The stability and load-carrying capacity of incomplete shells

The survey is devoted to problems on the stability and load-carrying capacity of imperfect shells in a nonhomogeneous stress-strain state. Methods recently developed at the Institute of Mechanics (Kiev, Ukraine) are briefly described. The approaches proposed are based on the generalized Euler criterion. Special attention is focused on numerical methods. The stability and load-carrying capacity of shells with symmetric and asymmetric, local and regular imperfections are considered. The data presented are compared with the well-known theoretical results and experimental data. At the end of the review, an analytical method (of reduced stiffness) is presented for predicting the lower bounds of sensitivity to imperfection in elastic buckling of longitudinally compressed stiffened shells with a nearly cylindrical shape.