Appl. Se 2022, 12,3006 7of37 other imperfection forms according to this study. The study concluded that the inward imperfections are more unfavorable than the outward ones [7]. Nevertheless, optimization techniques, such as the one proposed by Ning and Pel- legrino [19], could be applied to the structural form of cylindrical shell for minimizing the discrepancy between the geometrically perfect structure and geometrically imperfect structures, ie., producing imperfection-insensitive axially loaded cylindeical shells. The technique mainly relies on achieving a reduction of the local radius curvature by changing the cross-section of the shell, to have an optimized wavy or sinusoidally corrugated wall based on numerical and experimental investigation [17,49]. The optimized cross-section provides a shell with a low sensitivity to geometrical imperfections, and high critical buck- ling stress than those of conventional circular cylindrical shell. Eventually, the shell failed with highly localized buckling modes leading to a superior mass efficiency more than almost all previously reported stiffened shells [49]. 2.4. Buckling Types and Analysis Like most of the conventional steel structures, buckling under vertical compressive stresses is the critical consideration for the thin-walled steel silos prone to a loss of stabil- ity [15,67]. The main sources of the vertical compressive forces in silos are the frictional traction pressure imposed by the stored material and the horizontal pressure. While the horizontal pressure imposed by the initial filling slightly increases with stored material depth, the frictional traction pressure significantly increases as the depth of the stored ‘material increase, as shown in Figure 4 and according to the Janssen‘s theory [33]. For this reason, the tall (or slender) silos are built with RC material, where the vertical traction pressure dominates the horizontal one. Instead, steel shells are susceptible to vertical pressure, thus, the shortest (or squat) silos are usually built with steel, especially where the horizontal pressure is dominant with regard to the vertical traction pressure Lateral Presse Vertical Pressure Hoste ome Figure 4. Silo and wall loads: (a) normal pressure; (b) vertical compression variation, Historically, extensive knowledge has been developed on the buckling behavior of an empty cylindrical shell under uniform compression even in combination with internal pressure, Different aspects of buckling and post buckling behavior of shell structures under uniform and well-quantified loads were historically addressed by several researchers, as defined in [68] and references therein. In [69], Teng extensively presented the research ‘work performed on shell buckling through the last century. Nevertheless, the buckling strength of silos is dependent on many factors, such as the magnitude and distribution of, both the frictional and horizontal pressures, the imperfections amplitude and shape, and. the elastic restraint of the stored material against buckling. For instance, the eccentric filling or discharge causes variation in the applied pressure resulting in a worse stress state in the bin wall than even higher uniform pressure [70]. Therefore, some studies were introduced in the literature addressing the buckling behavior of silos under eccentric discharge. One of the earliest comprehensive studies was conducted by Rotter [15], in which experiments were performed to investigate the buckling behavior of a cylindrical shell under pres- sure directly induced by the stored solids. This study took into consideration buckling strength increment derived from the stored solid stiffness. The study treated flat-bottom silos, considering concentric/ eccentric filling and discharge. For concentrically filled si-