WEIGHT OPTIMIZATION OF STIFFENED CYLINDERS UNDER AXIAL COMPRESSION.

A procedure is developed for the design of a stiffened cylinder under a given uniform axial compression with minimum weight. The approach allows the consideration of various shapes of stiffening members. The effective stiffness of the skin in its post-buckled state is taken into account in the basic analysis. The buckling analyses are accomplished as a minimum problem in the buckling mode shape parameters space using the variable metric method. A mixed procedure which combines the exterior penalty function concept and random search is used to minimize the weight of the stiffened cylinders. The design examples demonstrate the validity of the present approach.