Effect of face-sheet anisotropy on buckling and postbuckling of sandwich plates

A study of the effect of anisotropy of face sheets on buckling and postbuckling of sandwich flat panels subjected to both mechanical and thermal loads is presented. The mechanical loads consist of uniaxial compressive/tensile edge loads, while the temperature is assumed to exhibit an antisymmetric variation through the panel thickness. The study is carried out in the context of a geometrically nonlinear theory of sandwich structures that also incorporates the effect of unavoidable stress-free initial geometric imperfections. A detailed analysis of the influence of a large number of parameters associated with the panel geometry, material properties of the core, fiber orientation and stacking sequence in the face sheet, and character of tangential boundary conditions (i.e., movable or immovable) on buckling strength and postbuckling response is accomplished, and pertinent conclusions are outlined.