Postbuckling analysis of plates on an elastic foundation by the boundary element method

The postbuckling behavior of plates on an elastic foundation is studied by using the boundary element method (BEM). A new fundamental solution of lateral deflection is derived through the resolution theory of a differential operator, and a set of boundary element formulae in incremental form is presented. By using these formulae, the BEM solution procedure becomes relatively simple. The results of a number of numerical examples are compared with existing solutions and good agreement is observed. It shows that the proposed method is effective for solving the postbuckling problems of plates with arbitrary shape and various boundary conditions.