Compression and shear buckling performance of finite length plates with bending-twisting coupling

This article investigates the compression and shear buckling performance of finite length Bending-Twisting coupled laminated plates with simply supported edges. New contour maps are developed, representing non-dimensional buckling factors, which are superimposed on the lamination parameter design spaces for laminates with standard ply orientations. Changes in buckling mode for finite length plates complicate the contour maps, which are shown to be continuous only within discrete regions of the lamination parameter design space and are strongly influenced by plate aspect ratio. The contour maps also serve to demonstrate the degrading effect of Bending-Twisting coupling on compression buckling performance as well as providing new insights into shear buckling performance improvements, including optima that are non-intuitive. The adoption of two recently developed laminate databases, to which common design rules are now applied, including ply percentages and ply contiguity constraints, ensure that the conclusions drawn are based on practical rather than hypothetical designs.