Nonlinear stability of ES-FG porous sandwich cylindrical shells subjected to axial compression in thermal environment

Abstract

Stability analysis of cylindrical shells subjected to axial compression is a common problem in engineering applications. The phenomenon of instability can easily appear with thin cylindrical shells. Therefore, to increase the load-carrying capacity of this type of structure, the cylinders are increased in thickness by adding a porous core layer and reinforcing orthogonal stiffeners. In this study, the nonlinear buckling and postbuckling behavior of functionally graded (FG) porous sandwich cylindrical shells with orthogonal eccentrically stiffeners (ES) are investigated via analytical approach. The FG porous sandwich cylindrical shells are rested on Pasternak elastic foundations and subjected to axial compression load in a thermal environment. The reinforcement of the shells is achieved through closely spaced stringers and rings, with the material properties of both the shell and stiffeners graded continuously in the thickness direction. The governing equations are derived based on the Donnell’s shell theory with von Karman geometrical nonlinearity and the smeared stiffeners technique. The Galerkin procedure is employed to ascertain the critical load and post-buckling response, employing a three-term deflection solution. The study analyzed the effects of parameters such as porosity coefficient, material, temperature, dimensional parameters, stiffener, and foundation characteristics.