Buckling strength prediction of CFRP cylindrical panels using finite element method

An important factor in that carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials are not widely used in civil and offshore application, is the lack of generally applicable design criteria for composite structures. This is particularly true in the case of buckling strength prediction of composite shell structures, where many problems are left to the designer and high safety factors are frequently used, that reduce the overall structural efficiency. The parameters investigated for design to account for the buckling response include fiber orientations and radius to thickness ratio. In so far as design for buckling is concerned, it is well known that a key step is to investigate the influence of the initial geometric imperfection. Both eigenvalue and incremental analyses are performed, the latter including the effect of the initial geometric imperfection shape and amplitude. The results are used to estimate the imperfection sensitivity for such CFRP curved panels. As a result, 'knockdown' factors are estimated for use in design. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.