Variational principles of perforated thin plates and finite element method for buckling and post-buckling analysis

On the basis of the general theory of perforated thin plates under large deflections^{[1, 2]}, variational principles with deflectionw and stress functionF as variables are stated in detail. Based on these principles, finite element method is established for analysing the buckling and post-buckling of perforated thin plates. It is found that the property of element is very complicated, owing to the multiple connexity of the region. Project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China.