Okstability of a Noncircular Composite Shell under Axial Compression and Nonlinear Deformation

Abstract

This paper describes a study of strength and stability of oval composite cylindrical shells under axial compression. The geometrically nonlinear problem for the shell is solved using the finite element method. The geometric dimensions of the shell are close to those of fuselages of modern passenger aircrafts. The other phenomena described in this paper are the effect of the cross-sectional out-of-roundness of the shell, the nonlinearity of the initial stress-strain state, and the stacking of monolayers by thickness on the critical loads and weight efficiency of composite and metal shells.