FINITE ELEMENT INVESTIGATION OF THE SNAP PHENOMENON IN BUCKLED PLATES

Finite element analysis was used to study a compressively loaded plate with supported edges which exhibits a secondary instability in the postbuckling regime. The instability initiates a dynamic snap from one waveform to another with an increase in the number of buckles along the load axis. The analysis simulated a plate configuration tested by Dr. Manuel Stein in 1959. Both clamped and simple support of the loaded ends were modeled, and dynamic analyses of the snap were performed. Good agreement with Stein's data was obtained with the clamped-end model, and major differences in snap behavior for the two different end-support conditions are examined in detail. Material stresses during the dynamic snap were found to exceed the pre-snap stresses by as much as 17%. An explanation is given for the inaccuracies of a previously used analytical approach.