Numerical analysis of axisymmetric buckling of conical shells

Nonlinear boundaryvalue problems of axisymmetric buckling of conical shells under a uniformly distributed normal pressure are solved by the shooting method. The problems are formulated for a system of six firstorder ordinary differential equations with independent rotation and displacement fields. Simply supported and clamped cases are considered. Branching solutions of the boundaryvalue problems are studied for different pressures and geometrical parameters of the shells. The nonmonotonic and discontinuous curves of equilibrium states obtained show that collapse, i.e., snapthrough instability is possible. For a simply supported shell, multivalued solutions are obtained for both external and internal pressure. For a clamped thinwalled shell, theoretical results are compared with experimental data.