Mohammad Jamal

A semi-analytical buckling analysis of imperfect cylindrical shells under axial compression

Abstract In the framework of the cellular bifurcation theory, we investigate the effect of distributed and/or localized imperfections on the buckling of long cylindrical shells under axial compression. Using a double scale perturbative approach including modes interaction, we establish that the evolution of amplitudes of instability patterns is governed by a non-homogeneous second order system of three non-linear complex equations. The localized imperfections are included by employing jump conditions for their amplitude and permitting discontinuous derivatives. By solving these amplitude equations, we show the influence of distributed and/or localized imperfections on the reduction of the critical load. To assess the validity of the present method, our results are compared to those given by two finite element codes.

Influence of localized imperfections on the buckling of cylindrical shells under axial compression

The influence of localized imperfections on the buckling of a long cylindrical shell under axial compression is analysed by using a double scale analysis including interaction modes. This leads to a system of coupled complex non-linear differential equations with discontinuous derivatives. We propose analytical formulas to predict the reduction of the critical buckling load.