Nonlinear deformation and stability of noncircular cylindrical shells under internal pressure and axial compression

Stability analysis of noncircular shells is performed with allowance for nonlinear subcritical deformation. Explicit expressions for the rigid displacements of elements of noncircular cylindrical shells are obtained and used to construct shape functions of an effective quadrilateral finite element of natural curvature. A finiteelement algorithm for solving problems of nonlinear deformation and stability of shells is developed. Stability problem of an elliptic cylindrical shell is considered. The effect of the ellipticity and subcritical nonlinear deformation of the shell on the critical load is studied. Results obtained are compared with available experimental data.