The competition between buckling and overstress failure of composite laminated plates in compression and shear loads

Composite laminated plates may fail due to buckling or overstress when subjected to compression, shear, and combined compression-shear loads, but little attention has been paid to the occurrence sequence competition between buckling and overstress. To address this knowledge gap, a framework for theoretical failure analysis of laminated plates was developed based on the Rayleigh-Ritz method and the failure criterion proposed by Lessard. After validating the framework, the competition between two failure behaviors of plates with different materials and load ratios was explored. Analyzing the variation of the buckling and overstress failure curves with the material type, two characteristic parameters related to the material properties were proposed, which show similar changing pattern with the competitive relationship.