The buckling behavior of uniformly heated thin circular cylindrical shells

The results of buckling tests on uniformly heated, clamped, thin circular cylindrical shells are presented and discussed. Particular attention is paid to both the actual buckling process and the ensuing post-buckling behavior. Load vs. end-shortening curves are included. The possibility of “snap-through” buckling which occurs at a value of end shortening greater than that corresponding to the maximum supported load is experimentally verified. A comparison of the present experimental results with available theory is made. It is observed that the experimental values of the buckling temperature can be substantially greater than the temperatures calculated by linear theory from the experimental buckling loads; however, the buckling stresses are the same whether the loading is thermal or mechanical.