The effect of weld-induced imperfections on the buckling behaviour of spherical and conical shells

Includes bibliographical references.The early research was on general imperfections most commonly in the form of the lowest buckling modes. The use of steel pates to fabricate silos in a regular pattern led to the civil engineering interest in the weld-induced imperfection. This imperfection was found to be in the circumferential direction and the dominant cause for the reduction of the classical buckling load. As previous research was conducted on cylindrical shells the current thesis focused on studying two different shell geometries