Buckling and Postbuckling of Composite Plates

This book summarizes research into the buckling and postbuckling response of laminate plates made of long-fibre reinforced plastics, eg. CFRP and GFRP. It reviews the theoretical, numerical and experimental devleopments that have taken place over the past twenty-five years in the field of laminated plate buckling response. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 covers the underlying plate buckling theory. Part 2 covers three major numerical techniques (Series/Ritz, Finite Element and Finite Strip) and their application to laminated plate buckling analysis. Part 3 describes a variety of important "complicating effects", such as shear deformation and delaminations, and their influence on buckling response. Part 4 focuses on experimental studies of the buckling of panels in compression. Individual chapters are written by leading experts in the field and will serve as an important source reference for future research developments in laminated plate buckling response. "Buckling and Postbuckling of Composite Plates" should be of interest to academics, research and design engineers and post graduate students working in the field of advanced composite structures.This book should be of interest to all those involved in composite research/development with particular emphasis on engineering applications.