Composite Cylindrical Shell Buckling: Simulation & Experimental Correlation

Guidelines dating back 50 years, NASA SP-8007, are employed today in the design of thin-walled launch vehicle structures. Due to advances in materials, structural designs, and manufacturing techniques since the publication of SP-8007, the development of new knockdown factors for contemporary launch vehicle structures is an ongoing subject of...

Local Buckling Analysis of Thin-Wall Shell Structures

This master thesis presents research into buckling of thin hyperboloid shells structures. This type of structure is typically applied as the large cooling towers at coal fired electricity plants. However, modelling cooling towers is not the objective of this research. The objective of this research is to understand the buckling behaviour of...

Semi-Analytical Solution to Buckling of Variable-Stiffness Composite Panels (Plates and Shallow Cylindrical Shells)

Variable-stiffness panels have previously shown enhanced buckling performance compared to constant-stiffness panels, due to the beneficial load and stiffness redistribution. Two semianalytical models based on the Galerkin method and the Ritz method have been developed in order to solve the buckling problem of variable-stiffness composite panels ...

New Ways of Representing Finite Element Results of Shell Structures

The Finite Element Method is used in many computer programs to analyse the mechanical behaviour of shell structures. Although this method provides good quantitative insight into the mechanical behaviour of shell structures, it provides little qualitative insight. This master graduation thesis is aimed at expanding Finite Element Analysis (FEA)...

Buckling Behavior of Spirally Welded Steel Tubes

This report deals with the buckling behavior of spirally welded steel tubes. First, an existing analytical solution and the results of an extended experimental investigation are investigated. The imperfections measured during testing are investigated and classified, and methods are proposed to incorporate them into finite element models....

On Introducing Imperfection in the Non-Linear Analysis of Buckling of Thin Shell Structures

This master thesis details the investigation of the effect of geometrical imperfection on thin shell structures using general FEM software packages. The author proposes a finite element based method for the analysis and design of thin shell structures, and describes the implementation of such a procedure on four different FEM packages. The...