Buckling behavior of simply supported tapered square plates

Buckling is one of the important design parameters for the design of plate structures. The critical buckling loads and buckling coefficients for a series of different tapered plates are investigated. Buckling analyses of square plates are performed by changing different types of thickness variation by using ANSYS finite element software. Plates are assumed to be thin plate. The loading types and taper ratio of the simply supported square plates considerably affect the critical buckling loads. The analysis results are compared with existing literature findings and presented graphically and in tabular form. It is concluded that the analyses results are in good harmony with the literature results. The graphics proposed in this study could be useful for designers. The novelty of this study is the presentation of new straightforward formulas that provide critical buckling load coefficients separately for designers, specifically for simply supported tapered plates under uniaxial and biaxial axial loading conditions.