The purpose of this program was to develop and substantiate a theoretical method for accurately predicting the critical buckling strength of externally pressurized cylinders fabricated from Filament Reinforced Plastic (FRP) laminates and to determine the optimum construction for such cylinders.nCylinders representing various configurations of four different types of construction were fabricated and tested. The critical buckling pressure under hydrostatic loading and the elastic constants influential in buckling considerations were determined from the test cylinders and rings cut from them and compared with theoretically calculated values for each configuration.nExternal pressure tests were made on thick-wall versions of two high buckling strength constructions to obtain the biaxial compression strengths of these laminates.nExcellent agreement was obtained between theoretical and measured values of elastic constants. Actual buckling pressures were found to be higher than predicted due to the effect of edge restraints. Laminate compression strengths of 150,000 psi were obtained.
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