Analysis of plastic buckling of steel plates in shear based on the tresca yield criterion

Plasticity in steel is characterized by an appreciable amount of plastic flow (in the yield plateau range) which precedes strain hardening. The plastic behavior af materials is most pronounced in the material with plastic flow such as mild steel. The author has previously (1993 and 1994) proposed a new idea of the role of plastic flow in the plastic plate buckling under uniaxial compression [Inoue, T. and Kato, B. (1993). Analysis of plastic buckling of steel plates. Znt. J. Solids Smctures 30, 835-856; Inoue, T. (1994). Analysis of plastic buckling of rectangular steel plates supported along their four edges. Znt. J. Solids Structures 31,21%230]. The original idea was to find a new torsional mode of plates which had not been noticed by anyone at the instant of buckling. The new mode was based on the concept that plastic strain was created by slips based on the Tresca yield criterion, and gave a significant reduction of the shear modulus. Its analytical solutions for the plastic buckling were compared with test results, and a good agreement in the early plastic zone was obtained. This paper aims to solve analytically the plastic buckling stress of mild steel plates in shear based on the similar concept adopted in the previous papers. Copyright 0 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd