Abstract

Buckling is very important for structural design, especially when the structure is thin-walled. Slender plates are widely used as structural members in civil, naval and aerospace engineering and they are able to carry considerable additional loads in the postbuckling range. Engineers take advantage of this postbuckling reserve and design structures that are allowed to buckle and operate below their ultimate loads for further weight and cost reduction. Consequently, both buckling and postbuckling behavior of slender plates are of critical importance during the design of lightweight thin-walled engineering structures.