Abstract
This paper deals with buckling of thin-walled cylindrical shells under compression. It is well-known that axially compressed cylindrical shells have buckling behavior which is very sensitive to initial geometric imperfections. However, current approaches using mathematical algorithms to optimize the linearized classical critical loads with respect to many design variables, generally ignore the potential reductions in elastic load carrying capacities that result from the initial imperfections. They present major problems for incorporation into design processes and often involve excessive computational effort. Adopting 6-ply symmetric, glass-epoxy cylindrical shells, the present paper carries out classical buckling analysis for perfect shells and nonlinear analysis for imperfect shells. In addition the present paper applies an alternative lower bound design concept called the reduced stiffness method. By confirming the correspondence between the lower bounds of nonlinear buckling analysis and the reduced stiffness analysis, it suggested that the reduced stiffness method could provide an important basis for design.
