Buckling analysis of orthotropic thin rectangular plates subjected to nonlinear in-plane distributed loads using generalized differential quadrature method

In the present work, buckling analysis of orthotropic thin rectangular plates with uniform thickness resting on Pasternak foundation are investigated for eight types of boundary conditions: SSSS, CCCC, SCSC, SSSC, SSCC, CCCF, SSFC, and CFCF. Based on classical plate theory, governing differential equation in buckling are solved numerically using generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) to obtain critical buckling loads and corresponding modes. The kinds of nonlinear loading are presented in six cases including symmetrical and unsymmetrical distribution. In addition, the effects of aspect ratio, orthotropic moduli ratio and coefficients of foundation on the buckling load are illustrated. The present work is the first attempt to consider the influence of the nonlinearity of distributed in-plane bi-directional loading in determination of buckling load and representation of the corresponding shape modes. Some numerical examples are provided to demonstrate good accuracy of the GDQ method to evaluate the critical buckling load in case of nonlinear distributed bi-directional compressive loads. As shown, profile of distributed in-plane loading plays an important role on buckling behavior of the rectangular plate.