IMPERFECTION SENSITIVITY OF SHEAR-DEFORMABLE MODERATELY THICK LAMINATED CYLINDRICAL-SHELLS

The problem of instability of imperfect, laminated, circular cylindric al shells under the action of uniform axial compression is investigate d. The analysis is based on nonlinear kinematic relations where the ef fect of transverse shear deformation is taken into account. The buckli ng is assumed to be elastic and the geometry to have initial geometric imperfections. The kinematic relations, governing equations and the r elated boundary conditions for the nonlinear analysis are derived and presented. A solution methodology has been developed and employed in g enerating results. The imperfection sensitivity is investigated. The r esults obtained indicate that geometric imperfections have little effe ct on the limit point load for moderately thick cylindrical shells. Co pyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.