Strength of U-Shaped Bellows : 1st Report, Case of Axial Loading

Abstract

At the present time the U-shaped bellows are used widely in many fields, but hitherto few papers on their strength have been issued. In this research this problem is treated by using the shell theory which was presented by the authors in the previous paper, and the design formulas and charts for the U-shaped bellows are given. In this first report, the case of axial loading is considered, and comparatively simple design formulas are obtained by making some assumptions to simplify the solution. The accuracy of this solution is checked up by the results of a more exact solution which will be described in detail in the second report.