Development of a finite strip method for efficient prediction of buckling and post-buckling in composite laminates containing a cutout with/without stiffener

摘要

One of the main methods for improving the strength of the notched laminates, which are commonly used in the engineering structures, is to employ a stringer in a proper configuration. To optimize the design of these perforated laminates under compression loading, accurate characterization of the effects of various parameters on the instability behavior plays a significant role. For this purpose, after a review on the main previous researches, a semi-energy finite strip method (SE-FSM) is developed in the framework of nonlinear deformation to analyze the buckling behavior of stiffened/unstiffened laminated composites having a circular notch. The developed SE-FSM is based on the semi-analytical solution of von Karman's equations via Airy stress function and has the advantage of great versatility like the finite element method (FEM) and good economy like the Rayleigh-Ritz method. To verify the developed method and to examine the influence of various parameters (the thickness of specimen, the diameter of the hole and the thickness of stiffener) on the buckling behavior, a detailed experimental parametric study is performed and the extracted results are compared with those of the developed SE-FSM, the full-energy FSM and FEM. High accuracy and fast convergence of the developed method show its computational efficiency for prediction of stability behavior of composite laminates.