Buckling of Cylindrical Steel Shells with Random Imperfections due to Global Shear

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effects of geometric imperfections on buckling of thin cylindrical shells due to global shear. To this end, more than 320 finite element models of cylindrical shells with different diameter to thickness ratios were prepared. Random imperfections with different amplitudes were applied to numerical models. The results revealed that global buckling of cylindrical shells are susceptible to imperfection patterns. It was also shown that Yamaki's expression can be considered as upper band for plastic shear buckling of thin cylindrical shells.