Effect of Varying Ιn-Plane Loads and Cutout Size on Buckling Behavior of Laminated Panels

Theoretical solutions for buckling problems of laminated panels under uniform in-plane edge loads have been obtained without considering damage/cutouts. Nevertheless, in practice, the structures are provided with cutouts of various sizes subjected to non-uniform edge loads. Analytical solutions for such problems are difficult to achieve. Hence in this work, a finite element software (ABAQUS) is used to analyze the buckling behavior of thin and thick laminated panels with and without cutouts subjected to distributed edge loads with different variations. The panel is modeled by using eight nodded elements (S8R5) with five degrees of freedom at each node. The efficiency of the model is confirmed by correlating present results with accessible literature. The effect of various parameters such as cutout size and its position, boundary conditions, ply orientations, and thickness of panel are included in this work. It is observed from this study that the non-uniform edge loads and cutout sizes have a remarkable outcome on buckling behavior of panels.