intcgrations,thc following momentcurvaturcrelationsare obtaincd:

,.: -o(r#*,#)

(6.33)

*,: -o(#,*
,#)

(6.34)

M,,: D(t- o)j#,

in which

,:d+,

(6.35)

(6.36)

Thc quantity D'is thc flcxural rigidity pcr unit width of plate.It corrcsponds
to thc bendingstiffncss.E/ of a beam.Equations(6.33),(6.34),and (6.35)arc
the plate moment-{urvature relations analogous to the bcam equation
M : -El(d?yldx2). Comparison of the beam riSidity with that of thc Platc
indicatesthat a strip of plate is stiffer than a bcam of similar width and depth
by a factor of U( I - pz). The difcrcnce in stiffnesscxists bccausthe bcam
is free to deform laterally, whereasthe Plate strip is constrainedfrom deforming in this manner by thc adjacent material.

3qr Jo sdpc iooJ l|l sls

uolFo[pp l?a|ul 3qr ?.lroddns '(FEls ar" tl?td

(8s'9)

o - # ' "* ( # * # z + # ) o
ol ssrrP3r

'fu'9)'ba
t""t
urpuaqae;dj 3o uosznbot"lruoreJrycqr
a1e
st-1ii11t::i'"
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so,fi;;'d
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o',ln q pi" ,,..pt. qr,^t aid reFtuurcol

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y*"*r+'"$'*
*'^+'*:ffi+ffz+P)o
'sbg uopnlllsqns
'bA
pu" '(t'9) '('9)
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fia

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Pa!l-u,

,ftl

cLe

tucrtitt.l F.aa.

aswcllgsthcbcndingmomcntvanishcsalongcachcdgc.Talingthccoor.
conditionsarr
i-i*a-axcs "t .lo*'ln thc figure,the boundary
w : 7 -drzzw
a r, t.r,r*zY : o

atr:Oa

(6.39)

.w. .:E-vz-r
_ d , n- , ,p{ I : O

ary:0,b

(6.40)

dx.

along cach of thc four

In vicw of thc condition of zero latcral dcflection
boundarics,

4ot'3 - o ^ 1 7 : O , a
P
:O
tx'

aty:0,b

Makinguseofthcscrclations,thcboundaryconditionsin(6.39)and(6.,|0)
can be rcduced to
(6.41)
s a 15 : o ,a

":#:

,:yj,:o

at7:o,b

(6.42)

small dcformations' only

Sinc! thc bcnding of the plate is limited to
strainscausedby flexureare
U.Jing ,toio. noC f,c considered'The in-Plane
conditions
".slisible. In vicw of this fact onlv the boundary
;;;;;;i;;;
poundary
The
in-plane
defornations are required'
i."rirg Jrt.-ti"Jne
other
forces
in-Plane
wcre nceded to determine whether or not
;;;li;tt
the
of
comprcssion
;t.s would be induccdduring the axial
;;;;;;pd;
ttc
shall
we
when
from hcre on'
Dlatc. They ar, howcver' not required
only with tbc bendingof the Dlate'
dcaling
--i"'a",.k""
conccptof
rhc critical ioading of a systcmby mcansof the
of the
solution
requires that o-neobtain the nontrivial
r"oirli"qtiUtti"qoveminclincardifrcrcntialcquation.Inthccascofaplatcthiscquationisa

ffi;ilid;G;il;fu

thistvpeof
sincewchavcnotconsidersd

its solution arc in

iouation hcrctoforc, a few inrroduaory words rcgarding
oid"t
Thcmaindiffercnccbctwccnanordinaryandapartisldifcrcntialcqua.
.iooi,_.n"..l"formcrcanbcsatisficdbyonlyoncfunction'whereasthcre
As a c.onscquencgthc
iu-"rors functions that can satisfy thc lattcr'
"-x-i-st
to obtain
;ia p".tiur difrcrcntial equation is morc difficult
;J.;il;
value'
practical
otJiir.v oir"t"ntial equation and of lcss
i;;ffi;;;i;;
gives
thc
glt"rai *rttiot of an ordinary difrcrential cquation
dil;;;

'g
'peuruJn3p
I : u t8$ pss s$BaJtu! a sB saspirlxrur lrqt snor,rqo s.rrI
(9D-9) rzlururu
aq
u pu" lr,
oql '(9t'9) 'bI
s.rnls^
rsnur
srgsnss
lur0
Jo
-iI
'olur sqlcnq
lur{l anJB^tsalJ"ursoql sr
aeld
Jo rnF^ ls:rour aql rJurs
aql l"r0 sr^s^\-Jtr"qJo r.qunu rql 'r Fr" ur uo pus qeld eqf Jo s:qFdo.rd
pcrs^qd aql puB ssorsuaErp aql uo spu.dcp 'N '(gr'il o1 Euprooy

(w's)

lqu
| -.]z\Dzu

o\,Q
-tquJ zw

-rt

,(#*#)#:'.
snql 'olz ol pnb. s|3ltslq cqt u! uors$ldF cqJ Euqles
^q p3urg|qo s! p?ol ls3qFc arn or sp"'I laql uounps F!^liluou cqJ .lqttBrls
,(tpcJ:edsumurir ale;d cq1p:pr,rold 'speol lF l" unuqllmbeJo uopnlos lu!^1rl
aqt sr srqj 'anl?^ ,(8" a^sr{ u8J'1v '0 : "r/JI .saqsruE^sl$lr?Jq aql u! rulat
3ql ro 0 : '*f Jtqle 'Ms/n o/tl Jo .uo ul pegisnalraq uuc uopsatdra qq1

(sr'9)

'-l#+- "Qa+.4),"f"v

snql 'oJrz ot Fnbc sr slue1 aql Jo cuo frcaa Jo lualc

-geor 3ql J[ s! qsrus^uyJ urns " qrns,(B^\,(1uoaq1 'suonaunJgeprndapur
Jo qurns euugu! u" Jo runs aqt Jo slslsuor (tt.g) Jo .pls pusq-rJ3l .qI

(w'e)

o: # "p# q"le + - f, +ffiz * *",,,1",

Ss

q spsq (ge'g) 'ba olur a{Jo

se nB u3p n"udorddp aql Jo uounl!$qns 'uorlsnbc J"rlu.le.Slp eql soltsnss
oslt 1y1uq1EugnsueJo lsq 3rD,{luo suJpuraraJeql pus .suo$puoo ,Ospunoq
3ql segsrl"s/b?e{p uoDnlospcr[nss eqJ 'dtc Fdsar 'suoll'.rlp.{ pEBr aql
uf olur s:rplflrq q?ld cqt lEqt sonen-.;FqJo r3qunu aql cJBz pu" lz qrrqt\ ur

"'Ez'r:u
($'9)

"'

EZ'r : ut

ft"'sft-.rt,g _C:'

uloJ aqlJo s! (gg'9) 'bg ol uounlos aqt lsql eunssBsn l..I

's:ruas
?Jo .sn rql {q uorl"nbc aql r^los ot ,$sulo}snr s! l! 'p"asul .uo$snbe lpllu3
-Jallp 1"ru"d aJo uoqnJospraua8 aqt unlqo ol qlq,nqUoar lou s! l! suoseat
oeaql rod 'uttoJ cgrsds $r altt lou s.op pu" sr[Jq 1ul3nrt u! qqpgB^
ru?ua&p aql scg1lxep fguo uoqenba lerlua.rrJrp pyuud e Jo uolnlos
'$ustsuoo /garlqls alour lo 3uo ulql!/n ot qq"u"^
lu.puedcp
t?lcoea 3qf
t'9 'rtY

.r.ra . tc Po, t t utl

tgI

252

ch. e

Bocning cl Pr.t .

thcrcforc tBults in a minimum valuc of tV,; that is, the platc bucklesin a
singlc half-wavc in thc / dirction. Thc numbcr of half-wavcsin thc x
di;tion that corrcspondto a minimurnvaluc of /V, is found by minimizing
Eq. (6.46) with rcspcct to n. Thus

#:'#(+.#)(+-ih)2o
from which

^:+

(6.47)

Substitution of this rcsult into (6-/16)lcads to

\N)*:

4Dfr2
-TT

(6.4E)

Sincca simply supportcdplatc must bucklc into a wholc numbcr of halfwavcs,a/0, which accordingto (6.47)is cqual to m, must bc an intcgcr' Thc
critical load givcn by Eq. (6.4E)is thus valid only whena/6 is a wholc nunbcr'
For platesin this category,thc buckling pattcrnconsistsofa singlehalf-wavc
in the y dircction and a/6 half-wavcsin thc x dircction. In othcr words, thc
plate bucklcsinto a/6 squarcwaves.
The moregeneralcasc,wherca/6 is not an integer,will now bc considcrcd'
Equation (6.46) can be rewritten in the form
-, : kDz,
-6rtv
,
whcre

lmb

x:l--l--l
\ a

(6.49)
nza\z

(6.50)

mDl

The factor ,t depcndson the aspcctratio alb and on zr and n, thc nurnbcr of
half-wavcsthat thc plate bucktcs into. As beforc' z : I leadsto th smallcst
valuc offf.; that is, the plate bucklcsin a singlchalf-wavein the y dirction'
To determincthc buckling Pattcrnin tlc .x direction,onc must considerhow
k varics with a/D for dift'ercnt valucs of rz- Letting m : I in Eq' (6'50)' thc
variation oft with a/b givcnby the curvclabclcdm : I in Fig' 68 is obtaincd'
higher
In a sinilar manner,by letting m in Eq. (6.50)take on successivcly
from
these
:
is
cvidcnt
values.the curvcsfor m 2, 3,4 ' . - are obtained.It
to
t,
corrcsponding
curvesthat thcre cxist an unlimited numbcr ofvalucs for
tltc
in
only
any given a/r, that satisfy Eq. (6.50). Of thcsc we arc intcrested
srnaliestone,becausethis is thc valueofk that will minimizeiv' in Eq' (6'49)'
The solid line in Fig. 68 obtaincd by connectingthe lower branchcsof thc
variouscurvcsgivesthc critical value of ft as a funcdon of a/,. In addition'

oat Jo ollBr " Jo .ianb6 arll ol J8uonrcdoJd flacra,rur pu? ? .lEgal8ur

.rF Jo s$uJfls eqt ol lEuoruodold /(Ffllp .JB uurnlor 5qt pua cpld eq1qloq
Jo ss.rrlslE llu3 .qr rsql saFslpul (zE.g) pus (tt.g) .sbg Jo uosu"duro"J
'suoltlpuot ^Jepunoq aql
uo spudap 1eql luElsuoo " sJt qcq,$ ur

Qge)

zQh')--,,^ ?zYJ
sr uunpr eql JoJ uolssardre luep,rmbc cq1

( Is'9)

,QlqlG - tlzr _,^

I

Xxtl

sulrlqo auo
snqJ,'r', qlkt^\ pus
(zrl
qrrlf,
(6t.9) .bg ur O tu!*1dcr dq pcqqd
?
l)Ulg
-|IoqrP $:xl sr slql .uunJoJ u p8ot
Jo
lBrqur 5ql ol lr aleduot ol atrq,f,qlo/n
sl lr 'aBId pep8ol d[sllglun ? Jo p"ol l"s|lur .qr pouurcpp tuneg

't <
9/, $r{r

.a1q61iau
sepld ro.; uoDauuorddB ^rop"Jsrt"s " etoJl3Dqts! 0r:
? pun
lsoEl" sr 0? u!o{ .I Jo uo$"us^ .t4t t < qlo JoJ .I3A.,r\oH .{ Jo cnp^
aql uraqo ol pc4nbat sl 99 .tlg u! urA6 .uo 3|fl e:ltl a^Jnr p puE.otl"l
laErrJoJ
fdsB aqt qfl,rr ,(lqs3prsuor scu8^ I .llErls ^p^!rlal sr g/a se iuol sy
'uoqiulP
lBulpn{tuol rql ur s.r^E/rgpq oal olut c1:1cnq{;!ulp:ooz s:1qO cs:ql
pw '! : rr/ toJ a^rnr eql ruo{ uol"l sf I ,9f pus
iJA me.nlaq q/D glra\
s'lBF Jog 'uonc[!p r3ql ur 3^B^r-Jl"rlclEurse olur a11cnqaro3arcqtsazld
'fuF
qL
qlo qt!^r
sAqd
>
roJ
4r
roJ
aarnr
cql
uro{
ll"
l
F.uEtqo
.cldruura rog .g/r u3^lt E ol
s!
iuqlmq
luelqgsorssans
aqt
{
tulpuodsaro,
'saqmq qqd eq1qcJq/nolul sr^B,n-Jpq
Jo Fqurnu aqt sasqpul aul pltos aql
ltqd Ftaduror 4Frtstun roJI tu{rluroo t8a4rtulE ,q 39 qN

t=ur

892

.r.U.

