Nonlinear axisymmetric bending and stability of thin spherical shallow shell with variable thickness under uniformly distributed loads

In this paper, the nonlinear bending and stability of thin spherical shallow shell with variable thickness under uniformly distributed loads are investigated by a new modified iteration method proposed by Prof. Yeh Kai-yuan and the author^[1]. Deflections and critical loads have been calculated and the numerical results obtained have been given in figures and tabular forms. It is shown that the final equation determining the central deflection and the load obtained coincides with the cusp catastrophe manifold. Projects Supported by the Science Fund of the Chinese Academy of Sciences