Inelastic buckling behavior of stocky plates under interactive shear and in-plane bending

Inelastic buckling and postbuckling behavior of stocky plates under combined shear and in-plane bending stresses are investigated and compared to slender plates. Aluminum and steel plates having various slenderness ratios are modeled and analyzed by means of (i) numerical nonlinear finite element method and (ii) theoretical p-Ritz energy method; and both results are compared to the classic interaction equation. It is observed that whereas in slender plates, elastic buckling occurs prior to the materialʹs proportional limit load, stocky plates buckle in an inelastic way within the post-yield stage. In contrast to slender plates with considerable postbuckling reserves, the buckling of stocky plates is immediately followed by softening. In addition, it is shown that the classic interaction equation overestimates buckling loads; and therefore, a modified equation that can safely be applied to both stocky and slender plates is proposed.