ELASTIC INSTABILITY OF AN ORTHOTROPIC ELLIPTIC PLATE

On the basis of von Kármán equations and using the general bifurcation theory,theelastic instability of an orthotropic elliptic plate whose edge is subjected to a uniform planecompression is discussed.Following the well-known Liapunov-Schmidt process theexistance of bifurcation solution at a simple eigenvalue is shown and the asymptoticexpression is obtained by means of the perturbation expansion with a small parameter.Finally,by using the finite element method,the critical loads of the plate are computed andthe post-buckling behavior is analysed.And also the effect of material and geometric parameters on the stability is studied.