Stability analysis of shell structures with openings

Abstract

Thin-walled cylindrical shells with cutouts are widely used in engineering structures due to their high strength-to-weight ratio, although the presence of openings consid-erably complicates stability analysis. This paper presents a method for studying the local stability of cylindrical shells with a single circular cutout, enabling the exact sat-isfaction of boundary conditions and the determination of critical loads, local buck-ling modes, and the influence of geometric and material parameters on shell behavior.