Thin-Walled Structures 41 (2003) 1529 www.elsevier.

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Buckling analyses of anisotropic plates and isotropic skew plates by the new version differential quadrature method
X. Wang , M. Tan, Y. Zhou
College of Aerospace Engineering, Research Institute of Structures and Strength, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, Peoples Republic of China Received 14 January 2002; accepted 29 October 2002

Abstract A new version differential quadrature method (DQM) has been proposed to obtain buckling loads of thin anisotropic rectangular and isotropic skew plates. The essential difference from the old version DQM is the introduction of two degrees of freedom for boundary points and from the existing differential quadrature element method (DQEM) is the determination of the weighting coefcients. The methodology is worked out in detail and a variety of buckling problems shown slow convergence earlier by Rayleigh-Ritz method with beam functions, including isotropic skew plates with various skew angles and anisotropic rectangular plates with simply supported or clamped boundary conditions, are solved by the proposed DQM. Numerical results indicate that fast convergence is achieved and excellent results are obtained by the proposed DQM. 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Keywords: New version differential quadrature method; Anisotropic rectangular plate; Skew plate; Buckling analysis

1. Introduction Thin anisotropic rectangular plate and skew plate are common structural elements in many kinds of high-performance surface and air vehicle. For example, they are used in the construction of wings, tails, and ns of swept-wing aircrafts, missiles.

Corresponding author.

0263-8231/03/$ - see front matter 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. doi:10.1016/S0263-8231(02)00100-3

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X. Wang et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 41 (2003) 1529

Skew plates are also used as panels in skew bridges. Therefore their buckling behavior is important to designers. Due to the complicated mathematical structure of the boundary conditions for anisotropic or skew plates, closed form solutions, if exist, only for few special cases. Approximate continuum or numerical methods must, therefore, be resorted to for solutions. There are many such kind methods available, such as RayleighRitz method, nite element method, nite difference method, and Fourier series method. RayleighRitz and Fourier series methods require less computational effort as compared with nite element and nite difference methods. For highly anisotropic rectangular plate and skew plate with small skew angles, however, the Ritz or Galerkin method in conjunction with classical beam mode functions may result in a slowly converging series [1,2]. In the literature, the buckling solutions obtained by various researchers for simply supported skew plates are relatively different from each other [3]. Some researchers attribute the difference to the treatment of the corner conditions. Slow and different convergence rate of various methods may be another reason for the difference. The differential quadrature (DQ) method, introduced by Bellman and Casti in 1971[4], is a numerical technique for the solution of initial and boundary value problems. Bert and coworkers rst used the DQ method to solve problems in structural mechanics in 1988[5,6]. Since then, the method has been applied successfully to a variety of problems. Details on the development of the DQ method and on its applications to structural mechanics problems may be found in [7,8]. Difculty arises for applying the boundary conditions when the DQ method is used to solve fourth-order differential equations. Bert and his coworkers [5,6] introduce the d method, namely, two boundary conditions are applied at the boundary point as well as at the point apart from the boundary point by a small distance d. A new way to apply the boundary conditions to increase the solution accuracy has been introduced to make the method more attractive for engineering practice [9]. The essential idea of the method is that the boundary conditions are applied during formulation the weighting coefcients. The disadvantage of the method is, however, that it is cannot be used for all boundary conditions. Later Malik and Bert [10] extend its application range to all boundary conditions but have to resort to the d method for some combinations of boundary conditions. The method cannot be, however, used for solving anisotropic and skew plate problems. It was found [11] that solutions were very sensitive to grid spacing when DQ method was used for solving buckling problems of anisotropic rectangular plates. Nonuniform grid spacing was proposed [12], and some anisotropic and isotropic irregular plate problems have been successfully solved by the DQ method [12,13]. A new way is proposed for applying the boundary conditions without the usage of the d method for anisotropic rectangular plates and skew plates. Thus a new version differential quadrature method is introduced. The essential difference between the new version DQM and the existing DQM is that two degrees of freedom are introduced for the boundary points for a fourth order differential equations, similar to the DQEM proposed in [14]. It is, however, that the present method is also different from the DQEM since the weighting coefcients remain the same as of the ordinary

