Buckling of a Cylindrical Shell Reinforced by Spiral Stiffeners under External Pressure

Abstract

Buckling of a cylindrical shell reinforced by spiral stiffeners under external pressure was investigated theoretically and experimentally. Critical buckling pressure is determined by the energy method, and is almost identical with that for a cylindrical shell reinforced by ring stiffeners spaced with the same axial distance. The buckling pressure obtained by experiments is fairly below the theoretical one in the case of closely spaced stiffeners, and it is shown that plastic deformations due to initial imperfections cause such a decrease of the buckling pressure.