BUCKLING OF CURVED PANELS UNDER COMBINED SHEAR AND COMPRESSION

The analytical work which has been carried out to determine the buckli ng load and postbuckling behaviour of curved panels under various type s of loading and different boundary conditions is not as comprehensive as that for flat plates. Only elementary loading and boundary conditi ons have been analysed. In addition to this, many of the theories deve loped have not been tested experimentally. This paper outlines a serie s of tests carried out to determine the accuracy of the theoretical bu ckling loads. The experimental results are then used to examine whethe r or not finite element analysis can be used as an alternative to dete rmine collapse loads and post-buckling behaviour, especially in cases where no theoretical solutions exist.