Buckling behaviour of imperfect spherical shells

For the design of spherical shells under external pressure relatively few information can be found in corresponding codes and recommendations, e.g. not at all in the new draft of Eurocode 3 ENV 1993-1-6. Under this aspect, new design rules for these shells were developed, which take into account relevant details like boundary conditions, material properties, and imperfections. They are usually based on a large number of systematic numerical simulations to obtain results describing the load carrying behaviour and imperfection sensitivity of thin spherical shells. In addition, previous theoretical and experimental results are discussed. Based on the results, diagrams and design rules have been developed which might be used for new recommendations in the design concept of the Eurocode.     

Buckling of imperfect functionally graded cylindrical shells under axial compression

Buckling behaviors of axially compressed functionally graded cylindrical shells with geometrical imperfections are investigated in this paper using Donnell shell theory and the nonlinear strain-displacement relations of large deformation. The analysis is based on the nonlinear prebuckling consistent theory. Both the prebuckling effects and the temperature-dependent material properties are taken into account. The buckling condition for imperfect functionally graded cylindrical shells is obtained by using the Galerkin method. Numerical results show various effects of imperfection, structural type, power law exponent, temperature and dimensional parameters on buckling. The present theoretical results are verified by those in literature.     

Buckling under the external pressure of cylindrical shells with variable thickness

This study focuses on the buckling of cylindrical shells with small thickness variations under external pressure. Asymptotic formulas in terms of the thickness non-uniformity parameter are derived by the combined perturbation and Bubnov–Galerkin methods. In addition to the analytic investigation based on the thin shell theory, a numerical analysis is also performed. Results from these formulas are discussed and compared with those obtained by other authors.     

Buckling analysis of cylindrical shells with random geometric imperfections

In this paper the effect of random geometric imperfections on the limit loads of isotropic, thin-walled, cylindrical shells under deterministic axial compression is presented. Therefore, a concept for the numerical prediction of the large scatter in the limit load observed in experiments using direct Monte Carlo simulation technique in context with the Finite Element method is introduced. Geometric imperfections are modeled as a two dimensional, Gaussian stochastic process with prescribed second moment characteristics based on a data bank of measured imperfections. (The initial imperfection data bank at the Delft University of Technology, Part 1. Technical Report LR-290, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology). In order to generate realizations of geometric imperfections, the estimated covariance kernel is decomposed into an orthogonal series in terms of eigenfunctions with corresponding uncorrelated Gaussian random variables, known as the Karhunen-Loéve expansion. For the determination of the limit load a geometrically non-linear static analysis is carried out using the general purpose code STAGS (STructural Analysis of General Shells, user manual, LMSC P032594, version 3.0, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space Co., Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA). As a result of the direct Monte Carlo simulation, second moment characteristics of the limit load are presented. The numerically predicted statistics of the limit load coincide reasonably well with the actual observations, particularly in view of the limited data available, which is reflected in the statistical estimators.     

Buckling analysis of stringer-stiffened laminated cylindrical shells with nonuniform eccentricity

In this study, the influence of nonuniformity of eccentricity of stringers on the general axial buckling load of stiffened laminated cylindrical shells with simply supported end conditions is investigated. The critical loads are calculated using Love’s First-order Shear Deformation Theory and solved using the Rayleigh-Ritz procedure. The effects of the shell length-to-radius ratio, shell thickness-to-radius ratio, number of stringers, and stringers depth-to-width ratio on the buckling load of nonuniformly eccentric shells, are examined. The research demonstrates that an appropriate nonuniform distribution of eccentricity of stringers leads the buckling load to increase significantly.     

