A Study regarding the Technical-Economical Optimization of Structural Components for enhancing the Buckling Resistance in Stiffened Cylindrical Shells

Abstract

This paper presents a technical-economical optimization by maximizing the ratio between the critical buckling pressure (technical characteristic) and the production cost (economic characteristic) of stiffened cylindrical shells, a basic concept of value analysis. Critical buckling load values were determined using both the Finite Element Method (FEM) and analytical calculations to validate the accuracy of the results obtained. The maximum difference between the analytical and numerical results was 10%. Technical-economic optimization was carried out using the design of experiments method with MINITAB 19 and allowed to select the optimal input parameters, stiffener dimensional ratio 0.10, shell wall thickness 2.50 mm, and distance between circumferential stiffeners 400 mm, and identify the main factors that impact the output response. For the optimal constructive configuration, the ratio between the critical buckling load and the production cost of the stiffened cylindrical shells was maximized by 199%.