Comparisons of test and theory for nonsymmetric elastic-plastic buckling of shells of revolution

Experimental and analytical buckling pressures are presented for very carefully fabricated thin cylindrical shells with 45, 60 and 75° conical heads and for cylindrical shells with torispherical heads pierced by axisymmetric cylindrical nozzles of various thicknesses and diameters. Nonsymmetric buckling occurs at pressures for which some of the material is loading plastically in the neighborhoods of stress concentrations caused by meridional slope discontinuities. The buckling pressures for the cone-cylinder vessels are predicted within 2.6 per cent and for the pierced torispherical vessels within 4.4 per cent with use of BOSOR5, a computer program based on the finite difference energy method in which axisymmetric large deflections, nonlinear material properties and nonsymmetric bifurcation buckling are accounted for. The predicted buckling pressures of the pierced torispherical specimens are rather sensitive to details of the analytical model in the neighborhood of the juncture between the nozzle and the head. The buckling pressures of the cone-cylinder vessels can be accurately predicted by treatment of the wall material as elastic, enforcement of the full compatibility conditions at the juncture in the prebuckling analysis, and release of the rotation compatibility condition in the bifurcation (eigenvalue) analysis.     

Buckling of elastic-plastic shells of revolution with discrete elastic-plastic ring stiffeners

The theory is summarized for axisymmetric prebuckling and nonsymmetric bifurcation buckling of ring-stiffened shells of revolution. The analysis is based on finite difference energy minimization in which moderately large meridional rotations, elastic-plastic effects, and primary or secondary creep are included. This theory is implemented in a computer program called BOSOR5, for the analysis of segmented and branched ring-stiffened shells of revolution of multi-material construction.Comparisons between test and theory are given for axisymmetric collapse and nonsymmetric bifurcation buckling of 69 machined ring-stiffened aluminum cylinders submitted to external hydrostatic pressure. Because most of the cylinders fail at an average stress which corresponds to the knee of the stress-strain curve, the analytical predictions are not very sensitive to modeling particulars such as nodal point density or boundary conditions. Agreement between test and theory is improved if the analytical model reflects the fact that the shell and rings intersect over finite axial lenths.     

On buckling of axisymmetric thin elastic-plastic shells

A buckling criterion for shells with an axisymmetric middle surface and subjected to edge loads and hydrostatic surface pressure loading is formulated starting from Hill's three-dimensional continuum theory for uniqueness of deformation of inelastic solids. It turns out that a physically consistent two-dimensional set of equations may be derived for a quite general class of strain-hardening elastic-plastic solids, the only essential restriction being that of a smooth yield function. The intrinsic errors inherent in the derived rate equations, being an integral part of an eigenvalue problem, are discussed in relation to a circular cylinder under axial compression. Analytical results are given which illustrate the influence of the constitutive properties and the boundary contraints on the magnitude of the critical load.     

A finite strain theory for elastic-plastic deformation

An elastic-plastic theory that is applicable when the elastic part of the strain is finite is proposed. A flow rule for an incompressible solid is obtained from Drucker's postulate [1]. Isothermal simple shear of a material which is neo-Hookean both before yielding and during elastic unloading after yielding is considered as an application of the theory. The problem is solved for two yield conditions and associated flow rules.     

A general nonlinear theory of elastic shells

This paper presents a general nonlinear theory of elastic shells for large deflections and finite strains in reference to a certain natural state. By expanding the displacement components into power series in the coordinate θ³ normal to the undeformed middle surface of shells, the expansions of the Cauchy-Green strain tensors are expressed in terms of these expanded displacement components. Through the modified Hellinger-Reissner variational principle for a three-dimensional elastic continuum, a set of the fundamental shell equations is derived in terms of the expanded Cauchy-Green strain tensors and Kirchhoff stress resultants. The Love-Kirchhoff hypothesis is not assumed and higher order stretching and bending are taken into consideration. For elastic shells of isotropic materials, assuming the strain-energy to be an analytic function of the strain measures, general nonlinear constitutive equations are then derived. Thus, a complete and consistent two-dimensional shell theory incorporating the geometrical and physical nonlinearities is established. The classical theories of shells are directly derivable from the present results by proper truncations of the series.     

