Composites: Part B 55 (2013) 440446

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Composites: Part B
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compositesb

Buckling analysis of cross-ply laminated conical panels using GDQ

method
J. Abediokhchi, M.A. Kouchakzadeh , M. Shakouri
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Azadi Street, P.O. Box 11155-8639, Tehran, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The buckling analysis of cross-ply laminated conical shell panels with simply supported boundary
Received 21 January 2013 conditions at all edges and subjected to axial compression is studied. The conical shell panel is a very
Received in revised form 30 May 2013 interesting problem as it can be considered as the general case for conical shells when the subtended
Accepted 3 July 2013
angle is set to 2p and also cylindrical panels and shells when the semi-vertex angle is equal to zero.
Available online 16 July 2013
Equations were derived using classical shell theory of Donnell type and solved using generalized
differential quadrature method. The results are compared and validated with the known results in the
Keywords:
literature. The effects of subtended angle, semi-vertex angle, length, thickness and radius of the panel
A. Laminates
B. Buckling
on the buckling load and mode are investigated.
C. Laminate mechanics 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Generalized Differential Quadrature (GDQ)
method

1. Introduction conditions. Maleki et al. [11] studied the bending of moderately

Conical structures have been used in many industries such as
marine, civil and other applications because of their ability to carry
loads. These applications results in much attention to static and
dynamic behaviors of conical shells and panels including deec-
tion, stability and vibration of such structures by researchers.
The study on cylindrical shells and panels was presented by
many researchers [1,2]. One of the earliest papers on conical panels
was published by Rossetos and Parisse [3]on the dynamic response
of cylindrical and conical panels. Srinivasan and Krishnan [4]
obtained the natural frequencies and mode shapes of clamped
isotropic conical panels using simple Donnells shell theory and
integral equations. Then Lam et al. [5], Civalek [6] and Zhao and
Leiw [7] studied free vibration of conical panels using Generalized
Differential Quadrature (GDQ), discrete singular convolution (DSC)
and mesh-less methods, respectively. In addition, Civalek [8] used
the DSC method for linear vibration of isotropic conical shells. Agh-
dam et al. [9] studied the bending of moderately thick FG conical
panels with clamped boundary conditions at all four edges using
extended Kantorovich method (EKM) to solve the governing
equations.
The differential quadrature (DQ) method is a very powerful
method to solve various types of equations. Abediokhchi et al.
[10] used GDQ method with reasonable low number of grid points
to analyze the bending of FG conical panels with various boundary
Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 21 66164641; fax: +98 21 66022731.
E-mail address: mak@sharif.edu (M.A. Kouchakzadeh).
thick laminated conical panels with various boundary conditions
using GDQ approach.
Darvizeh et al. [12] compared the efciency and reliability of
GDQ with RayleighRitz method for buckling of laminated plates
and concluded that GDQ is more reliable and requires lower CPU
time compared with RayleighRitz method. Liew et al. [13] used
this method to study the bending behavior of thick symmetric
cross-ply laminates with rst-order shear deformation theory.
They [14] also studied the vibration of circular Mindlin plates using
DQ method. In addition, Liew and his colleagues [15] compared the
accuracy of DQ and harmonic DQ methods in vibration analysis of
rectangular plates. They showed that the DQ and harmonic DQ
methods produce better convergent solutions than the Finite Ele-
ment Method (FEM). Han and Liew [16] presented DQ solutions
for the bending of moderately thick rectangular plates on Paster-
nak elastic foundations. They [17] also employed DQ method to
study axisymmetric free vibration of moderately thick annular
plates.
In many cases, the conical and cylindrical structures are sub-
jected to heavy load and it means that they can experience failure
due to buckling. Therefore, research on the buckling of conical and
cylindrical shells and panels has a long history and references to
some of the earlier works can be found in [1821]. In recent years,
there are many studies on the buckling of truncated conical shells
made up of composites [2225] and Functionally Graded Materials
(FGMs) [26,27] and a wide range of loading types such as axial load
[26,28,29], hydrostatic pressure [3032] and combined loads
[33,34]. In addition, the buckling analysis of FG conical panels is