宏纤维压电层合壳结构非线性屈曲分析

以纤维压电MFC （Micro-Fiber Composite）层合圆柱壳为例,研究了其在准静态屈曲下的非线性振动响应。基于Reissner-Mindlin一阶剪切变形假设,采用大转角几何全非线性理论,建立了带有纤维角度的MFC层合壳结构的非线性屈曲与振动分析模型。采用全拉格朗日方程（Total Lagrange Formulation）对非线性模型进行线性化处理,并结合Riks-Wempner弦长控制迭代法进行准静态求解,然后在每个解点进行自由振动分析。通过与文献数据对比验证了所建模型的准确性。并用该计算模型对MFC-d31层合圆柱壳进行屈曲及自由振动分析,研究了几何参数（曲率、厚度、纤维角度和不同外加电压）对频率的影响。结果表明,厚度、曲率和纤维增强角度对结构的临界载荷有显著的影响,且结构的临界载荷随着上述参数的增大而增大;电场强度可对不同纤维角度壳体的自振频率进行调节,能够提高结构的临界载荷;纤维角度越大,电压对结构自振频率调节的效果越明显。     

Buckling of cooling tower shells with ring-stiffeners

With the stability analysis of hyperbolic cooling tower shells with ring-stiffeners, our paper proposes the linear pre-buckling consistent theory. The numerical result shows that this linear analysis method is very effective and practical in engineering, for its precision of computation is up to the level of the nonlinear analysis when it is used for the study of critical loads of the hyperbolic cooling tower which is mainly governed by wind pressure and for the study of the effect of some other factors concerned in design on the buckling of shells. Based on that, we have obtained a series of conclusions which will greatly benefits the engineering design when discussing the effect on the critical wind loading of the shell which is caused by the following factors such as the position of rings, the number of rings and the dead weight.     

Buckling of thin spherical shells

Summary This paper deals with the buckling of a shallow spherical cap subjected to uniform edge moment and a clamped deep spherical shell under uniform pressure. The first problem is formulated in integral equations which are solved by an iterative procedure. The buckling moments are determined for a wide range of the shell geometrical parameter. The second problem is based on the concept that the highly deformed region around the apex is treated as a shallow spherical cap elastically supported by the rest of the shell. The stability of a thin sphere is treated as a special case. The results obtained in both problems are compared with existing solutions.

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Übersicht Es wird das Beulen sowohl für eine flache Kugelkalotte mit gleichförmigem Randmoment, als auch für eine tiefe Kugelschale unter gleichförmigem Druck untersucht. Die erstgenannte Aufgabe wird auf Integral-gleichungen zurückgeführt, die durch Iteration gelöst werden. Die Beulmomente werden für einen weiten Bereich der geometrischen Parameter der Schale bestimmt. Für die Lösung der zweiten Aufgabe wird angenommen, daß der stark verformte Teil der Schale in der Umgebung des zentralen Punktes als eine flache Kugelschale aufgefaßt werden kann, die elastisch von dem Rest der Schale getragen wird. Die Stabilität einer dünnen Kugel wird als Spezialfall betrachtet. In beiden Fällen werden die Ergebnisse mit vorhandenen Lösungen verglichen.

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The first problem in the analysis was sponsored by the National Research Council of Canada. The author is very grateful to Professor K. N. Tong for his illuminating suggestions regarding the second problem.     

Buckling of spherical sandwich shells

An experimental investigation was carried out to determine the critical buckling loads of several shallow spherical sandwich shells. A cold-forming process simultaneously using pressure and vacuum was employed to manufacture the nearly perfect spherical facing layers from 5052 aluminum-alloy sheets of 0.006 and of 0.008-in. thicknesses. Eight shallow spherical-shell specimens of 20-in. base diameter and of 20 and 30-in. radii with 1/8 and 1/4-in. thickness of “Flexcore” have been tested in a 300-psi autoclave specifically designed for these experiments. The pressure on shells was developed by the differential pressure between the inner and the outer chambers separated by the shell being tested. When the inner chamber was maintained at atmospheric pressure and gas pressure was applied in the outer chamber, the testing procedure was termed “soft.” Alternatively, the inner chamber would be filled with fluid with the outer chamber remaining filled with gas. By initially pressurizing both chambers equally, a load on the shell could be developed by the differential pressure due to controlled bleeding of the fluid inside the inner chamber, while the gas in the outer chamber was maintained at the initial pressure. This is an accurate volume-control experiment and this testing procedure was termed “hard.” In the latter case, it was possible to monitor the displacements of the shell for each load increment with a nest of clip gages of an unique design. It was found that there is no substantial difference in the buckling loads between the hard and “soft” systems. All shells buckled in the plastic range. A reasonably good correlation is obtained with a linear theory using the double modulus for the sandwich segments.     