A new approach of predicting bifurcation points of elastic-plastic buckling of plates and shells

The paper proposes a new approach of predicting the bifurcation points of elastic-plastic buckling of plates and shells, which is obtained from the natural combination of the Lyaponov's dynamic criterion on stability and the modified adaptive Dynamic Relaxation (maDR) method developed recently by the authors. This new method can overcome the difficulties in the applications of the dynamic criterion. Numerical results show that the theoretically predicted bifurcation points are in very good agreement with the corresponding experimental ones. The paper also provides a new means for further research on the plastic buckling paradox of plates and shells.     

Effect of thickness inhomogeneities in internally pressurized elastic-plastic spherical shells

The behaviour of elastic-plastic spherical shells under internal pressure is investigated numerically for thickness-to-radius ratios ranging from cases of thin shells to very thick shells. The shells under consideration are made of strain-hardening elastic-plastic material with a smooth yield-surface. Attention is restricted to axisymmetric deformations, and results are presented for initial thickness inhomogeneities in various axisymmetric shapes. For smooth thickness-variations in the shape of the critical bifurcation mode, the reduction in maximum pressure is studied together with the distribution of deformations in the final collapse mode. Also, the possibility of flow localization due to more localized, initially thin regions on a spherical shell is investigated.     

A function theory for thin elastic shells

It is well known in the theory of elastic shells that a first order approximation using the shell thickness as an expansion parameter leads to the membrane theory of shells. The membrane equations have as solutions thegeneralized analytic functions. These functions have been exhaustively studied by Ilya N. Vekua [6], [7] and his students. R.P. Gilbert and J. Hile [3] introduced an extension of these systems to include elliptic systems of 2n equations in the plane and named the solutions of these systemsgeneralized hyperanalytic functions.It is shown in this paper that the next order approximation to the shell, which permits, moreover, the introduction of bending, may be described in terms of the generalized hyperanalytic functions. It is strongly suspected that the higher order approximations may also be described in terms of corresponding hypercomplex systems.     

On dynamic buckling phenomena in axially loaded elastic-plastic cylindrical shells

Some characteristic features of the dynamic inelastic buckling behaviour of cylindrical shells subjected to axial impact loads are discussed. It is shown that the material properties and their approximations in the plastic range influence the initial instability pattern and the final buckling shape of a shell having a given geometry. The phenomena of dynamic plastic buckling (when the entire length of a cylindrical shell wrinkles before the development of large radial displacements) and dynamic progressive buckling (when the folds in a cylindrical shell form sequentially) are analysed from the viewpoint of stress wave propagation resulting from an axial impact. It is shown that a high velocity impact causes an instantaneously applied load, with a maximum value at t=0 and whether or not this load causes an inelastic collapse depends on the magnitude of the initial kinetic energy.     

A version of applied theory of thick shells

A version of an applied theory of shells of large thickness based on the introduction of force and kinematic hypotheses completing and extending the set of Love-Kirchhoff and Timoshenko-Reissner hypotheses is discussed. The complete system of equations including the elasticity relations, the geometric relations (displacements and strains), and the equilibrium equations is written out. The obtained system of equations is verified in several special cases. It is noted that the error of this theory does not exceed the squared thickness-to-radius ratio compared with unity.     

Non-linear theory of shells

A partially non-linear theory of anisotropic shells of uniform thickness is presented. Variational integrals of the stress equations of motion (26) and boundary conditions (27) consistent with simplified strain-displacement relations (9) are obtained from the Hamilton principle. The displacements and deflection are assumed to vary linearly across the thickness of the shell. The transverse shear and transverse normal strains as well as rotatory inertia and thermal effects are included in the analysis. One special case of the final equations of motion is considered.