1359-8368/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2013.07.003
 J. Abediokhchi et al. / Composites: Part B 55 (2013) 440446 441

studied by Zhao and Liew [35] and Bich et al. [36] using mesh-free @u @2w
and Galerkin methods, respectively.
exx jxx  2
@x @x
In this paper, the authors investigate buckling analysis of cross- usin a  w cos a 1 @v sin a @w 1 @2w
ply laminated conical panels with simply supported boundary con- ehh jhh   2 4
Rx Rx @h Rx @x R x @h2
ditions at all edges and subjected to axial compression.The conical    
shell panel is a very interesting problem as it can be considered as
1 1 @u v sin a @ v @ 1 @w
exh  jxh 
the general case for conical shells when the subtended angle is set 2 Rx @h Rx @x @x Rx @h
to 2p and also cylindrical panels and shells when the semi-vertex Assuming CST, the stressstrain relation for cross-ply laminated
angle is equal to zero. Equations were derived using classical shell conical panel is [37]
theory of Donnell type and solved using GDQ approach. The results 8 9 2 38 9
are compared and validated with the results of other papers in this >
>
Nxx >
>
A11 A12 0 B11 B12 0 >
>
exx >
>
> > 6 >
> e >
eld. The effects of subtended and semi-vertex angles and the
>
>
>
> Nhh >>
>
> 6 A12 A22 0 B12 B22 0 77>
>
>
>
>
7> >
hh
>
> > 6 > >
length, thickness and radius of the panel on the buckling load < Nxh >= 6 0 0 A66 0 0 7>
<
B66 7 2exh =
>
6
and mode are also investigated. 6 7 5
>
> M xx >
> 6 0 7 >
> jxx >
>
> >
> 6 B11 B12 0 D11 D12 7> >
>
>
> >
> 6 7>
> >
>
2. Theoretical formulation
> M hh >
> > 4 B12 B22 0 D12 D22 0 5>>
> j >
hh >
>
>
: >
; >
: >
;
M xh 0 0 B66 0 0 D66 2jxh
Consider a conical panel with constant thickness in (x, h, z) coor-
in which (Nxx, Nhh, Nxh) and (Mxx, Mhh, Mxh) are stress and moment
dinate shown in Fig. 1.
resultants, respectively and (Aij, Dij, Bij) are extensional, bending
where h is the panel thickness, a is its meridional length, a and b
and bending-extensional coupling stiffnesses which are dened in
are the cone semi-vertex and subtended angles, respectively and Rt
terms of the lamina stiffnesses Q as
and Rr denote the cones radii. For this cone we have:
X
NL
Rx Rt x sin a 1 Aij Q ij k zk  zk1
k1
where R(x) is radius of the cone in any plane perpendicular to cone
1X
N
axis. Using classical shell theory (CST) of Donnell type, the displace-
L  
Bij Q ij k z2k  z2k1 6
ment eld can be written as [37]: 2 k1

1X
N
@wx; h L  
u x; h; z ux; h  z Dij Q ij k z3k  z3k1 i; j 1; 2; 6
@x 3 k1
z @wx; h 2
v x; h; z v x; h 

where NL is total number of layersin lamina, the subscript k denotes
Rx @h
 the kth layer of the laminate and Q ij s are transformed stiffnesses for
w x; h; z wx; h
cross-ply laminate and expressed as
where u, v and w are displacements all over the panel and u, v, w 4
Q 11 Q 11 cos4 h Q 22 sin h
are the displacements in mid-plane surface in x, h, z directions,
4
respectively. Then, the straindisplacement relations for conical Q 12 Q 12 sin h cos4 h
panels can be expressed as 4
Q 22 Q 11 sin h Q 22 cos4 h h 0 ; 90 7
ex exx zjxx ; eh ehh zjhh ; cxh 2exh zjxh 3 4
Q 66 Q 66 sin h cos h 4

where (ex, eh) and cxh are normal and shear strain components, Q 16 Q 26 0
respectively, and (exx, ehh, exh) and (jxx, jhh, jxh) are membrane
and bending (exural) strains, respectively and can be expressed And Qij are known in terms of the engineering constants:
as [38] E1 m12 E2
Q 11 ; Q 12 ;
1  m12 m21 1  m12 m21
E2
Q 22 ; Q 66 G12 8
1  m12 m21
where E1, E2 and G12 are longitudinal and transverse and shear mod-
uli, respectively and m12 and m21 are major and minor Poissons ra-
tios, respectively. The governing equations for laminated conical
panels subjected to axial pressure (P) are [37]
@Nxx sin a 1 @Nxh
Nxx  Nhh 0 9
@x Rx Rx @h

