Buckling and post-buckling analysis of composite cylindrical shells with cutouts subjected to internal pressure and axial compression loads

A numerical study using the finite element method has been carried out to investigate the response of composite shells with cutouts subjected to internal pressure and axial compression. The CAE package ABAQUS, has been employed for the analysis. The buckling and post-buckling responses in a series of shells with different size cutouts are presented. The numerical results show that the buckling load decreases as the size of the cutout is increased and the buckling load increases as the internal pressure is increased. Results also show that for the equivalent cutout areas the cutout with higher width (measurement in the circumferential direction) creates a lower buckling load. The results indicate that the response of a compression loaded cylinder with a cutout is influenced by the internal pressure, cutout area and orientation. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.