Bifurcation and Postbuckling Response of Asymmetric Laminated Columns

The paper concerns the buckling and postbuckling response of laminated composite columns with arbitrary material lay-ups. The objective of the study is to examine the joint effects of bending-stretching couplings and initial imperfections on the nonlinear buckling behavior of irregular asymmetric laminates. In the paper, the analysis is focused on the nonlinear buckling problem of eccentrically loaded composite columns composed of n isotropic elastic layers. The response of such columns is examined over a range of structural parameters leading to several conclusions regarding the typical buckling characteristics and optimization of asymmetric laminates.