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17

DQM. The additional degrees of freedom are introduced merely for the applying boundary conditions. Buckling analyses of anisotropic rectangular plates and skew plates with simply supported or clamped boundary conditions are performed by the present DQM. The accuracy of the technique is demonstrated by comparing the calculated results with the published data of analytical or numerical solutions. The proposed DQM is readily extended to the cases of dis-continuum loads, geometry, and boundary conditions, similar to the DQEM. In what follows, the new way to determine the weighting coefcients of higher order derivatives is described rst, the new version of differential quadrature is then described; followed by the applications to analysis of buckling problems of anisotropic rectangular plates and skew plates; nally, conclusions are drawn based on the results presented herein.

2. The new version differential quadrature method For completeness and purpose of illustrations, the old version DQ method for onedimensional problems is presented rst. In the ordinary DQ method, the k-th order derivative of the solution function w (x) at grid point i can be computed by w
(k) i

j 1

(k) j

(xi)wj

j 1

(k) Eij wj

(i 1,2,...,N)

(1)

(k) where Lj(x),Eij are the Lagrangian polynomials and weighting coefcients of the k-th order derivative, respectively. Let Aij be the weighting coefcients of the rst order derivative, which can be computed explicitly by [8]

Aij where

wN(xi) (xixj)wN(xj)

(i

j),

Aii

j 1, i

1 (x xj) j i

(2)

wN(x) (xx1)(xx2)(xxi1)(xxi+1)(xxN)

(3)

The weighting coefcients of second-, third-, and fourth-order derivatives in the DQ method, Bij,Cij,Dij, may be computed by Bij Dij

k1 N

k1

Aik Akj, Cij Bik Bkj

k1

Aik Bkj

k1

Bik Akj

(4)

k1

Aik Ckj

k1

Cik Akj

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X. Wang et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 41 (2003) 1529

If two degrees of freedom at each end point, w1,wx1 and wN,wxN (the key difference from the original DQM in [5,6]), are chosen, but the weighting coefcients of the rst order derivatives are still determined by Eq. (2), the key difference from the existing DQEM in [14]. The weighting coefcients of second-, and third-order derivatives at end points are, however, computed not by Eq. (4) but by w1 A11w1 A1NwN wN AN1w1 ANNwN

j 1k 2

N N

N1

N2

A1kAkjwj ANkBkjwj

j1 N2

1jdj B

(5a)

j 1k 2

N N1

N1

j1

Njdj B

(5b)

w1 A11w1 A1NwN

A11(A11w1 A1NwN

j 1k 2

N 1

N2

ANkBkjwj)

j1

j 1k 2 N

A1kBkjwj

j 1k 2

N1

A1kBkjwj

N1

A1kAkjwj) A1N(AN1w1 ANNwN (6a)

j 1k 2

1jdj C

wN AN1w1 ANNwN

AN1(A11w1 A1NwN

j 1k 2

N 1

N2

ANkBkjwj)

j1

N N1 j 1k 2 N

ANkBkjwj

j 1k 2

N1

ANkBkjwj

N1

A1kAkjwj) ANN(AN1w1 ANNwN (6b)

j 1k 2

Njdj C

where {d}T {w1,w1,wN,wN,w2,,wN1}. The weighting coefcients of second-, and fourth-order derivatives at inner points are computed by wi

j1

Bijwj

j 1k 1

N N

N2

AikAkjwj

j1

ijdj B

(7a)

w
IV i

j 1k 2

N1

BikBkjwj Bi1(A11w1 A1NwN

j 1k 2

N1

A1kAkjwj)

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19

BiN(AN1w1 ANNwN

j 1k 2

N1

N2

ANkBkjwj)

j1

ijdj D

(7b)

