The Geometric Role of Precisely Engineered Imperfections on the Critical Buckling Load of Spherical Elastic Shells
Author(s)
Hutchinson, John W.; Lee, Anna; Lopez Jimenez, Francisco; Marthelot, Joel; Reis, Pedro Miguel
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We study the effect of a dimplelike geometric imperfection on the critical buckling load of spherical elastic shells under pressure loading. This investigation combines precision experiments, finite element modeling, and numerical solutions of a reduced shell theory, all of which are found to be in excellent quantitative agreement. In the experiments, the geometry and magnitude of the defect can be designed and precisely fabricated through a customizable rapid prototyping technique. Our primary focus is on predictively describing the imperfection sensitivity of the shell to provide a quantitative relation between its knockdown factor and the amplitude of the defect. In addition, we find that the buckling pressure becomes independent of the amplitude of the defect beyond a critical value. The level and onset of this plateau are quantified systematically and found to be affected by a single geometric parameter that depends on both the radius-to-thickness ratio of the shell and the angular width of the defect. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that experimental results on the knockdown factors of imperfect spherical shells have been accurately predicted, through both finite element modeling and shell theory solutions.
Date issued
2016-09Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical EngineeringJournal
Journal of Applied Mechanics
Publisher
ASME International
Citation
Lee, Anna; López Jiménez, Francisco; Marthelot, Joel et al. “The Geometric Role of Precisely Engineered Imperfections on the Critical Buckling Load of Spherical Elastic Shells.” Journal of Applied Mechanics 83, 11 (November 2016): 111005 © ASME International
Version: Final published version
ISSN
0021-8936