Influence of axisymmetric dents in ribbed shells on minimum critical loads

Abstract

The effect of axisymmetric dents in ribbed shells on the minimum critical loads is studied analytically. The upper and lower bounds for the critical stresses in imperfect cylindrical shells reinforced with stringers, rings, and both are estimated. The upper bounds are compared with those obtained from the known solutions for perfect ribbed momentless shells and with experimental data. The effect of the amplitude of initial dents and their number on the upper and lower bounds of critical stresses is examined. The procedure used is the most efficient to determine the load-bearing capacity of ring-reinforced and ribbed shells