Postbuckling Behavior of Composite Laminated Plates with Initial Imperfections under Biaxial Compression

Advanced fiber-reinforced laminated plates have been used for structural members in various fields, by virtue of their high specific strength and stiffness. This paper considers, by use of Galerkin’s methods, the postbuckling behaviors of angle-ply laminated plates with initial deflection under biaxial compression that is simply supported along four edges. The inevitability of postbuckling behaviors is proved analytically, and the effects of various factors, such as initial imperfection, lamination angle, biaxial compressive load ratio, and postbuckling deflection pattern, are clarified.