The buckling capacity of cylindrical thin-walled shells exposed to axial load is very sensitive to initial geometric imperfections. The most usual type of initial geometric imperfection is weld induced one, which is either circumferential or meridional. The circumferential imperfections have been reported to have a detrimental effect on the buckling resistance of the shells under axial loading. In this paper four test specimens are investigated using both experimental and numerical methods. The cylinders are modeled with a vertical and central axisymmetric circumferential imperfection. The buckling strength of the shells decreases drastically as the amplitude of initial imperfection increases. Furthermore, the influence of unsymmetrical imperfections is studied as well.
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