50

J.M. Rotter

(a)

1.8 1.6
C4

(b)

cr / cl

1.4 1.2

S1 S2 S3 C2

C1,C3

r/t = 1000

Dimensionless critical stress

C1,C2 C4 S1 S3 S1 C3,C4 C3,C4

1.0
S4

C1,C2 C1 C2 S1

0.8 0.6

C4 S1 S3

S3

S1

S3 C3,C4,S3

r
S2 S4

S2

S2,S4

v w

0.4 0.2 0.0 102

2

10 Z = 1

103 0.1

1 = Z (t /r)

10

(L2/rt)

Figure 2.7 Effect of boundary conditions and shell length on perfect shell buckling load. (a) Perfect cylinder buckling strengths; (b) boundary displacements (reproduced from Elastic Stability of Cylindrical Shells, Yamaki, 1984).

long cylinders in which Euler buckling as a column occurs without distortion of the cross-section. In short cylinders, the boundary conditions at the end of the cylinder play a marked role (Fig. 2.7). First, they induce local stresses associated with the restraint of radial expansion during the prebuckling phase, and then they restrain the buckling displacements. In the prebuckling phase, these local stresses occur in a zone roughly limited by the linear half-wavelength of meridional bending from each end, where = rt [3(1 2 )]1/4 2.44 rt (4)

so it may be expected that shells with lengths below about L/ = 2 will have prebuckling stresses that are much affected by end effects and the nature of the end boundary conditions, but that shells longer than this will behave in a manner that is relatively independent of length and boundary conditions. The latter are termed medium length cylinders. Unfortunately, the shell length is commonly dened in terms of the Batdorf parameter Z , which is related to the above more meaningful bending