Optimization of thin-wall cylindrical shells with compliant cellular-solid cores

Thin-wall, cylindrical structures are found extensively in both engineering components and in nature. Minimum weight design of such structures is essential in a variety of engineering applications, including space shuttle fuel tanks, aircraft fuselages, and offshore oil platforms. In nature, thin-wall cylindrical structures are often supported by a honeycomb- or foam-like cellular core, as for example, in plant stems, porcupine quills, or hedgehog spines. Previous studies have suggested that a compliant core increases the elastic buckling resistance of a cylindrical shell over that of a hollow cylinder of the same weight. In this thesis, we extend the linear-elastic buckling theory by coupling basic plasticity theory to provide a more comprehensive analysis of isotropic, cylindrical shells with compliant cores. This thesis examines the minimum weight design of a thin-wall cylinder with a compliant core, of given radius and specified materials, subjected to a prescribed load in uniaxial compression or pure bending. The analysis gives the values of the shell thickness, the core thickness, and the core density that minimize the weight of the structure for both loading scenarios.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Dawson, Matthew A. (Matthew Aaron), 1983-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Lorna J. Gibson.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35657
• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier URI

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76184

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/76184