PARAMETRIC STUDY ON THE BUCKLING OF THIN STEEL CYLINDRICAL SHELLS UNDER ELEVATED LOCAL AXIAL COMPRESSION STRESSES

摘要

It is well known that the buckling strength of a thin cylindrical shell under uniform axial compression is highly sensitive to imperfections in the shell wall. The buckling behaviour increases considerably in complexity when non-uniform stress distributions are also considered. Thus cases of local high compression have not received much attention in the literature so far even though they are of great practical relevance. Furthermore, with changing shell geometry, loading patterns and boundary conditions the buckling phenomena observed vary considerably both quantitatively and qualitatively. This paper presents some results from a comprehensive parametric study exploring the full range of practically relevant geometries for metal cylindrical silo shells with different boundary conditions and subjected to elevated local axial compressive actions of varying magnitude and extent. In the parametric study, influences of geometric imperfections and material non-linearity on the buckling strength of the shell are also considered. Some simple rules corresponding to different types of analyses and different buckling phenomena are presented for future implementation into the appropriate design standards.