Thin-Walled Structures 7 (1989) 257-28[)

Buckling of Rings in Column-Supported Bins and Tanks

J. G. T e n g & J. M. Rotter
School of Civil and Mining Engineering. University of Svdne.~.
New South Wales 2006. Australia

(Received 8 November 1987: accepted 8 July 19&'~)

A BS TRA CT

Theories for dw out-of-plane buckling of rings under .niform

circumferential compression are well established. However these theories
are not applicable to rings in cohtmn-supported bins where the
circumferential stress in the ring varies significantly over the cross-section
and around the circumference.
This paper deals with the out-of-plane buckling of annular phue rings in
cohtmn-supported bins and tanks. The stress distributions in such rings are
first examined using a finite element shell analysis. A closed-form sohltion
for the buckling of rings under non-uniform circumferential stresses is then
derived. Numerical results from the closed-form solution are compared with
those from a finite element shell buckling analysis, and close agreement is
found. The significant effect of stress non-uniformity on the buckling
predictions is demonstrated. Finally, simplified equations are giren which
are suitable for structural design purposes, and which closely model the
predictions of the more rigorous sohttion.

NOTATION

al, a2 Stress non-uniformity parameters

A Cross-sectional a r e a o f the ring
B Cross-sectional width
C Centroid of the section
E Y o u n g ' s modulus
G Shear modulus
257
Thin-Walled Structures 0263-8231/89/$03-50 O 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd,
England. Printed in Great Britain
258 J. G. Teng, J. AI. Rotter

L Warping constant
13, Iv Moments of inertia about x and v axes
J Torsional constant
k, Stiffness of the rotational restraint
II Number of complete buckling waves
0 Inner edge of the ring, restraint and loading point
R¢ Radius of the ring centroid
Ro Radius of the ring inner edge
t¢ Thickness of cylinder
T Thickness of the annular plate
II, V, W Displacements of ring centre in x. y. z directions
ll a, Va, Wa Displacements of the point A in x. v. z directions
X Radial coordinate
V Normal coordinate
Circumferential coordinate

Coefficient in eqn (24)

fl B/Ro
13c B/Rc
AU Internal virtual work due to straining
AV Internal virtual work in the rotational spring
AW Internal virtual work due to prestressing
Ea Non-linear circumferential strain
Eo Circumferential centroidal strain
0 Circumferential angular coordinate
K~ Out-of-plane curvature
Kv In-plane curvature
K¢ Twist rate of a ring
P Poisson's ratio
Circumferential stresses at inner and outer edges
O'er Critical stress
Orr Radial stress
O"u Critical stress under uniform compression
Ore Circumferential stresses
Amplitude of buckling deformation
Twist angle of the ring
OJ o-O/o

1 INTRODUCTION

In the design of column-supported bins, tanks and pressure vessels, a

ringbeam is generally provided at the intersection of the cylinder and the
 Buckling o]:rings in column-supported bins and tanks 259

~ E a v e s ~.~Eaves
Ringbeam

~
,,,-Transition
Ringbeam Ringbeam

(a) (b)

Fig. I. Typical forms of column-supported bins. (a) Column-supported bin with columns
terminatingat the transitionring. (b) Column-supported bin with columns extending to
the eaves ring.

In~mensioNs In ram.
fin : 25 ~,mm)

10

-- 1 0
~...........~
PrintipaI
- 0 J ~ Annular
-- i28
/ ,IRingbeam
y
~ ~
-~o0 Plate

~- Skirt

Column Support

(a) (b)

Fig. 2. Geometry of the examplebin. (a) Bin geometry. (b) Ringbeamgeometry.

cone (Fig. 1). A typical ringbeam geometry is shown in Fig. 2(b). The
ringbeam may fail by buckling while subject to circumferential compression.
This paper presents a study of the buckling behaviour of an annular plate
ring (Fig. 2(b)) in a column-supported bin.
Rings may buckle either by in-plane flexure (Fig. 3(a)) or by out-of-plane
flexure with torsion (Fig. 3(b)). However, for rings situated at the inter-
section of the cylinder and the cone, it has been found that in-plane buckling
is always prevented by the cone) Therefore, out-of-plane buckling is the
critical mode.
The out-of-plane buckling of rings has previously been studied -'-~° using
classical thin-walled member theory. In a recent study, Teng and Rotter ~
reviewed all these previous studies and resolved the contradictions between
260 Y. G. ?-eng. Y. ,~1. Rotter

