Buckling and Vibration Performance of a Composite Laminated Plate with Elastic Boundaries Subjected to Local Thermal Loading

In this paper, a model is established for the calculation of the vibrations of a composite laminated plate with elastic boundary conditions subjected to local thermal loading. The model is based on first-order shear deformation theory using the finite element method. The influence of boundary conditions, heating area, and heating location on buckling and vibrations of a composite laminated plate was investigated, and there were two stages in which the critical temperature increased sharply during the transition from free boundary to simply supported and rigid fixed boundaries. The thermal buckling of locally heated laminated plates is generally not checked in practical applications unless the heated area exceeds approximately 10% of the total area of the plates. The stronger the boundary constraint is, the greater the influence of the heated area is on the vibrational frequencies of the composite laminated plate.