Buckling of steel thin walled semi-spherical shells with square cutout due to axial compressive loads has been studied by numerical simulations, and results were compared with those from the experiments. Three vertical compression loadings were applied to specimens using the following methods: a rigid flat plate and a rigid bar with circular and spherical cross sections. The main aim of this study is to determine the influence of the cut out size-to-location (a/H) and the thickness-to-diameter (t/D) on the mean collapse load of the semi-spherical shells. The finite element models were analyzed using ABAQUS nonlinear buckling analysis and the experimental tests were performed using an INSTRON 8802 servo-hydraulic machine. Finally, the different results obtained using the two analysis methods were compared. The comparison reveals that experimental and numerical nonlinear model results match closely with each other.
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