BbnwauI Ring I AnnuLar

P _~Shffe~er ~_~=tate Ring
Hopp ort

Tdke'°g
In-PlaneT Out-of-Planej

(al Ib)

Fig. 3. Ring bucklingmodes.

them bv deriving a simple and accurate solution for the out-of-plane

buckling of rings of monosymmetric section. They also presented a closed-
form solution for the buckling of rings which are restrained all around the
circumference against out-of-plane translation of one point in the cross-
section .5 All these studies dealt only with rings under radial uniform loading,
which results in a circumferential stress distribution which is close to
uniform. All except Teng a n d Rotted assumed that the circumferential
stresses were uniform over the cross-section. Numerical studies in Ref. 5 for
a T-section ring showed that the effect of stress non-uniformity is minor
under uniform radial loading and can be ignored. This conclusion is
probably also true for other monosymmetric rings, though the stress non-
uniformity is more pronounced in annular plate rings.
The buckling problems of an annular plate and a stiffened annular plate
ring loaded and restrained at the inner edge were also studied by Jumikis
and Rotter '''~2 using a linear elastic finite element shell buckling analysis. In
their work, the stress distribution was modelled correctly and buckling
modes involving flexural, flexural-torsional, local, distortionai and other
mixed modes were all considered. Empirical design rules were also
developed from their parametric studies for use in steel silo design.
Application of the above theories to rings in column-supported bins is
difficult because the resulting circumferential stresses in the ring can vary
significantly over the cross-section and around the circumference. It was
suggested in Ref. 13, for design purposes, that the maximum compressive
circumferential stress in the ring should be kept below the critical stress for
uniform compression. This suggestion had no quantitative or analytical
basis. The present paper describes what appears to be the first study of the
problem.
 Buckling of rings in coh,mn-st,pported bins and tanks 26 l

2 STRESSES IN T H E RINGS OF C O L U M N - S U P P O R T E D BINS

Column-supported bins are of two types: the first type of bin has columns
terminating below the skirt (Fig. l(a)t, whilst the second type of bin has
columns extending to the eaves of the cylindrical wall (or terminating part
way up this wall) (Fig. l(b)).
The stress patterns in column-supported bins are very, complicated.~4 A
finite element analysis is therefore used here to examine the stress distri-
butions in the ring of a typical bin of the first type (Fig. 1(a)). The structure is
supported on four columns, with the dimensions shown in Fig. 2. The
ringbeam consists of a principal annular plate and a triangular box (Fig.
2(b)). The bin is assumed to contain a bulk solid with the following
properties:
Bulk solid density = 10 kN/m 3
Angle of repose = 30'
Angle of internal friction = 30°
Wall friction coefficient = 0,45
The bin was analysed under the initial filling condition with pressures on the
cylinder wall given bv Janssen's theory ~5 and on the hopper wall given by
Walker's theory.~6
The linear elastic finite element formulation for axisymmetric shells is
based on that of Delpak ~7with some modificationsTM of this doubly-curved
isoparametric element. First-order Hermitian functions are used as the
shape function. Non-symmetric loads, deformations and stress resultants
are all expanded as Fourier series around the circumference. The stress
resultants and displacements are finally summed to provide the complete
pattern of stresses and deformations. The column supporting forces are
modelled in the manner described by Flugge ~9 and the quality of the
truncated series is improved with Sim'na smoothing. -,° Ten harmonics are
used here to represent the column forces. A fine finite element mesh was
used, so that the severe local bending effects near the cone/cylinder inter-
section were adequately modelled. The length of the shell elements was one
fifth of the meridional bending half-wavelength, t8 whilst five elements were
used in the annular plate.
The variation of circumferential stresses at the inner and outer edges of
the annular plate, O3 and ar°, between two columns is plotted in Fig. 4. The
variation is shown to be very significant within a quarter of the span, and
both o3 and ar° change sign. Near the mid-span, the circumferential stresses
are fairly constant and smaller than the values over the column.
The variation of circumferential stresses in the annular plate ring section
is shown for three locations between columns: over the column support, at
262 J. G. Teng, ]. :%1.Rotter

200 ] [ I i I i I I

w~
Stresses n Ann0a I /
"= 100 Stress at Inner Edge a I /

z >

5~
Column 1 CoLumn 2 ~
M~d-span
I
-100 I I I I I I ~ I I
10 20 30 t.O 50 60 70 80 90
Circumferential Coordinate @(degrees)

Fig. 4. Variation of circumferential stresses between two columns.

