Buckling localization in a cylindrical panel under axial compression

Localization of an initially periodic buckling pattern is investigated for an axially compressed elastic±plastic cylindrical panel of the type occurring between axial sti€eners on cylindrical shells. The phenomenon of buckling localization and its analogy with plastic ¯ow localization in tensile test specimens is discussed in general. For the cylindrical panel, it is shown that buckling localization develops shortly after a maximum load has been attained, and this occurs for a purely elastic panel as well as for elastic±plastic panels. In a case where localization occurs after a load maximum, but where subsequently the load starts to increase again, it is found that near the local load minimum, the buckling pattern switches back to a periodic type of pattern. The inelastic material behavior of the panel is described in terms of J2 corner theory, which avoids the sometimes unrealistically high buckling loads predicted by the simplest ¯ow theory of plasticity