ESDU Strength Analysis of Plates and Panels Segment

This Segment includes comprehensive and continually expanding, rigorously evaluated information for the strength analysis of plates and panels, including lightweight designs such as those used in aerospace.

Data are given on elastic or inelastic stresses, strains, displacements or buckling loads under static loading. They range from general data to the analysis of specific plates and panels in metallic, compound (sandwich) or composite structures.

The range of configurations and geometries gives a comprehensive selection that will meet the structural analyst's idealisation needs. Thus it will allow both detailed, accurate analyses of critical components, and initial estimates, with appropriate idealisation, that will facilitate the economic use of finite element or other expensive computational techniques on problems where no specific analysis is currently available.

To design reliable structures for use in areas of intense sound, engineers need to investigate the possibility of acoustic fatigue failures. Failures during the service life of a structural component may lead to costly design modifications and the introduction of time-consuming inspection procedures. To assess acoustic fatigue life, knowledge of the natural vibration characteristics of the structure is required. This Segment contains data on the natural frequencies of plate, box and shell structures. The plate data cover both conventional metallic construction and laminated composite materials.

These vibration data have a wide application in dynamic design calculations where it is necessary to ensure that the natural frequencies of structural components do not coincide with a high-energy region of dynamic excitation.

The Strength Analysis of Plates and Panels Segment focuses on:

• Buckling of Rectangular Plates and Panels in Compression
• Buckling of Rectangular Plates under Combined Loadings
• Buckling of Non-rectangular Plates
• Buckling of Flat Rectangular and Curved Plates and Panels in Shear
• Laminated Composites - Analysis and Design
• Buckling of Balanced Laminated Composites
• Laminated Composites - Failure Criteria
• Sandwich Panels under Normal Loading
• Sandwich Panels with Composite Face Plates
• Buckling of Sandwich Panels
• Isotropic and Composite Plates under Pressure
• Natural Frequencies of Plate and Shell Structures
• Natural Frequencies of Sandwich Panels and Box Structures