/ ~=-31,MPa

w=-t, 6 / w=O 27 u~=-0.18

{a) % over E0tumn Support (bl % at the (c) a0 at Mid-Span

O.uar ter-Span
18=0 o ) (8=22.5 ° ] 18:t,5")

Fig. 5. Circumferentialmembrane stresses in the ring.

the quarter-span and at the mid-span (Fig. 5). Over the column support, the
maximum compressive stress occurs at the outer edge and only a very small
portion close to the inner edge is in tension. The opposite is true for the ring
section at mid-span. The stresses at the quarter-span are all compressive,
with a larger stress at the inner edge. At all three locations, the variation of
the circumferential stresses in the cross-section is close to linear.
For the other type of column-supported bin, a closed-form solution from
the membrane theory of shells has been given by Rotter. ,3 The ring is shown
to be subject to a circumferential membrane force and a circumferential
bending moment, both of which vary periodically around the circum-
 Buckling of rings in cohlmn-supported bins and tanks 263

terence. The resulting ring stress distribution is similar to that shown in Figs
4 and 5.
It is clear that the circumferential stresses in the ring of a column-
supported bin vary significantly both around the circumference and over the
cross-section. The formal buckling analysis of rings under such a complex
stress pattern and loading is difficult. In the present analysis, a simplification
is made in which the stress variation around the circumference is ignored.
This corresponds to the 'worst meridian' treatment used widely in the
buckling analysis of axisymmetric shells. "-~The approach is valid provided
the buckling mode involves many waves around the circumference (that is,
when the buckling deformation is local). It is shown later that this is indeed
the case in the present problem.

3 BUCKLING ANALYSIS

In the analysis presented here, only annular plate rings loaded and re-
strained at the inner edge are considered (Fig. 6). The ring is rigidly
restrained against out-of-plane translation and elastically restrained against
rotation at the inner edge. The buckling analysis is constructed using thin-
walled member theory. The buckling deformation of the ring is assumed to
be free of cross-section distortion. From the observations made earlier, the
circumferential stresses are assumed to vary, linearly in the ring cross-
section.
The coordinate system is shown in Fig. 6. The buckling deformation is
described by a single rotation ~ about the origin of the coordinate system O.
The linear stress distribution shown in Fig. 7 can be expressed as

o'~ = [(x)(r I (1)

Y X BucktingDeformation
RingAxis lj~'~

R~=R,oB/2 B
\,/
(a} (b}
Fig. 6. Coordinate system and buckling deformation.
2(~ J. G. Teng. J. 3,1. Rotter

~ C . o m p r e s s ~ o n (.re)

w:a*/d

Fig. 7. Assumed linear variation of circumferential stress in ring.

in which

/(x) = (w- 1)'~+ 1 (2)

/5
where B is the width of the annular plate, and parameter oJ is defined as

cro
oJ = °ri, (3)

and ~ and cr° are the circumferential stresses at the inner and outer edge,
compressive as positive. The radial stress distribution, which is needed to
satisfy the requirements of equilibrium in the annular plate, is given by

O'r Ro + x (4)

in which Ro is tlae radius of the ring inner edge. This stress distribution is used
later in the finite element stability calculations described in Section 4.
The buckling equilibrium equation is derived by applying the principle of
virtual displacements. Since it is assumed that the loads are applied at the
inner edge of the ring where no translational displacements occur during
the buckling deformation, the external virtual work is zero. The principle of
virtual displacements then leads to

AU + AV + AW = O (51

in which AU is the internal virtual work from straining, AV is the internal

virtual work done in the elastic rotational restraint, and AW is the internal
virtual work due to the prestressing (or internal forces).
The non-linear strain displacement relations are taken 5 as:
dwa ua I / dua ~ 2 1 / alva ~ 2
~- -R e- d o ÷ ~g~ + 2 ~ R ~ d O ] + 2 ~g~dO] (6)
 Buckling of rings in column-supported bins and tanks 265

dw u
eo - - - -+ (7a)
R~dO R¢

1 /' day + )
(7b)
Kx=--~ k R~dO:

1 d-" u
K~.-- Re d0z (7c)

1 (de I dv)
K,,=~ dO R~ dO (7d)

in which e~ is the circumferential strain at a point A(x. y); eo is the centroidal

extensional strain; K~ and Kv are the out-of-plane and in-plane cur~'atures
respectively; K~ is the twist rate; Rc is the radius of the plate centre: 0 is the
circumferential angular coordinate; and it,. v~ and w~ are the buckling
displacements at point A in the radial, normal and circumferential
directions. The buckling displacements tq and Vaare related to the rotational
angle ~ by

