Buckling forms of homogeneous and sandwich plates in pure shear in tangential directions

The mathematical problem of the plane shear buckling form (BF) of sandwich plates and plates homogeneous across the thickness in pure shear is considered. The solution to this problem is compared with the solution to the problem of a flexural BF which is realized in these plates with the formation of oblique waves. It is established that, in the case of plates homogeneous across the thickness, the critical loads corresponding to the plane shear BF are maximum for isotropic ones. In real one-layer structural elements manufactured both of isotropic homogeneous and orthotropic composite materials, these critical loads cannot be reached since they exceed considerably the critical loads for the flexural BFs with oblique waves. The critical loads corresponding to the two BFs are comparable only for relatively thick plates. However, the plane shear BF can be realized in sandwich plates earlier than the flexural one even if the plates are thin. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 215–228, 2000.