Information Engineering Letters, ISSN: 2160-4114 Volume 2, Number 3, September, 2012

Buckling Load of Thin Spherical Shells and Single-Layer Reticulated Spherical Shells Enchun Zhu , Peter Nyongesa Khakina b, Huazhang Zhouc
School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, 2453 P.O. BOX 73, Huanghe Road, Harbin 150090, China.
a

e.c.zhu@hit.edu.cn nyongpet@yahoo.comchuazhang.zhou@hit.edu.cn doi.10.5729/iel.vol2.issue3.35

Keywords: Buckling, dimple, Initial geometrical imperfection, Thin spherical shell, Single-layer reticulated shell, Finite element.

Abstract. The purpose of this study is to determine the buckling load of both continuous spherical shells and reticulated spherical shells using the continuum analogy method empirically and numerically. During the non-linear analysis, a post-buckling plateau and the appearance of a dimple in the shell wall identified the buckling load. By applying the theorem of work and energy to the dimple, an empirical formula to predict the buckling load of thin spherical shells was derived then extended to single-layer reticulated shells. It was observed that the buckling load is proportional to the thickness raised to exponential 2.5. Several finite element modeling and simulations using ABAQUS were conducted to validate the results. 1. Introduction Thin spherical shells are widely used in civil engineering and other engineering branches due to their efficient load carrying capacity. They carry transverse loading primarily by in-plane compression by virtue of their curvature, which makes their load-carrying capability to be dominated by buckling. To predict correctly the buckling load has always been of a primary concern of researchers and design engineers because the buckling load is usually overestimated by the classical buckling theory. According to classical buckling theory, the critical value of the membrane stress is as [1]:

cr =
thus the buckling load is:
qcr =

3 1

E
2

t R

,
2

(1)

, (2) where, qcr is the critical buckling load in the form of radial pressure, cr the critical buckling stress, R the radius of curvature, t the thickness of the shell wall, E the Youngs modulus and the Poissons ratio of the material. Buckling of thin cylindrical shells under axial compression was investigated both experimentally and numerically by [2] in order to arrive at a more reliable buckling load. Their experiments on thin cylindrical shells under self-weight showed that the buckling stress lies close to the mean of testing data from [3], which is proportional to the thickness t1.5, rather than the classical prediction that the buckling stress is proportional to t, as indicated in Eq. 1. Their finite element (FE) modeling reveals
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t 2 3(1 ) R 2E

that there is a well-defined post-buckling plateau in the load-deflection curves associated with the appearance of an inward dimple in the deformed shell wall. The plateau corresponds to a load, which is similar to the experimental buckling load. The buckling load of a cylindrical shell was thus linked to the post-buckling plateau load, and an empirical formula was derived to predict the buckling behavior, in which the buckling load is proportional to t2.5. The formula was validated by FE modeling. Single-layer reticulated spherical shells are also widely used in civil engineering to cover large spans. Although the load is transmitted along discrete paths, the overall behaviour of a reticulated spherical shell is quite similar to that of a continuous thin spherical shell. A formula to predict the buckling load of reticulated shells either by the continuous analogy analysis or by regression of nonlinear FE modeling results has been established as:

, (3) where, tm is the equivalent membrane thickness and tb the equivalent bending thickness of the reticulated spherical shell and C is a constant. By the continuous analogy analysis, Wright [4] quantified C as 0.377; Buchert [5] evaluated C as 0.365 and Pozo [6] identified C as 0.247. Large safety factors are always introduced during designing to evaluate the buckling load of a shell; for example in [7] and in [8] for the design of Swindon dome. The large discrepancy between the theoretical predictions and a practical shell is usually explained with nonlinearity and imperfection sensitivity. In this paper, the idea of post-buckling load is adopted to investigate the buckling behaviour of the thin spherical shells and single-layer reticulated shells. The argument of this study is that, since the predictions of buckling load for both spherical and reticulated shells so far take the Classical buckling load as the reference point, a different starting point is needed, which can be used to predict the buckling load with satisfactory precision.
2. FE modeling of thin spherical shell