X
u~ = - y ~ - ~ ; - (8a)

v~ = .r¢-2¢- (8b)

The circumferential buckling displacement w at the plate centre is assumed

to be zero. The other two buckling displacements u and v at the plate centre
are related to the rotation angle ,; bv

u = 0 (9a)

1
v = =Be (9b)
2

Substituting eqns (8) and (9) into eqns (6) and (7) gives

dw, 2y~o+x¢ 2 x2+y: ( d ~ ¢ ) '-

" - nodO 2& + -fig lO)

eo = 0 (lla)
266 J. G. Teng, J. M. Rotter

(llbl
Kx = -R-~-~ 2R¢ d0: ~'¢

K,= 0 (llc)

K¢- Re dO - 2"~¢ (lid)

The internal virtual work from straining during buckling of the ring is:

$U = EAEo 8Eo + E!~ K, 8Kx + E!,. KySKy + GJK, 8K~,

+---r- - - 8 R, dO (12)
R~ dO

in which E and G are the elastic and shear moduli; A is the area; Ix and I, are
the moments of inertia about the x and v axes: and J and 1, are the uniform
torsion and warping constants.
The internal virtual work done in the elastic rotational restraint is
2n"
V=
.fO k, Ro ~¢dO8so (13)

in which k, is the stiffness of the elastic rotational restraint.

During the buckling deformation, the internal virtual work done by
internal forces (prestressing) is

~W=-fo2~ fA o'oS~adxdyRcdO (14)

Substituting eqns (10) and (11) into eqns (12) and (14), and noting certain
special relations valid for a complete ring? the final equilibrium equation
governing the stability of the ring is given by

R, ~ + - ~ ¢ d----~ 4R~ dO4 "~¢ d02

+ '-Elw
-~'
( -Y--~ c )1R e B ~d~
+ k, Ro,p

o~ fA f(x)(x~ + y~),:trdy~ _
Rc o~IA f(x)xdxdy~¢ (15)
 Buckling of rings in column-supported bins and tanks 267

It is assumed that the buckling deformation takes the form

= ~cosnO (16)

in which ~ is the amplitude of the buckling deformation and n is an integer

representing the number of complete waves around the circumference.
Substituting eqn (16) into eqn (15) and seeking non-zero buckling dis-
placements leads to

1--0"5/3cn-")" + GJ/E(I--O.. [3~)- n-

o't¢, _ lw/R~ ( 1-0.5/3c)2 n 4 + kr Ro Rc/E

(17)
E al(lx + ly + AB2/4)n 2 - a2(RcAB/2)

in which

8¢ = B/R¢ = B/(Ro + B/2) (18a)

~ A f ( x ) ( . r 2 + ~ ) ckrdy
al = Ix + ly + AB2/4 (18b)

a f ( x ) x cLr dy
(18c)
a2 = A B/2

For an annular plate ring with width B and thickness T. the section
properties are given as

A = BT (19a)

= BT3/12 (19b)

ly = B3T/12 (19c)

l w = B 3 T3/144 (19d)

and

al = (1 + 3¢n)/4 (20a)

az = (1 + 2oJ)/3 (20b)