c-u,

to ttoT pcl2y,

a'9'tu

2g

ch. e

Docrfitv o, PLao

lcnSths.Thc platc streasvarics invcrscly asthc ffat width ratio squard'(D/t)',

and thc column slrss is invcFcly proportional to thc slcndcmcss ratio
squrrd, (|/r'- Thc critical strcss of thc column thus dcpcnds on its lcngth'
wicrcas thit ofthc plalc dcpcndson the width of thc platc and is indcpcndcnt
of lhc lcngth.
Thc investigation of thc stability of a simply suPportcd,axially compresscd
platc considercdin this article datcs back to l89l whcn Bryan (Rcf' 6'2)
prcscntcd onc of the first solutions to thc problcm. At thc bcginning of thc
iwcnticth ccntury, platc buckling was again considercdby Timoshcnko, who
not only investigatcd thc simply supPortcdcasc, but various othcr boundary
conditions aswcll. Many of thc solutions hc obtaincd arc givcn in his tcxtbook
on stability (Ref. 1.2).
6,4 STRAIN ENERGYOF BENDING IN A PI.ATE
In Chapter 2 thc cnergy mcthod was uscd to dctcrminc thc critical load of a
column. To apply thc samc method to platcs, it is ncccssaryto obtain an
cxprcssionfor thc strain encrgy in a bcnt platc. Sincl th. strain cncrgy storcd
in a dcformcd body is equal to the work donc by thc cxtcrnal forces,thc srain
cnergyin an clemcntofa bent Platecan bc obtaincdby dctcrminingthe work
duc to the strcssesacting on the clement.For thin platesit is assumcdthat
a,, T,- and y,, are negligible.Consequently,only thc strcsscsshown acling
on ihc differintial elementin Fig. 6-9 necd be considcred.The total strain

I
I

Fla. Gt

Strcsscson glalc chmnt.

energydue to thcsc strcsseswill be obtained by applying thc strcsscsone at a

timc and adding the energy thus produced.
At first lct thc clcmcnt bc acted on only by thc stressa'' Thc cnergy storcd
in thc elcmcnt duc to this strcssis equal to on half thc fore o ' dz dy multi'
plicd by the distance, (o,lE)dx, through which thc forcc movcs' Thus
dU,:

{roldx

dy dz

(6.53)

Now let the strcss d, be applicd to the clcmcnt on which o. is alrcady

'pa8n 3J" srss:ltls lBq,n so tulPudsp 'o.{l aql uoq?urquor " Jo uollr"
Jo
3uEJquteurro turpueq Jernraol 3np ^tJ.ua urEr$ aql o^!t ll,r (69.9) .h .frEJ
'suolleuuoJrp
'DA.,$oH 'srlBld ulqr
Jo ltllsuJ s sv
ltsr[s ol p3lu4l lou sr lr
ol p1prll sr uorcsaldx3slql

(es's) zptQxp(it{tt* Dc+'coaz - ;" + ,al{" l""l*"J : o

s1,(i:aua uprp aql'{ sl ssa$lJlr{l asoq,i\
pu" '/{la^nJcdsar'g pu" r aJ" rllpl/r pu? r{fual a6oq,tr..lqd allue ue JoJ

(8S'9)

zptcpxp(iz(rt + th +'f ad7 - io + ;olqf : m

'apJo urns5qrsre*ld ru.q "Jo luauereu" urparols,(8r"",T[1T

Gs'e)

t#

ffj

zpdpxp'17ft1: (f,p"&)(zp
xpb")t:,np

ol pnbc s! ,(8.rcuc
ulljls aql '.nlB^ lBug JI.ql ol oJ-z uro{ {FnosuslFrlls ccsclcuytu:uroqdsrp
',(p "t
PUEaroJ qpq cturs
1o acJoJ3ql Jo uoll'allp 3r{r ur lueuaoeldsrp e
pue zp xp " z anol Bstslx3 erqt ssoJlsn:rqs cql ot mq .ss3llsIBIXBfq posnet
^trouc aql Jo luepucdcpur .rzaqsol 3np ,(AlauaulsJls aql uJqqo ol clqlssod
sr lJ 'psJa^o$ pu? 'ur-BJls.r"rqs ou saonpo:dssarlslzru:ou pql Eurrunssy

(es'9)

zptp xp(feda - ;o + io1ff : 'p

snqr''nP

ot.fip pue .pp ppe e^\ r', pu? ', ol .np ,(tFua urBlls lslol aql uElqo oI

Gs'e)

zptp xp'coS-

: epp

sr ,{trcue uprls 8ulllnsrt eql 'g f otl - lunowe uE fq s.Eu?qa

uonauroJep aql qlqft uslsuof, suretrratzp /(p'o .)toJ eql uolrllp r .qr uI

(rs'9)

zptp xpioff :.2p

ol l"nba fEJaue
ul"Is Jo as"rJro! uu ul sllnsrl slql 'anls^ I?ug l!.qr ol oJrz uto{,{Fnoeu"l
1nu!s .6"aFul 4p(gfo) uoqeur:o.;ap9'4tpue zp xp., $loJ.qt uolloerlpI
aql uI '', sstr$ Eups}eaq1 puu'o ssarls,taucqr qpq,(q ouop sr lJoar pu"
'suoltccrlp tr pu" r aql u! Jncoosuorl"urloJep .rr ol atq .anF^
llnJ sl! l" tuDre
992

,'9 'rtv

.r.tC . u! Att ,tt u!.tts

2lt?

a.Atbt

cLa

o, Pta.e

At prcrcnt it b d6ir.d to obtlin sn cxPrc3sionfor thc atrain cncr$l duc to

bcnding only. Twisting that acconrpaniB bcnding in 8 platc is hcrc considcrcd
to bc psrt of bcnding. Substitution of (6.30), (6.31), and (6.32), wbich relate
tbc bcnding strrsscsro tbc lstcral displsccmcnls,into Eq. (6.9) lcads to

- o'r[(fr)'+
,: TJ.,Tf:,,n
(#)'
f"f"{rr

(6'60)

*rr##';a,-rria1')la'ara,
which, aftcr intcgrating with rspcctto z and combining likc terms, rcducsto

u:21'f
.

n"dzwdzw
-1-zl'Txzfilv2
[(+r'\' r /d'r+'\'
\tf/

,sol otro',)

(6.61)

+2(t- '4(t'ft'\')o'ov
Equation (6.61) givcs thc strain cncrry duc to bcnding in a thin platc.
6.5 CRITICALLOAD OF A UNIAXIALLY
COMPRESSEDPLATE.FIXED ALONG ALL
EDGES,BY THE ENERGYMETHOO
To illustratc thc usc of thc cncrgy mcthod in platc analysis, the critical
comprcssion load of a squarc Platc fxed along all four cdgeswill bc dctcr'
niocd. Thc plarc, shown in Fig. 610, has sidcsof length a and is comprcsscd

y'-o-/

-7J-7-x
/-N,/

/ = i
Fts. Gfo Fi:cd pht. lDifotnly
coDpElscd in rdl,.ctioD.

by a uniformly distributed forcc lY, acting along two oppositc cdgos.Taking

thc coordinatc arcs as shown in thc figure, the boundary conditions arc

":#-o

atx:o,a

(5.62)

":X:o

a t y : o ,a

(6.53)

(r9'e)

- rn+
,r wl(ft ,w)(9,r'.)r,r
(*o"n - #.*)(*o".o"- ft.-)'rs +

(#,* * #.*r- r)(ft.'-)+

".1
(&:** #.*r-'X&'*)]
J # +:,
or spDel(s9'9) olq suolssardxrcsaqlJo uoq$qsqns
I D

\l

.r'

\nZ't'l\'oz'i)ffi-;i

(99'e)

.{oxo

(#* - ')(&*)
"-"*:#
(#'*-'X#*l#,:""4
(o
\ "
- |\ / o
)\l"z"t')V-rrz: iA

I D

\'"2 *
D

xo
I
\t
\ "
(az*- r)\,"2"t')v,z:fr

:papoauaJBin Jo St DBAIJ?p
tumolloJ 3qt'uolssardxssql .lEnIB^r oI

(se'9)

-,t *
ro,ol"(W)o

*"(#)f"J".Jt:
n
#i#"*,(#)

,{q uc^ sr ?'9 al3luv ur po^rJ3p'JaEuoJ

eq.L 'sP"ol Furslxe eql Jo /ffLar. pnualod aql puB tulpuaq ol 3np ^3J3oe
unrls eqt 'sued o,n1go slsrsuocuels^s eql Jo ,{e.reuepnu:tod lelol cqI

(re'9)

(#.*- 'X&* -r)r:"

ulloJ .qt
Jo .q ol pcumss?st ,nJl pcusrlts tJB (9'9) pue (29'9) suoupuoJ,0"punog
'9u"F
,{r
aql u! r\onr ol a3{ 'rJ^a,norl
-sagspunoq aqt
'aJB3lBld eqf
l" AungloJ rc uoDoellp z cql
Jo sr8p3 aill
ur tur^our uro{ pgtuanad sr etqd aql suortlpuoJ a6aqlqr!^\ adlaptoar" uI
ISZ

Po,ta.try AOn tt -O Aq po,

9'9 'ru

P.!t!2t

25,

E.,.chline o, a.a6

Making usc of thc following dcfinitc intcgrals'

['"*'*!a':i

f "*'!a': i

(6.68)

l ' * 4 za a ' : o

J"

thc cxpressionfor ths strain cncrgy rcduccs to

- p)tr)
+z<t
u-"'# 'l+(.* t) * tG * t) +2p(+)
from which
-,
u
: - l6Dr'12
T

(6.6e)

To dc&rminc thc potcntial cncrgy of thc cxtcrnal loads, the platc is

considercdto bc madc up of a scrics of longitudinal strips, as showu in Fig.
6l l. For any strip thc potcntialcnergyis cqualto the negativcProductofthe
-N,dY

FE 6rr

forceff, dy and thc shortcningof thc striP in the x dircction due to bending.
That is.

ar: -w.adl*
- ' L Z r(+)"'l
I
J o\OXt

The total potcntial cncrgy for the cntirc platc is obtaincd by adding the
potentialencrgicsfor all the individual strips.Thus

,: -f"+l,(*)"a'at.

