Abstract
This paper investigates the buckling analysis of simply supported symmetrically thin and thick composite plates. Using the Hamilton’s principle, the governing equation for thin and thick composite plates is derived. The equation of motion for thin and thick laminated rectangular plates subjected to in-plane loads is obtained with the help of Hamilton’s principle. The loading conditions of rectangular plate are uniaxial and biaxial compression. Considering the Navier solution technique, closed form solutions are attained and buckling loads are found by solving the eigenvalue problems. In this study, the effect of edge ratios and anisotropy on the buckling analysis of rectangular plate was investigated. The computer programs have been written separately with the help of Mathematica (MATHEMATICA 2017) program for the solution of the buckling analysis of laminated composite plates. Results of the numerical studies for the buckling of laminated composite plates (LCP) are demonstrated and benchmarked with former studies in the literature and ANSYS finite element methods.