SYMMETRICAL BUCKLING OF

CYLINDRICAL SHELLS

DHEEMAN BHUYAN
• Symmetrical buckling with respect
to the axis of cylinder may occur at
certain value of the compressive
load.

• This critical value of compressive

load is denoted by Ncr per unit
length and is obtained by energy
method.

• As long as the shell remains

cylindrical, the total strain energy is
the energy of the axial
compression.

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• When the buckling begins, in
addition to strain due to the axial
compression, the strain of the
middle surface in the
circumferential direction is also
considered.

• Hence, the strain energy of the

shell increases and at the critical
value of the load, this increase in
the strain energy must be equal to
the work done by the compressive
load as the cylinder shortens
owing to buckling.

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• Assuming radial
displacement during
buckling to be

 
l=length of cylinder
• ε1=axial strain
• ε2=circumferential strain

4
• Axial strain before buckling (ε0)

We know that

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8
• Assuming that there are many waves formed
along the length of the cylinder during
buckling and considering as a continuous
function of , we find the minimum value of
the equation no.8

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12
13
• It is seen that the results obtained for the
buckling of a shell are the same as those
obtained for the buckling of a bar in an elastic
medium.

• It is also seen that symmetrical buckling within

elastic limits may occur only in thin shells.

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15
• Instead of energy method, the differential
equation for symmetrical deflection of a
cylindrical shell may be used in calculating the
critical load.

• In applying this equation, we take q=0 and

measure displacement w not from the
unstrained middle surface of the shell as was
assumed but from the middle surface after
uniform compression is applied.
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• This requires that we replace w in equation (13)
by and consider to be positive in
compression.

• Hence equation (13) becomes

• Substituting w, and equating the coefficient of

to zero, we obtain the critical stress given
by equation (8).
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THANK YOU

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