Stability of imperfect stiffened conical shells

A general procedure is developed for stability of stiffened conical shells. It is used for studying the sensitivity behavior with respect to the stiffener configurations. The effect of the pre-buckling nonlinearity on the bifurcation point, as well as the limit-point load level, is examined. The unique algorithm presented by the authors is an extended version of an earlier one, adapted for determination of the limit-point load level of imperfect conical shells. The eigenvalue problem is iteratively solved with respect to the nonlinear equilibrium state up to the bifurcation point or to the limit-point load level.A general symbolic code (using MAPLE) was programmed to create the differential operators based on Donnell’s type shell theory. Then the code uses the Galerkin procedure, the Newton–Raphson procedure, and a finite difference scheme for automatic development of an efficient FORTRAN code which is used for the parametric study.     

A semi-analytical buckling analysis of imperfect cylindrical shells under axial compression

In the framework of the cellular bifurcation theory, we investigate the effect of distributed and/or localized imperfections on the buckling of long cylindrical shells under axial compression. Using a double scale perturbative approach including modes interaction, we establish that the evolution of amplitudes of instability patterns is governed by a non-homogeneous second order system of three non-linear complex equations. The localized imperfections are included by employing jump conditions for their amplitude and permitting discontinuous derivatives. By solving these amplitude equations, we show the influence of distributed and/or localized imperfections on the reduction of the critical load. To assess the validity of the present method, our results are compared to those given by two finite element codes.     

Buckling of orthotropic and nonhomogeneous spherical shells

Summary Critical loads of clamped spherical shells, made up of orthotropic, heterogeneous material are obtained using a linear eigenvalue problem. The nonlinear differential equations of the prebuckled state are solved by Parametric Differentiation technique. The influence of varying the elastic moduli of the material has been studied. Continuously heterogeneous shells (heterogenity along the thickness) are investigated. Attention is further given to two layered shells, each layer being homogeneous and orthotropic. The effect of reversing the layers, on the buckling behaviour, is also analyzed.

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Übersicht Die Bestimmung der kritischen Lasten von eingespannten kugelförmigen Schalen aus orthotropem, heterogenem Material wird als lineares Eigenwertproblem behandelt. Die nichtlinearen Differentialgleichungen für den Beulzustand werden durch parametrische Differentiation gelöst. Dabei wird der Einfluß von Veränderungen der elastischen Parameter des Materials untersucht. Es werden Schalen betrachtet, deren Heterogenität stetig längs der Schalendicke verteilt ist, sowie Schalen, die aus zwei homogenen und orthotropen Schichten zusammengesetzt sind. Der Einfluß einer Vertauschung der beiden Schichten auf das Beulverhalten wird analysiert.

     

Buckling behaviour of imperfect elastic and linearly viscoelastic structures

In a previous paper, the author has shown that the behaviour of imperfect elastic structures subjected to buckling forces could be predicted on the basis of the eigenvalues and eigenmodes. After a brief recall of these properties, it is first shown—in Appendix—that they extend to cases of spatial buckling like the buckling of flexure and torsion. Then, it is shown that the correspondence principle valid in first-order behaviour of linearly viscoelastic structures can be extended in full generality—by the use of Laplace transformation—to buckling problems, whatever be the constitutive equations of the material.Finally, several examples of eulerian buckling or flexural-torsional buckling of a bar and of buckling of a plate, are treated in detail.     

