Elastic Buckling Behaviour of a Four-Lobed Cross Section Cylindrical Shell with Variable Thickness under Non-Uniform Axial Loads

The static buckling of a cylindrical shell of a four-lobed cross section of variable thickness subjected to non-uniform circumferentially compressive loads is investigated based on the thin-shell theory. Modal displacements of the shell can be described by trigonometric functions, and Fourier’s approach is used to separate the variables. The governing equations of the shell are reduced to eight first-order differential equations with variable coefficients in the circumferential coordinate, and by using the transfer matrix of the shell, these equations can be written in a matrix differential equation. The transfer matrix is derived from the nonlinear differential equations of the cylindrical shells by introducing the trigonometric series in the longitudinal direction and applying a numerical integration in the circumferential direction. The transfer matrix approach is used to get the critical buckling loads and the buckling deformations for symmetrical and antisymmetrical shells. Computed results indicate the sensitivity of the critical loads and corresponding buckling modes to the thickness variation of cross section and the radius variation at lobed corners of the shell.