Thermal stresses in closed spherical shells

The purpose of this work is to discuss thermal stresses in closed spherical shells. This effort is further limited to linear thermoelastic stresses in thin shells. The basic concepts associated with three-dimensional continuum mechanics are presented in both direct and general tensor notation. The three-dimensional equations are reduced to the two-dimensional equations of shells under going finite displacements. These are subsequently reduced to those pertaining to spherical shells. A review of the recent literature associated with thermal stresses in spherical shells is included. An appendix is provided which reviews some of the basic elements of general tensors