IMPROVED METHODS FOR MODELLING IMPERFECTIONS FOR BUCKLING ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITE CYLINDRICAL SHELLS

摘要

Carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP)cylindrical shells are used in a variety ofaerospace applications. Such shells areextremely imperfection sensitive [1, 2] andfeature a large scatter in buckling load levelsinduced from imperfections introduced in theirmanufacturing process.This paper aims to improve the stochasticmodelling of cylindrical thickness imperfectionsin order to better replicate the stochasticvariation of the actual thickness and materialimperfections for FE analysis.These results will reduce the cost of producingand aid in improving the design and reliabilityof newly designed and untested cylinders byaccurately modelling thickness and materialimperfections for improved stochastic analysisand robust design.