An Experimental Study of the Static and Dynamic Behaviour of a Tensioned Sheet with a Rectangular Opening

Abstract

SummaryThe results of an experimental study of the buckling and vibration behaviour of tensioned sheets with a rectangular opening are presented. The buckling phenomenon involves the existence of a non-uniform pre-buckle stress state in the vicinity of the opening. The local buckling load has been estimated on the basis of the modified Southwell method. The effect of parameters like cut-out size, sheet width, sheet thickness and cut-out corner radius has been investigated. The data from the vibration experiments indicate that the load versus frequency behaviour is dependent on the size of the test specimen and the opening shape. It has been observed that, for certain combinations of plate and opening parameters, the load versus frequency plot has a minimum corresponding to the local buckling of the free edge of the hole. For other plate and opening parameters it shows only a kink corresponding to the local buckling of the free edge of the cut-out. The buckling load for the opening shapes obtained from both the static and dynamic experiments are compared, showing good agreement.