(6.70)

Substitutionoftbc cxprcssionfor d{dx from (6'66)into this relationleadsto

,: -(+)(n [i"(*'*)(r-z"*42(6.7r)
+ "*,4)a'ar

uIry.JBD arlr Jo sm tfsur a/t'3leld cql Jo tulpeol l?tqu. eql 3utluln.p oI

'$epc moJ .ql tuoP pcrdd ''J11$JroJ tu|J?3qs rIloJrsn ,(q p.p"ol sr lEId
aql 'ZI9 'tlg ur r^roqs nqd danbs Pauoddns,(1dun aq replsuoosn l3.l
'atuq ^pu3tc
'aoe1dc1e1
Jpn lu{ltnq
-gns eE(}3oq srss.u$ asaqt ucqa Pus 'sttP5 pcp"ol eqr qrpr altu" $cp
-S' " a:tur! 1eq| s:uqd uo qsrx. uolssarduoJ 'ass:t qql uJ 'J?aqsuI pcp"ol
'alqs$un asrosoqssalcquaFu ,("8 lnq 'uots$Jduoo I?!x" uI Pop"ol
a?Jd E s!
'Jeqllau squo 3tu"g uolssuduo: aql
lou s! lur{l J.qusur l?ml3nlls xrqlorv
u1luas:rd an rql sass ls uo-tssudqos aql o] .np sEsaq PaPBol{lasJc suer
'lzqlu3ul eql u?d ctlos uJ
ur rnroo uzc ,$lpqvlsu! lsql us a^eq c^r snql
Jo
laql s! fJEssaJcusr lBql J|V'uolsscrduoc Jqxe
lsrxa sassarlsuorssardr.uoc
'a*1d alq or tulll
q Jog
ur pep?ol 3q J{nt3ur " lEql ,o"sstu 1ou sr 1

ooHl3lll Nl)ul]v9 A8
9'9
U\EHSNr 3r\nd v Jo ovol]w|IluS

(sr9

---f-:.^1
zwn'ol

sr psol IBJlI!.rr slH 'uqqo.rd curaseql

'JaU) fr,tt 'n roJ s.ucs tUugE! us tulsn
ol uolnps l3sxa u" pcurqqo (g'9

GL'e)

rD
- PE -.u
zvoL9'ol znQZE
qqqar uo{
_ -,
o
Y
p
O: Yzs'NE
y,nAzE--C1:nii

*tuq{ 'cnI"A
.ql qtlqa loJ uotlun8guoc lueq ,(pqEns
,gsuorpF ? sq {tj.uc
Plol
|Enutlod
'/(trtue /gBuoFels
.qt Eurpug ,(q pco5ucpp aq uec Eupeol letllu. aql
Jo
eldrcu!-tdcqt pu" nmuqllnba l"Jlncu Jo ldttuot aqt qlln aouBplo.o" uI

(EL'e)

#ft-ffi;':n*o

snql (Zt'9) pu" (69'9) ut suots

-sardreaql tulppu ,(q pounlqo st uns,(s aq13o,(tranc pqulod Flol 3gI

(a9>

l(1*')L"fvf;*-:n
or poonparcq '(89'9) Jo ,i.!^ ui 'ust q.H^\
ggE

portt fi ufltPg

Aq PCo, 1tc1tltc

9'9't2V

260

Eucutae ot H.to

Ft 612 Simply tuppodcd Plirtc in

puac thaar.

mcthod outlincd in Artilc 2.8.As is thc cascwhcn usingthe cnctgymcthod'

onc must first chooscan cxprcssionfor the deffccredshapeof thc mcrnbcr that
satisficsthc boundary conditions. Thus wc lct

* : A, rioT i^4I + t,sia3{ siafu

(5.76)

Ncxt, the Galcrkin cquation, whosegcncral form is givcn by (2.72), must bc

written. For a platc subjcct to Purc shcar, whosc dcflection is assumcdto bc
given by (6.76), thc Galerkin cquation is of thc form

a'ar
f"t'"o<"v,t'l
wherc

^ d'w

d'w

|J\vr):7;:1.6;67-r7-,
s,151: 5h If 5inI
a

e.(xl :

i:

r,2

d'w -:."_di6
. .^, d,*

(6.78)
(6.7e)

sin2frx irrrzf,Y
a

(6.77)

(6.80)

Sincethere are two terms in thc assumeddeflectionfunction' two Galerkin

equadonsmust be writtcn. Substituting the approPriatc dcrivatives of lt into
Q(w), thcse cquations take thc form

eli""azzz*
lJ o Jf oILaE',i^,
4a sin"
\o -:
i'az|'n7
a'
*'#(#*T3;a4!gosr!'-1/

(6.81)

+5"^!*,u*"@a"l)fa,at
*'ff ;,rrz9*nJ-s,r,29+&4:.o'ra'4rr;a'b!
l"l'"ff
(6.82)
u,io22
-'*(#*Tso4!.
+ 4 "n2ll s"4 *"4t "nz#))a'a,

(88'e)

q4re'c:*N

psol JBrpFc{n .roJpslz1qo (t 9 .JrU)

ruo eql uBql stsd|uEeslard a:ou r Eunn
JaN Pn" ur.ts 'araqpaluacaJd

C8'e)

ofint:'*'x
or sps.l (98'9)tulpuBdr{
?o

Os9)

0-

;vgl

#Gl
, o l

" CI6
Nze * l

'sl rBqI 'or.z or

l8nbo Gg.9)
pue (t8'9)'sbg go lucuuualap aql 136a,$.pBolI?rJrUr n culErrt p oI

o:,rffi+'rfr

(rs'9)

o:"YLtq+'\ffi:

(s8'e)

':,(fr)#+*
"(+)#
/,'F
\
,D
o:,\ti-)frv

m+
'

(L\

'?

z\D I *'/l

ol p3:rnparcq URJsuopEnbecql sucH

"fi:vft-ftw"J
"fi-:rrft-sft*r"
I
(8'e)

s:rnftu,sft*"I
o:'ph-shry'J

*:,0*,*"J
: sanl"A
turrsollo; rql r^?q (28'9) pu" (t9.9)'sbA u1 Eupeddu qedalul alrugap aq1
tg;z Po.tt lu o,.8.9

Iq poo, totlur?

9'9'ru

ch. 6

2C:, 8,tcUr.t ol Pr.t$

METHOD
6.7 FINITE.DIFFERENCE
APPUED TO PLATE BUCKLING
In Articlc 2.10 thc finiadificrence tcchniqucwas uscd to aPproximatethc
buckling load of a column. Thc samc method is also apPlicableto platcbuckling problcms-To cxGnd thc finite-diffcrnccmcthod from onc{imenforusto obtaincxpressions
sionatto twGdimcnsionalproblcms,it is ncccssary
for difrcrcncc ratios corrcsponding to partial derivativcs. Spccifically, wc are
intcrcstedin thc panial derivativesthat appcarin the platc equation.
Ditf6renceRatiostor PartialDsrivatives
Considcra platc rprcscntcdby a network of discretepoints as shownin
Fig. 613- Thc points arc evcnlyspaceda distance/r apart in both the r and /

j- 2h,k j-h,k

j,k j+h,k j+ 2h,k

/-n4
Flg. Gl3

Fidtcdiffcrcnc.

mcsh in two dimcnsions.

dircctions.According to Eqs. (2.78) and (2.80),the secondand fourth dif'

fcrcnccs with rcspcct to .r of a function r(x, y) at point (r, k) are
_ w '*t.. - 2l !.t t t,/t-t.r

(*g\
\OI'/

and

(6.89)

t.t

_wrz+*
f+{g\
\dx.l p

- 4wt*t.t * 6w. - 4wt-r.t * wt-zt,*

t.*

(6.90)

Similarly, the secondand fourth diffcrenccswith resPectto y are

,
a'ru

- 2y!.* * wt*-,
/dt",\
_ w,.t*,
\dy't r.L
- 4w..*-t * wt*. ts
/d.v\
- w,-r*zr 4w,.*t * 6y!*

$-y'/r.*

(6.91)
(6.92)

sr aqd aqt Jo 3pF q*t

'suollqar *ruara$p tuluxt^ot 3qr qqnllsoJ oI

D , O : t r pO : # : "
o ' O :x 7 e O : " # :

3q ot '9 sltrrJY u! u^rotis "ra^ "rqa pagoddns flduts e ro3

"I1 saroJ
suogrpuocf:zpunoq aql 'setloJ Frx" aql Jo utrs oql tultuaqc pus
'b3] sarroSculd-ul
r?:qs lurlsJxauou eqt turddo:p ,(q [(fg's)
Jo uolltB eql
rapun ?uppuaq4qd 3o uorpnba la.uat aql uto.rJp.u!"lqo s! uoqunb: s1q1
(J6'9)

, t e - " t g r x ? ", *' a' xt e

?

t^-_\ lnrrl rgp- d' g^\ roe l N ' ^ , e

4t0

SI

eql '5:ntg 3ql uI Pal"crPursescxutlsulPJoot

turpucq.;o uorlunbs
1ultuaJallp
'g
apnyutzur
aq1 tuqul 'U:'U:
Jo sxoJ uolssa.tduot palnqlrlstP
'pryoddns ,(lduqs su uclal cre aleld
,(FuoJrun z sr s8pe qcuo uo tupoy
'sEo!t.crlp

l
l( pu! r u! pet:arduoc
.rqd peuoddns IIdnrlS

4stioJun
ld
tI9

/////////
:

N-/

/////////
N
/--D.-+/

.qr Jo setpe tql pu" .Jnb6 al ol p3runss"st cguld eq1 'tl-9 'tll ut u/toqs
alEldpess.rduor ^llErxErqcqt Jo p"ol IE.!lg3 eql q?lnqBJ sn lel'anbluqtel
rrueJrglp-ollug .ql Jo su?.u fq 3lsld E Jo sls,(luus eqt el?Jlsnlll oI
eteld passerltuo3 Allerxerge p peo'l le3lllro
(t-t't-tri

t'tt

(6.9)

t'r-a/A7 -

r+t'r-t4r) + ('t-r'I/

r+|'ti
- t,*,r
Zn - (r-t'r+I0t +,'r+t $C

\arrp,/

n;fl- :

_,',', (49\ld_ -={9&

l**, (,!g\ _+
' |(,{p1,
^re
\u"Pl.
\,|.Pl
J |

.g

: ,re,rp
dtg

snql 1(16'9)'bg} uorrrerrp{ eql ur aou3rsJtppucJos

cqr or [(Og'9) 'bg] uolrcellp r aql u! etu.re.glp Puoscs.ql roJ rots$do eql
tur,(lddu [q pculsrqo sl ,{ puDr ot Fcdsar qU^\ 3tut}tSlp pexlur.qunoJ aql
tge

Portt lv.trnt

Z.9

ltloa.t{tl!

.tw

ch. e

t af Pt ra

264 t..&it

divided inro r cqud rcctions ofsizc i : a/2. To obtain lhc difrercncccquation

corrcspondingto Eq. (5,94) rt any point of thc tFtwork of nodal poinrs thus
formcd, onc sub6titrt6 thc diffcr.ncc ratios in (6.90), (6.92), end (6.93) for
thc dcrivativcs in Eg. (6.94). Thus at a point (j, t) thc diffcrcncc cquation is
2owp - 8(w1*,* * wr-lr * r1.... * q.r-r)
*
!

4wr**
(w pu3

tr1+t.tt

+ rer,r-:r *

wt-zt,t *

+ w7-11*

f;(tr....

w1-1111 *

-.-

w1-r,r-r)
(6.95)

wt,..zt\

'111.1)- 0

w1r+t + Ntt.t-t-

Using computational molcculcs, this cquation can b rcprescntcdpictorially

as shown in Fig. Gl5. Thc first molcculc corr"sF)nds to thc biharmonic
| +2h ( 1 )

k+h-

l" . sloQ-o|"-"

.r ( - i (

,.\
( 1 1

k-2hy-2h j-h

j+h j+zh

l-n

j+h

FE 615 Plstr cqu.rionir molcculcfom.

operator V'and th! sccondmolcculc to thc sum of thc sccond diffcranccsin
the:andydirectioosThe valucs of rv at each of the z x z interior nodal points are thc r x n
unknowns in thc problcm. Howcver, it is cvidcnt from the moleculc in Fig.
615 tbat the diffcrcnc cquation at an intcrior point adjaccnt to a boundary
involvcs thc value of w at thc boundary and thc value of w at a fictitious Point
outsidc thc boundary. For cxample, if r : j - i rcprescntsa boundary, then
the differcnceequation at (i &) involvcs thc valuc of wr-.,i along thc boundary
and of wr-..,* outsidc thc boundary. To obtain the valucs of wr-.,, and
lrr-.r,r, onc uscsthc givcn boundary conditions. From thc condition of zcro
deflection along thc edgc .r : j - i
w1-41: O

(6'90

and from the condition of zcro curvaturc in the r dircction at thc sarnecdge
wrt*-2!J-r-t*wt,,

_g

(6.96a)

'lA -

(q)

'so!r
-J6 etllu (q) por ttlqyn
rnoJ (t)
'E!l
otu! FP! lFln
rtqA
9I9
I
I
I
I
I

- -- -j r,{\- j rrt\I

L-------l---J--------r

l/tr-

!n-

(o)
'/vt--r----------j
i- - -- -----

!^ -

--i

l---

.----------.-.-

'$8pe rnoJ 'ql

r,1{- ol pnbc pus
Jo sJe|us eqt 3llsoddo $urod rounxe eql tB
/tspunoq sql tuoF o.xrzs! uonceuap.ql 'rn{ fq palouap sr uollsgep l"r3tsl
aeoq,n1urcdJouaur.tturs " ul slFsrJ:go/hlcu srqI. '"919 'tlC ul u,noqs
sB's*tBnbs Fnbo moJ olu! prphryqns aq rlEld cql l3l ldurnF lsrg E sV
u uulotmxotddy lstlg
7:

