SHEAR CAPACITY OF LARGE FABRICATED STEEL CYLINDERS - A TRUSS MODEL

Failure of large diameter steel cylinders fabricated from hot rolled s heet steel plates and subjected to transverse beam shear occurs when l arge diagonal buckles develop in the panels formed by the circumferent ial stiffeners. The load-carrying capacity then drops to a slightly lo wer level than the ultimate strength level. Whereas the ultimate stren gth has been shown to be significantly reduced in the presence of fabr ication residual stresses, the postbuckling load level is not affected . Further, this load level is stable. It is advocated, therefore, that the postbuckling load be used as a conservative design base for calcu lation of shear capacity. A general truss model is developed herein as a description of the load-carrying mechanism in the postbuckling rang e. Predictions obtained using the model are compared with available te st results and a design chart is developed that will enable designers to handle most practical cases.