qcr = C

3 E 1 2 2 t t m b R2

An elastic thin spherical shell made from mild steel of Youngs Modulus (E) = 206 109 N/m2 and Poissons Ratio () = 0.3 under uniform radial pressure and encastred along the boundary was used for the modeling (Fig. 1a). To facilitate the non-linear FE modeling, an initial geometrical imperfection in the form as shown in Fig. 1b was introduced. Using ABAQUS, the shell was meshed with triangular shell elements-S3R [9] with a typical side length of 500 mm. The Riks method [10] with magnitude of the initial geometrical imperfection t, 2t, and 3t respectively was used to trace the load-deflection curves. The results are shown in Fig. 2 as load-deflection curves at the apex with respect to the magnitude of imperfection. When the imperfection magnitude, imp =t, the shell buckles at 210.0 kN/m2, a value almost equal to the prediction of Eq. 2.

a) Geometry of the spherical shell

b) Initial geometrical imperfection

Figure 1. Spherical shell; span (L) = 20m, thickness (t) = 0.02m, rise (f) = 2.5 and radius of curvature (R) = 21.25m

The load then drops drastically with little increase in the vertical displacement. When the load drops to 60.0 kN/m2, the deflection begins to increase significantly but with little change of load. A similar post-buckling plateau is revealed by this analysis in relation to a post-buckling dimple appearing around the apex as compared with the buckling of thin cylindrical. The plateau load is approximately 34.0 kN/m2. With increasing magnitude of imperfection, the initial buckling load decreases from 210.0 kN/m2 to 117.0 kN/m2, but the plateau load remains constant. This means that
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the shell is imperfection sensitive [11] and the initial buckling of the shell is sensitive to the initial geometrical imperfection while the post-buckling load is little influenced.

Figure 2. Load-deflection curves

3. Empirical predictions of buckling load of thin spherical shells

In the study of the inversion of a thin spherical shell under a concentrated radial load in [12], the expression for strain energy was derived by concentrating along the boundary layer of the inversed part of the shell with respect to the radial deflection at the centre of the dimple, without considering the insignificant amount of strain energy in the inversed region; given the fact of the strain energy concentration (Fig. 3). The work done by the radial force is thus the energy expressed by:

Et 2 w0 2 U R ,
where, w0 is the radial displacement at the loading point, i.e. at the apex.

(4)

Figure 3. Strain energy concentration

Taking a section through the shell after applying a concentrated load at the apex, it is seen that the shell deforms as shown in Fig. 4.

Figure 4. Section through the inversed region of the shell

The value of r is very small as compared to R; the value of will also be very small. Therefore from Fig. 4:

w0 = 2 R (1 cos ) = R sin 2
37

R 2

(5)

The work done by the radial pressure is given by the load multiplied by the volume of the inversed region:
W = q w0 2 w0 2 3R 6 2 qw0 2 R

(6)

The work done for the inversion of the shell is the same as the strain energy according to work-energy method [13]. Equating Eq. 4 and Eq. 6, the post-buckling load corresponding to the plateau is obtained as:
5

q pb

Et 2
1

R 2 w0 2

(7)
2.5

The buckling load for thin spherical shells can thus be finalized by Substituting Eq. 5 into Eq. 7 as:

t qcr = CE R

(8)
[14]

where, C is a constant. This equation is similar to the equation by whose exponential was not defined.
4. Buckling of single-layer reticulated spherical shells

as applied in dome buckling

Reticulated shells may undergo three types of buckling; general buckling, local snap-through buckling and member buckling between joints depending on their design. This study only focuses on general buckling of single-layer reticulated shells with an equilateral triangular grid of bars as it is assumed that the joints are perfectly rigid. 4.1 Existing Continuum analogy treatment There are two main classes of strategies for the analysis of reticulated shell structures; discrete methods and continuum modeling methods [15]. The results by [16] lead to a potential evaluation method for buckling capacity of space frames in a similar way of ordinary practical design of columns in a framed building and of continuum shells. The continuum analogy method was once the principal means to evaluate the buckling load of reticulated shells when computers were not as popular as today, by which a discrete reticulated shell is converted into a continuous shell. According to [17], if the network of a reticulated shell consists of equilateral triangles, all bars have equal cross sections and they are rigidly connected at the joints, the equivalent continuum of the structure is a continuous shell with thickness:
3EI + GI t teq = 2 EA

(9)

and with the modulus of elasticity:

