Thermal buckling behavior of laminated composite plates with temperature-dependent properties

The thermal buckling behavior of composite laminated plates subjected to a uniform temperature field is investigated by the finite element method. Temperature-dependent elastic and thermal properties are considered. The stiffness and geometry matrices are derived based on the principle of minimum potential energy. The assumed displacement state over the middle surface of the plate element is expressed as the product of one-dimensional, first-order Hermitian polynomials. An iterative method is employed to determine the thermal buckling load. It is shown by numerical results that the influence of temperature-dependent mechanical properties on the thermal buckling behavior is significant.