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From:
Read Johnson, Jr., “Design and Fabrication of a Ring-Stiffened Graphite-Epoxy Corrugated Cylindrical Shell”, DTIC Online, Accession Number: ADA302348, McDonnell Douglas Asstronautics Co. Huntington Beach, CA, NASA Contractor Report 3076, August 1978
ABSTRACT: The objectives of the program reported here are to advance lightweight composite shell design technology and evaluate appropriate design and analysis procedures for lightweight composite shells that must satisfy buckling requirements. To accomplish those objectives the primary effort was to design and fabricate a graphite-epoxy cylindrical shell 3. O5m (10 ft) in diameter by 3. 05m (10 ft) long for evaluation in shell bending tests to be conducted by the Structures and Dynamics Division of the NASA Langely Research Center. Through such tests, the use of advanced composite materials will be evaluated for structural applications in future space missions such as those that involve spacecraft and structural assemblies to be used in geosynchronous missions. Spacecraft for such missions will require ultralightweight structures to achieve maximum payloads. Of equal importance is the requirement to provide designs that are cost-competitive with current structural approaches. For space structures that must resist buckling under compression or shell bending loads, composite materials offer an attractive approach for providing lightweight, low-cost structural components for future spacecraft. In recognition of the potential weight savings available through structural applications of graphite-epoxy materials, an earlier test program (Reference 1) was undertaken by the ASA to provide a technology base for flat, stiffened graphite-epoxy compression panels and to evaluate their effectiveness in reducing structural weight. The panels used in the earlier test program were designed using an advanced version of the analytical methods developed in (Reference 2) Other tests were conducted with stiffened graphite-epoxy shear panels.
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