Experimental and theoretical studies on buckling of thin-walled MHS compressed between two rigid plates

This paper presents the theoretical and experiment results of buckling behavior of thin-walled metallic hollow sphere (MHS) compressed between two rigid plates. The first critical buckling load of MHS has been derived. It is shown that the critical load is related to the radius, thickness of the sphere shell, the elastic modulus, and Poisson’s Ratio of the material. Two hemispheres are welded to make the MHS with three different angles of welding-line. The quasi-static compressive experiment of the MHS has been carried out, and the load-deformation curves are obtained. To match theoretical and experimental results, a modified equation is presented. Then a good agreement between the theoretical and the experimental results is obtained.