'/Oupunoq eqt .plsur gurodluJpuods

-auoc eql t" uoltDur.p 3ql Jo 3^p?E{ eql sr /gspunoq .tn .pr$no dl4"rpor!
-urr lurod " l" uopUap .qt atpe pcgoddns f;drurs z JoJ lzql ccx 3,$ sngl

(q96'e)

t'I/A_

t' lz-IlX

s3 A G95'9)olur (96'9)Jo uonnrqsqns

266

auchliag o, Pt a.t

Writing Eq. (6.95) at thc intcrior point givcs

" , ( r o- f ; ) : o
from which

-.

fi-:

-r6D
F

This approxiriation dificrs from thc cxact solution 2xzDlaz, givcn by

Timoshcnkoand Gcrc (Rcf. 1.2),by about 201.
SecondApproximotion n : 3
If the plate is subdividcdinto nine cqual squarcs,the nodal dcficction
pattern dcpictcdin Fig. 6l6b rcsults.Duc to symmctry,thc samcdcf,cction
cxistsat all four inGdor Points,and only onc indcpcndcntequationcan bc
written. This cquation is

",(t -2{6') --o

from which
.r _ lBD
Comparisonofthis solutionwith thc exactvalueofthc ctiticalload 2n2Dla'
in the mcshsizefrom fi : a/2
indicatesthat the error is now l0l- A dccreasc
:
the
error.
the
size
of
has
thus
halved
to h al3
6.8 PLATE BUCKLING BY FINITE ELEMENTS
The matrix mcthod, dcvelopcdin Articls 2.14 and 4.5 for detcrminingthe
critical loading ofcolumns and frarnes,is cquallywcll suitcdfor thc solution
of plate-bucklingproblems.As was donein the caseof columnsand frames,
the platc to bc invcstigatedis subdividcdinto a numbcr of discrcteclcmcnts,
and the clcment stiffnessmatrix rElatingelementnodal forces to dcformations
is constructcd.The stiffnessmatrix for the cntirc plate is thcn formcd by
combiningthe individual elementstiffncssmatrices.Finally, thc critical load
is calculated by requiring the determinant of the structurc stiffncssmatrix to
vanish.
ElementStiffnBssMatrix
Let us considera plate dividcdinto a numberof rcctangularelements,as
shownin Fig.617a- The individualelcmcntsare assumedto be connectcdto
one anotheronly at the comcrs.A typical clement,like the onc in Fig.617b'

(%6'e)

['a]

l(n l:1'bl
L*nJ

'l opou lB saaroJlucurclelslxc 3Jcql '$uaur*tqdslp e63qlol tumuodscJJo3

['el
(eL6'9)

l.ol

lz;l:rer
L'sl
ere luaut.p qu aq1:o.; s1u:urruldsp luarucl3 oql pus

G6'9,

arc apou
'(trt9 'E!l) xel,,'g pw Kel
Flgrgeqt r" sueusqdqp lusurals or{l snql
e
srx? .{ pu" r aql lnoqa suolt?loJ Pu" .1{uorls.ruePlE5lua^ " 3Pnlsuresa{L
'stu.ur.outdsry .arqt eug.p ea qclq/n qte? rBqurod ppou JnoJssq eroJareqt
Jo
'erqd rqntqrFar

Jo sr!,qrs8 tu.ruqeqlull

lI9 t!

sluauracoFsrp
topoN (c)

*fr
?lold /otn6ugl?au (o)

F-cz-/
lg;a

,wa@tt

at!u!! aq t tltF.rg

.t Id

268

Bucuirre ot Pt e..

and forccs for thc cntirc trth clemcnt,

[r,l

to.t:lo'l

(6.97c)

lq'l
Lc.J

Thcsc forccs and dcformations arc rclatcd to cach otber by

tcJ: trlt J
in which thc t2 x 12matrb([&.1is thc stifrncssmatrix for thc zth clcmcnt.
Using thc cncrgymcthod,in a mannersimilarto that cmPloycdin Article
2.14for columns,thc platcclemcntstifrncssmaFix will now be developed.Lct
tbe momcnts and torqucs acting on a difcrcntial clcmcnt of thc plate, dx by
d/, be denotcd by

,':fr,l

(6.97d)

LM.,J

and thc corrcsponding curvaturcs and twists by

I

o'u'

l F l
rdr:l qJ I

(6.97c)

l ' Y l

1 " d " ,I
L oxolJ
The strain encrgy of bending for thc differcntial clcmcnt can thcn be writtcn
as

ag : lluflgldx dy
and tbc bcndingstrain energyof an entireplate clcmcnt' of size2a x 2D,as

at
u :1J'_,J'_.tuYwta,
In view of thc momcnt-{urvaturc relationsfor a plate, given by Eqs' (6'33)'
(6.34),and (6.35),[M] can be exprcsscdas

tMt: tDllol

'Ietulou^lod uuel-Zt
? {q p:lprutxoJddsaq u93
aql
lururla
uo lsrod fu?
)" ^r uorlJog3p3qt l?ql autnssEe^\ .uorsseldx3slql ur
[.rl 3l?nl?^r oI

(86'e) re xptDltNl,tet - *o,olottotlof

.J'-.,1
.J"-J: fsttll"t?

puB
aqrorruauara
rro^r
r?urerxa
u,,"orr.rtli?l3;1"TfiL1"J""ff""
.Q xpltlltNllIol'-.1"'-,[f* rcW'tl.f,cl1:
nl
sJlurulel3 qu eqt JoJltox\
IBru3lxalslot rql sngl

(qr6'9)

L,x'Tt:*,
f 1fu1

@u'g)

I ttto I

l.;l:r,I
ltt|.ol

qJrq^\u!

.QxplpltNlrlz,l i : "n
.l'-"1
dq puocas:qt pue

t'gll"tl,t'sll: t sl",fbli :' ^1

aqr.[.,v]
sa oJeustd-ur
aqrorenpreqrouu
JorsJg
0""frlg";iflfft:li
ol onp euo 'supd o^rl Jo slslsuo, lualusla

{lr.. arll loJ 1ro.n pu:a1rarg1

rp,ptiltql,l0l'-J'-.1
|: n
ssrEo3cgfElaue uterls eql snql

0r6'9)

lro-u* o o I
lo
Lo

o orrl:tol

qil q)

,{q ur,rr3sr 'sluglsuo3Isuel?ur Eurursuocxgleur r

Jo
{ql q:rq,r.ur
AeZ

srueu.ltr

artutl

Aq auntsno

areL-t

-. e

osv^

ng ot rt,,tet

Thus
u : Ar * A{ ; At! 4 Atx2 j- llrxy + A.y2 + Alxr
* A 6 x 2 1 ' - ' A c x ) ' 2i A n ! ' 1 - A 1 6 t y * A 1 2 x y t

{6f,'99)

Using the boundarycondirionsat the four cornersof the ,th

element.the
constantsin (6.99)can be expressed
in termsof tbe nodaldisplacements
[d"].
and x can be rewritten in the form
lt' :

[,r][d,]

(6.99a)

The 12.' 12matrix[.4]relatesthe deflectionw at anypoint the

on
elementto
the nodaldisplacements
of the clement.Differentiation
of Eq. (6.99a)makes
it possibleto obtainrelationsfor
[a] and [/] in termsof [d"].Diflerentiating
oncewc obtain

tcl : t.8ltd"l
and differentiating
a secondtime leadsto

t,ol: tcltd,l
in which [a] and [{] are dcfined in (6.979) and (6.97e).
and [A] and [C] are
obtained by differenriating
[l].
Substitution of ttre prcccding expressionsinto Eq. (6.9g) leads
to

''

: raf
tdJ'trJIdJ
dy
{J-"J".fcrttDlt(ldx
dyl p^l
J'.J'.trnruttBjdx
from rhich
ab t"
t^.1: J ,J-.lcf[Dyedxdy
(6.100)
J'_,!'_.@fW.4t]0,0,

or

li"l : ttll - t,t'jl

(6.100a)

As was rhe casewith colunns, the plate stiffnessmatrix consists

of two parts.
The finl [&i], is the stift"ncss
marix for pure flexureand the second,[*i], is
the initirl $ress stillnessmatrix, which accountsfor the jnfluence
of in-plane
forceson the fle)iural sriffness.
To obtain the numerical valuesof the coefficientsin
[ki] and [k]1. it is
necessrr] to eraluate th. matrices
[,.{], tS], and [C] and then carry out the
inlegratronsindicatedbi Eq. {6.100).Sincethis procedure
involvesa consrcerirbl:amount of nu:nericallork. it is not includedhere.
However.the
iinal frrrmsof bolh [(- -and
[t.'] are givenin Tables6-1, i_2. ana o_:. fn

uz

"lr<
P ls "F e +<"l$F .F "lr<|
,-k<
+

F
+
s

:
*

I
F

+ F '
. - !

F
-

+
F
F

i
.

-ts

r
F

r
l

>

E
A

>

>

r * c . { 6 o . a a o t
t

o o 6 - c , 6 r \ r c t . . r d o

'

O
I

o c { - ( ? o o o C o o c
g

- c - o c - o l
l

E
e

A|*
lld

+
- o . { - o t t
I

.2

,{

o o o o o o o o c o o
\ o o \ o \ c o \ o d r o - - o 6

aA

6
t

+
I

c E o . r l o 6 . r o \ o ! r o
r
l
\ o \ o o ( . r . r o 6 6 o \ o \ o o

iut
u

Ja {a.t

2r2-

*.t

-ra.t

{.r

-{.

suonQu /gspunoq 1n rnr,$

Irs8pJoosB ur rr4Bur ssru.gns3ql Jo rzrs aqt rcnpal ol sr d.os ueu eql
'xutEur
!z x lz B s! JauuEt[ slql u! paur"Ilo xul"ut ssiru.srls
nl5nlls aql 'luenlgaoJ sseuglls sJnl'ruls p lsep eqt s" qducsqns ar[Es
aql /SJEJl?ql srJlJlaut ssstrg$slrcrl3l. JnoJ cql ulo{ stu3lrgaoJ $u3ngur
{r llE turppP ,(q pauqqo sr x-ulEru ss3uJlts aJnlc ts .q! u! tualq$aoJ
acscngur[u? ',(lturPlo3ov .tt.Z olrluv u! paquosapleuu"urcql ur stqrlEut
ss:tuJns luarr!3lc JnoJ turpuodglor
cql .ulquor e/N\.peJeprsuooAuraq
clBld eql Jo luerpenb 3ql JoJ xulBur ss:rugls aJnpnJls eql uFlqo oI
.P rpEuos
aq pu 'stuarltala JnoJ .sr f"q} .alBld eql Jo J3uenb " ,(luo ./Ol.utur,(s
ol anCI'gl9'trl
ur paFtpur sBpclJqunu slulod ppou 3ql qlft\ .slu3EeF
.uogrcJlp r eql ur uo$sarduor .tpe uuoJlun
9l oluJ papr^rpqnss! "ld .qf
rapun a1e1daDnbc pnJoddns ,([durs " Jo tullrynq eqr r5ptsuoc sn lcl .elqd
E Jo psol l8qrgs .qr iuqelnqrc ro1 ernpaord aql Jo uon"4snlll uB sV
p8o'l lBc!t!r3eqt lo uoltelncle3
'tt'9 'JeXur punoJcg uer'ly pue
fu
JoJBlBp.IBI!u!S 'iurlcu sl li' uorssatduroJr[JoJrun " uaq,n[,A] Jo I apou JoJ
stuarqgaor aqt s:r^!t g9 alqBl .SI .9 pu" t I .9 .sJa{ uorJ u3:fsl or" seJqq .scql
ur pnuaserd "lBp orLl ',(;*rlodscr ,li/.l pue l?,l loJ l apou loJ slu.I'gaor
rn
s:np^ aql c tt
pue Z9 selq"I puE .l epou Jo ssoql ulo{ , pue
Jo
9
' 'Z sePou.loJ sluolqgcoo 3ql
tururqqo JoJ setuEq3utts puu suoqrlnur.rd
otn s. !t 19 qqBI 'se8ueqcu8ls pue suorlulnu:cd rcdord eql fq l apou
Jo asoql uto{ prurqqo cq UEJt puE .t .Z sepouloJ slua|Juaor ssirylF 5qt
[,it] pue f,tl qloq roJ l?qt l3pJ eql Jo ap"ur sr osn .scouleur .6.q1 Aulueserd

-tzo

o
998,- z,

99- Zr- gt;a8 t o 6 E

rr-

-a'arl

a'trl

a'rrrl z'rrt!
l'orl
a.tt

a'orl
a.rl

r'zrtlr'r rl
r'ortl
ratl

rtl

a9tl

artl

I Lrl

aLtl

altl

6t- t7- znr- D 0 f , 9 ?*=

rr,

tz

8r- o
5o 9 t t z
5t
tt

tz?or
o 9 ' )
ztt z,
9t:a

zal

rat!

