Thermal buckling behaviour of rectangular laminated composite plates with initial geometrical imperfections is investigated in this article. The equilibrium, stability, and compatibility equations of an imperfect composite plate are derived using the first order shear deformation plate theory. The plate is assumed to be under longitudinal temperature rise. Resulting equations are used to obtain the thermal buckling load of the composite plate in closed-form solutions. The effect of initial imperfections on buckling loads are discussed.
