BUCKLING OF THIN-WALLED DOUBLY CURVED SHELLS

摘要

Doubly curved shells are frequently used as walls of space vehicles and as external closures or internal common bulkheads in fuel tanks. When doubly curved shells develop compressive membrane forces in reaction to externally applied loads, their load-carrying capacity is often limited by structural instability, or buckling. In many cases, this capacity or buckling strength of a shell is reached when slight increases in the external loading produce large and abrupt changes or buckles in the surface geometry of the shell. For shells which do not fail catastrophically, a further increase in the external loading will gradually produce amplification of buckles, accompanied by plastic deformation that eventually results in collapse of the structure.