Chapter 2

Cylindrical shells under axial compression

J.M. Rotter

Cylindrical shell structures are often subjected to compressive stresses in the direction of the cylinder axis, which can be either uniform or varying throughout the cylinder. The buckling strength of a thin cylindrical shell under axial compression is particularly sensitive to imperfections in the shell, and the changing patterns of behaviour with changing geometry, loading and boundary conditions make the axially compressed cylinder a classical exemplar for behaviours that may be found in a less marked form in other structures or in shells under other loading conditions. For these reasons, the axially compressed cylinder has probably been the most extensively studied of all shell buckling conditions, giving a wealth of evidence from both experimental and theoretical work. However, the primary goal of research is to achieve a clear and complete understanding of all the phenomena, and this has been particularly elusive: the axially compressed cylinder may be one of the last classical problems in homogeneous isotropic structural mechanics for which it remains difcult to obtain close agreement between careful experiments and the best predictions from numerical modelling. This chapter outlines the key features of the buckling behaviour of axially compressed thin cylinders, leading to the latest recommendations for practical design, followed by a brief outline of some key questions that remain unanswered. Very many studies have explored different aspects of the buckling and postbuckling behaviour of these shells (see Timoshenko 1936; Flgge 1973; CRCJ 1971; Fung and Sechler 1974; Brush and Almroth 1976; Arbocz 1983; Calladine 1983; Thompson and Hunt 1983; Yamaki 1984; Bushnell 1985; Samuelson and Eggwertz 1992; Teng 1996). The opening description of elastic buckling phenomena given here naturally follows the very comprehensive work of Yamaki (1984) quite closely. Specic aspects addressed in this chapter are: buckling and postbuckling of perfect cylinders, buckling of imperfect cylinders, characterisation and control of imperfections and internally pressurised cylinders.