Buckling of a thin-walled cylindrical shell with foam core under axial compression

This paper investigates the effect of partially filled foam core on the behavior of buckling in a thin-walled cylindrical shell. Previous studies have focused on 100% infill or simply used a fixed thickness of foam core. However, this may not be the optimum arrangement in terms of design. To further investigate this, a theoretical analysis is carried out using the Rayleigh–Ritz approximation, and a new formula is proposed to predict the critical buckling stress of an infill ranging from 0% up to 100% rigid. The proposed formula agrees well with works reported in the literature. It also shows that filling a foam core in a thin-walled cylindrical shell can enhance its resistance to buckling failure. Meanwhile, a simplified formula is provided to the practicing engineer. The paper concludes that an excessive increase in foam core thickness beyond 10% of outer radius is inefficient due to extra cost and weight.