Postbuckling analysis of thin plates by a hybrid Trefftz finite element method Original Research Article

A hybrid Trefftz finite element (HT FE) model for postbuckling analysis of thin plates is presented, based on a modified variational principle. With the aid of incremental form of equilibrium equations, all non-linear terms may be viewed as pseudo-loads, and then the in-plane and out-of-plane equations can be uncoupled. As a consequence, the solution procedure for the postbuckling plate becomes very simple. Two numerical examples are considered to illustrate the correctness and accuracy of the proposed formulation.