Numerical modelling of thermal destruction of cylindrical shells with internal pre-pressure under laser irradiation

In this paper a thermal elasto-plastic numerical model is established for s tudying the thermal destruction phenomenon for cylindrical shells under int ernal pre-pressure when subjected to laser irradiation. This model assumes that the heat conduction analysis is coupled with the strain velocity epsil on, while the physical properties of the material, e.g. Young's modulus, Po isson's ratio, yield stress and linear expansion coefficient, are assumed t o be known functions of temperature. The sub-structural method is used to r educe the degrees of freedom in both the temperature field and stress field analyses. A numerical example is given for which the results agree well wi th experiment values, from which it is concluded that the model presented d escribes the whole process of thermal destruction quite well for cylindrica l shells with internal pre-pressure under laser irradiation. (C) 1999 Elsev ier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.