On the buckling analysis of isotropic, transversely isotropic, and laminated rectangular plates via Reddy plate theory: an exact closed-form procedure

Abstract

Based on Reddy's third-order shear deformation theory, an exact closed-form solution is proposed to describe linear buckling of transversely isotropic laminated rectangular plates under either mono- or bi-axial compressive in-plane loads. To this end, the coupled governing equations are exactly converted to two sets of uncoupled equations for in-plane and transverse deformations of symmetric laminated plates. The new uncoupled equations are analytically solved by applying both Navier and Lévy-type solution methods. The validity and high accuracy of the current exact solution are evaluated by comparing the present results with their counterparts reported in literature.