On the buckling behavior of cross-ply laminated composite plates due to circular/elliptical cutouts

Cutouts are often found in composite structures. These are provided in structural components for ventilation and sometime to lighten the structure. In aircraft components (such as wing, spar, fuselage and ribs) cutouts are necessary for access, inspection, electric lines and fuel lines or to reduce the overall weight of the aircraft. This paper addresses the effects of a cutout on the buckling behavior of rectangular plates made of polymer matrix composites (PMC). The study is concentrated on the behavior of rectangular symmetric cross-ply laminates. The loaded while in order to study the effect of boundary condition, the unloaded edges are modeled in clamped and simply supported boundary condition. Finite element analysis is also performed to predict the effects of cutout on the buckling behavior of these plates. Several key findings and behavioral characteristics are discussed. These findings include the effects of cutout size, shape, plate aspect ratio and boundary conditions. Some overall important findings of these studies are that plates that have a cutout can buckle at loads higher than the buckling loads for corresponding plates without a cutout. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.