Numerical Evaluation of Thin-Shelled Structural Panels

This paper will provide a basis for the behavior of thin shell corrugated steel structures. Up to this point, the majority of the papers concerning this subject, have been concerned with the analysis of simple arch type buildings. In addition, the panels were treated as flat, curved surfaces. Any corrugation in the panel was either neglected, or was mentioned but not handled in the analysis. Test trials were conducted to evaluate the performance of multi radius panels. A numerical analysis was then conducted to simulate the laboratory tests. The simulation is useful when evaluating larger structures of the same type of panel. The ultimate conclusions that this paper arrives to, is that a linear elastic solution cannot be used to solve problems involving thin shell arch panels. Rather, a non-linear solution is the most precise method for obtaining accurate solutions to the panel in question