W h e n ~ = 1, eqn (17) reduces to the solution for buckling of rings under

uniform compression?
26,~ J. G. Teng. J. .U. Rotter

4 T H E E F F E C T O F STRESS N O N - U N I F O R M I T Y

T h e buckling predictions given by eqn (17) are next compared with those
from a finite element stability analysis. The significance of the stress non-
uniformity is illustrated. For simplicity, only simply supported annular plate
rings are considered here. The restraining effect of the shell wall on the
stability of axisymmetrically stressed annular plate rings has been exten-
sively studied elsewhere. H2~ The example section has a width to thickness
ratio B / T of 30.
T h e finite element buckling analysis ~ is an extension of the linear elastic
finite element stress analysis mentioned in Section 2. The analysis consists of a
linear axisymmetric prebuckling analysis, followed by a stability analysis for
bifurcation into a non-symmetric m o d e defined bv a single harmonic around
the circumference. Non-linear strain-displacement relations similar to but
m o r e c o m p l e t e than those of Sanders 22 are used.'
In the finite element analysis, the ring is treated as an annular plate and is
subjected to the stresses given by eqns (1) and (4). This more accurate
modelling of the structure is therefore a good means of assessing the
accuracy of the above closed-form solution based o n classical thin-walled
m e m b e r theory.
It should be noted that for a given value of the stress ratio to, eqn (17) gives
two roots, corresponding to circumferential stresses of opposite sign.
Generally, one of the roots corresponds to buckling of the ring in an
axisymmetric m o d e (n = 0). Roots corresponding to an axisymmetric m o d e
are not considered to be critical for the following two reasons: first, the
present analysis is not really satisfactory for buckling m o d e s which do not
permit the formation of buckles in a small region around the circumference
of the ring: second, axisymmetric buckling of the ring can only happen when
a significant portion of the section is in tension (>2B/3 from the inner edge
or > B / 4 from the outer edge), a stress state which rarely exists in the
transition ring of a bin.
Figures 8, 9 and 10 show the variation of the dimensionless critical stress
with the ratio of outer edge to inner edge circumferential stress. Results are
given for rings with several different width to radius ratios (B/Ro = 0.01,
0.1, 0.2). It is clear that the influence of the stress ratio co is very significant.
For co > - 1/3, buckling of the ring occurs with the inner edge in compres-
sion, while for co < - 1/2, buckling can only happen with the inner edge in
tension. In Figs 8, 9 and 10, the inner edge compressive stress at buckling is
shown for co > - 1/3, while for co < - 1/2, the outer edge compressive stress
at buckling is plotted. For co values lying between - 1/2 and - 1/3, both roots
c o r r e s p o n d to axisymmetric modes, so buckling failures are d e e m e d to be
unlikely for these stress distributions. It is of interest to note that these two
 Buckling o/'rings in colurnn-supported bins and tanks 26,9

limits are given by setting a, or a~ to zero. W h e n w is decreased towards

-1/3. the inner edge buckling stress for non-symmetric modes increases
indefinitely. Similarly. if co is increased towards - 1/2. the outer edge com-
pressive stress for non-symmetric buckling modes becomes very high.
t h o u g h it remains finite.
Numerical results from the finite element analvsis clearly show the same
behaviour. T h e agreement between the finite element results and the
closed-form solution is better for small BIRd,. This is to be expected, since
the assumption of no radial deformations and the approximation of the radii
of the section by the radius of the plate centre R~ are clearly less satisfactory
for thicker rings.
A l t h o u g h the buckling stress is very. d e p e n d e n t on the value of co. this is
not true of the buckling modes. It is seen in Figs ~. 9 and I() that the buckling
wave n u m b e r is fairly constant except when w is close to - l / 2 . However.
thick rings buckle with many fewer waves than thin rings.
Figures 11 and 12 show how the critical stress varies with the dimen-
sionless width B/Ro. Close agreement with the finite element results is again
seen for most cases. The buckling stress varies little with B/R,, for a given
value of to.
A final remark to be made in this section is that the maximum compressive
stress in the ring section at buckling is always larger than the buckling stress
of rings under uniform compression (Fig. 13). The section can sustain a

0 002C 1 I I I ! 1~57158 t , i
!
Outer Edge CrltiCat 25(261 ] l
Compressive Stress o?~/E.~.JI
/ /
0.0015 Ill z~56(56) •
Loa t.Oit.Ol, L~[ ~ / I n : ' e - E~ge Cr,:cat
I~ C~-:-essiveStress
n=t,Sl/,S]j ~ ~ . . , E Mode
L5 00010
" / ~ ." FE,'4 ~t,73
so(~9)~L~ It ~s~IsJ}
o
51(501 501501 k
~_ poops N
o Bucktng
i _j~
Ir 53{q~
~'~:5-:"

52!5~,

-5.0 -/~.0 -3.0 -20 -1.0 O0 10 Z " 30 ~ 0 5'3

Outer/Inner Edge Stress Rat : w

Fig. 8. E f f e c t o f stress n o n - u n i f o r m i t y o n buckling stress.

