Imperfection sensitivity of laminated conical shells

The sensitivity of laminated conical shells to imperfection is considered, via the initial post-buckling analysis, on the basis of three different shell theories: Donnell’s, Sanders’, and Timoshenko’s. Unlike isotropic conical shells or laminated cylindrical shells, in the case of laminated conical shells the thickness and the material properties vary with the shell coordinates, which complicates the problem considerably. The main objective of the study is to investigate the influence of the variation of the stiffness coefficients on the buckling behavior and on the imperfection sensitivity of laminated conical shells. It is felt that by finding the various parameters that influence the shell’s imperfection sensitivity, it is possible to improve the behavior of the whole structure. A special Level-1 computer code ISOLCS (Imperfection Sensitivity of Laminated Conical Shells) had been developed. ISOLCS calculates the classical buckling load and the imperfection sensitivity via Koiter’s theory of laminated conical shells with consideration to the variation of the material properties in the shell’s coordinates. The range of validity of the Level-1 predictions by ISOLCS is verified by the Level-3 code STAGS-A.