Optimization of plastic conical shells of piece-wise constant thickness

Abstract

Thin-walled conical shells subjected to uniformly distributed external pressure loading are considered assuming that the thickness of the shells is piece-wise constant. Minimum weight designs are established under the condition that the load carrying capacity of the optimized shell coincides with that of the reference shell of constant thickness. The material of the shell is assumed to obey Tresca's yield condition and the associated flow law. The exact yield surface in the space of generalized stresses corresponding to the Tresca condition is approximated with the squares on the planes of membrane forces and moments, respectively.