Buckling of cylinders with cutouts under axial compression

An experimental study was carried out to clarify the effects of circular holes on the buckling of circular cylinders under axial compression. The effect of reinforcements was also examined by placing thin annular plates around the cutouts. Tests were performed on polyester shells with radius-to-thickness ratio of 400 and 100 and with two diametrically opposed circular holes.If a hole is small enough, there are no appreciable effects on the buckling strength of the cylinder. However larger cutouts result in a significant reduction of the buckling load. When doublers are placed around the holes, the buckling load approaches the value for the complete cylinder with no cutouts as the stiffening volume increases.