Effect of Local Loads on the Stability of Shells Subjected to Uniform Pressure Distribution

Rules for design against buckling of shells according to current code cover only complete shell segments subjected to uniform or nearly uniform load distributions. The effect of initial imperfections is recognized but, local disturbances such as holes, local external forces or nonuniform stiffness distributions are not yet considered. Such disturbances are common in practical applications and may have a drastic influence on the carrying capacity of the shell.