M. Radwanska et Z. Waszczyszyn, BUCKLING ANALYSIS OF A COOLING-TOWER SHELL WITH MEASURED AND THEORETICALLY-MODELED IMPERFECTIONS, Thin-walled structures, 23(1-4), 1995, pp. 107-121
Geometrical imperfections were measured using photogr ammetric techniq
ues on an existing reinforced concrete cooling tower shell. The imperf
ections, related to the radii of such a real shell, were used as input
data to create a veal shape of the cooling tower. Numerical analysis
was carried out for three models: (P) perfect shell of revolution, (M)
shell with measured imperfections, (T) shell with a theoretical imper
fection corresponding to the primary buckling mode under dead load. Th
e buckling analysis was related to the linearized eigenvalue problem o
f elastic shells. The shell midsurface was appl oximated by eight-node
quadrilateral isoparametric finite elements. Computations were carrie
d out using the ANKA computer code. Critical values of the load parame
ter enable confirmation of a partial correlation between existing impe
rfections and buckling modes under dead load. The most disadvantageous
direction of the wind load application on the real shell was found, i
n order to evaluate the decrease in the load-carrying capacity of the
cooling tower shell against buckling. Theoretically modelled imperfect
ions give rather unrealistic values of buckling loads of the real shel
l.