Comparison of the Post-Buckling Behavior of Metallic and Composite Plates with Centrally Located Cutouts

摘要

An experimental investigation of the post-buckling characteristics of aluminum graphite/epoxy, and graphite/PEEK square flat panels with centrally located circular holes is presented. A post-buckling test fixture was designed and constructed to determine compressive buckling, post-buckling, and failure mechanics of these flat panels. The in-plane boundary conditions of the test panels were those of clamped on the loaded edges and simply supported on the unloaded edges. Experimental results indicate that both the metallic and composite panels have significant post-buckling strengths and load-carrying capabilities will beyond their initial buckling loads. The mode shapes of the buckling and post-buckling deformations, as well as, the ultimate loads obtained for the composite plates were similar in many respects to their aluminum counterparts. The results of an analytical study of the structural response, using a finite element analysis utilizing the geometric and material nonlinear capability of the MSC/NASTRAN computer code, were compared with the experimental measurements.