Plate and Shell Buckling Theories

This course covers the comprehensive study of plate and shell buckling theories. It starts with the exploration of plate buckling, explaining the governing differential equation and how to solve it to find the critical load using equilibrium and energy methods. For instance, the course illustrates how to solve a problem of a plate with different boundary conditions using the energy method and Galerkin method. The course then delves into the finite deflection theory of plate buckling, using a simply supported plate uniformly compressed in one direction as an example to demonstrate the calculation of critical load and post-buckling behaviour. Lastly, the course discusses the buckling of cylindrical shells under axial compression, highlighting the differences between small deflection theory and finite deflection theory, and how these theories apply to shell buckling.