Chapter 2

Literature Review

Stability studies of composite plates is an active and advanced field of research. Among the various
composites, Fibre reinforced polymer(FRP) composite is the most widely used for study because
of their superior properties such as high strength , light weight and many other attractive dynamic
characteristics such as damping and high stiffness. In the field of laminated composite plates
incorporating cutouts extensive research was done in the past three decades covering various
aspects and parameters. There have been a few studies on buckling analysis of laminated
composite plates with cutout under linearly varying loads. Some of the previous studies have been
summarized below.
Buckling of laminated composite plates using higher-order shear deformation theory is
investigated by Qing-Qing Ni et al [1]. In the buckling analysis of laminated composite plates,
classical thin plate theory is mainly used due to its analytical simplicity without considering the
out-of-plane shear deformation. However, recent researches have verified that this simplification
has resulted in a significant difference of analytical results. To overcome this difference, several
shear deformation theories have been proposed. In this paper, a higher-order shear deformation
plate theory was used, and buckling loads under various edge supports were calculated accurately.
Hsuan-Teh Hu & Bor-Horng Lin [2] studied buckling of symmetrically laminated plates with
various geometries and end conditions using ABAQUS. The buckling resistance of symmetrically
laminated plates with a given material system and subjected to uniaxial compression is studied.
Significant influence of plate thicknesses, aspect ratios, central circular cutouts and end conditions
on the optimal fiber orientations and the associated optimal buckling loads of symmetrically
laminated plates are found.
Ghannadpour et al [3] studied the buckling behavior of cross-ply laminated composite plates with
circular/ elliptical cutouts under uni-axial compression by finite element analysis using first order
shear deformation theory. They studied the effects of a cutout on the buckling behavior of
rectangular plates made of polymer matrix composites. The effect of cutout size, shape, plate
aspect ratio and boundary conditions are studied.

Husan Qablan et al [4] investigated the behavior of square composite plates with circular cutout
subjected to shear load, uniaxial load and biaxial load using ABAQUS. The effect of cutout size,
location of cutout and fibre orientation is studied. The reduction in the buckling load due to the
increase of cutout was significant in the case of shear loading as compared to uniaxial and biaxial
compression. For relatively small size cutouts, a better performance was achieved if the cutout is
kept close to the edge of the plate, however, for relatively large size cutouts, a higher buckling
load is achieved if the cutout is kept in the middle of the plate.
Lakshmi Narayana et al [5] carried out buckling analysis of quasi isotropic laminated composite
plates with rectangular and square cutout under varying edge loads. The effects of size of
square/rectangular, cutout orientation, plate aspect ratio(a/b), plate length/thickness ratio(a/t) and
boundary conditions on the buckling behaviour of symmetrically laminated rectangular composite
plates subjected to various linearly varying in-plane compressive loading is studied.
Eiblmeier and Loughlan [6] used fem to find the effect of different size of cutouts, with various
types of reinforcements boundary conditions and width of the circular reinforcement rings on the
buckling behaviour of symmetrically laminated CFRP square panels.
Panda and Ramachandra [7] studied the effects of boundary conditions, non-uniform in-plane
loading, plate aspect ratio and length/thickness ratio on the buckling behavior of rectangular
composite plates without cutout.
Dinesh and Singh [8] investigated the effects of different boundary conditions on buckling and
post buckling of uni-axially compressed quasi-isotropic laminated plate with various shaped
cutouts of various sizes using the finite element method.
Srivastava and Singh [9] studied the effect of aspect ratio on buckling of composite plates.
Nemeth [10] carried out buckling analysis of infinitely long symmetrically laminated
graphite/epoxy composite plates that are subjected to linearly varying edge loads, uniform shear
loads or combination of these loads.