In-plane impact-induced elastic buckling behaviour of rectangular transversally isotropic stiffened plates with all edges elastically restrained against rotation

An analytical method is proposed using the large-deflection theory of thin plates to determine the in-plane impact-induced dynamic elastic buckling behaviour of rectangular transversally isotropic stiffened plates with all edges elastically restrained against rotation. Displacement functions expressed by Navier's double Fourier series satisfy both the elastic boundary conditions and the governing equations of motion. First, the dynamic responses of a rectangular simple-supported plate and a stiffened plate predicted by the present method are compared to those available from literature and finite element results, and good agreement of the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. Next, parametric studies are performed in which the effects of rotational restraint stiffness, initial imperfection and impact duration on the dynamic deflection as well as the critical buckling load of the stiffened plates are investigated. The results show that rotational restraint stiffness has a significant impact on the dynamic elastic buckling behaviour of the stiffened plate under in-plane impact loading and thus cannot be neglected.