THE BUCKLING OF A NOVEL CARBON FIBRE PRESSURE VESSEL UNDER HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE

摘要

A theoretical and an experimental investigation was carried out, where a carbon fibre corrugated circular cylinder was tested to destruction under external hydrostatic pressure. The theoretical investigation was via the finite element method, where the structure was modelled with several orthotropic axisymmetric thin-walled shell elements. The experimental observations were aided with strategically placed strain gauges. Comparison between theory and experiment showed that the experimentally observed buckling pressure was a little lower than the theoretical prediction. This may have been due to the fact that the model had slight initial geometircal imperfections in the circumferenential direction.