Experimental investigation of bending of cylindrical shells under conditions of creep and small vibrations

Abstract

The article describes an installation worked out and built at the Institute of Mechanics of the Moscow State University for bending tests of cylindrical shells under conditions of creep and the joint effect of constant and variable stresses. The authors also investigated the dependence of creep of long cylindrical shells of aluminum alloy subjected to bending versus the additional effect of small bending and torsional vibrations. The amplitude of the variable periodic stress components does not exceed 2–3% of the maximal static value. Curves are presented plotted according to the test results and characterizing the change of curvature of the axis of the shell vs. time. It was established that the superposition of small vibrations on the basic static load considerably increases the creep rate (on an average doubling it).