I etl

aal

aatl

rrt

atrl

atrt

ztl

..1

zz,

r.l

r.f
rtl-

ugr$9Jdmool.rri ioJ [/.,tJroJ t .pou roJ stu.r.qg.oorsu!

uo!p.r!p r u!
ga .n I

.yt .,t tt .atolJ ^q asltry.re .rH

C-9-yf

274

Doc,,h|,t o, A.ta

-_--_l

l.-8o

60

I
I
I
I

x
Fbr 6ft

Nod.l point dlittr.tions.

U)t:Wz:w.:wr:tv":0

'#:v:*:%?:fr:o
on":!!::&:*:4p:o
itx

dy

dx

dx

oY

thc
Dclcting the rows and columns correspondingto these conditions'
(Rcf'
5'16)'
6-4
stiffnessmatrix rcducesto the form givcn in Table
to obtain the nontrivial
To detcrmincthe critical loading' it is necessary
solution of the cquations

{tx'l- x,trTtAl: o

(6.10r)

in which [rK-land ]VJK"I arc the frcxural and initial stressstifncss matriccs
givcn in iable 64 aird [A] consistsof the structurenodal dcflections'If thc
irdcr ofthc systcmofequationsin 16'l0l) is rclativelysmall' saythrecor lcss'
the critical load can bc obtainedby settingthe dcterminantof tbc cquations
ctual to zero and solving for thc smaltestroot of thc rcsultingpolynornial
as
c{uation. Howcver,whcn onc is dcalingwith a largenumbcrofcquations'
*c arc, it is usually best to obtain the critical load by iteration' Prior to
thc morc
carryingout the itcration, it may be dcsirableto put Eq' (6'l0l) into
thc
along
only
appears
cigcnvalue
the
wherc
form
"otrno-nty encountertd
bv
main dialonal. This is accomplishcdby premultiPlyingthc equation
(6.101)
bccomes
lK"l-'. Thus Eq.

{trl-'trl
in which [] is tho idcntity matrix.

- lv,trlitAl: 0

(6.l0la)

9E

i
OJE
o

9
o

I
9

I
t

I
o : - i . r : ,
p - o

:.

t
9

t
9

t
9

t
! ,

'

?
o

'

t
o t

r
0

o
\

I
o

. l
r - o
o \ o

rl

-l o rO c l ' t ,
L L i , i ,
l
- o
o

l t
5

- o : '
I

s i
!.)

t
t

" ,1.3
- r1-c" li i,l-?1i 1-?
*J-?' i1-?

2VC BucHit t ol ,r,tr.'

T-lc 6-/.L lnirirl rrr6s rn trit w,[x"]

-t4
-56

lt(x
0

Syrnmclric

448
0

96
48
0 7 8
o -36
-14
-21
o
0
l t 2
56
JV,
-2il
6:,0
-39
o
A
o lE
0
-21
0
t52
o 7t
o -42
w
-14
o
o
0 tl2
o
o -2E
-192
-39
-552
-84
o
0
39
0
-39
o -4t
lt
0 -rt
0
0
-n6
0
0
0
_ o -t02 -zl -39

224
-21 552
0 4t
0
-42 lU2 39 n6-

If thc eigenvalucsof the matrix in (6.l0la) arc found by itcration, the

highcst cigcnvaluc is obtaincd first- Howcver, thc critical load conespondsto
thc lowcstcigcnvalue-Hcnccit is convcnicntto inYcrtthc matrix in (6.l0la),
lcading to

o
{rrr-'rrt- fr,rnirar:

(6.l0lb)

I.Iow iteration givesthe highcstvaluc of I //V,, or the lowcstvalueof iV,, first.

An altcrnativc procedurcfor determiningthe critical load is to assumc
cvcr-increasingvalucs of rV, and to cvaluatethe dctcrminant at cach stcp. The
critical load thcn corrcspondsto thc valuc of iY, for which thc dctcrminant
rrduccs to zcro.
5.9 PLATE.BUCKLINGCOEFFICIENTS
FOR VARIOUS CASES
If the rcsults obtaincd in thc previous articlcs arc comparcd, it becomes
cvident that for cachcasstudicd thc critical stressis of the form

F..:#+r_,,)(+)'

(5.r02)

and &
wherc I., is cithcr thq-gdllcal trorry!-$Iglg or 1@gl1!93\!qglggg
thc
spccific
case
bcing
considcred.
that
deFnds
on
a
numcrical
cocfrcicnt
is
Furthermore,it can be shown that Eq. (6.102)is valid for other cascsnot
studied here as wcll. In cacb instancc, rcgardlcss of thc Plate gcometry, the
boundary conditions, or thc typc of loading, the critical srss has the samc
form- Only thc numcrical valuc of & varies from caseto casc.

T*|5 rnog$ roJ t lctgF

lrat'r tulqtlq

peuoddtls
Itdurs sa6pa ttV

bz

pllu 3e6papspootun
rx)l/oqons
^tdurls sg6po Prpoo'l Z

ob

peuooons
^ldrrrrsse6paltv !

.z$f + uee

peru sabpe V

z(-1l-D)
+ ee e

p?uoddns ,(tdunsqtog

ob

pguocons
^ldurE alo 'peru alo

zb9

parll qpg

169

Sell auo
'pat.loddns,(ftur!s atlo

9Z' O

asrl ano rpetll auo

azl

nqd

6rt td

ourpuaq?rnd

ot

< q,/o

r-o.---*l
*t

!F

lorssalouD,

lorrolun

s86papepoqun
peuoqons
Adul|s saopa pepootqro
I I?o3
sser|s buxl

uolrp!@ 60rpoo_l

srolllprro3 36P3
S

e rog 'sr*a( egt rc'ro pat"tDsatrut u.rrq e eq suolllpuoo tulP"ol pua :Epc 3o
'tll
peurquoc
eql ol uonlpPa uI 'S'9
sc$3
uI
suo-rlsulquoo sno.r.utnu 519
'619 'tU uI u,nogsaJ?
JoU uro{ ualsl 3J" tJntg aql ul ptluas+rd ulzp aql
urpuol escqgo1 pq'cfgm puB suotllpuot ^Jepunoq luaqgtP J"Je^asqll$
'JEcqsarnd 'uolss.tdt|Ioo uuoJlun
sneld ro3 { Jo senF^ 'tulpuaq a:nd pu"
arz gp,r sr (g9J'9)'bg qcqq,$ro3 suorrlpuor tuPsol lusuodurl lsou eql
llZ

t''.J

6.9 .tu

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tct.Y.f.!!!.oC

tao!-A

2r,

Ch.a

a.t&r,rdturo

summary of many of thcsc studics thc rsadcr is rcfcrrsd to an anicle by

Storycll,Hcimcrl, Libovc, rnd Lundquist(Rcf. 6.6).
6.10 INELASTICBUCKLING OF PLATES
For platcs aswcll ascolumns and bcams,it is not unusualfor thc proportional
limit ofthc matcrial to bc cxcccdcdprior to rcaching thc criticai str6s. Ifthis
occurs,thc clastic thcory prcscntcdin rhc precrding articlcs must bc rcplad
by an analysis capablc of dcaling with thc inclasiic bchavior that cxists
betwccn thc proportional limit and the critical str.ss. As would bc cxpcctcd,
a thcory ofthis typc is extremelycomplcx and bcyond thc scopeofthis book.
Howcvcr, thc conclusionsthat havc bccn drawn from inelastic plate-buckling
studics arc simplc and straig:htforward and will bc bricfiy considered hcrc.
Thc rcaderintcrcstcdin the thcory itsclf is adviscdto consult Rcfs. 6.1, 6.5,
6.6.or 6.17.
Invcstigationsof inclastic plate buckling indicatc that Eq. (6.102),thc
clastic buckling rtlationship, can be cxtcndcd into thc inclastic range,
provided Young's modulus is rcplaccd by a rcduccd modulus. Thus thc
inelastic critical stressfor platcs is usually givcn in thc form
ktznE lt\z
r",:fi+1
_ 421\T)

(6.103)

whcrc 4 is a plasticity rcduction factor, or r7Ea rcduccd modulus. Sincc

inclasticbehavior alwaysdccreascsthc stiffncssof a plate, A < I, and thc
inelasticcritical strcssgiven by (6.103)is alwayslcssthan thc con$ponding
elasticstrcssgivcn by (6.102).
Thc rcsults obtaincd from inelastic plate studiesindicate that thc factor ?
is a function of the shapcof thc strss--strain
curvc, thc type of loading,thc
lcngth-to-widthratio ofthe platc,and the boundaryconditions.No gcncrally
applicable cxprrssion, likc thc tangent modulus in columns. thcrcfore cxists
for the reduccdmodulus of a platc. If a long rcctangularplate is uniaxially
comprcsscdand simply supportcd along both unloaded cdgcs, Gcrard (Ref.
6.1) showsthe plasticity rcducrionfactor to bc

,:+(+++J-++,4
in which E, is thc sccantmodulus rnd 4 is thc tangnt modulus of the
material- For thc same plate, if only onc cdgc is simply supportcd and thc
other is frcc.
,,:;

Values of 17for scvcral olhcr cascsarc tabulatcd in Rcf. 6.6.

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uoltJnPolul

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rus .roJs{nsar $llB^Jirsuoa ol sps:{ l! lBql s! uoll3lar sltn Jo atqu" P? aql

frt:u

uorssrJdrr qduts aqr poursrqo

rq 'itlotql el"urxoJdde ut tursn '(3 1' I 'JcX) qJlel8 ^q P. utp u3oqssq stuo
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sno,rc3u [pp3 s tusn paunlqo ara,t & .ro3suolsserdn tuJpoood cqa
gZZ

..ytd

to ltqtL

t t'9 'ttt'

uottulJ.O.rtult

2n

ch. a

B.tGAiae c, Ut.a6

Dcrivrtion of Equstions
In dcriving thc cquations governing thc finitc dcformations of platcs, all
thc idealizations madc prrviously in thc lincar thcory, crccpt thc onc pcrlaining to ncmbrenc strains, will bc assumedto bc valid.
Eryihbriun
A difcrcntial clcmcnt ofa latcrally bent platc is sctcd on by two scts of
forces: (l) Thc in-planc forces JV,, 1V,,and .tV,,, and (2) bcnding momcnts,
twisting momcnts, and transvcrscshcar forccs. In going from infinitcsimal to
finitc ddormations no cbange occurs in tbc naturc of thc bsnding momcnts,
twisting momcnts, and transvcrsc shcan. All cquations pcrtaining to thcsc
forccs dcrivcd in thc lincar analysis in Articlc 6.2 apply cquqlly wcll to thc
finitc-dcfl.cction iheory. On thc othcr hand the in-planc forccs arc cffcctcd
sigoificantly in going fron infinitcsimal to finitc dcformations. Whcrcas thc
cxtcmally applied middlc-surfact forces arr thc only in-planc forces that
cxist whcn thc dcflcctions arc small, thcrc arc in-planc forccs dueto mcnbranc
action in addition to thc forces applicd along the cdgcs of thc platc when
largc dcicctions are considcrcd.
The in-planc forces acting on a diffcrcntial clemcnt of a laterally bcnt
platc arc sbownin Fig.620. It has bccn assumcdthat thc dcformationsarc
small cnough so that thc cosincs of thc anglcs bctwccn thc dcf,ctcd surfacc
and the horizontal arc approximatcly cqual to unity. Thc projcctions ofthc
in-planc forccs on thc horizontal .ry planc arc thcrcfore cqual to the forces.
Equating thc sum of thc forccs in the -r dircction to zcro givcs

4ox& + o!& : o

(6.r(X)

d{-:o

(6.105)

