Assessments of refined theories for buckling analysis of laminated plates

Linearized buckling analysis of laminated plates subjected to combined bi-axial/shear loading is described in this work Isotropic orthotropic and anisotropic plates are referred to Two-dimensional plate modelling is considered The Principle of Virtual Displacement (PVD) is applied The Finite Element Method (FEM) is adopted in order to approximate the solution The same cases-study are handled using different kinds of plate Finite Elements (FEs) with the purpose of providing some guidelines/benchmarks useful for identifying the most appropriate modelling for each class of buckling problem The considered set of FEs is hierarchical in the sense that a variable kinematics approach is employed both Equivalent Single Layer (ESL) and Layer-Wise (LW) variable descriptions are Implemented keeping the expansion order for thickness variables generic FE matrices are obtained in compact form by referring to Carrera s Unified Formulation (CUF) When available exact solutions are referred to in order to assess the FEM results.