Linear and Nonlinear Stability Analysis of Thin Rectangular Plates Subjected to Local In-Plane Shearing

Abstract In the design of in-plane stressed thin plates, the load condition where the distributed edge shear is locally applied along the plate boundaries is often encountered and has thus far not been well investigated. This load configuration can induce buckling instability. The problem of shear buckling instability in such applications has so far received very little attention from researchers owing to the additional analytical difficulties involved in obtaining rigorous solutions to the buckling of plates when subjected to partial loadings, and the present research aims to address the problem and present a rigorous solution. It focuses on investigating the problem of linear and nonlinear buckling of simply supported thin plates subjected to local in-plane shearing using the finite element method. The critical shear buckling stress is determined for different load cases applied to a judiciously designed plate specimen. Compressive, shear and von Mises stress analyses are conducted. The results achieved are summarized as tables, graphs and iso-stress contours. It is shown that the stability effect of the load ratio on the specimen is reached when the load extent covers 55% of the plate sides. The plate buckling in the length direction is justified by significant compressive stresses recorded in this direction. It has been found that, at buckling, a compressive diagonal field action occurs. Finally, the von Mises analysis shows that plasticization occurs at the plate length loading stop points.