(i 2,3,...,N1) Once the weighting coefcients are determined, the procedures to establish the DQ beam equations are exactly the same as in [14]. The DQ equation for a Bernoulli Euler beam can be symbolically written as [K]{d} {F} (8) where [K],{d},{F} are called the DQ weighting coefcient matrix, generalized displacement vector, and generalized load vector, respectively. Thus for the new version DQM, all boundary conditions can be applied easily and conveniently without employing the d method as done in [57,1013]. In this paper, the new version DQM is extended to two dimensions for buckling analysis of thin anisotropic rectangular plates and isotropic skew plates. Consider buckling of a thin anisotropic rectangular plate with length a and width b shown in Fig. 1, the governing differential equation can be written as 11 D 4 w 4w 4w 4w 4w 4 D 2 D ) 4 D D 2( D 16 12 66 26 22 x4 x3y x2y2 xy3 y4 2w 2w 2w P 2 P xy y x2 xy y2 (9a)

Px

11,D 16,D 12,D 66,D 26,D 22 are the exural rigidity, Px,Py,Pxy,w are in-plane comwhere D

y Ny

b Pxy

o 1
Fig. 1.

x
Pxy Nx

Sketch of a rectangular plate with grid points and positive shear loading.

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X. Wang et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 41 (2003) 1529

pressive force in the x and y directions, in-plane shear forces, and the deection, respectively. The positive direction of Pxy is shown in Fig. 1. The generalized forces are 2w 2w 2w 11 2 D 12 2 2D 16 Mx D x y xy 2w 2w 2w 12 2 D 22 2 2D 26 My D x y xy 11 Qx D 3 w 3w 3w 3w 4 D 4 D ) 2 D ( D 16 12 66 26 x3 x2y xy2 y3 3 w 3w 3w 3w 16 3 2D 3 4D26 2 (D12 4D66) 2 y xy x y x 2w 2w 2w 2 D 4 D 26 66 x2 y2 xy (10a)

(10b) (10c)

22 Qy D

(10d)

16 R 2D

(10e)

The boundary conditions are 1. 2. 3. 4. Simply supported: w Mx 0 at x 0,a or w My 0 at y 0,b; Clamped: w wx 0 at x 0,a or w wy 0 at y 0,b; Free: Qx Mx 0 at x 0,a or Qy My 0 at y 0,b; Free corner: R Mx My 0.

For buckling analysis of a thin isotropic skew plate, the governing differential equation can be written as 4 w 4w 4 w 4 w 4(cosq) 3 2(1 2cos2q) 2 2 4(cosq) 4 x x y x y xy3 2w 2w 2w sin4q 4 w Py 2 4 Px 2 2Pxy y x xy y D (9b)

where D is the exural rigidity, q is the skew angle shown in Fig. 2, Px,Py,Pxy,w are in-plane compressive force in the x and y directions, in-plane shear forces, and the deection, respectively. The positive direction of Pxyis shown in Fig. 2. Compare Eq. (9b) with Eq. (9a), one can nd the following relations between the plate stiffness ratio and equivalent skew angles, 22 D, D 16 / D 11 D 26 / D 11 cosq, (D 12 2D 66) / D 11 11 D D 1 2cos q
2

(11)

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21

Pxy

y
Pxy

b 0

a
Fig. 2. Sketch of a skew plate.

