MODIFIED PIVOTAL PLOT FOR CRITICAL LOAD CALCULATION OF A RECTANGULAR PLATE UNDER EDGE COMPRESSION.

This paper presents a method of estimating the experimental critical load and initial imperfection of a rectangular plate under edge compression from the load deflection measurement. By using the concept of 'Pivotal Points' the load deflection results are plotted in a straight line form where the intercept gives the critical load and the slope is the initial imperfection. The proposed method offers an easy way of tackling the experimental data of a plate test. Both the critical load and initial imperfection can be assessed accurately with a bias towards the critical load.