Experimental investigation on buckling of GFRP cylindrical shells subjected to axial compression

Abstract

Composite cylindrical shells are being used in submarine, underground mines, aerospace applications and other civil engineering applications. Thin cylindrical shells are more prone to fail in buckling rather than material failure. An experimental study on buckling of glass fiber reinforced plastics layered composite cylindrical shells under displacement and load controlled static axial compression are reported The experimental results are compared with general purpose finite element program (ANSYS). Limit point loads evaluated for geometric imperfection magnitudes shows an excellent agreement with experimental results which clearly indicates the confidence gained on the numerical results presented. Present study finds direct application to qualitatively investigate the influence of geometric imperfection on other advanced grid-stiffened structures.