Evaluation of Buckling Performance of Fibre Metal Rectangular Plates: Experimental and Numerical Investigation

Abstract

Carbon reinforced aluminium laminate (CARAL) is a fibre metal laminate which consists of layers of carbon fibre and thin layers of aluminium. Buckling strength of CARAL under various support conditions is studied in this paper. Since CARAL is composed of fibre and metal, the pattern of failure of the laminate under compressive loads is truly imperative. The compressive buckling strength depends on geometrical parameters like length and width of the specimen and the sequence in which the layers are stacked. It also depends on the boundary condition. In this study, the critical buckling load is determined by varying the parameters such as aspect ratio (length/width), stacking sequence and boundary condition. Two different boundary conditions are considered, simply supported and fixed support condition. Numerical simulation analysis shows a maximum deviation of 16.72% from experimental results. The different failure modes executed by the laminate under compressive loading are also determined. The critical buckling load of CARAL constrained on all sides is evaluated numerically for different boundary conditions. Buckling load, in this case, takes maximum value when CARAL is clamped on all sides whereas it takes minimum value when the plate is simply supported on three sides keeping the fourth side fixed.