Thus, the generalized forces given by Eq. (10) can be still used with Eq. (11). Let Nx,Ny be the total number of grid points in the x and y directions shown in Fig. 1. Each corner grid point has three degrees of freedom, namely, w, wx,wy, one of the difference from the DQEM given in the literature. The remaining boundary points have two degrees of freedom each, either w,wx for points at edges parallel to the y axis or w,wy for points at edges parallel to the x axis. Each inner grid point has only one degree of freedom w. In terms of the new version DQM, the governing differential equation at inner grid point are expressed as:
Nx

11 D

j2 k1 Ny

1
Nx Nx

12 2D 66) B B wkl 2(D

x ij x jk Ny

j 1k 1

Nx Ny

y Bx ijBlkwjk

22 D

j2 k1

1
Nx Nx

y x x x By ljBjkwik D11Bi1[A11(wx)1l A1Nx(wx)Nxl

j2 k1 Nx

x x x x Ax 1jAjkwkl] D11BiNx[ANx1(wx)1l ANxNx(wx)Nxl

j2 k1 Ny

x y y y Ax NxjAjkwkl] D22Bl1[A11(wy)i1 A1Ny(wy)iNy

(12)

j2 k1 Ny

1
Ny

y y y y Ay 1jAjkwik] D22BlNy[ANy1(wy)i1 ANyNy(wy)iNy

j2 k1

1
Ny

16 A A wik] 4D
y N yj y jk

j 1k 1

Nx Ny

26 C A wjk 4D
x ij y lk

j 1k 1

Nx Ny

y Ax ijClkwjk

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X. Wang et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 41 (2003) 1529

P(ax

j 1k 1

Nx Nx

A A wkl 2axy
x ij x jk

j 1k 1

Nx Ny

B B wjk ay
x ij y lk

j 1k 1

Ny Ny

y Ay ljAjkwik)

(i 2,3,...Nx1; l 2,3,...Ny1)
y x y where Bx ij,Bij,Aij,Aij,wij are the weighting coefcients of the second order derivatives with respect to the variables of x and y, the weighting coefcients of the rst order derivatives with respect to the variables of x and y, and the deection at grid point ij, P,ax,axy,ay are apparent. At each boundary point except for the corner points, i.e. at point i l (i 1 or Nx, l 2,3,,Ny 1) on edge parallel to y axis (x 0 or a), the DQ generalized forces can be expressed as Nx x 11[Ax (Mx)il D i1(wx)1l AiNx(wx)Nxl

j2 k1

1
Nx

x Ax ijAjkwkl]

12 D

j1

Ny

By ljwij 2D16

j 1k 1 Nx

Nx NY Nx

y Ax ijAlkwjk

x x 11[Ax (Qx)il D i1(A11(wx)1l A1Nx(wx)Nxl

j2 k1 Nx

1
Nx

x x x Ax 1jAjkwkl) AiNx(ANx1(wx)1l

Ax NxNx(wx)Nxl
Nx

j2 k1

1
Ny

Nx x Ax NxjAjkwkl)

j2 k1

1
Nx Ny

x Ax ijBjkwkl]

(13)

12 4D 66) (D

j 1k 1

y Ax ijBlkwjk 4D16

j 1k 1

Nx

y Bx ijAlkwjk 2D26

k1

Ny

Cy lkwik

(i 1,Nx, l 2,3,...,Ny1) At each boundary point except for the corner points, i.e. at point i l (i 2,3,, Nx 1, l 1 or Ny)on edge parallel to x axis (y 0 or b), the DQ generalized forces can be expressed as 12 (My)il D
Ny

j1

Nx y lj

y y Bx ijwjl D22[Al1(wy)i1 AlNy(wy)iNy

j2 k1

1
Ny

26 A A wik] 2D
y jk

j 1k 1

Nx NY x ij y lk

y Ax ijAlkwjk

12 4D 12) (Qy)il (D

j 1k 1

Nx Ny

Nx

22 [ B A wjk D

j2 k1

1
Nx

y Ay ljBjkwik

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23

Ny

A (A (wy)i1 A
y l1 y 11

y 1Ny

(wy)iNy

j2 k1 Ny

1
Ny

y y A1 jAjkwik)

(14)

A (A
y lNy

y N y1

(wy)i1 A
Ny

y N yN y

(wy)iNy

j2 k1

1
Ny

y Ay NyjAjkwik)]

