Post-buckling of Geometrically Imperfect Shear-Deformable Flat Panels Under Combined Thermal and Compressive Edge Loadings

The static post-buckling of simply-supported flat panels exposed to a stationary nonuniform temperature field and subjected ’to a system of subcritical in-plane compressive edge loads is investigated. The study is performed within a refined theory of composite laminated plates incorporating the effect of transverse shear and the geometric nonlinearities. The influence played by a number of effects, among them transverse shear deformation, initial geometric imperfections, the character of the in-plane boundary conditions and thickness ratio are studied and a series of conclusions are outlined. The influence played by the complete temperature field (i.e., the uniform through thickness and thickness-wise gradient) as compared to the one induced by only the uniform one, is discussed and the peculiarities of the resulting post-buckling behaviors are enlightened.