Computational Buckling Of A Three-lobed Crosection Cylindrical Shell With Variable Thickness Under Combined Compression And Bending Loads-7

Transcript

The objective of this paper is to study the elastic buckling characteristics of an axially loaded cylindrical shell of a three lobed cross section of variable thickness subjected to combined compression and bending loads based on the thin-shell theory and using the computational transfer matrix method. Modal displacements of the shell can be described by trigonometric functions and Fourier’s approach is used to separate the variables. The governing equations of the shell are reduced to eight first-order differential equations with variable coefficients in the circumferential coordinate, and by using the transfer matrix of the shell, these equations can be written in a matrix differential equation. The transfer matrix is derived from the non-linear differential equations of the cylindrical shells by introducing the trigonometric function in the longitudinal direction and applying a numerical integration in the circumferential direction. The computational transfer matrix method is used to get the critical buckling loads and the buckling deformations for symmetrical and antisymmetrical buckling-modes. Computed results indicate the sensitivity of the critical loads and corresponding buckling modes to the thickness variation of cross-section and the radius variation at lobed corners of the shell.