2-(I J. (;. Tet(,4. J. ,%1. R(,ttrr

0 0020 i I I I i i I t i
Outer Edge Crff,caL
Compresslve Stress
~r/E \ 5(! InnerEdgeCnhcat
\ Compressive Stress
o 0 0015
vl "~rlE
~J

CA 91~)z ~/// Mode

....... Eq 17 9
9(9)/ ,~ FEH (9)
00010
-- 10(10) 10('~0) / ~V(11)
~n
o~
c
o

00005I ~ l \"~VO)
No Bucktng -- 10[10)

w:-O,5--~,~Iw:-O 333 ,I0{I0)

C [ , ,~ ] I I I
-50 -&0 -30 -20 -I0 O0 10 20 30 aO 5.0
Outer/inner Edge Stress Ratio w

Fig. 9. Effect of stress non-uniformity on buckling stress.

g 0020 I i t I [i I I I I t
Outer Edge Critical
i ~'L~7{81
~ /
I
Co~;ress,,,e S~res, ~(3)~1 / . . . . . . I
~0 O0'5
_ S,E k...... IF / 'C%%r2,L*'r ;12:s J
La
oJ

L/)

_ 616)~/!! \ ~ FE. is) _

0 0010
i_4 6(6} 6w,/ll ~717)
iz,

E
o

,~ 0 000~
E
El
N0 B u c k l i n g _ : . ~. 6.6j
~ ~ 616) 6 6)
c,s=-o5 J ~--- w=-0333
0 I 1 r r/IF I 1 I I
-5 _/,0 -3.0 -20 -1.0 0 10 20 30 t~.0 50
Outer/Inner Edge Stress Ratio to

Fig. 10. Effect of stress non-uniformity on buckling stress.

 Bttckling of rings in col.mn-supported bins and tanks 27 l

0 00t.0 i i i t : i
Eqt7
~ooo3s - ,", FEM w=-01 ,~

~ 0 0030

.-~ 0 0025
O "' "/" &
~00020
X:3
-

U~ 01 .5 ," A A

~ 0.oo15

i
o.oolo ...c,...~.¢~..__._~_ .~ 0 5 A A A ".
~ ,,, 1.0 ~ ",, ~ ,,',
~, 0.0005
E
r-}

0.02 0.0t. 0.06 0 08 0.10 0 ' 2 0.1t. 016 0.18

Dimensiontess Thickress B / R o

Fig. 1 !. Variation of buckling stress ~ ith ring thickness.

000200 I I i I [ t I i I

%~ 0 00175 w:-0.51
A A A A ,.3 ..3. A .~.

s- o 00150 -- -06

0.00125 -- -0 75 zx z~ 1", ~ z~ zx
t..
t_/

g 0.00100 A
-20 A ,2. '-% A A ,
~' 000075

0.00050
o
~Eq.17
zx FEM
~ 0.00025
e~
E
1=3 I I I ! ! I I l
0 002 00t, 006 008 010 0"~ 01/., 016 018
Dimensionless -, rh.I L k , _:_ S S B/R o

Fig. 12. Variation of buckling stress xvith ring thickness.

_7_ J. G. Teng, J. 3L Rotter

0.0020 I I I I I I I I

Eq 17
~ o oo15 -

-~.
00010 -

w
oa

E
00005
E
E
x

0 I I I 1 I I t I I
-5.0 -t~.O -3.0 -2.0 -1.0 0 1.0 2.0 3.0 t,.O 50
Outer/Inner Edge Stress Ratio ~J

Fig. 13. M a x i m u m compressive stress in the cross-section at buckling.

much larger maximum compressive stress for some values of ¢o, and this
indicates that the approach suggested in Ref. 13, which was described in the
Introduction, can be very conservative.

5 THE EFFECT OF RESTRAINT

In column-supported bins, two types of rotational restraint against buckling

are offered by the structure: the flexural restraint from the shell wall. which
is modelled by a rotational spring in the present analysis, and the discrete
restraints of columns in the second type of bin (Fig. l(b)). Only the first of
these types is treated here.
For simplicity, the numerical results in the above section are given for
rings simply supported at inner edge only. To explore the effects of the shell
wall restraint, an annular plate ring on a cylindrical shell wall was analysed.
The rotational stiffness of a long isotropic cylindrical shell, with the ring
located at its centre, may be approximated by

E~ 12
k, = [3(1 - ~ ; ) ~ " V ' R o (2])

in which tc is the thickness of the cylinder wall and v is the Poisson's ratio,
taken here as 0.30. Equation (21) gives the rotational stiffness for axi-
 Buckling of rings in column-supported bins and tanks _7.~

00016 I I I I I I

w 0.001/+

0.0012

,.n 0.0010
ru

t,. 0.0008

i OoOoOoOo
t
00006 _

I I I I I I I /
0 02 0.~, 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 11.
Thickness Ratio fc/T

Fig. 14. Effect of shell wall restraint (ring mostly in compression).