@Nxh 2 sin a 1 @Nhh

Nxh 0 10
@x Rx Rx @h

@Q x 1 @Q h sin a cos a @2W

Qx N hh Nx0 0 11
@x Rx @h Rx Rx @x2
where Qx and Qh are the shear stress resultants and dened in terms
of moment resultants as
1 @ Mhh sin a 1 @Mxh
Qx RxM xx  12
Rx @x Rx Rx @h
Fig. 1. Conical panel geometry.
442 J. Abediokhchi et al. / Composites: Part B 55 (2013) 440446

1 @ M xh sin a 1 @M hh 3.1. Application of GDQ

Qh RxMxh 13
Rx @x Rx Rx @h
The GDQ is a powerful method to discretize the domain to grid
and Nx0 is the pre-buckling load expressed as points and express the derivatives in the governing equations and
P boundary conditions in terms of displacements. It is assumed that
Nx0  14 the grid points are located on the zeros of the Chebyshev polyno-
bRx cos a
mials [39] and to discretize the solution domain, one can assume
Substituting Eqs. (5) and (6) into Eqs. (10)(12) results in a set of a set of N grid points in the x-direction
three fully coupled partial differential equations in terms of three   
a i1
displacements for laminated conical panel as xi 1  cos p ; i 1; 2; . . . ; N 21
   2 N1
@2 w @v
B12 B22 2B66 sin a 2  Rx A22 sin a usin a  wcos a and the derivatives are related to functions with proper weighting
@h @h
! ! 15 coefcients. Thus we have [13]
@v @2u 2 @w @3w
 Rx A66 sin a  2  B22 sin a B12 2B66 
@h @h @x @x@ 2 h m
d f x XN

m  uijm f xj ; i 1; 2; . . . ; N 22
  ! dx xxi j1
@u @w @2 v @2 w
Rx2 A11 sin a  A12 cos a Rx2 A12 A66  B11 sin a 2
@x @x @x@h @x where f(x) is an arbitrary function, m is the order of derivative and
!
@ 2
u @ 3
w uijm is the weighting coefcients. For the rst derivative of a func-
Rx3 A11 2  B11 3 0 tion, these coefcients can be obtained by
@x @x
! 1 M xi 1
@3w @u @w @2v @2u C ij x x M 1 x
; i; j 1; 2; . . . ; N; ij
 B22 3 A22 Rx sin a  cos a 2 A12 Rx2 i j j
@h @h @h @h @x@h X
N 23
1 1
@2 w 2 @u C ii  C ij ; i 1; 2; . . . ; N
 B22 Rxsin a  A66 Rxv sin a A66 Rxsin a 16 j1;ji
@x@h @h
(1)
! where M (xi) is Lagrange interpolating polynomials dened as
@v @2 u @2 v @3 w
A66 Rx2 sin a Rx 2  B12 2B66 Rx2 2 0 Y
N
@x @x@h @x @x @h
M1 xi xi  xj 24
2 @2 w @4w 3 j1;ji
 2sin aD12 D22 2D66  D22 B22 Rxusin a  B22 Rxwsin2 a cos a
@h2 @h4
2 And for higher orders of derivatives we have:
2 @ v @ u @2 w @3v
B22 Rxsin a B22 Rxsin a 2  2B22 Rxcos a 2 B22 Rx 3  
@h @h @h @h um1
@3 w
um
ij
m1 1
n uii uij  ij
xi xj
; i; j 1; 2; . . . ; N; ij
3 @w 2
 D22 Rxsin a 2D12 2D66 Rxsin a A 22 Rx usin a cos a
@x @x@h2 X
N 25
@v @3 u um  um
ij ; i; j 1; 2; . . . ; N
 A22 Rx2 wcos2 a A22 Rx2 cos a B12 2B66 Rx2 ii
@h @x@h2 j1;ji

