Axisymmetric buckling of laminated, moderately thick shallow conical cap

Summary  Axisymmetric buckling and postbuckling analysis is presented for a moderately thick, laminated shallow conical cap under static transverse load. Marguerre-type, first-order shear deformation shallow-shell theory is formulated in terms of transverse deflection w, the rotation ψ of the normal to the midsurface and the stress function Φ. The governing equations are solved by the orthogonal point-collocation method. Clamped conical caps and simple supports with movable and immovable edge conditions are considered. Typical numerical results are presented, illustrating the effect of various parameters. The dependence of the effect of the shear deformation on the thickness parameter, boundary conditions, ratio of Young's moduli and cap height is investigated. Received 10 February 2000; accepted for publication 3 May 2000