$imilgdy, for thc y dircction

4o!*

ox

Letting thc sinc of anglcs such as d{d.r in Fig- 6.20 be approxirnatc<lby

iwldx, one obtains for thc z componcnts of thc ,IV.forccs

- n,*o'* (r,+$ a')(f;+ a,)+

fr
which aftcr simplifying and neglccting terms of higher order rcduccsto

x,tfia'o+fffra*ay

(6.1(b)

(orr'9)

,ptpff**c*'^+,*
*#*)

sa<uoJ
.oBynslpPrur eqr llB Jo sluruoduror z cql roJ sur"lgo auo 'G0I'9) puE (t0l'9)
'sbgJo au?rruto3 tslfs| pu8 (60I'9) qtnoqr (90t'9) ur suu'r.qrtsrpp" dg

Ioxo.
to xo
rprp
{pxpffi"N
fiifu+

(8or'9)

Ko
Io xo-.
^P
xPxp
iarrfrP+ apxp;F.--N

(60r'e)

aI3'?

pur'?

pue

$oJoJJ?rqsaqt Jo slucuoduoc z cq1puu

qxpz!'*
rp'p9*,+
'
,{Q'NP ' ' '6zQ'

(tor'9)

eq ol punoJar8sxtroJ'rv eqtJo queuoduocr eql 'j.tru8ur la[urF e uI

rrcl|''gtp

dlrt---tu{Elc

rtqd

-t

('l'r 'p11"", -utn,

!roJ

.qqd{tl

0U9 4N

'(#,)^eg ^ Aee

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t
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wrd

tc L,qluc'Jg'.,t

r/
t t't 'u,

Oqptt

2t2

GL'

D,rcHl'rg of F fr,

To writc thc cquation ofcquilibrium in the z dircction, thc t componentr

ofthc in-planc forccs must bc addcd to thc transvcrseshcar forccscaurcd by
bcnding. ihc lattcr wcrt obtaincd in Articlc 6.2-They arc givcn, accordiog to
Eqs-(6.a1 (6.8),and (6.9),bY

(#-,fk,+ffi)*+-

(5.1rl)

By using thc momcnt{urvaturc rclations in (6.33)' (6'34)' and (5'35)' this

exprcssioncan bc rcwrittcn in thc form

-o(!|+2ffi+ffi)

(6.112)

Corrbining (6.1l0) and (6.1l2), onc obtainsfor thc cquation of equilibrium

in the z dircction
0'n_ -d'r\ _
- -""ilxdy
- "'a'
v.P2 - fl.{g
2jv-*:0
"'
-.F,:.-E. '7d,w .-.,
dy,
Tf I
$:r.

(6.113)

At first glancc, Eq. (6.113) aPPcarsto be idcntical to Eq. (6.37)' the

equation of cquilibrium for small dcformations. Howcvcr, thcre is onc allimportant differcnce bctwccn thc two cquations. In Eq. (6-37) thc tcrms 1V''
fl, and /V,, reprcscnt constant applicd cdgc forces. Thc cquation is thus a
lincar differcntial cquation with constantcocmcicnts,and it has only onc
jvr and iV,, that apPcar
depcndcntvariablc, r. By comparison. thc tcrms .IV',
y.
They
rprcscntboth thc
and
in Eq. (6.113)are unknown functions of r
loads' Equation
cdge
applicd
variallc mcmbranc forces and thc constant
variablcs.rvand
dcpendent
(6.1l3) is thercforcnonlincar,and it containsfour
thc thrce in-planc forces.
Compatibihry
The cquationsof cquilibrium, (6.t04)' (6.105),and (5'113)derivcdin thc
previous scction contain four unknown functions N', N', N", and rv' To
ivaluatc thcsc functions, a fourth cquation is obviously nceded'The situation
is similar to that cncountcred in an indcterminatc structurc, whcre thc
equations of cquilibrium must bc suPplcmcntcdby one or more equations
dialing with thc dcformation of thc systcm in ordcr to cvaluate all thc
unknonrn forccs and displaccmcnts. In thc case of thc plate, thc additional
cquation is obtaincd by consideriog thc rniddle'surfacc strrin-displaccment
rclationships.
As indicated in Article 6-2, the displacemcntsr and , of a point (-r, y' z) in
thc platc consist of two parts: (l) tbc disPlscemcntzo and uo of thc corro'

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a.t tC ro Atd.tt

ucttt

flaO .Uu!!

tt'9'trJ

2ta

aacl,anJ ol Pm.8

-/
du^

/-

d y (o) Shcor sltoin clu lo uo ono vo

l_3w
3r

.1

'l
'

(b) Sheor siroin due to Y'

Shcar strain in platc-larep

Fig. Gz

dcflcctions'

onc ducto thc inthe normal strains,the shearstrain consistsof two Parts'
deflcction w'
transvcrse
to
the
zo and uoand the other due
oi"r"l"fota"i.ts
uo
is
and
t'ro
to
i. ii "uia"nt ftot Fig. G222,thc shear strain duc
.

uo , doo

6-E

(6.1r8)

the difcrcncc b:twccn

The shearstrain due to n'(Fig.6-22b) is cqual to
A' can be wnttcn as
B'O'
angle
"ii" nOe and angle B'O' A' . Accordingly'
- y. and,'l't'is giYenbY
(1t12)

(A'a'y- (o"t's'* (o'a'!'- z{o'$@4as($ - t)

(6'lre)

-sans (AI'9) 'bg pne 'r ol lcdsa: $!,n acr,ir (!l l'9) 'bf '.f ot rds.r qr!,$
.of.$l (9 t | '9) 'bI tunquaFJ:p ,{q a puEr s:rlq"uBAtql 4?u!IuI. u?c euo
'flsnocuqlnurls pa
ios .q lml[ tsIII
suollEnbr Jo r.qunu eqt npal mql puB su,$onlun aql Jo cuos 3ldnotun ol
alqsnsrp aroJalcgl sr U 'rnl,n ls.p ol aruosJaqEnt 'leAaaoq 'at" pugls ftql
sesuo4znbeaq1 'sluauaeldsp puz sitcloJlr,rrou:1untql IIs JoJc^los ol pesn
aq pFor pus 4qd aql ror^"gaq .ql aqgrsep {1ac1ducc suolr"nba ascqf,
Jo
'(901'9)
'sui\oulun
suopunbc
curu
mJu
uy
Jo Itt " 'lnlpsuo3 (lt'9) puE
'(t0l'9)
pu? '(ZZl'9) pu" 'Gl l'9) 'Ott'9) suotlEl.r
ct{l
suoBsnba
urnuqr[nbo
'(tzl'g) pus '(f?l'il '(Eat'il suolsseJdxg
lucut oBldslp-ulsrls eelln aql

(Nn-.MT:'-'

(szr'9)

u,t -,MT:*'

$zr'9)

"x6ffi:*t

Gzr'9)

'sr
's3rloJ aEFns-.lpprur
l"ql
surJtl u! po6f,aJdx3cq oslE lrst sula$s eosyns-3lpplur
iulpuodsarroo cql
Jo
esJe^suaJlaql Pu? slusurttsldstp aoeJrns-alpptur3ql
aq; ',n
luauoeld$p
.qr rl8l.r (ZZI'9)pu" '(tt l'9) '(91l'9) suoqEnbg
ol suErls oo":lrns-.Ipprur

(?zr'9)

9
-!*lL+ 9--,r.
!r,PttQ "aP "ng
sl u!s$s r8.qs .o8yns-.lPpru |alol cql sn:LL

(rzI'9)

{3r9:t
.re
e

roJ ,t: [i - (Z/n)Focl"$ Su*uaoo]

ssnpcr (5II'9)'bq'{ sqtu" JJBurs
{P x|t : 19,911,YP1
I

(mr'e)

xo

,\tpfi-

. {r\
*pfi)
* zrP: .(s,Y)
* zf,P

:
& .t
"t^6nP)+ z^P '\8 'o)

,(fr*) + zxP:z(,v,o)
qrrq/$ ul
nz

.a.td

to ^toltl

eola|tt

t t'9 'ru

o .a!u!l

er3
tt.dltirr.f

2-

'w

thso costbittcd to
ThG Fcautting cxprcssions erc
3ivcly with rcspcct to .x 'nd /'

-'#'ril
-'k,:\i#)'
*'i*
b

8rvc

(6.125)

I
Equation(6.126)is.aq*.T":,-.;fi
-.::'L"i: ;:Hift Iff ."rl-ffi
rorc:s- rY1r}',ijlf
in'planc
thc
for
so-lutlons
"::;';;
couilibriurn
to eqt
(5'126)in addition
o-ntytt " o"" that satisficsEq'
physical
il;;;,
tiJi ttt "otp"tiUlc with thc
lcads to continuous dispaccmcnti
constraints of thc systcm'
simulr of cquadons that must be solvcd
To funhcr reducc thc numbcl

..;;;:;;;;1"r"11:f
i';i;;]irt1;",:'#::?lHiil:J';::
a
b satisfiedifthc in-plane forces
(6.rn)
,,:r#i
nr:hA#,

*.,:-^!#
Eqs'
Making usc of thesccxprcssions'
rewrittcn as

(6.128)
(5.129)

(6'123)' (6'124)' and (6'125)can be

,-:*(Ii- rliil

i":+(r5-,r+)

,,^--\ttDj#

(6-130)
(6.13
t)
(6.132)

by:"1":.:Tg.,*;',.'",::H,':"l1tl:.|r3
Finary,
iil) il: 3liii T::
(o'll"'
(6r33)
arj+zffi+$f:,[(#)" -#y;

Eq. (6.126)atrd thosc rn

obtains

and

ofi+zffi +W- +(#,'#*';i';i

-,#&i#):"

(6.,34)

rtrust bc solvcd
number of e4uations that
We havc thus rcduccd thc

'bq p|I3 ,irroJ u.6oF sl uorigrdr. qqtrFs

srBJ.tur J sardxt ol pesn!! (l'9)
{q pe{o1dual"ql or rqlrls,Oa,r s1rgllon,(q pein $s&8u"
V'aurnirstl
',{trtut ur"Jls
aql 'd{ uI luBlstto.}/o3JrlqJBe$ urqqo ol s:rzrurmrsreq q3!q,$
'
'4r
3ql ioJ uorssaJdxcu" s3lu,n ualn 3q Pu?t Euh?H
P3unssaarn Jo surl3l
'o puB n urJoJeql Eulrnsss osl" Jo pE3lsul
ul J loJ (I'9) 'bg sa,rlos.q
Jo
'r{
eq olu3qso|lll a15 'er:antre11
s
saunss"
alduls
JoJ
uolssadra
lnq
'rtl.ql ol lds'r
,(q P3^oldrna sr a.rnpaoo.rd3lBJnqta arcul lBq,nauo v
q1,n ftreuo aql iuznnptur {q ,n pue 'a 'z u! $ualsuoc /gB4Iq!E eql *[BnI8^a
u3ql prre 'suolFrmJ as.nnJo sl[Ja1 u1 ur:1vb cql Jo ,{tlaue pqunod plor
'aldouud ,(trcua
aql secsardra'4( puB ? 'n .ro.;suorpun3 cldurls saurnss"cH
-unurrulur .ql Jo uoD?clldd? pr"xiroJlqtl?$s " uo p3sqs! s|s,(FrIas.olurqs
-oE!I '(tI'9'FX) rIIrtoA Pu" '(Ot'S::U) er.tmEl?t{ '(Z'l 'J:U) ereC pu8
olueqsourl ,(q pefoFrg uaeq sBq 'sturulosuoqs s.Janal aql lnor ,n os["
'uo|lnlos
's*(pue
Jo ad,(l rcqlouy
1nq
Is'|Jfinu cql usql 4amsB ssJI
'(6'9 'JeX) q3nsH pu" '(8'9 'JitU) tu.q3 '(l'9
'JcU) ,(^{,{q pculsno uce(le^sq lJos slql]o suollnlos 'slFs.u eql tzll]3u.E
or tFsglp s! r! 'pourBrqost selqslrB^ 3qt tuotnB uopqar 1n11drcou csnuceq
pu? 'suorl"ndutsJ {qfual sa,rlo,rur,{1lsnmlI lBql aJEuolln;os.;o addl slgl3o
'pe{nbcr sr ,bunme
s.Eelus^pEsry3|lJ, 'pasnaq $nur atngaooJdl?cutunu a
go :cpro qi;q e g1 '$s,(IBu" Jo spoqlcu elauntordd" foldue aroJareqllsnur
'uounlos tlroJ-posolt ltsx.
.uo 'snqdJo rohsq.q tslpltnqFod eqt fPn s oI
uB cl"r{ lou op I I'9 qrruv u! pc uap suolrrnbc oqd uoptgePsrrug .IlJ
uolpnpo.rtul

