BUCKLING ANALYSIS OF LAMINATED COMPOSITE CONICAL SHELLS

Eight first-order differential equations in terms of a particularly convenient coordinate system are obtained for linear buckling analysis of laminated conical shells, with orthotropic stretching-bending coupling, under axial compressive load. These equations are solved by using the numerical integration technique and the multisegment method. By analyzing the buckling of a series of conical shells, the effects of boundary conditions, elastic coefficients and the stretching-bending coupling, on the buckling loads and circumferential wavenumbers, are investigated.