26 4D 16 2D

j 1k 1

Nx

y Ax ijBlkwjk

k1

NX

Cx ikwkl (i 2,3,...,Nx1, l 1,Ny)

At each corner point, e.g. at point i l (i 1 or Nx ,l 1 or Ny), the DQ generalized forces can be expressed as
Nx x 11[Ax (Mx)il D i1(wx)1l AiNx(wx)Nxl

j2 k1

1
Nx

x Ax ijAjkwkl]

12 D

j1

Ny

By ljwij 2D16

j 1k 1

Nx NY

y Ax ijAlkwjk

12 (My)il D
Ny

j1

Nx

y y Bx ijwjl D22[Al1(wy)i1 AlNy(wy)iNy

(15)

j2 k1

1
Ny Nx

26 A A wik] 2D
y lj y jk

j 1k 1

Nx NY y lj

y Ax ijAlkwjk

16 Ril 2D

j1

26 B wjl 2D
x ij

j1

Ny

66 B wij 4D

j 1k 1

Nx Ny

y Ax ijAlkwjk

(i 1,Nx, l 1,Ny) It should be pointed out again that although two degrees of freedom (three degrees of freedom at corner points) are introduced at the boundary points, the weighting coefcients of the rst-order derivative are still computed by Eq. (2). In other words, only one degree of freedom at boundary points is used in the determination of Aij, the other degree of freedom at boundary points or the other two degrees of freedom at corner points are merely introduced for applying the boundary conditions. This idea can be used for higher order differential equations. For buckling analysis of plates, the DQ equation in matrix form is

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X. Wang et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 41 (2003) 1529

Kbb Kbi wb wi

Kib Kii

Fb

P([Pib]{wb} [Pii]{wi})

(16)

where subscripts b,i denote the quantities of the boundary points and inner points, Fb is generalized force vector. The rst 12 equations in Eq. (16) are obtained from Eq. (15). The next (4Ny8) equations are obtained from Eq. (14) and the next (4Nx8) equations are obtained from Eq. (13). It can be seen that there are totally (4Nx 4Ny4) equations associated with the boundary points. The remaining (Nx2)(Ny2) equations in Eq. (16) are obtained from Eq. (12). After imposing the regular boundary conditions, the DQ equations of anisotropic rectangular plates or isotropic skew plates for buckling analysis become

Kbb Kbi wb Kib Kii wi

P 0 0 wb Pib Pii wi

(17)

It should be pointed that wb is zero for a plate clamped on all four edges. Solving the generalized eigen-value problem of Eq. (17) yields the buckling load (the lowest eigen-value). It was found earlier that the problems considered here are very sensitive to grid spacing. To achieve fast convergence, Nx Ny N and the following non-uniform grid spacing is used for the results presented in what follows, namely, x1 0, xN L,xi L(1cos[(2i3)p / 2(N2)]) / 2, i 2,3,...,N1. where L takes either a or b and a or b are side dimensions shown in Fig. 1 or Fig. 2. (18)

3. Results and discussions As a rst example, consider a simply supported, square graphite/epoxy plate under uniform balanced biaxial compression, Px Py P constant. The material properties are Q11 / Q22 25, Q12 / Q22 0.25, Q66 / Q22 0.5 with principal material direction at 45 to the plate side (the x axis). The variation of buckling coefcient, K Pb2 / Q22h3 where h is the plate thickness, with the numbers of grid points is shown in Fig. 3 to show the convergence of the proposed DQM. The Ashtons RayleighRitz results [16] (the upper bound) and the Whitneys Fourier series solution cited by Jones [15] (the lower bound) are also shown in Fig. 3. As can be seen that RayleighRitz method in conjunction with classical beam mode functions results in a slowly converging series for the buckling loads of highly anisotropic plates. Improved results can be obtained by the Fourier series method and the proposed DQ method. Accurate results can be obtained by the proposed DQM with grid number of 15 in both directions. As a second example, consider the same square plate as in the rst example subjected to combined uniaxial compression in the x axis and shear loadings. The positive direction of shear loading is shown in Fig. 1. The principal material directions

X. Wang et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 41 (2003) 1529

25

11. 5
Ashtons Rayleigh-Ritz results [16]

Buckling Coefficient K

10. 5

9. 5

DQ results

8. 5
Whitneys Fourier analysis [15]

7. 5 5 8 11 14 17 20 No. (terms or grids)

Fig. 3. Convergence study.