@u 2 @2 v 2
2 @ w
 B22 Rx sin a  B22 Rx2 sin a
2
D22 Rx2 sin a 2 Substitution of Eqs. (24)(26) into Eqs. (16)(18) results in the GDQ
@x @x@h @x
form of governing equations as
@4 w P @2 w @u
 2D12 2D66 Rx2 2
 Rx3 sec a 2 A12 Rx3 cos a
@x @h b
2 @x @x X
N X
N
A11 Rxi 2 sin a C ik Uxk  nbp A12 A66 Rxi 2 C ik Vxk
1 1
@2w @3v @2 u
 2B12 Rx cos a 2 B12 2B66 Rx3 2 2B11 Rx3 sin a 2
3
k1 k1
@x @x @h @x
@3 w @3 u @4 w X
N X
N
A12 Rxi cos a C ik Wxk  B11 Rxi 2 sin a C ik Wxk
2
1 2
 2D11 Rx3 sin a 3 B11 Rx4 3  D11 Rx4 4 0
@x @x @x
k1 k1
17
X
N
3
X
N
C ik Uxk  B11 Rxi 3 C ik Wxk
2 3
The SS3simply supported boundary condition is considered at each A11 Rxi
k1 k1
edge of the panel as:
2
X
N
n2 2 1
u 0; w 0; Nhh 0; Mhh 0 at h 0; b 18  bp2 Wxi B12 B22 2B66 sin a B22 Rxi sin a C ik Wxk
k1
X
N
v 0; w 0; Nxx 0; M xx 0 at x 0; L 19 2 2
n bp2
1 2 2
Rxi B12 2B66 C ik Wxk  n bp2 Rxi A66 Uxi
k1
2
nbp Rxi A66 sin aVxi  Rxi A22 sin aUxi
3. Solution procedure nbp Rxi A22 sin aVxi Rxi A22 sin a cos aWxi 0

By the use of above boundary conditions the solution can be 26

considered as
  X
N X
N
n3 p3
B22 Wxi nbp A12 Rxi 2
1 1
nph b3
C ik Uxk  nbp B22 Rxi sin a C ik Wxk
ux; h Ux sin k1 k1
b X
N X
N
 
 nbp B12 2B66 Rxi 2 C ik Wxk nbp A66 Rxi 2 C ik Uxk
2 1
nph
v x; h Vx cos 20 k1 k1
b
  X
N X
N
nph 2
A66 Rxi sin a C 1
ik Vxk A66 Rxi
3
C 2 np
ik Vxk b A66 Rxi sin aUxi
wx; h Wx sin k1 k1
b 2
A66 Rxi sin aVxi nbp A22 Rxi sin aUxi  n2bp2 2 A22 Rxi Vxi
where n is the circumferential buckling mode.The GDQ method is  nbp A22 Rxi cos aWxi 0
applied to solve the three coupled ordinary differential equations
27
attained when we substitute the Eq. (20) into Eqs. (15)(17).
 J. Abediokhchi et al. / Composites: Part B 55 (2013) 440446 443

Table 1
Validation of dimensionless buckling parameter qcr of isotropic conical panel (b = 2p).

N a()
1 5 10 30 60
Present study 7 0.4807 0.4825 0.4873 0.5034 0.4565
9 0.5248 0.5234 0.5233 0.5180 0.4489
11 0.5132 0.5135 0.5145 0.5138 0.4486
Tong and Wang [25] 0.5131 0.5139 0.5146 0.5138 0.4486
Baruch et.al. [40] 0.5131 0.5139 0.5147 0.5139 0.4486

Table 2
Validation of dimensionless critical buckling load qcr of anti-symmetric cross-ply conical shell.

a/R0 NL Present study Tong and Wang [25]

