Creep buckling of shells of revolution loaded under uniform external pressure

Abstract

A theoretical investigation is undertaken into the creep instability of two common shells of revolution, the infinitely long cylinder and the complete sphere. The linear and non-linear visco-elastic material idealizations are used in the various theoretical procedures. The critical buckling time is greatly influenced by the parameter a/h ratio, magnitude of initial imperfections and material selection. The spherical shell has a lifetime longer than the cylindrical shell having the same a/h ratio, initial imperfections and material constants, while the critical mode numbers are the same.