Basic Aspects of Buckling of Cooling-Tower Shells

The equations of the linear buckling theory are given in tensor notation, and the method of their solution is explained for the case of shells of revolution under axisymmetric loading. Partial differential equations are reduced to a system of ordinary differential equations introducing trigonometrical functions for the 14 unknowns of the problem. For integration, the differential equations are transformed into finite difference equations using the Hermitian (multilocal) method. Available test results are calculated and a good agreement is achieved. Parametric studies with different boundary conditions demonstrate the sensitivity of the buckling loads to the statement made for the buckling shape as a regular trigonometric configuration. The so-called classical boundary conditions prove to be very sensitive in this respect.