Influence of Crack on the Instability of GFRP Composite Cylindrical Shells under Combined Loading

Abstract

Buckling is a prominent condition of instability caused to a shell structure as a result of axial loadings. The process of buckling becomes more complex while analyzing thin walled structures like shells. Today such thin walled laminated composite shells are gaining more importance in many defense and industrial applications since they have greater structural efficiency and performance in relation to isotropic structures. Comprehensive understanding of the buckling response of shell structures is necessary to assure the integrity of these shells during their service life. The presence of defects, such as cracks, may severely compromise their buckling behavior and jeopardize the structural integrity. This work aims in conducting numerical analysis of cracked GFRP (Glass fibre-reinforced polymer) composite cylindrical shells under combined loading to study the effect of crack size on the buckling behavior of laminated composite cylindrical shells with different lay-up sequences. The numerical analyses were carried out using the finite element software, ABAQUS in order to predict the buckling behaviour of cracked laminated composite cylinders subject to different combinations of axial compression, torsion, internal pressure and external pressure from the interaction buckling curves.