svmmetric deformation of a thin cylindrical shell. In the present case, the

cylinders are not deformed axisymmetrically during buckling, but in a
harmonic mode corresponding to the buckling mode. Nevertheless, they are
subject to short wave bending, ~ and the stiffness in axisymmetric deforma-
tion provides a very simple and reasonably close approximation. The
increase in buckling stress due to the wall flexural restraint predicted by eqn
(17) is shown in Fig. 14 for a section with B/T = 30, B/Ro = 0-01 and with
co = - 10. The wall flexural restraint leads to increases in both the buckling
stress and the buckling wave number.
In the analysis of the buckling of an annular plate ring at the cone/cylinder
junction in a tank or bin, the situation is complicated by the presence of
stresses in the shell. 24When the shell is very thin and in compression in either
the meridional or circumferential direction, interactive buckling modes
involving substantial deformation of both the shell and the ring can reduce
the strength gain indicated in Fig. 14. When the shell is thick and/or in
tension, the annular plate ring will be radially bent during buckling
(distortional buckling). The present analysis is therefore likely to give
satisfactory predictions for rotationally restrained rings"-4 only if the shell
wall thickness t is less than the annular plate thickness T.
Nevertheless, in light of the work by Rotter, z* the buckling strength of an
inner edge simply supported ring has an important role in providing a lower
bound to the inelastic buckling load of a ring.
Two further features of the elastic rotational restraint of ring buckling are
2~4 ,/. (J. fcn~. J. .tl. Rvt;er

worth noting for the relatively unimportant case where a large part of the
ring is in tension.
First, it was noted above that there are t~vo roots of the critical eqn (17) for
an}' given value of co. One root invariably relates to an axisvmmetric
buckling m o d e with a low critical stress when much of the ring is tension.
W h e n the effect of an elastic rotational restraint on the buckling strength in
this mode is examined, it is found that quite a small rotational stiffness leads
to a large strength gain (Fig. 15). This is a further reason for discounting the
significance of low strength predictions in the axisymmetric mode.
Secondly, the above discussion has related to the first type of bin support
(Fig. l(a)). In the second type of bin support (Fig. l(b)), the discretely
located stiff restraints from the columns will fully restrain buckling modes
involving only few waves. In general, four or more columns will be pro-
vided, so that buckling modes having less than two complete waves will be
prevented by the columns. Figure 16 sho~vs the variation of the buckling
stress with the harmonic number n. Both eqn (17) and finite element results
indicate that the buckling stress rises rapidly as n increases.

6 SIMPLIFIED E Q U A T I O N S

To find the critical mode and the critical stress from eqn (17), a trial and
error procedure must be employed, which inhibits the rapid application of
the present solution in practical design. A simplified treatment is therefore
developed here.
For buckling deformations which involve many waves (n is large), the first
term in the denominator of eqn (17) is much larger than the second term
unless a2 becomes very. large (i.e. w approaches - 1/2). This is especially true
for thinner rings which will buckle with many waves. The dominance of the
first term also explains why the buckling modes remain relatively unchanged
as oJ varies (Figs 8-10) unless co approaches - 1 / 2 , when the two terms
interact. It is therefore expected that the buckling stress variation may
follow the variation of the first term closely for most values of (o. Denoting
the buckling stress for rings under uniform compression as o'u, the inner and
o u t e r edge stresses at buckling oJc, and o-° can be approximated bv

oa _ 4o-. (22a)
1 +3co

0 "l'C°O'u
O'er -- (22b)
1 +3oJ
 Buckling of rings in c'olumn-.supported bins and tanks 2"75

0 oo1~
! i I I

L~

%0 ooc~ = =to
r
i~=-10
,5/T:30 -; I
0 0006

0000~

0.0002

0.1 0.2 0.3 OJ, 05

Thickness Ratio tc/T

Fig. 15. Effect of shell wall restraint (ring mostly in tension).

00002~ i I I 1

--b BIT:30 Eq17

~0 000:5 BIRo:O 01

t-

L/1

ro

~0000~0
t=J

E
0

gO00005
E

2 t, 6 8
Buckling Wave Number n

Fig. 16. Buckling strengths of rings with an enforced mode.

3-~ J. G. Teng, J..tl. Rotter

70
I i i i I , i i [

b/RQ 001 01 02
6O FEM o A
Approximations [
(Eqs 22)
50

~t.C-

~30--
Eq17 0 1

20
f
10

0 t [ I I I I I I I
-50 _t.O -30 -20 -10 0 i0 20 3.0 t.O
Outer/Inner Edge Stress Ratio w

Fig. 17. Approximation for effect of stress non-uniformity.

