Nonlinear stability of elastic elliptical cylindrical shells under uniform bending
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Xu, Z
Gardner, L
Sadowski, AJ
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Cylindrical metal shells with elliptical cross-sections are gaining increasing popularity as hollow sections due to their unique aesthetic appearance and different geometric properties about their two principal axes, with one axis exhibiting properties that are significantly more favourable than the other under flexure. However, in comparison with other hollow geometries, elliptical cross-sections have only recently begun receiving significant research attention. This is partly because even simple analytical treatments inevitably encounter cumbersome elliptical integrals that have no closed-form solutions, a problem now attenuated by powerful modern computing capabilities.
A recent computational study investigated the nonlinear buckling resistance of perfect elastic circular cylindrical shells under uniform bending, establishing four distinct length-dependent domains of behaviour and characterising these in compact form using specially chosen dimensionless parameters. The present study extends this work to cylinders with elliptical cross-sections under bending about both principal axes. The same qualitative domains of length-dependent nonlinear elastic behaviour are found as for circular cylinders, but requiring a different algebraic characterisation that takes account of the varying elliptical radii. On the basis of computational results, a reference equation for the moment governing the ‘Brazier’ ovalisation cross-sectional failure mode for long elliptical thin-walled cylinders is deduced and presented for publication for the first time.
A recent computational study investigated the nonlinear buckling resistance of perfect elastic circular cylindrical shells under uniform bending, establishing four distinct length-dependent domains of behaviour and characterising these in compact form using specially chosen dimensionless parameters. The present study extends this work to cylinders with elliptical cross-sections under bending about both principal axes. The same qualitative domains of length-dependent nonlinear elastic behaviour are found as for circular cylinders, but requiring a different algebraic characterisation that takes account of the varying elliptical radii. On the basis of computational results, a reference equation for the moment governing the ‘Brazier’ ovalisation cross-sectional failure mode for long elliptical thin-walled cylinders is deduced and presented for publication for the first time.
Date Issued
2017-05-25
Date Acceptance
2017-05-15
Citation
International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, 2017, 128-129, pp.593-606
ISSN
0020-7403
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
593
End Page
606
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Mechanical Sciences
Volume
128-129
Copyright Statement
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (E
Grant Number
EP/G003556/1
Subjects
Mechanical Engineering & Transports
0910 Manufacturing Engineering
0905 Civil Engineering
0913 Mechanical Engineering
Publication Status
Published