N
7 9 11
0.2 2 0.1142 (8) 0.1146 (8) 0.1146 (8) 0.1146 (8)
4 0.2478 (7) 0.2488 (7) 0.2488 (7) 0.2488 (7)
6 0.2722 (7) 0.2733 (7) 0.2733 (7) 0.2732 (7)
1 0.2915 (7) 0.2927 (7) 0.2927 (7) 0.2927 (7)
0.5 2 0.06676 (6) 0.06733 (6) 0.06734 (6) 0.06751 (6)
4 0.1049 (6) 0.1053 (6) 0.1053 (6) 0.1054 (6)
6 0.1112 (5) 0.1117 (5) 0.1117 (5) 0.1117 (5)
1 0.1154 (5) 0.1158 (5) 0.1158 (5) 0.1158 (5)
1.0 2 0.05963 (6) 0.06736 (6) 0.06748 (6) 0.06743 (6)
4 0.1020 (5) 0.1062 (5) 0.1064 (5) 0.1063 (5)
6 0.1087 (5) 0.1119 (5) 0.1121 (5) 0.1122 (5)
1 0.1138 (5) 0.1163 (5) 0.1165 (5) 0.1165 (5)

X
N X
N
4. Results and discussion
 Pb Rxi 3 sec a C ik Wxk A12 Rxi 3 cos a C ik Uxk
2 1

k1 k1
4.1. Comparative study
X
N
3
X
N
C ik Vxk  2B12 Rxi 3 cos a C ik Wxk
2 2
 nbp B12 2B66 Rxi
k1 k1 To validate the results of the present study forbuckling load of
conical panel subjected to axial compression, the subtended angle
X
N X
N
2B11 Rxi 3 sin a C ik Uxk  2D11 Rxi 3 sin a C ik Wxk
2 3
b is set to 2p and also n with 2n so that we can compare the results
k1 k1 with the papers published about buckling of isotropic and lami-
X
N X
N nated conical shells. Before presenting the results, let us introduce
B11 Rxi 4 C ik Uxk  D11 Rxi 4
3 4 4 4
C ik Wxk  n bp4 D22 Wxi the dimensionless buckling load as
k1 k1

X
P cr
2
N
qcr 29
2 2
2nb2p D12 D22 2D66 sin aWxi  n2bp2 2 B12 2B66 Rxi 2 C 1
ik Uxk Pcl
k1
where Pcr is the critical buckling load obtained, and Pcl is the classi-
X
N
2
X
N
cal value of the critical buckling load for long conical shells with
2nb2p D12 2D66 Rxi 2 C ik Wxk  B22 Rxi 2 sin a C ik Uxk
2 2 2 1

k1 k1 simply supported boundary conditions,suggested by Seide [18].

2
X
N
2
X
N
2pEh cos2 a
nbp B22 Rxi 2 sin a C ik Vxk D22 Rxi 2 sin a C ik Wxk
1 2
Pcl p 30
k1 k1 31  m2

A22 Rxi 2 Uxi sin a cos a  nbp A22 Rxi 2 Vxi cos a  A22 Rxi 2 Wxi cos2 a Table 1 shows the results obtained from the present study with var-
ious numbers of grid points,compared with the results of other
3
X
N X
N
studies available in the literature [25,40], assuming the following
2n2 p2
D22 Rxi sin a C 1
ik Wxk  b2 D12 2D66 Rxi sin a C 1
ik Wxk
k1 k1 geometrical properties
3 3 2n2 p2 n2 p2
n bp3 B22 Rxi Vxi b2
B22 Rxi cos aWxi  b2
B22 Rxi sin aUxi Rt a
100; 0:5; t 0:3 31
3 2
h Rt
np
B22 Rxi Uxi sin a B Rxi Vxi sin
b 22
a
Good agreement between the results can be seen in the table.
2
B22 Rxi sin a cos aWxi 0 Anti-symmetric cross-ply laminates are considered for the next
28 comparative study. For this lamination, the properties are

A11 A22 12 Q 11 Q 22 h; A12 Q 12 h; A66 Q 66 h

Applying Eqs. (26)(28) on all grid points and boundary conditions
2
on boundary grids, results in a set of 3Nalgebraic equations. Solving B11 B22  4N1 L Q 11  Q 22 h ; B12 0; B66 0
these equations as an eigenvalue problem, results in critical buck- 1 3 1 3 1 3
D11 D22 24
Q 11 Q 22 h ; D12 Q h ;
12 12
D66 12 Q 66 h
ling load Pcr for cross-ply laminated conical panel subject to axial
compression with simply supported boundary conditions. 32
444 J. Abediokhchi et al. / Composites: Part B 55 (2013) 440446

Table 3
Effects of subtended angle b and semi-vertex angle a and ratio R0/h on the buckling loads Pcr(GN) of anti-symmetric cross-ply conical panels (a/R0 = 0.5, N = 11, NL = 2).

