Prop imperfection effects on the one-way buckling of plates

A plate carrying a significant transverse pressure or self-weight and subjected to biaxial in-plane compression while lying on a rigid supporting plane may buckle by lifting away from the rigid constraint, an example of ' one-way ' buckling. The isolated circular buckles or ' blisters ' that form are a two-dimensional analogue of the more familiar one-dimensional upheaval buckling of railway tracks and pipelines. These buckles can be initiated from simple imperfections in the form of point supports or props. The development of upheaval buckling from prop imperfections in plates is examined. As a means of increasing buckling loads, the control of prop sizes in fabrication processes is recommended. The work has applications including the behaviour of thermally loaded linings to pressure vessels, including (as a limiting case) lined pipelines where the liner radius is large compared with the liner thickness.