66

J.M. Rotter

1.0
cr/ cl

0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.2

Imperfect: no lap joint Imperfect: with lap joint

Dimensionless axial critical stress

r / t = 1000 circular arc axisymmetric imperfection

0.4 0.6 0.8 Dimensionless imperfection amplitude w0/t

1.0

Figure 2.16 Imperfection sensitivity with and without a lap joint.

at cr = 0.408cl . Realistic lengths and jointing systems, and changes of plate thickness all cause the bifurcation load to increase, so this reference stress is a useful one. However, this buckling stress is well above normal design values for typical imperfect cylinders, so Rotter and Teng considered the simultaneous presence of a dent imperfection just above the lap joint. This exploration (Fig. 2.16) showed that imperfect lap joints are only marginally weaker than perfect lap joints (only 26% strength loss at w0 /t = 1.0). Further, if design is based on an imperfection amplitude comparable with realistic accidental dent imperfections (e.g. w0 /t = 1.0), the further reduction in strength caused by the lap joint is only some 13%. Since the lap joint is the most extreme version of all the imperfections of alignment at joints (Fig. 2.15), it is evident that most eccentricities at a circumferential joint need not cause concern. The results of Rotter and Teng (1989a) were later conrmed and extended by Greiner and Yang (1996). Conditions leading to plastic collapse in lap-jointed pressurised cylinders were thoroughly explored by Teng (1994).

Design strengths and tolerances to control geometric imperfections

Introduction The wide range of laboratory measured strengths for axially compressed cylinders is shown in Fig. 2.3. It has been particularly difcult to achieve reliable correlations between test results and theoretical predictions, even when the geometric