Abstract
Because of their high specific strength and stiffness, fiber-reinforced plastics have been used as structures in various fields, and hence the analysis of thin laminated structures is of importance. In this paper, the postbuckling behavior of composite laminated curved plates with initial imperfections, which are simply supported along four edges, under biaxial compression are examined by various methods including Galerkin's method. The inevitability of postbuckling is proved analytically, and the effects of various factors, such as the type of initial imperfection, number of layers, lamination angle, biaxial compressive load ratio, and deflection pattern, are clarified.
