Numerical Simulation of the Process of Loss of Stability of Composite Cylindrical Shells Under Combined Quasi-Static and Dynamic Actions

Abstract

Based on the applied theory of shells, an energy-consistent resolving system of equations is constructed, and a complex numerical method is developed which, within in the framework of an explicit variational-difference scheme, makes it possible to solve both quasi-static and dynamic problems of nonlinear nonaxisymmetric deformation and buckling of composite cylindrical shells. The quasi-static loading mode is simulated by setting an internal pressure in the form of a linearly increasing function reaching a steady-state value during three periods of vibration of a composite cylindrical shell at the lower form. The critical buckling load is determined by the characteristic kink on the maximum deflection–loading amplitude curve. The reliability of the method developed is substantiated by comparing calculation results with experimental data. The characteristic forms and critical buckling loads of GRP cylindrical shells as functions of the level of preloading by a quasi-static internal pressure and of the subsequent dynamic loading by an external pressure are analyzed for various reinforcement patterns in a wide range of loading rate.