LOCAL BUCKLING OF FIBER-REINFORCED POLYMERIC STRUCTURAL MEMBERS UNDERLINEARLY-VARYING EDGE LOADING - PART 1 - THEORETICAL FORMULATION

This paper presents a general solution to the problem of local bucklin g of doubly symmetric fiber-reinforced polymeric structural shapes sub jected to linearly-varying edge loading. This solution is based upon t he classical theory of orthotropic plates and accounts for the elastic restraint of various plate elements comprising the cross-section. The buckling equations for box and I-shape beams subjected to pure bendin g in one case and to uniform compression in another case are deduced a s special cases from the present solution. Numerical results in the fo rm of design charts are discussed and presented in a companion paper. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.