Chapter 5 - Structural behavior of spherical shells

Abstract

This chapter emphasizes structural behavior of spherical shells. Spherical shells subject to external hydrostatic pressure have been employed as structural components of undersea systems, flight vehicles, vacuum chambers, chambers fixed to the floor of the ocean, and many other applications. Complete transparent spherical shells have been employed to house undersea transducers, video systems, and have also been proposed for carriers of humans to significant depths. Incomplete spherical shells have found application as end caps of cylinder-cone-sphere systems. Some of these applications have involved transparent partial spheres. Hydrostatically loaded complete spherical shells ands partial spherical shells (caps or domes) may buckle elastically, plastically, or into the elasto-plastic range of action. Contemporary deep submersibles employ either partial or complete spherical shells subject to hydrostatic loading. The partial shells usually cap the ends of cylindrical pressure hulls and are occasionally transparent to permit the viewing of undersea systems. In fact, more effort has been devoted to the buckling analysis of these partial end caps than to investigation of complete, closed spherical shells. The end caps of common interest may have geometries ranging from hemispherical to shallow.