Buckling of Spherical Shells

Abstract

Spherical shells, as part of structural systems, are frequently used in many structural design problems. This type of shells is capable to stand high internal or external pressures and is especially quite stable under external pressures. The behavior of deep spherical shells, in particular, under external pressure is quite unique and the bifurcation load is far from expectation. Ancient spherical domes with wide spans in historic buildings is a good example of such structure to show its remarkable stability feature. Spherical shells used in the industrial applications are exposed to different types of mechanical or thermal loads. Under these circumstances, it is necessary to predict the critical mechanical and/or thermal buckling loads of spherical shells. Closed form solutions for the buckling loads are valuable tools for designer in the design stage. This chapter presents the methods to calculate critical buckling temperatures or pressures in spherical shell made of isotropic and functionally graded materials for both perfect and imperfect shells.