Buckling analysis of laminated composite plates with an elliptical/circular cutout using FEM

In this study, a buckling analysis was carried out of a woven-glass-polyester laminated composite plate with an circular/elliptical hole, numerically. In the analysis, finite element method (FEM) was applied to perform parametric studies on various plates based on the shape and position of the elliptical hole. This study addressed the effects of an elliptical/circular cutout on the buckling load of square composite plates. The laminated composite plates were arranged as symmetric cross-ply [(0 degrees/90 degrees)(2)](s), and angleply [(15 degrees/-75 degrees)(2)](s), [(30 degrees/-60 degrees)(2)](s), [(45 degrees/-45 degrees)(2)](s). The results show that buckling loads are decreased by increasing both c/a and b/a ratios. The increasing of hole positioned angle cause to decrease of buckling loads. Additionally, the cross-ply composite plate is stronger than all other analyzed angle-ply laminated plates. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.