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Buckling of a thin cylindrical shell subjected to bending

From:
Sotiria Houliara and Spyros A. Karamanos (Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Thessaly, 38334 Volos, Greece), “Buckling of Thin-Walled Long Steel Cylinders Subjected to Bending”, Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology, Vol. 133, No. 1, 011201 (9 pages), December 2010, doi: 10.1115/1.4002902

ABSTRACT: The present paper investigates structural response and buckling of long unstiffened thin-walled cylindrical steel shells, subjected to bending moments, with particular emphasis on stability design. The cylinder response is characterized by cross-sectional ovalization, followed by buckling (bifurcation instability), which occurs on the compression side of the cylinder wall. Using a nonlinear finite element technique, the bifurcation moment is calculated, the post-buckling response is determined, and the imperfection sensitivity with respect to the governing buckling mode is examined. The results show that the buckling moment capacity is affected by cross-sectional ovalization. It is also shown that buckling of bent elastic long cylinders can be described quite accurately through a simple analytical model that considers the ovalized prebuckling configuration and results in very useful closed-form expressions. Using this analytical solution, the incorporation of the ovalization effects in the design of thin-walled cylinders under bending is thoroughly examined and discussed, considering the framework of the provisions of the new European Standard EN1993-1-6.

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