Thanks for the reply Drej.
1. Yes, I ran the eigen value analysis and used the displacements to update the geometry.
2. Yes. The buckled shape is as expected. The loading and end conditions are a bit complex but for the same plate and simpler loading the eigen value results compares favourably with Roark's formulae.
3. It is compression and shear in the plane of the plate.
4. Plate is a simple rectangle of size 1.7m*1m with non-uniform loads. It is simply supported on three sides, plus other restraints on the other sides.
5. Well, simply I am not allowed to go to the plastic range.
After further work on the problem, I think that the factor for upgeom should be of the order 0.002-0.05. These values give consistent results. When I apply a small perturbation load instead of upgeom I get similar answers to upgeom,0.002 or 0.05. Furthermore, eigen value solution also gives results in the same ballpark with upgeom,0.002 or 0.05, though slightly higher (which is expected).
With upgeom,1 , the plate is a shallow arch and will not buckle the way I expect. I guess this explains the discrepencies.
Please let me know what you think. Thanks in advance.