Initial imperfections of horizontal cylindrical shells on saddle supports

Abstract

The article is devoted to the influence of initial imperfections on the stability of laterally loaded cylindrical shells. The investigated structure is a simplified variant of the case of cylindrical shell (road tank) located on two saddle supports. The initial shape imperfections are created by pushing the saddle support into the shell. The new deformed shape is used as an imperfect shell in the following nonlinear analysis of stability. The main objective of the analysis is to find the reduction factor α depending on the change of geometric parameters of the numerical model (embracing angle 2ϑ, wall thickness t). The shell deformation around the saddle support is also monitored. Numerical analysis is carried out by means of a computer program COSMOS/M [1] based on the finite element method (FEM).