The buckling and post-buckling behavior of spherical caps under concentrated load

Abstract

The elastic buckling and initial post-buckling behavior of clamped shallow spherical shells under concentrated load is considered. It is found that bifurcation into an asymmetric deflection pattern will occur before axisymmetric snap-buckling unless the ratio of the shell rise to the thickness lies within a narrow range corresponding to relatively thick shells. The initial post-buckling analysis indicates that the shell retains its load carrying capacity as it makes the transition to asymmetric behavior. These results are in qualitative agreement with available experimental data. © 1968.