Buckling of Thin Shells: Recent Advances and Trends

This paper provides a review of recent research advances and trends in the area of thin shell buckling. Only the more important and interesting aspects of recent research, judged from a personal view point, are discussed. In particular, the following topics are given emphasis: (a) imperfections in real structures and their influence; (b) buckling of shells under local/non-uniform loads and localized compressive stresses; and (c) the use of computer buckling analysis in the stability design of complex thin shell structures. I INTRODUCTION Thin-shell structures find wide applications in many branches of engineering. Examples include aircraft, spacecraft, cooling towers, nuclear reactors, steel silos and tanks for bulk solid and liquid storage, pressure vessels, pipelines and offshore platforms. Because of the thinness of these structures, buckling is often the controlling failure mode. It is therefore essential that their buckling behavior be properly understood so that suitable design methods can be established. This paper provides a review of recent research advances and trends in the area of thin shell buckling. The paper is not intended to be an exhaustive review of the field, nor is it possible to do so in a single paper of limited length. Instead, only the more important and interesting aspects of recent research, judged from a personal viewpoint, will be discussed. In particular, the following topics are given emphasis: (a) imperfections in real structures and their influence; (b) buckling of shells under local/non-uniform loads and localized compressive stresses; and (c) the use of computer buckling analysis in the stability design of complex thin shell structures. The author wishes to apologize in advance for any inadvertent omission of relevant publications.