b() a() R0/h

80 100 120
30 1 0.006485 (1) 0.004529 (1) 0.003412 (2)
5 0.006431 (1) 0.004487 (1) 0.003395 (2)
10 0.006266 (1) 0.004361 (1) 0.003338 (1)
30 0.004732 (1) 0.003200 (1) 0.002397 (1)
45 0.003147 (1) 0.002035 (1) 0.001474 (1)
45 1 0.01020 (2) 0.006237 (2) 0.004325 (2)
5 0.01014 (2) 0.006195 (2) 0.004293 (2)
10 0.009957 (2) 0.006064 (2) 0.004192 (2)
30 0.008143 (2) 0.004827 (2) 0.003254 (2)
45 0.006069 (2) 0.003471 (2) 0.002262 (2)
60 1 0.01297 (2) 0.009057 (2) 0.006117 (3)
5 0.01286 (2) 0.008975 (2) 0.006077 (3)
10 0.01253 (2) 0.008722 (2) 0.005952 (3)
30 0.009465 (2) 0.006401 (2) 0.004777 (3)
45 0.006293 (2) 0.004070 (2) 0.002948 (2)
90 1 0.01945 (3) 0.01247 (4) 0.008650 (4)
5 0.01929 (3) 0.01239 (4) 0.008585 (4)
10 0.01880 (3) 0.01213 (4) 0.008384 (4)
30 0.01420 (3) 0.009601 (3) 0.006508 (4)
45 0.009439 (3) 0.006105 (3) 0.004423 (3)

where Qij can be obtained from Eqs. (7) and (8).The elementary 4.2. Parametric study
material properties of each carbon/epoxy layer and geometric
parameters are given as To investigate the effects of various paremeters on the buckling
load, we assume the following material and geometrical properties
E1 G12 Ro for the anti-symmetric cross-ply conical panelin theremaining
40; 0:5; t12 0:25; 100; a 45 ;
E2 E2 h casesof this section.
1
Ro Rt Rr 33 E1 G12
2 40; 0:5; a 1 m; t12 0:25;
E2 E2
where R0 is the mean radius of the cone. For this particular set of E2 12:1  109 Pa 34
laminated cones, we compute qcr from Eqs. (29) and (30) with m re-
placed by mxh and E replaced by Ex. Critical load ratios qcr and the Effects of subtended angle b, semi-vertex angle a and ratio R0/h on
associated circumferential wave numbers nfor various values of a/ the buckling load of anti-symmetric cross-ply conical panels with
R0 along with the results of Tong and Wang [25] are shown in Table 2, two layers (NL = 2) and a/R0 = 0.5 are shown in Table 3. It can be
indicating that the accuracy of the results are in good conditions. argued from this table that increase in R0/h ratio and panel

Table 4
Effects of number of layers NL and semi-vertex angle a and ratio a/R0 on the critical buckling loads Pcr(GN) of cross-ply anti-symmetric conical panels (R0/h = 100, b = 45, N = 11).

