THERMOMECHANICAL POSTBUCKLING OF GEOMETRICALLY IMPERFECT FLAT AND CURVED PANELS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT TANGENTIAL EDGE CONSTRAINTS

A study of the effects of tangential edge constraints on the postbuckling response of flat and shallow curved panels subjected to thermal and mechanical loads is presented. The mechanical lends investigated are uniform compressive edge loads and transverse lateral pressure. The temperature fields considered are associated with spatially uniform healing over the thickness panel and a linear through-the-thickness temperature gradient. The structural model is based on a higher order transverse-shear deformation theory of shallow shells that incorporates the effects of geometric nonlinearities, initial geometric imperfections, and the tangential edge motion constraints. Simply supported panels are considered in which the tangential motion of the unloaded edges is either unrestrained partially restrained, or fully restrained. Results are presented for three-layer panels made from transversely isotropic materials, and a number of conclusions about the implications of the previously mentioned effects are outlined.