LAUSR

The present work focuses on the effect of rotational restraints on the shear buckling of symmetrically laminated curved composite panels. The Sanders–Koiter shell theory and a first-order shear deformation scheme were used for the mathematical representation of the deformation kinematics of cylindrical shells. The eigenvalue buckling equations were obtained using the principle of minimum total potential energy and by employing the Ritz method. The solution for the deformed shape was approximated as a series of trigonometric functions compatible with the essential boundary conditions of the problem. The effect of the rotational and torsional springs was incorporated by adding their corresponding potential energy to the total potential energy of the panel-loading system. Using the developed formulation, the effect of the influential parameters such as aspect ratio, panel curvature and restraint stiffness on the buckling strength of a specific class of laminates was studied extensively. To present the results in a more insightful manner, non-dimensional parameters were used in parametric studies. To normalize the effect of torsional elements, a new non-dimensional parameter was introduced.