BUCKLING OF ARBITRARY QUADRILATERAL ANISOTROPIC PLATES

The problem of buckling of arbitrary quadrilateral anisotropic plates with different boundary conditions under combined in-plane loading is considered. A Rayleigh-Ritz method combined with a variational formula tion and a first-order transverse-shear-deformation theory is used. Th e Ritz functions consist of polynomials which include ''circulation'' functions that impose various boundary conditions. Numerical results a re obtained for isotropic, orthotropic, and anisotropic plates with sk ewed geometries and are compared with existing results that use series solutions and with results generated from finite element simulations.