23

26

are taken as 0 and 45 to the plate side (the x axis). The DQ results with grid number of 15 are shown in Fig. 4. The buckling load parameters are dened as Rx Px / Pcr x ,
cr x cr xy

Rxy Pxy / Pcr xy

(19)

where P and P are buckling loads under uniaxial compression and pure shear loadings, respectively. For isotropic or orthotropic plates, the following equations is

1.2 1 0.8 Rxy 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 0.5 1 Rx

Fig. 4. Buckling load under combined loadings.

0 o ( Pxy > 0)
45o (Pxy < 0)

45o (Pxy > 0)

1.5

2.5

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X. Wang et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 41 (2003) 1529

used to compute the buckling load in engineering practice for both positive and negative applied shear loadings, Rx R2 xy 1 (20)

It can be seen from Fig. 4 that eq. (20) is approximately valid when the principal material direction is taken as 0 to the plate side (the x axis). It is also observed, however, that the anisotropy has strong effect on the buckling loads and Eq. (20) is no longer valid when the principal material direction is taken as 45 to the plate side (the x axis). Instead the following linear relation is valid for this case when Pxy 0, namely, Rx Rxy 1 (Pxy0) (21)

As can be seen from Fig. 4 that, however, computing the buckling load for this case when Pxy 0 is far more complicated than by using Eqs. (20) or (21). Besides, the buckling load under pure shear loading is quite different if the direction of applied shear stress is changed for plates having a high degree of anisotropy, e.g. for the case when the principal material direction is taken as 45 to the plate side, Pcr xy 3 2 14.16 Q h / b ( Pxy 0). In this case, the 152.21Q22h3 / b2 (Pxy 0) and Pcr xy 22 inuence of the direction of applied shear stress is big on buckling response. Therefore, direct calculations of the buckling load may be needed by numerical methods. The DQM can serve as a useful tool to obtain buckling loads for anisotropic plates subjected to combined loadings. To corroborate of the analysis procedure for the case of combined loading of compression and shear for plates having a high degree of anisotropy, the buckling loads of the same square plate as in the rst example subjected to combined compression in the x direction and positive or negative shear loadings. The principal material direction is taken as 45 to the plate side to achieve a high degree of anisotropy. Five sets of the DQ results are compared with the nite element results obtained by using the commercial FE software (ANSYS 6.01) as listed in Table 1. To obtain accurate results, 400 eight-node shell elements (SHELL99) are used in the analysis and there are 1281 nodes and 6405 degrees-of-freedom are involved. If grid number of 17 in both directions are used, there are only 285 degrees-of-freedom are involved in the DQ method. Thus the number of degrees-of-freedom in the present method is much smaller than that of nite element method. From Table 1, it can be seen that the DQ results compare well with the nite element results for all loadings of uniaxial compression, positive pure shear, negative pure shear, combined compression and positive shear, and combined compression and negative shear. It should be pointed out that the relative error would be even smaller if more nite elements are used. As a third example, consider a clamped skew plate, shown in Fig. 2, with side ratio a / b 1 under unixial compression, Px P constant. The DQ results with grid number of 15 are listed in Table 2. The buckling load parameter K is dened as K Pxb2 / (p2D) (22)

All other results in Table 2 are cited from reference [3]. It is found that conver-

