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EXAMPLE 2-016
SHELL OUT-OF-PLANE BUCKLING
EXAMPLE DESCRIPTION
This example uses a flat plate to test out-of-plane buckling of shell elements. The
plate is 24 inches long, 24 inches wide and 1 inch thick. Unit shear and bending
stresses, and , respectively, are applied to the plate edges in two separate load
cases. The buckling loads, cr and cr, calculated by SAP2000 are compared with
independent results.
The modeling for this example is set up such that the automatic area meshing
feature of SAP2000 can be used. This makes it easy to test the model with
different mesh sizes. In this example both a 16x16 and a 64x64 mesh are used, in
separate models.
The automatic area meshing feature has a special option to add a restraint to a
degree of freedom at a new joint (created by the meshing) along the edge of the
area object if both adjacent corners of the area object have that degree of freedom
restrained. This special option is used in this example.
The desired restraints for this example are as follows (see figure on next page):
Joint 1: Ux, Uy and Uz
Joints 2, 3: Uz
Joint 4: Ux and Uz (Ux applied as spring, see discussion that follows)
All other edge joints created by automatic meshing: Uz
The Ux restraint at joint 4 is applied as a spring with 1E9 kip/in stiffness. This is
done so that the automatic area meshing will only put a Uz restraint on the
intermediate joints along edge 1-4. If the Ux restraint at joint 4 were specified as
a joint restraint rather than a spring, the automatic area meshing would put both
Ux and Uz restraints on the intermediate joints along edge 1-4, which is not the
desired result.
Four frame objects are defined around the perimeter of the plate spanning from
one corner of the plate to the next. The property modifiers for those frame objects
are all set to zero so that they contribute no stiffness, mass or weight to the
structure. The frame objects are specified to be automatically subdivided at
intermediate joints. All of the plate edge loading is applied to these dummy
frame objects as distributed loads. Applying the load using those beams allows
the edge load to be properly distributed when the automatic area meshing is used.

EXAMPLE 2-016 - 1

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GEOMETRY, PROPERTIES AND LOADING

24"
4

24"

NxN automatic
internal area mesh
Dummy beams
around plate
perimeter used to
apply loads

Y
Z
X
1

Model Geometry

Material Properties
E = 29000 k/in2
= 0.3

Section Properties
Length = 24 in
Width = 24 in
Thickness = 1 in

Restraint at Joint 1
Ux, Uy, Uz
Restraint at Joints 2 and 3
Uz

Load Case SHEAR

-

Internal Meshing
Model A: 16x16
Model B: 64x64

Restraint at Joint 4
Ux, Uz where Ux
restraint is applied
as a spring
Restraint at Other Edge Joints
Uz

Load Case BEND

EXAMPLE 2-016 - 2

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TECHNICAL FEATURES OF SAP2000 TESTED

Buckling analysis of shells
Automatic area meshing (NxN) with added restraints
Joint springs
Frame property modifiers
Frame distributed load
Frame automatic subdivide at intermediate joints
RESULTS COMPARISON
The independent result for the shear buckling stress, cr, is calculated using
equation 8-3 on page 320 and equation j together with Table 9-10 on page 382 of
Timoshenko and Gere 1961. The independent result for the bending buckling
stress, cr, is calculated using equation 8-3 on page 320 and equation j together
with Table 9-6 on page 377 of Timoshenko and Gere 1961. The results are
presented separately for the thin plate option and the thick plate option.
Note that the independent results do not include the effects of out-of-plane shear
deformations.
Thin Plate Option (1 Inch Plate Thickness)
Output
Parameter
cr k/in2

cr k/in2

Model and
Mesh

SAP2000

A - 16 x 16

435

B - 64 x 64

425

A - 16 x 16

1179

B - 64 x 64

1163

Independent
425

Percent
Difference
+2.4%
0%

1165

+1.2%
-0.2%

EXAMPLE 2-016 - 3

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Thick Plate Option (1 Inch Plate Thickness)

Output
Parameter
cr k/in2

cr k/in2

COMPUTER FILE:

Model and
Mesh

SAP2000

A - 16 x 16

416

B - 64 x 64

408

A - 16 x 16

1121

B - 64 x 64

1112

Independent
425

Percent
Difference
-2.1%
-4%

1165

-3.8%
-4.5%

Example 2-016a-thick, Example 2-016a-thin,

Example 2-016b-thick, Example 2-016b-thin,
Example 2-016c-thick, Example 2-016c-thin

CONCLUSION
The SAP2000 results show an acceptable match with the independent results for
both the thin plate option and the thick plate option.
The thick plate option converges to smaller buckling stress values than the thin
plate option and the theoretical results. The differences for the thick plate option
results occur because the thick plate solution includes the effects of out-of-plane
shear deformations, whereas neither the independent results nor the thin plate
solution consider those effects.
This can be demonstrated by repeating the example with a smaller plate thickness
such that the effects of out-of-plane shear deformations are negligible compared
to bending deformations. Model C changes the plate thickness from 1 inch to
0.01 inch. With this change, the thick plate and the thin plate results are
essentially identical and show an acceptable comparison with the independent
results. The results for Model C are shown in the following table.

EXAMPLE 2-016 - 4

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Results for Model C (0.01 Inch Plate Thickness and 64x64 mesh)
Output
Parameter
cr k/in2

cr k/in2

Shell
Option

SAP2000

Thin

0.0425

Thick

0.0425

Thin

0.1163

Thick

0.1162

Independent
0.0425

Percent
Difference
0%
0%

0.1165

-0.2%
-0.3%

EXAMPLE 2-016 - 5

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HAND CALCULATION

EXAMPLE 2-016 - 6

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EXAMPLE 2-016 - 7