The buckling of an orthotropic layer on a half-space

The buckling of an orthotropic layer bonded to an isotropic or orthotropic half-space subjected to compression loading under plane strain is presented. Mechanics of incremental deformation, which considers the effect of the initial stress field on the incremental stress field, is applied to describe the buckling behavior of both the layer and the half-space. The problem is converted to an eigenvalue-eigenvector case, from which the critical buckling strains or stresses are obtained and the effect of orthotropy on buckling is assessed. The results show that the effect of orthotropy becomes more obvious when the modulus ratio, the ratio of longitudinal moduli of the layer to the half-space, is less and that approximating the problem by using isotropic properties for both the layer and the half-space will be unconservative and may cause unexpected failure. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.