Study of buckling stability of cracked plates under uniaxial compression using singular FEM

Buckling is one of the major causes of failure in thin-walled plate members and the presence of cracks with different lengths and locations in such structures may adversely affect this phenomenon. This study focuses on the buckling stability assessment of centrally and non-centrally cracked plates with small-, intermediate-, and large-size cracks, and different aspect ratios as well as support conditions, subjected to uniaxial compression. To this end, numerical models of the cracked plates were created through singular finite element method using a computational code developed in MATLAB. Eigen-buckling analyses were also performed to study the stability behavior of the plates. The numerical results and findings of this research demonstrate the effectiveness of the crack length and location on the buckling capacity of thin plates; however, the degree of efficacy of these parameters in plates with various aspect ratios and support conditions is found to be significantly different. Overall, careful consideration of the aspect ratio, support conditions, and crack parameters in buckling analysis of plates is crucial for efficient stability design and successful application of such thin-walled members.