In Fig. 17, these two approximate equations are compared with the
numerical results previously obtained. Equations (22) provide a close
estimate of the buckling stresses for oJ > - 1/3. For oJ < - I/2, eqns (22) are
still a satisfactory approximation but are slightly in error when co approaches
- 1/2 for thicker rings. Numerically, the finite element results are in better
agreement with eqns (22). It is therefore concluded that, for most practical
purposes, the effect of outer/inner edge stress ratio oJ can be taken into
account by the simple approximation of eqns (22).
For an annular plate ring, simply supported at its inner edge (k, = 0), and
under uniform compression (oJ = 1.0), noting that !~ << !,,, eqn (17) can be
rearranged as

c(1--0.5/3cn-') 2 --~--(1 "513¢)'-B~n'-

+ ~(Fo-~c)- N,P
o'~lE = (T/B)" 4/3¢n-' - 6 (23)

Using eqn (23). it is easy to show that the critical mode is independent of the
plate B/T ratio, and depends only on the ratio B/Ro and Poisson's ratio.
WritingtL~3. 2s

O'u/E = (T/B)'-oq, (24)

 Buckling of rings in coh~mn-supported bins and tanks 277

a simple relation can be found numerically as

a~ = 0.384 + 0.452 \//3 - I).505/3 (25)

in which/3 = B/Ro.
For thin rings (/3<< 1), eqn (25) matches the numerical fit to finite
element predictions obtained by Jumikis and Rotter" for this problem.

7 DESIGN C O N S I D E R A T I O N S

It is evident that the above theory, is more appropriate for thin rings than for
thick rings. For thicker rings, the solution may be quite conservative
because fewer waves are involved in the buckling mode, and the stresses at
the most highly stressed cross-section do not extend over a large portion of
the circumference of the ring. Nevertheless, the present solution does
provide a lower bound to the correct answer.
It has been shown in Fig. 4 that the circumferential stresses vary around
the circumference, and the buckling strength has been shown to vary
strongly with the ratio of inner edge to outer edge stress (Figs 8-10). Thus
the position of the worst stress state relative to the corresponding buckling
strength should be sought. At any circumferential coordinate, the stresses
must be multiplied by a load factor to cause buckling at that coordinate.
Because the stress distribution varies around the circumference, this load
factor against buckling also varies, and the most critical location cannot be
determined simply from the largest stress. The variation of the load factor
against buckling is plotted against the circumferential coordinate in Fig. 18,
for the structure shown in Fig. 2. Several curves are shown for different
numbers of column supports. It is found that the most critical point is over
the column support, whilst the least critical point is at the mid-span. The
load factor is much more variable when only a few supporting columns are
used.
Thus, in the design of column-supported bins, the stresses in the ring
section should be determined, using either a finite element computer
program or a hand calculation, t3 The distribution defines the stress ratio to at
any given circumferential coordinate. Next, the buckling strength for axi-
symmetric uniform stresses is found using eqns (24) and (25). The buckling
strength for the appropriate non-uniform stress distribution (defined by to)
may then be determined from eqns (22). The buckling strength at a given
circumferential coordinate must be compared with the maximum com-
pressive stress at that coordinate to determine the load factor. The chosen
circumferential coordinate should be varied to find the lowest load factor.
27S J. G. Tern,,. J. ~1. R,)ttcr

2C

N::'~c of Susscrrr; {sl.mns

~5 / -
b~
Y, Coiurnn Support No=/
ta_

o 10 i

I I I I
02 0~ 06 08 !
Circumferential Position N~e/r~

Fig. 18. Variation of load factor between columns.

From the above example, it is evident that the lowest load factor x~ill often
occur above the column support.

8 CONCLUSION

This paper has examined the problem of buckling of an annular plate ring of
the kind commonly used in column-supported bins and tanks. The circum-
ferential stresses in the ring are shown to vary significantly both around the
circumference and within the ring section. A closed-form solution has been
derived for the buckling strengths of these rings subject to a linear variation
of the circumferential stresses in the radial direction. Simple approximate
equations have also been given, which can be easily used in the design of
column-supported bins.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper forms part of a programme of research into the loading,

behaviour, analysis and design of silo and tank structures being undertaken
at the University of Sydney. Support for this program from the Australian
Research Grants Scheme, the University of Sydney and cooperating com-
mercial organisations is gratefully acknowledged.
 BucklMg of rin~s in cohunn-~upportedbins and tank,s 279

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