a() NL a/R0
0.2 0.5 1.0
1 2 0.05423 (2) 0.006237 (2) 0.001522 (2)
4 0.1089 (2) 0.01104 (2) 0.002650 (2)
6 0.1190 (2) 0.01192 (2) 0.002859 (2)
1 0.1271 (2) 0.01264 (2) 0.003026 (2)
5 2 0.05391 (2) 0.006195 (2) 0.001512 (2)
4 0.1084 (2) 0.01098 (2) 0.002633 (2)
6 0.1185 (2) 0.01186 (2) 0.002840 (2)
1 0.1265 (2) 0.01257 (2) 0.003006 (2)
10 2 0.05292 (2) 0.006064 (2) 0.001480 (2)
4 0.1068 (2) 0.01079 (2) 0.002581 (2)
6 0.1167 (2) 0.01167 (2) 0.002784 (2)
1 0.1247 (2) 0.01237 (2) 0.002945 (2)
30 2 0.04336 (2) 0.004827 (2) 0.001174 (2)
4 0.09068 (2) 0.008998 (2) 0.002096 (2)
6 0.09942 (2) 0.009660 (1) 0.002190 (1)
1 0.1064 (2) 0.009848 (1) 0.002244 (1)
45 2 0.03248 (2) 0.003471 (2) 0.0008241 (2)
4 0.07107 (2) 0.005730 (1) 0.001277 (1)
6 0.07820 (2) 0.005926 (1) 0.001330 (1)
1 0.08388 (2) 0.006075 (1) 0.001375 (1)
 J. Abediokhchi et al. / Composites: Part B 55 (2013) 440446
Fig. 2. Variation of buckling load of conical panel versus a/R0 ratio.
Fig. 3. Variation of buckling loads of conical panel versus R0/h ratio.
thickness (h) as well as decrease in semi-vertex angle a result in
higher buckling loads.
Table 4 shows effects of number of layers and a/R0 ratio on the
buckling loads of cross-ply anti-symmetric conical panel. The
material characteristics of the panel is according to Eq. (34),
b = 45 and R0/h = 100. Increasing the number of layers, decreases
the anisotropy effects on buckling of the panel. It can be concluded
from this table that the buckling load decreases when the length
and mean radius of the panel increase.
Fig. 2 shows the buckling load of anti-symmetric cross-ply con-
ical panel with simply-supported boundary conditions at all four
edges versus its length (a/R0) for various semi-vertex angles. The
laminate consists of 2 layers and subtended angle b = 60 and R0/
h = 100. In addition, variation of buckling load of cross-ply conical
panel with simply-supported boundary conditions at all four edges
445
Fig. 4. Variation of buckling loads of conical panels versus a/R0 ratio for various
numbers of layers NL.
Fig. 5. Variation of buckling loads of conical panels versus semi-vertex angle a.
with radius (R0/h) for various semi-vertex angles is seen in
Fig. 3.The geometrical characteristics of panel are the same as
Fig. 2 and a/R0 = 1. A cusp can be seen in lower values of semi-ver-
tex angles in R0/h  120. It happens because we have a mode tran-
sition from n = 1 to n = 2 in this value of R0/h.
Effects of number of layers on buckling load of the conical panel
are shown in Fig. 4. The panel is simply supported on all edges and
R0/h = 100. The semi-vertex angle a = 10 and subtended angle
b = 60. It can be seen that the buckling load increases when the
number of layers in the anti-symmetric cross-ply laminate in-
crease. However, the buckling load converges rapidly to some va-
lue as the number of layers increase.
Fig. 5 shows the buckling load of four edges simply-supported
anti-symmetric cross-ply conical panel with 2 layers with respect
446 J. Abediokhchi et al. / Composites: Part B 55 (2013) 440446
Fig. 6. Variation of buckling loads (and corresponding modes) of conical panels
versus subtended angle b.
to semi-vertex angle a. The panel length a/R0 = 1 and R0/h = 100.
The behavior of the diagram in a = 15 and 30 degrees are the same.
However, in higher semi-vertex angles the slope is greater because
of the mode change.
Effects of subtended angle b on the buckling load of the panel
and the corresponding circumferential mode (n) are shown in
Fig. 6. The panel has 2 layers, the panel length a/R0 = 1 and R0/
h = 100 and all edges are simply-supported. It is seen that the
buckling load has a non-uniform behavior when the b increases.
It is because of the change in the buckling mode of the conical
panel as indicated on the graph.
5. Conclusions
In this paper, the authors investigate buckling analysis of anti-
symmetric cross-ply laminated conical shell panels with simply
supported boundary conditions at all edges and subjected to axial
compression. Equations were derived using classical shell theory
(CST) of Donnel type and are solved using GDQ approach. The re-
sults are compared and validated with the other values available
in the literature. The effects of subtended angle, semi-vertex angle,
length, thickness and radius of the panel on buckling load and
mode are investigated. The main results obtained are
 Increase in semi-vertex angle results in decrease in buckling
load and appearance of higher modes of buckling in the circum-
ferential direction.
 Increase in subtended angle results in higher modes of buckling
in the circumferential direction and places some cusps on the
curve of buckling load.
 The buckling load increases and converges rapidly when the
number of layers in the anti-symmetric cross-ply laminate
increase.
 Higher thicknesses and lower mean radii of conical panel cause
higher buckling loads and lower buckling modes.
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