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Buckling load vs imperfection amplitude for axially compressed sandwich cylindrical shells

FROM:

Adrian C. Orifici (1) and Chiara Bisagni (2)
(1) RMIT University, School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia
(2) Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, Politecnico di Milano, via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano, Italy

“Perturbation-based imperfection analysis for composite cylindrical shells buckling in compression”, Composite Structures, vol. 106, pp. 520-528, December 2013, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2013.06.028

ABSTRACT: A numerical investigation was conducted into a perturbation-based analysis approach for assessing the imperfection sensitivity of composite cylindrical shells buckling under compression loading. The Single Perturbation Load Analysis (SPLA) approach was applied, which uses a single lateral load to introduce a realistic, worst-case and stimulating imperfection pattern. Finite element analysis was conducted for cylinders of both monolithic composite laminate and sandwich construction, with and without small and large cutouts. It was found that using a perturbation displacement equal to the shell thickness provides a suitable technique for estimating the reduction in buckling load caused by imperfections. Predictions of buckling knockdown factors using the SPLA approach showed advantages over the use of eigenmodes as the SPLA approach provides a clear design point and does not require experimental data for calibration. The effect of small and large cutouts was analogous to the effect of small and large perturbation loads. The location of the perturbation load influenced the buckling knockdown factors for both small and large cutouts, and worst-case locations were identified for both configurations.

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