Initial postbuckling behavior of cylindrical composite shells under axisymmetric deformation

A solution is obtained that describes the postbuckling behavior of cylindrical shells in the case of axisymmetric buckling. The basis for this solution is Koiter’s asymptotic method and the nonlinear equations of the third-order Timoshenko theory of shells. It is shown that the bifurcation point in this case is a symmetrically unstable one. The effect of the initial axisymmetric deflections on the buckling loads is weaker when buckling is axisymmetric. The results obtained by Koiter’s special theory evidence this __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 108–118, April 2006.