Lightweight design of functionally graded hierarchical stiffened cylindrical shells

Abstract

<p indent="0mm">To improve the bearing capacity of cylindrical shells, a functionally graded (FG) material hierarchical stiffened cylindrical shell is proposed. The smeared stiffener of FG hierarchical stiffened cylindrical shells is derived using the equivalence principle. The critical buckling load is calculated on the basis of the equivalent stiffness model, and a lightweight design model of FG hierarchical stiffened cylindrical shells, considering the structural component dimensions and material distribution of FG components, is established. The particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to analyze the optimization results, which is further verified using the finite element eigenvalue buckling analysis. The results show that the mass of the FG hierarchical stiffened cylindrical shell is substantially reduced after optimization, and its load-bearing performance is highly competitive. Thus, the calculation example proves that the optimized FG hierarchical stiffened cylindrical shell is feasible and safe.