Thermal buckling of hybrid laminated composite plates with a hole

Thermal buckling analysis of symmetric and antisymmetric cross-ply laminated hybrid composite plates with a hole subjected to a uniform temperature rise for different boundary conditions are presented in this paper. The first-order shear deformation theory in conjunction with variational energy method is employed in the mathematical formulation. The eight-node Lagrangian finite element technique is used for finding the thermal buckling temperatures of hybrid laminates. The effects of hole size, lay-up sequences and boundary conditions on the thermal buckling temperatures are investigated. The results are shown in graphical form for various conditions. (c) 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.