EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE DELAMINATIONS ON COMPRESSIVE BUCKLING BEHAVIORS OF COMPOSITE PANELS

Compressive buckling stability of composite panels with through-width, equally spaced multiple delaminations are investigated analytically and experimentally. An analytical method is formulated on the basis of Rayleigh-Ritz approximation technique. Timoshenko type shear effects are included. An experiment and a finite element analysis are also conducted on the present model. The analytical results agree very well with the experimental and finite element results. The buckling load, which is the compressive strength of the panel in the case of the present model, reduces significantly due to the existence of multiple delaminations. The mechanism causing the significant loss of the compressive buckling load due to the delaminations is well explained.