Isogeometric Thermal Buckling and Sensitivity Analysis of Periodically Supported Laminated Composite Beams

This paper presents an isogeometric analysis using the first-order shear deformation theory for thermal buckling analysis of periodically supported laminated composite beams. Isogeometric analysis uses nonuniform rational B-splines as basis functions, resulting in both exact geometric representation and high-order approximations. The temperature field is considered constant through the plate thickness. The influences of increasing the orthotropy ratio and thermal expansion ratio on the critical buckling temperature are investigated. Numerical results of cross-ply (0°/90°/0°) simply supported and periodically supported beams are provided. Results were verified with commercial finite element software ABAQUS to validate the effectiveness of the method. A sensitivity analysis is conducted for periodically supported beams to quantify the effect of change in locations of the support on the nondimensional critical buckling temperature (λcr).