Collapse of Thin Orthotropic Elliptical Cylindrical Shells Under Combined Bending and Pressure Loads

Abstract

The elastic collapse of thin orthotropic elliptical cylindrical shells subject to pure bending alone or combined bending and uniform normal pressure loads has been studied. Nonlinear finite deflection thin shell theory is employed and this reduces the problem to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The resulting two-point nonlinear boundary-value problem is then linearized, using quasi-linearization, and solved numerically by the “shooting technique.” Some experimental work has been carried out and the results are compared with the theoretical predictions.