The shear buckling and postbuckling behavior of laterally pressured curved panels

Abstract

Curved panels are widely used in different structures from fuselage of planes to curved bridge girders. An accurate understanding of buckling and postbuckling behavior of curved panels under different loadings is essential for efficient structural design. The shear buckling and postbuckling behavior of laterally pressured thin curved panels under gradually increasing in-plane shear forces is investigated. The magnitude of the lateral forces, the radius of curvature and the aspect ratio of panels are considered in the parametric studies. A classic theoretical formulation of curved panels buckling load is reexamined and compared to experimental results. The results showed that inward pressure eliminates the snap-through phenomenon and the softening stage in the response of shallow curved panels. However, the buckling characteristics are not significantly affected in the moderately curved panels under small pressures. In addition, the magnitude of inward pressures that would affect the shear buckling and postbuckling behavior of panels depends on their radius of curvature. The ultimate shear capacity of a highly curved panel is considerably reduced due to the increasing presence of inward pressures. The failure mode of highly curved panels are associated with the occurrence of unstable buckling; and as a result, the released strain energy prevents the occurrence of hardening stages.