Design Data and Buckling of Laminated Composite Triangular Plates

Design studies have been performed for isosceles triangular plates subjected to uniaxial and bi-axial loading. The material system used in this application is AS4/3502 graphite/epoxy with (0, 90)_s, (0, 90, ± 45)_s (0, ± 60)_s, (± 45, 0, 90)_s, (± 45)_s and (± 45, ± 45)_s layups. The problem has been solved by using a Galerkin procedure. The buckling load results are normalized with respect to a rectangular plate of corresponding base and height dimensions and compared. The data suggests that certain layups are preferred over others in particular design applications. The local skin buckling load with triangular stiffening pattern is about 2.5 to 9 times greater than the load with rectangular stiffening pattern.