Bending and buckling of a generally laminated composite beam-column

This article reports the structural responses of generally laminated composite columns subjected to uni-axial compression and transverse load. Closed-form expressions were developed and are presented in this contribution to analyse buckling and bending responses of generally laminated composite beams with various boundary supports. The expressions were developed using a combination of the Euler-Bernoulli beam and the classical lamination theory. In addition, the results of a complementary experimental study are presented and are used to validate the analytical models. The comparison of the analytical results with the experimental results shows good correlation in general. Some interesting preliminary results obtained in the analysis of the beam-column are also presented, noted, and discussed.