Table 1 2 3 cr 2 3 Comparison of DQ buckling coefcients with nite element results for simply supported squire plates under various loadings (kx Pcr x b / h Q22 or kxy Pxyb / h Q22, q 45) Pxy 0 kxy Px& Pxy 0 kx kxy Px& Pxy 0 kx kxy

Loadings Coefcients 14.7439 14.1559 35.718 35.210 8.519 8.125

Px kx

Pxy 0 kxy

FEM DQM

18.3724 17.4091

151.429 152.212

Table 2 Buckling coefcient k ( Nxb2 / p2D) for clamped skew plates with side ratio a / b 1.0 Guest (1951) NA NA 13.53 20.72 NA NA 13.64 21.64 10.15 NA 13.76 20.44 NA 11.01 13.79 20.67 10.08 10.87 13.58 20.44 10.08 10.87 13.54 20.22 10.08 10.89 13.75 20.69 Wittrick (1953) Argyris (1966) Ashton (1969) Durvasula (1970) Prabhu (1972) [3] (1992) Present

Ref.

Levy (1942)

90 75 60 45

10.07 NA NA NA

10.07 10.83 13.54 20.10

All other results are cited from reference [3].

Table 3 Buckling coefcient k ( Nxb2 / p2D) for simply supported skew plates with side ratio a / b 1.0 Argyris Durvasula (1966) (1971) 4.00 NA NA 9.7 4.00 4.48 6.41 12.3 4.00 NA 5.91 10.2 4.00 4.91 8.90 24.0 4.00 4.33 5.53 8.47 Schmitt (1972) Reddy (1978) Kennedy (1979) Mizusawa (1980) 4.00 4.34 5.61 8.64 Hegedus (1988) 4.00 4.43 6.16 11.45 [3] (1992) Present

X. Wang et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 41 (2003) 1529

Ref.

Yoshimura (1963)

90 75 60 45

4.00 4.38 5.62 9.08

4.00 4.39a4.44b 5.986.19 9.8710.60

4.00 4.39 5.83 9.39

27

Type 1 corner; Type 2 corner; All other results are cited from reference [3].

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X. Wang et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 41 (2003) 1529

gence is reached by the DQM with grid number of 15. As can be seen that the buckling loads obtained by various researchers are relatively different from each other and the writers results are the lowest. The difference may be attributed to the convergence rate. In other words, same results would have been obtained if more terms were used. As the last example, consider a simply supported skew plate with side ratio a/b=1 under unixial compression, Px P constant. The DQ results with grid number of 15 are listed in Table 3. All other results in Table 3 are cited from reference [3]. As can be seen that the buckling loads obtained by various researchers are quite different from each other. The difference may be attributed to both the convergence rate and the treatment of corner conditions. If the corner is treated as clamped (type 2 corner [3]), the buckling load is higher. Durvasulas (1971) solution for q 45 is less accurate because the trigonometric series used led to some convergence problems. The writers did not experience any convergence problem with the grid spacing of Eq. (18) and the DQM results are closer to the pb-2 Ritz results (type-1 corner) in reference [3].

4. Conclusions In this paper, a new version of the DQ method is proposed to analyze anisotropic rectangular plate and isotropic skew plate problems. The present DQM is quite different from the existing DQM because two degrees of freedom are used for the boundary points and three degrees of freedom are used for the corner points. It is also quite different from the existing DQEM, because only three degrees of freedom are used at the corner points instead of four degrees of freedom used previously and because the weighting coefcients are directly computed by the ones in the ordinary DQ method. The applicability of the proposed method to the buckling analysis of anisotropic rectangular plates and skew plates is demonstrated. Accurate results are obtained for the problems sensitive to grid spacing by using DQM or for problems showing slow convergence rate by using approximate continuum method. The proposed DQM can be also viewed as a DQEM, thus to be employed to solve problems with discontinuous loads, geometry and/or mixed boundary conditions.

Acknowledgements The project is partially supported by the Aeronautical Science Foundation (99B52010) and Jiangsu Natural Science Foundation of China (BK99116).

References
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