Eeq =

2A E 3ateq

(10)

where, a is the centre-line length of one bar; A is the cross-sectional area of one bar; I is the moment of inertia of one bar; It is the torsional constant of one bar; E is the modulus of elasticity of the bar material; and G is the modulus of shear of the bar material. Based on this, the buckling load for single-layer reticulated spherical shells has been predicted using the continuum analogy method as:

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 teq qcr = CEeq R

(11)

When using Eq. 11, the material that is used for the continuous shell is changed because of the use of Eeq. The study ensures that the material is kept the same by only focusing on teq. 4.2 Continuum analogy method in this study It is assumed that the grids are closely spaced so that using concentrated load gives the same effect as using pressure load because [18] observes that:

PC = lim ( Pa )
A0

(12)
[19]

where Pc is the concentrated load and Pa is pressure load at a small area. With reference to , a reticulated shell of triangular-type pattern with equilateral triangular grid has an equivalent membrane thickness of:

tm =
and an effective bending thickness of:

2A 3L

(13)
1

8 3I 3 tb = L

(14)

where, L is the length of the bar, A the cross-sectional area and I the moment of inertia. From Eq. 3 and Eq. 11, it is observed that:

teq = tm tb
2

1 2

3 2

(15)

It is noted that the indices of t on both sides of the equal sign and that of the classical buckling theory are the same. The empirical prediction in section 3 shows that the buckling load is proportional to teq2.5 due to the different approach taken in this study. Therefore, the index for t on both sides of the equal sign should be 2.5. By using the trial and error method and conducting FE modeling to find the value of teq for the continuum analogy treatment, it is observed that:

teq

2.5

= t m tb 2
1

1 2

(16)

This gives the critical buckling load for single-layer reticulated shell as:

E qcr = C 2.5 tm 2 tb 2 R
or

(17)

(18) where, C = 5.32 for a shell of L = 20m, f = 2.5m and t = 0.02m. It should be noted that C takes different values depending the value of the geometrical parameters.

t qcr = CE eq R

2.5

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5. Finite element validation

To validate Eq. 17 and Eq. 18, FE modeling for an equilateral triangular grid single-layer reticulated shell using seamless tube of external diameter = 0.05m and thickness = 0.005m was conducted and the load-deflection curves shown in Fig. 5. It was observed that all the graphs with different initial geometrical imperfections met at a buckling load = 34 kN/m2. FE modeling for the equivalent continuum shell of teq = 0.021m was also conducted and its load-deflection curves shown in Fig. 6. The results as shown in table 1 demonstrate that the buckling load obtained empirically is the same as that obtained from FE modeling. Fig. 7 further proves that the post-buckling load for the reticulated shell and its equivalent continuum is equal because the curves are seen to meet together.

Figure 5. Load-deflection curves for the single-layer reticulated shell

Figure 6. Load-deflection curves for the equivalent continuum shell

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Figure 7. Continuum analogy treatment curves Table 1. Values of the buckling load for single-layer reticulated shell from different sources Source Buchert Pozo Current study Current study Equation

E 1 3 t m 2 tb 2 R2 E 1 3 q cr = 0.247 2 t m 2 t b 2 R q cr = 0.365

qcr value [kN/m2] 47 32 34 34

qcr = 5.32

E 2 2 tm tb R 2.5
2.5

teq qcr = 5.32 E R

ABAQUS ABAQUS

FE modeling for reticulated shell FE modeling for equivalent continuum shell

34 34

6. Conclusions

Classical buckling theory shows that the buckling load is proportional to t2 but studies carried out prove that the load is proportional to t2.5 for cylindrical, spherical and single-layer reticulated shells. An empirical formula to predict the buckling load has been derived and FE modeling done to validate the prediction. It has been shown that the critical buckling load calculated from existing formulae for single-layer reticulated shells is almost the same as the critical buckling load obtained in this study depending on the value of C. However, this study gives an equivalent formula which is easier to use and also reliable. Though further experimental work is need to provide physical results for the buckling load based on the proportionality of t2.5, the structural behaviour of shell structures during the whole loading process can be revealed by the load-deflection curves and the buckling load can be predicted with sufficient accuracy using FE analysis [20]. It is therefore hoped that the buckling load observed in this study which is gives the same value as compared to experimental values by other researchers will give a more reliable prediction as compared to the Classical theory buckling load.
References

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