Variation analysis for buckling strength of composite sandwich plates

Considering the layer thicknesses, fiber angles and materials properties as random variables, the variation of buckling strengths for composite sandwich plates was analyzed. With the stochastic finite element method (SFEM) based on high-order shear deformation theory (HSDT), the influences of fiber angles and side-to-thickness ratios on the coefficient of variance (COV) of buckling strengths for composite sandwich plates with different stacking sequences were studied. The sensitivity degrees of COV indicate the main effect factors for buckling strengths variances of sandwich plates, and the results are meaningful for material manufacture processes improvement for increasing the buckling reliability of composite sandwich plates.