BUCKLING OF DISCRETELY RING STIFFENED CYLINDRICAL SHELLS

Abstract : The buckling of ring-stiffened cylinders is studied by a 'discrete' approach, in which the rings are considered as linear discontinuities represented by the Dirac delta function. The analysis is a linear Donnell type theory that takes account of the eccentricity of stiffeners. Buckling loads under hydrostatic pressure, lateral pressure and axial compression are compared with those obtained by 'smeared-stiffener' theory for an extensive range of geometries. The discreteness effect depends very strongly on the geometry of the shell and the eccentricity of the rings. Significant discreteness effects are found for hydrostatic pressure loading.