slt\nd olss3udv\locA]'lvlxv
to uonvHrs gNn)3n8fsod zl'9
'stuusldsJp
'(t '9) '(9 '9) suolFlar tursn
'9)
||
It
Jo sulrcr ur supgs :qr ssardre or (931 pu"
uaql pus sulBJlsJo sux'l ur s:rssa$s*t".Fns-elpptur cqt tulsseJdx. rq pcursrqo
'(S0l'9) '(tol'g) ttrnF
oq usr it{ pus 'c ., u.rsuogznba3o rs 8 '(ft I'9) pu8
qt|mbcgo suorpnbc ap qr1,t ilmuats ',n Puc 'o 'rt ul suonznbocenol snoeiel
-u?^ps s! r! 'stuarqdsry Jo suua ur pcgtods 3ra suolllPuot /ftspunoq
alr JJ 'qdursxs Jog 'esn |sl3utt uJ ,$ou .1" suotlgnbt uBurlg) uo^ 3qt
ucr rcqp suollsnbeapld puu'suollBnbe;o la6,(ue lsoutl" qlk\.{lt^uccge
aql '3s"t tql Jetuol
l"rp ol 1$ssod ll stlBrII .t3nduoc aq11o ,(111tqe1e,rP
ou 'ra^a/hoq'sJslql ',([3^Isnltxolsourls pasnala,t suolEnba u9uury uo^ aql
'nq;ssod sr p8duroJ s? suoFanbac ?q ol ,U?ssau sBA\lt pu" 3lqq!"^Bun
ara,n srnndruoc clrrorar{t se tuol sy 's4qd Jo tot^Bq3q uo[*tgePllug
aqr iqq;:csap JoJ pesn .q uec lrql suogenba.5o1cer(1uo3ql su".u ou ^q
'.rrF/$oq 'e.r,(eql '1n;aen,{ranue suonEnb3.scql 'suotlsnba elqd uolFcu3p
-.fuq u-prnJgXuo^ 3ql s" ol pa.ucJali(leurploicB atB ,(3gl puP 'uglsry) uo^
,(q pcluap Nrg ercin (tl'9) puB (Eg'9) suousnbg 'o,ril ol ^lsnocuqFntts
tgl

a.td

fc tc! ..PC tulfrtt

qrrod

zt','rrJ

28

Do.*tl6t

ch. 6

cf Pt t t

of u. Howcvcr, lhc arbitrrry cocmcicnt in w is cvaluatcd by using thc GC*kin

mcthod instcad of by minimizing thc cncrgy of lhc systcm. Thc csults
obtaincd by volmir are identical with thosc of Margucrre.
Thc thrrc mcthods havc onc important charactcristic in common: they all
lcad to a closcd-form solution. In othcr words, cach analysis Produccs an
crplicit cxprcssionfor thc latral deflcction and in-planc strcssasof tbc platc
in tcms of thc applicd loadiog. Thc solutions arc not ofa vcry high ordcr of
accuracy.Thcy do, howcvcr, cntail a minimum amount of numcrical work,
and they givc a fairly good picturc of thc csscntial charactcristics of thc
postbuckling proccss.
In this articlc wc shall considcr in dctail thc solution obtaincd by Volmir.
As indicated bcforc, thc mcthod of approach is to astumc a simplc function
for n, solvc Eq. (6.133)for f tn tcrms of w, and thcn cvaluatcthc arbitrary
constant in w by mcans of thc Galcrkin mctbod.

Analysis
Lct us considcrthc simply supportcdsquarcplatc subjcctcdto a uniaxial
comprcssionforct , shown in Fig. 623. The origin of the coordina& systcm

,'/

/i/

N,
Fig: 623 Simply supgodcd plat.
corDF!$cd iD r dircctiorl.

is assumedto bc located in thc lowcr lcft-hand corncr of the platc. Since a

finite-deflcdion analysisinvolvcs the deformations in the planc of thc middle
surfaccas wcll as transvcrscbcnding deflcctions,both in-planc and transvcrse
boundary conditions must be spccificd. Thc transvcrseboundary conditions
corrcsponding to simply supportcd edgcsare

*:#"-,

a tx : 0 , a

*:ud,-o

zt!:o,a

(6.135)

(?s@- I)l:rrufs

'(!Z s@

+ t)l : p,so

s:Drlucpr arlt Jo Ar^ urrplrlx\

Gr'9)

(#.q"
*'q.- k"*h,*)#o: # * # * ffr

s3^rt (t'9)
'bA ofut (ltl'g) ur uorssa.rdr:.gl
.J
Jo uopnlFsqns uollrunJ ss3rls.ql roJ
(I'9) 'bg e^los fx3u a^t ',1rJo uuoJ cql paunsse Eulrull .3tual tu{jlmqlsod
iln u! uonru.p eqt Jo uon"urxordd" poot ,(lrBJ E .q eJoJaF$ pFoqs
puu uglanq go luslsul eqt ls uoqlogep IrExe erfl slua$Jdal uorssaJdxast{L

(rsr'9)

ftwkwr:^

laql eirnss c^r snql 'uo.rtogtrp lBrrlul

aqt roJ uop.unJ alqqrns aJo tursooqr ein sr s$,(JeuBeqt ur de6 rrg eqa
'uossarduroJ uaqara,rqnod sr ",
l"qt saouap (9SI.9) .bA ul
utls a^q8tcu oql 'uorsun uaq,r!c,rnrsodse pcugep uacq fpuerJe s:q'1y eouJ5

Orr'9)

*'".1T-

snqt '-e fq ss.4s

uonsardqoc pq;ddu oql
qorrap
3nlBA
cturela
3ql
.irr
.xnrrnrr^uoc
JoJ
Jo
'aurqcrur iugscl;o ad[1 uolleur:o3ap pcllo{uoJ
B u!
pessaJduocs! 4utd eqlJr ptzllBal sr uolllpuor slql .uorlicJlp f aql u! luBtsuo3
unor.n ,t lrrrurarqdqp aq1pq1 {1uo .pcol pc{dd" cql Jo uoqnquslp aq1tul
-FdeJ peurnss8sr turqlou 'pouiecuoJ rJ" ? .0 : x .s:Epc papeol eq1su .re3
sy 'orez o1 pnbc aq lmru31es1r'ig 1oupuu .193o cnp,r a8zra^" aql ,(luo snql
lqire.qs uruurarIaql l"rll pcpr^oJd.3^ourol p.llluuad aru seipa aq1ceecrno
ut '0 : ? 'sr l?qf 'ssa4s,(uEaq louuro .Jaql lur?Isar o'rz JoJpup .0 : a .sr
1eqt 'JaaosJaq,htuauslout ou .q ueJ aJeqtlsJx. ol fl.xg lslot JoJ .luJelser
oJa Jo arE eql pue ,(pxg lstol Jo s"r a$ uc.r,nlaquo0rpuoc ,OsrporsJ4ur
u"""""
slus.eldar D 'O: f, sstpo rql tuot" lslxo ol pcutnss lululsal .qI
'uorparrp
.0
/
cqt
ut
e^ou
ot
:
a.uJ
.1"
?
tr
srepc
cql .
'ne1d
cq13o
s.Epr
lnoJ
qsruz,r.'11
3ql
tuop
sco.lo3
&.rls.qI .Z
'EZ.9'EfJ ut srurl
.turpucq tuunp
lnrls"p cqt ,(q pozcrpur s"
arJFnoJqntuEpcr sl! sulelat ctsld aqr pus lqtp:ts ul"uar s.tpc ttv .t
:3DBIU iU?

suondnrn$s tunolloJ aql 'suorlrpuoc &"punoq auqd-ur cqt or p.rui:r q1r11

&

ryrd

tc q..t

at.g .tt,

C a.lF?tt9r.oC

2n

a.&ltrt

ol Pt la

can bc rcduccd to

tf+ zffi+!i:n#(**+"*})

(6.r3e)

Thc solution of this cqurtion consisG of a complcmcntary and a particular

part. That is,
F:

F,* F,

To obtain thc complcmcntary solution of Eq. (6.139),onc sctsthc right-hand

sidc of the cquation cqual to zero. But this is cquiyalcnt to lctting w : 0.
Thus the complcmcntarysolution of (6.139)corrcspondsto thc in-planc
strcss distribution that cxists in the platc just prior to buckling. At that
iDstant thc in-plane strrsscsarc known to consist of a uniform strcss/V, and
N , : N ,, - 0- Hcnce a complcmcntary solution of (6.l 39) is

(6.140)

F, : Ayz
In vicw of Eq. (6.127)and the fact tbat /v,:
written as

-a-h,

F4. (6.140)can be rc-

o,.y2
-T

(6.141)

Having cstablished tbat the complcmcntary. solution rcprcsents the inplatrestress.

distribution that cxistsprior to buckling, it is obviousthat the
particular solution corrspondsto the changcsin the in-planc strcssdistribution that result fron buckling. Considcring thc form of thc rigbt-htnd sidc of
Eq. (6.139),thc particular solution can be wrilten as
1--

\:

BClsf,+

)--

C cos-

G.r42)

Substituting this cxprcssion into (6.139) and cquating cocfficicnrs of likc

tcrms, onc obtains

":C:E+
Thus

",:#(**+-.?)

(6.143)
(6.r4)

and the complctc solution of Eq. (6.139) is

r-E$(*42+, +)-"{

(6.145)

o:xp&w"J ,+-'r*o,*"J
I o

('*

pu"

D
0
o
\ 7
roz-*J i - ;7 ru.sE so

'/$IldurE taqunJ oI
lsql .tou aA\
o

of

l- o
o- l.tP;:rrtwfri'*.J *

+ft "w!or*'.1)
* u,+u- +(fur " - dn)
ot (ett'C) 'bg onPer uaea,n
o f

o
7
; : rPtt ztqs I

.r,og* "", Jo.sn tuJt'hl

,*iu,

,
flo
0 : {P {P L(& .uF it ruls Aq soo+
D

(8rr'9)

"
(fi"+"S".r)($!,t..o- #Tr)1".1
J
usoJ 3ql s.)lsl uotpnbc q:llepg

0rr'9)

cq1 pue

i-,u"ft*ffir'"
(&,**&*)ffi-dr):un

'fl
.q u"t (t)d 'l tol Glt'g') puP ,r roJ (l l'9) tuInIFqnS
se Ftr3uu.r\
Jo
'r)t puu (99 '9) 'bg
uEd alqquB^ .ql sr (,{
1
Jo aprspu8q-ga1aqt st (/)@ llaqn

s : dpxpQ('x)t(Ib"J".l

(9'I'e)

r[JoJ flF s3lsl uouunbe uqrcpg .ql uolltlaplsuot

rapun uqgoJd rql rol '8'z tplriv ur p"ulllno poqt3utuplrtl"g} .qlJo suE:tru
fq (tl'9)'ba e^los ol sl das lssl stql lno eut^raJo ^8,$pcllp Pu" cldutls
ul / lualtucot 3ql Jo uorEnl"^a
{le,ute|3r V {tI'9) 'bg ql1,n ou?proc
aql 'uollEnu"t 1eug euo suJ"urcJ alcrll J' JoJ uols$rdxa tulpuodsauoc
'tr
" poulslqo a ?q t^r ([E f '9) 'bA tu!,gsu"s ,(q pu" roJ uo.rssaldxeuB Ptunss"
'lurod sql ot dn
a Bq ./|\.p3rqduor uaeq anuqsts,(1uuseql u! sdas o^u
tSZ wH

tc to! .,t a c4t6 rrcrtoJ

at't'ru

t2

a,t&it t .t ,r.t

Thus wc obtain

$-"*r!',ffi:o
from which

oz:

4Dr' -r Ef
-&i fz
a;r

on:

, hzf,
od -l6

(6.r49)

since4Dn2lha2 is thc critical strcssof thc Platc.

