Applied Math Seminar Announcement

Structural stability of plates is a classic problem in elastic stability: the classic text is Timoshenko published in the 1930s. However, most studies have focused on isotropic plates and conservative loads. Fiber-reinforced composite panels are now widely used in a broad range of weight sensitive applications. Such panels are highly anisotropic (up to 100 times stiffer in one direction than the other) and their reduced weight also increases the importance of wind loads and other non-conservative forces. I will provide some background on elastic stability and discuss some new results (with Dr. Jayaraman of Mechanical Engineering) on structural stability of specially orthotropic (the material axes are aligned with the plate) plates subject to sub-tangential (applied forces intermediate between dead and follower) loads.