Abstract
This work presents the buckling analysis of laminated composite thin walled structures by the 1D finite element based unified higher-order models obtained within the framework of the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF). In the present study, the refined beam theories are obtained on the basis of Taylor-type expansions. The finite element analysis has been chosen to easily handle arbitrary geometries as well as boundary conditions. Buckling behavior of laminated composite beam and flat panels are analyzed to illustrate the efficacy of the present formulation and various types of buckling modes are observed depending on the geometrical and material parameters. It is observed that the lower order models are unable to deal with torsion. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.