Abstract:
Cutouts are often provided in structural and aircraft components for ventilation, for access, inspection, electric lines and fuel lines or sometimes to lighten the structure. This paper addresses the effects of cutout shape (i.e., circular, square, diamond, elliptical-vertical and elliptical-horizontal) and size on buckling and postbuckling response of quasi-isotropic (i.e., (+45/−45/0/90)2s) composite laminate under uni-axial compression. The finite element method is used to carry out the investigation. The formulation is based on first order shear deformation theory and von Karman