Hygrothermal effects on buckling of composite shell-experimental and FEM results

The effects of moisture and temperature on buckling of laminated composite cylindrical shell panels are investigated both numerically and experimentally. A quadratic isoparametric eight-noded shell element is used in the present analysis. First order shear deformation theory is used in the present finite element formulation for buckling analysis of shell panels subjected to hygrothermal loading. A program is developed using MATLAB for parametric study on the buckling of shell panels under hygrothermal field. Benchmark results on the critical loads of hygrothermally treated woven fiber glass/epoxy laminated composite cylindrical shell panels are obtained experimentally by using universal testing machine INSTRON 8862. The effects of curvature, lamination sequences, number of layers and aspect ratios on buckling of laminated composite cylindrical curved panels subjected to hygrothermal loading are considered. The results are presented showing the reduction in buckling load of laminated composite shells with the increase in temperature and moisture concentrations.