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local axial compression with internal pressure was also investigated in two separate studies (Li 1994; Greiner and Guggenberger 1998). Recently, Schulz and Ummenhofer (2000) undertook an experimental study of unstiffened cylinders, with very stiff base rings at the boundary where the local loads are introduced into the cylinder. Following this project, a semi-empirical design proposal was developed by Kndel and Ummenhofer (1998). Scope of new exploration presented here The modelling assumptions of the nite element analysis model are described in the next section. In sections on Buckling behaviour of an unstiffened cylinder and The effect of internal pressure, descriptions are presented on both the linear and the geometrically and materially nonlinear buckling behaviour of isotropic unstiffened cylinders on discrete supports at the lower edge. The post-buckling behaviour is also outlined. The study of unstiffened cylinders is then extended to explore the effect of internal pressure (The effect of internal pressure), and the effect of thickening the lower course. In the nal section (Proposed design rules), design rules are presented for the basic case of the unstiffened cylinder and for cylinders with increased wall thickness of the bottom course of the cylinder.

Modelling assumptions of the present study

Finite element analysis models Two equivalent analysis models are shown in Fig. 3.4. Both have been used for the study of the unstiffened cylinder. Throughout this study, the cylinder was supported on four columns of varying width d = 2b, so a 45 segment could be used for the nite element model, exploiting symmetry on meridional lines, as indicated by the grey shaded areas in Fig. 3.4. The model in Fig. 3.4(a) represents a more realistic load case and has been used in most of the analyses. However, the descriptions in the section on Buckling behaviour of an unstiffened cylinder are based on the idealised model of Fig. 3.4(b), which assumes symmetry about a horizontal plane at the cylinder half-height. The nite element mesh used is shown in Fig. 3.5. Teng and Rotter (1990, 1992) and She and Rotter (1993) used a model similar to that of Fig. 3.4(a), but with wall friction loading from the solid for greater realism in modelling the true loading. They showed that the buckling strength at a single discrete support is not sensitive to the number of supports around the circumference, provided that this number is not so large that the nearest edges of adjacent supports are not closer than the support width. Thus, the limitation to only four supports used here is not restrictive. Values of the radius-to-thickness ratio of R/t = 200, 300, 500 and 750 were used in the parametric studies, and a single height-to-radius ratio H /R = 2.0 was used throughout. The descriptions in the following sections are performed only