Buckling analysis of laminated cylindrical shells by 3-D multilayer hybrid element

A 3-D multilayer hybrid element is developed for the analysis of thick laminated plates and shells. The stresses are assumed independently in each sublayer element and the stress continuity between adjacent sublayers is applied to form the stress pattern of the multilayer element. Both interlaminar stress concentration and global structure response can be adequately predicted by the element model. The buckling analysis of orthotropic cylindrical shells under the external pressure is performed and the results show that the plane strain assumption is not applicable to the buckling of long orthotropic cylindrical shells.     

Thermal buckling and postbuckling behavior of FG-GRC laminated cylindrical shells with temperature-dependent material properties

Thermal postbuckling analysis is presented for graphene-reinforced composite (GRC) laminated cylindrical shells under a uniform temperature field. The GRC layers are arranged in a functionally graded (FG) graphene reinforcement pattern by varying the graphene volume fraction in each GRC layer. The GRCs possess temperature dependent and anisotropic material properties and the extended Halpin–Tsai model is employed to evaluate the GRC material properties. The governing equations are based on a higher order shear deformation shell theory and include the von Kármán-type kinematic nonlinearity and the thermal effects. A singular perturbation method in conjunction with a two-step perturbation approach is applied to determine the thermal postbuckling equilibrium path for a GRC shell with or without geometric imperfection. An iterative scheme is developed to obtain numerical thermal buckling temperatures and thermal postbuckling load–deflection curves for the shells. The results reveal that the FG-X piece-wise FG graphene distribution can enhance the thermal postbuckling capacity of the shells when the shells are subjected to a uniform temperature loading.

     

Buckling behavior of compression-loaded composite cylindrical shells with reinforced cutouts

Results from a numerical study of the response of thin-walled compression-loaded quasi-isotropic laminated composite cylindrical shells with unreinforced and reinforced square cutouts are presented. The effects of cutout reinforcement orthotropy, size, and thickness on the non-linear response of the shells are described. A high-fidelity non-linear analysis procedure has been used to predict the non-linear response of the shells. The analysis procedure includes a non-linear static analysis that predicts stable response characteristics of the shells and a non-linear transient analysis that predicts unstable dynamic buckling response characteristics. The results illustrate the complex non-linear response of a compression-loaded shell with an unreinforced cutout. In particular, a local buckling response occurs in the shell near the cutout and is caused by a complex non-linear coupling between local shell-wall deformations and in-plane destabilizing compression stresses near the cutout. In general, reinforcement around a cutout in a compression-loaded shell can retard or eliminate the local buckling response near the cutout and increase the buckling load of the shell. However, results are presented that show how certain reinforcement configurations can cause an unexpected increase in the magnitude of local deformations and stresses in the shell and cause a reduction in the buckling load. Specific cases are presented that suggest that the orthotropy, thickness, and size of a cutout reinforcement in a shell can be tailored to achieve improved buckling response characteristics.     

Buckling of yeast modeled as viscoelastic shells with transverse shearing

Yeast cells can be regarded as micron-sized and liquid-filled cylindrical shells. Owing to the rigid cell walls, yeast cells can bear compressive forces produced during the biotechnological process chain. However, when the compressive forces applied on the yeast go beyond a critical value, mechanical buckling will occur. Since the buckling of the yeast can change the networks in its cellular control, the experimental research of the buckling of the yeast has received considerable attention recently. In this paper, we apply a viscoelastic shell model to study the buckling of the yeast. Meanwhile, the turgor pressure in the yeast due to the internal liquid is taken into account as well. The governing equations are based on the first-order shear deformation theory. The critical axial compressive force in the phase space is obtained by the Laplace transformation, and the Bellman numerical inversion method is then applied to the analytical result to obtain the corresponding numerical results in the physical phase. The concepts of instantaneous critical buckling force, durable critical buckling force, and delay buckling are set up in this paper. And the effects of the transverse shear deformation and the turgor pressure on the buckling phenomena are also given. The numerical results show that the transverse shearing effect will decrease the instantaneous critical buckling force and the durable critical buckling force, while the turgor pressure will increase both of them.