Buckling and Postbuckling of Antisymmetrically Laminated Cross-ply Shear-Deformable Cylindrical Shells under Axial Compression

The generalized Donnell-type equations governing large deflection of antisymmetrically laminated cross-ply cylindrical shells counting for transverse shear deformations are derived and presented. An asymptotic series solution is constructed by regular perturbation technique for postbuckling behaviors of the cylindrical shells with simply supported edges subjected to axial compression. Boundary layer influence at both ends of the shells on overall buckling and postbuckling are considered, and for consistency of the boundary valued problem, the boundary layer solutions are also designed to match the out-of-plane edge conditions by singular perturbation approach. Effects of transverse shear deformation, Batdorf’s parameter, elastic moduli ratio, and initial geometric imperfection on buckling and postbuckling performance of the shells are examined. Some numerical examples are taken for comparison of the present results of buckling loads and load–deflection curves of the shells with corresponding theoretical predictions to show effectiveness and accuracy of the present asymptotic perturbation solution.