Establishing buckling loads for axially compressed composite cylindrical shells based on energy barrier approach

Due to the well-known geometric imperfection sensitivity, how to design a composite cylindrical shell with both adequate buckling load and lightweight characteristic is still a challenging subject. In this paper, a promising buckling design method for axially compressed composite cylindrical shells based on energy barrier approach is proposed. Reliability and advantage of this method is verified by the experimental results from numerous composite cylindrical shell specimens. Based on that, effects of laminate stacking angles on the design buckling loads are investigated in order to realize the favorable composite cylindrical shells with combined high design buckling loads and low imperfection sensitivity.

Automated summary

In this paper, a promising buckling design method for composite cylindrical shells is proposed and its reliability and advantages are verified through experiments. The study also reveals the significant impact of laminate stacking angles on the design buckling loads.