Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 July 2016
In ref. (1) Pope presents a theoretical analysis of the buckling of rectangular plates tapered in thickness under uniform load in the direction of taper. An experimental investigation into the end load buckling problem for a plate having simply-supported edges with the sides prevented from moving normally in the plane of the plate is described in ref. (2). For these boundary conditions the theoretical solution is exact. However, the compatability equation is not satisfied exactly when the sides are free to move in the plane of the plate. This experimental investigation demonstrates that the buckling load is nevertheless adequately predicted by the analysis in these circumstances.