Equation (6-149)givcs thc rclationship bctwccn thc avcragcapplicd stress
r- and thc maximum latcral dcflcction/subscqucnt to thc onsct of buckling.
A graphicalrcprescntationof the rclationshipis shownin Fig.624. As one

Frg.624 Lord-dcfl.ction curvc for

postbuctlilg rr8ion,

would cxpect,thc platc bcgins to dcflct lateratly at thc critical load prcdictcd
by the lincar theory- Bcyond that point, as long as tle latcral dcffcction is
infinitcsinally small, thc stiFness of thc platc is zcro i that is, thc loaddeflection curvc has a zcro slopc. Howcvcr, as soon as thc latcral deflection
bccomcsfinite, thc stiffncss starts to incrcasc and continucs to do so as the
deflcction grows. It is thus possiblefor thc platc to rcsist axial loads in cxccss
of thc critical load subscqucntto buckling. This characteristic of thc Platc,
known as postbuckling strcngth, is of cxtrcme inponance in thin-walled
structurcs. Bccauscof it, thin platcs, evcn though thcy may bucklc at vcry
small strcsscs,are able to rcsist sizeableloads without collaPsing. Thc Postbuckling bchavior of thc plate is thus complctely diffcrcnt from that of the
column.Whcreasthe column collapscsas soonas thc critical load is reached,
thc plate continucsto resistload subsqucntto thc onst of buckling, and
failure may not occur until thc applied load is considcrably in cxccssof the
critical load.

rru" nqd qr Jo qDr.^r n sloJ.rElrxrt^ 'tulpl'rq Jo r.suo cql ol dn ||IgNuos

01 ,oud p3$rxa 3uou
3"/$ rl'lqlll -, 'ssans IsuJpn16uol ertl PUE:tulHtq
sEaraq!$Suruflrq ol luarb$qns luacerd d,'srss3$s esJc^suBJlal" aql
'lueJ?dd?aJ" s[3raJlP
tgrlusss3o,tl'tulppnq ol Joud Pflslxa lsql scss:|4s
'{[tr

tlrlnrrqr$d

u! uoDnqFr$ps..rfs

fUt ?!

.sJsasu?Jtpus JBulpnl|tuol eql qtt^r '3as14srs:rql suEdnrqr ruo JI .sz9 .t!l

u! psDolduaoqs arB(zfl'9) puB (tgI.9) ur uo^tt suoqnqlr$lp ss34s3qI

ft*<-o --o.':'"

(zsr'9)

cq o1 punoSsl 'a ss.Jls asJalsusl aq1.fgepurg

(rsr'9)

&*r-"

--o) y'o:.e

snqr

('" -*4#: "I

(6rt'9) uorl

o
.D9
.to
-o'r4izwffi:rt-:'o

(osr'9)

sr ', ssarlsFurpnlfuol
aqJ 'tulpl q ol lucnbasqnslsrxa lBql srtsaulsco"yns-alpptut cr{t JaprsuoJol
.,lressuu sr 1r'q1iuer1stuqplcnqlsod slqrqra e1u1dap f q/t\ pu"tsJapunoI
g6l

-r4d

to to!^.,pg

at't 't4

tctEonqatod

4ta

tocktint o, Pt t,

ch. 6

buckling has bcgun. Thc transvcrscstrcsscsthat atc prescnt in thc po,6tbuckling rangc vary from a mlximum cornPr6sion str6s at thc cdgcr .r - 0, a to
a rnaximum tcnsion strcssat the ccntcr of thc platc. Ofthcsc thc tcnsion strcss
is by far thc more important. Its prcsncctcnds to stificn thc platc against
lateral dcflcction and to prevcnt collapsc from occurring lftcr thc citical load
has bccn rcachcd. Thc postbuckling strcngth sxhibitcd by thc Platc can thus
bc attributcd to thc middlc-surfacetensile strcss,d,, that ariscs subscqucntto
thc onsctof buckling.
Prior to buckling, all longitudinal fibcrs havc thc samcstiffncss,and the
applicd strcssis uniformly distributcd acrossthc width ofthc Platc. Howcvcr,
in thc dcformcd configuration subscqucntto buckling, the fibers near thc sup
portcd cdgcshavc a Srcatcr rcsistanceto latcral dcflction than do thosc in
thc cntcr ofthe platc. Thc longitudinal strcsscsin thc postbuckling rangeare
tbcrfore distributcd acrossthc width of thc platc, as indicated in Fig. G25.
They vary from a maximumat thc edgcs-y : 0, a to a minimum at thc ccntcr
of thc platc. A major portion of thc incrcascin load that takcs placc subsequcnt to buclling is thus rcsistcd by thc rclativcly stitr Portion of the platc
adjaccntto thc longitudinalcdges.
Thc forcgoing rcsults arc bascd on an aPproximate analysisand therefore
For example,a preciscinvcstigationwould
containsomeminor inaccuracies.
stresses
exist in addition to transvcrsetensile
in-plane
shear
that
indicate
A
vcry
accurateanalysiswould also show
begun.
buckling
has
after
stresscs
variations in c, and r, that the simplificd analysiswas unable to detet.
However,rcgardingthe basic aspcctsof thc posrbucklingProcess'nothing
new would be lcarned by carrying out a more refincd study than that
presentedhere.The main conclusionswould still be that
l - Platescancontinueto carry increasingload subscqucntto reachingthc
critical strcss; that is, thcy cxhibit postbuckling strngth.
2. Transvenc tensilc stresscsthat ariss subscquentto thc start of buckling
arc primarily rcsponsiblefor the prcsenceof postbuckling strength in
platcs.
3. The material ncar the longitudinal cdgesof the platc rGfuts most of thc
increascin load that occurs in the Postbuckling rangc.
6.13 ULTIMATESTRENGTHOF
AXIALLY COMPRESSEOPLATES
In Aniclc 6.12it was shownthat Platesdo not fail when the critical load is
rcached. Instead, they arc ablc to support incrcasing axial load well beyond
the instant at which buckling begins-To make us of this postbuckling
to know at what load collapsc
srcngth in the dcsignof plates,it is neccssary

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'{f,,',t''or

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of po.tbuckling $llnlth pc.cnt in a platc, incrca:cs as lhc ntio a../c,

d.rlc.scs. In othcr wordq rclativcly thick platca th.t bucklc et a hiSh 3trcas
rod bcgin to yicld very soon thcraftr do not crhibit a 3iSnificantarnount of
poctbrrckling strngth, whcrc.s Flativcly thin platcs rhat buctlc at a low
strc.s asd do not yicld until nuch latcr can bc cxpcccd to havc conridcnblc
pGrbucklins strcnglh.
Thc approrimatc rclation givcn in (6.t55) is adequbte for providing ur
with a gcncral picturc of poctbuckling strcngth in platca Howevcr, a nott
rcfincd exprcssionis irccdcd for dcsign purposs.To dcvclop rrh a rtlation
from th actual nonuniform stressdistribution lhat cxists in a platc, as was
donc abovc, is usually not practical. Imtead, it is customary to cnPloy thc
cooccptofan c1/ crivenidri introduccd by von Kdrm{n, Sochlcr,and Donncll
(Rd.5.12) in 1932.As showain Fig. 627, thc actual nonuniform strcssthat
Acluol ionunilorh
it,rssditribution

Equir,olcnlunibrm
$ra3tdislribltion

1
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b-l

Fb 6t7 mcdiw-widrh coocrpt for

d.tcrminirt poctbuallint strlotth.

actsovcr thc cntire widlh ofthc plate, 6, is replaccdby an cquivalcnt uniform

str6s distribucd ovcr a rcduccd cffcctive width, d. Thc magnitudc of rhe
uniform strcssis assumcdto bc cqual to thc actual strcsscxisting at thc cdge
ofthc platc, and thc two rcctanglcsof width D./2are assumedto have ihc samc
arca as thc sctual 3tressdisrdbution. Thus thc ultimatc load carricd by thc
plate is
P.:

b,to'

(5.r56)

To evaluatcP by mcansof Eg. (6.156),an expressionfor D. is nccdcd.

Von Kdrmd.n suggcstcd thc following approximatc rclation for simply
supportcd platcs:

,,:rc

(6.154

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tulrpo'

paot tct.uc!.!^otA

.rt!..O

,t't

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29t

ao&Lrt.r

Ct.a

PLrt

Thc limit on thc widthterhickncss ratio nccrssaryto pn|ent lcel brckling

is thus sccn to dcpcnd on thc pl.tc'buclling cocficicnt and on thc yicld
strrngth. For a flangc of an anglc it is customary to sssuElconc cdge to bc
simply supportcd and onc frce. Thus /< - 0.425, and thc limiting cxprcssion
for D/r bcconcs

i.#
To cnsurc that failurc of an actual mcmbcr conrsining initisl impcrfcclions
and rcsidual strcsscsis overall and not local, the prcceding requirmcnt for
6/r is rcduccdin thc 1969AISC spccifications(Rcf. l.l7) to

i.ft

(6.161)

To obtain thc corrcsponding dcsign ctitcria for thc frangc of a box

section, onc substitutcs the plate-buckling coeficient for simPlc supports
along both unloadcd edgcs,/< : 4.0, into Eq. (6.160). Tbus
.

b _ 322

t-7,

which is rcduced in tbc AISC spociications to

*.#

(6.162)

Thc small ,/t ratios commonly found in hot'rollcd sections make it

fcasiblc to cnsurc that ovcrall failurc ocgursprior to local buckling in most
ofthesc shapcs.Howevcr, thin-wallcd scctionslikc those uscd in cold-fonned
steel construction and aircraft framing arc conposcd of clcmcnts with rclativcly targewidth-to.thickncss ratios. In thcseshapesit is well nighinpossible
to prcvcnt local buckling from taking place Prior to ovcrall failurc, and the
allowablc strcssis accordingly bascd on thc local buckling strcssand on the
postbuckling strcngth.
Depcnding on thc manncr in which the platc elcmcnts of a scc'tion arc
supportcd along thcir longitudinal cdgcg two typcs of clcmcnts arc distinguished. Platcs supportcd along both cdges arc rcfcrrcd to Ls stifencd
ebments ,rrld platcs supportad along only onc edge are callcd unstifened
elements.A distinction bctwccn unstiffcncd and stifrencd clcmcnts is made
bcauseunstiffcncd clementscxhibit considerably lcss postbuckling strcngth
than stiffened clcmcnts. Accordingly, the allowable stressof unstifrencd clements is obtaincd by dividing the local buckling strcssby a suitable safcty
factor. whercas thc allowablc load of a stiffcncd clcmcnt is bascd on thc

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'A Unified Thcory of Phstic Buctling of Column5 md

6 . t 7 E. Z sro$E4
A.lCs,- NACA x4port-.rvo. E9E,w.shin4orL D.C., 194t.

Problamt

6.1 Dctcrmil|G thc critical looding for a simply supportcd,.lquac platc lo.dcd io
two pcrpcodicllrr dircctions by uniformly distriburcd loa& es shown in Fig
PGl. Obtrin.n cr|ct solution by 3olving thc aowming difrqrotirl Gqudion
(N., - lrz DIa').

l--"-l

II

I
Fi& F

Using the cnerry method, dctcrminc the critical loadilg ofa simply supportcd,
squarc platc loadrd iD the r dirction by a lincarly varying distributcd load,
as shown ir Fig. P62.

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l__o----.l

t+i

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*-l

ir

Fb: F62

UsiDg thc mcthod of finit diffcrrnccs, dcrcrmine thc critical loading of a

squarc platc, simply supportEd aloDg two oppositr cdgEsard cla[rpcd along
thc othcr two cdgcs. Thc platc is loadcd by a uniformly distributcd load ,V,

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au',r',im.rPt a6

6''

-l lh
cr&nsional apring of stifrncls t(. For $nru lrtcral dcicc,tion3 thc cfy
(P..
4cla)
cxtcnEiond sprinF cen bc ncglcctcd.
Using thc modct in Fig. P6'4, obtain and plot rclationshiF for th' lodt rtrr
thc latrral dc6clion d whcn
(a) thc tatcrel ddcclior is large,
to lb
iui ttr" Lt rat ooO."tion is L4rgEand thc loa& arc applidt Gccafiicrlly
planc of thc undcformcd modcl.
wnich fundamcntal buckling charactcristics of an astual plate arc dm'
statcd by rJr6c models? (Notc: For lar8p dc0actions thc crlcrsr in thc cr|.D'
sioDal spriDgt must be considcred.)