Buckling of thick orthotropic cylindrical shells under torsion

A three-dimensional elasticity solution to the problem of buckling of orthotropic cylindrical shells under torsion is presented. A mixed form of the Galerkin method with a series of Legendre polynomials in the thickness coordinate has been applied to solve the governing differential equations. The accuracy of existing shell theory solutions has been assessed through a comparison study for both isotropic and orthotropic cylinders. For isotropic cylinders the solutions based on the Donnell shell theory were found to predict nonconservative values for the critical loads. As the circumferential wave numbers increase, shell theory solutions provide more accurate values. For orthotropic cylinders, the classical shelf theory predicts much higher critical loads for a relatively short and thick cylinder, while the shear deformation theories provide results reasonably close to the elasticity solutions. Detailed data are also presented for the critical torsional lends over a wide range of length ratios and radius ratios for isotropic, glass/epoxy, and graphite/epoxy cylinders.