THERMOELASTIC BUCKLING OF THIN CYLINDRICAL-SHELLS BASED ON IMPROVED STABILITY EQUATIONS

The nonlinear strain-displacement relations in general cylindrical coo rdinates are simplified by Sander's assumptions for the cylindrical sh ells and substituted into the total potential energy function for ther moelastic loading. The Euler equations are then applied to the functio nal of energy, and the general thermoelastic equations of nonlinear sh ell theory are obtained and compared with the Donnel equations. An imp rovement is observed in the resulting equations as no length limitatio ns are imposed on a thin cylindrical shell. The stability equations ar e then derived through the second variation of potential energy, and t he same improvements are extended to the resulting thermoelastic stabi lity equations. Based on the improved equilibrium and stability equati ons, the magnitude of thermoelastic buckling of thin cylindrical shell s under different thermal loadings is obtained. The results are extend ed to short and long thin cylindrical shells.