Effects of the geometrical shapes on buckling of conical shells under external pressure

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of geometrical shapes on the buckling of conical shells under uniform external pressure. A curved conical shell, straight conical shell, and equivalent cylindrical shell were respectively designed with constant mass. Two curved conical shells, two straight conical shells and two cylindrical shells made of 201 austenitic stainless steel were fabricated and tested. Measurements were made to the wall thickness, diameter, axial length, and geometry of each shell and the material properties of the corresponding sheets. The conical shells were destroyed by slow pressure, resulting in good repeatability. According to measured results, the buckling of the tested shells was further studied numerically. The results reveal that the load-carrying capacity of the conical shell was significantly improved when the meridional shape was in the form of a circular arc.