Snap-Through Buckling Problem of Spherical Shell Structure

This paper presents results of a numerical study on the nonlinear behavior of shells undergoing snap-through instability. This research investigates the problem of snap-through buckling of spherical shells applying nonlinear finite element analysis utilizing ANSYS Program. The shell structure was modeled by axisymmetric thin shell of finite elements. Shells undergoing snap-through buckling meet with significant geometric change of their physical configuration, i.e. enduring large deflections during their deformation process. Therefore snap-through buckling of shells basically is a nonlinear problem. Nonlinear numerical operations need to be applied in their analysis. The problem was solved by a scheme of incremental iterative procedures applying Newton-Raphson method in combination with the known line search as well as the arc- length methods. The effects of thickness and depth variation of the shell is taken care of by considering their geometrical parameter l. The results of this study reveal that spherical shell structures subjected to pressure loading experience snap-through instability for values of l≥2.15. A form of ‘turn-back\u27 of the load-displacement curve took place at load levels prior to the achievement of the critical point. This phenomenon was observed for values of l=5.0 to l=7.0