Calculation method of critical load for lateral buckling of shell plates with micro curvature

Micro curvature shell plates are widely used in ship structures. The phenomenon of 'jumping instability' was found in the static performance experiment of curved plates. In order to explore the buckling mechanism of micro curvature plates under lateral loading, the prediction method was discussed considering the engineering background in this paper. Based on Timoshenko curved beam theory and large deflection bending theory of thin plates, the transverse bearing capacity of unidirectional micro curvature plates was analyzed theoretically. The critical buckling load of plates was solved. The lateral bearing stability of unidirectional micro curvature plates was simulated with the Riks method. The critical buckling load of plates was obtained by load scale factor curve. And it was found that the simulation results were in good agreement with the theoretical calculation results. The results show that the phenomenon of 'jumping instability' occurs when the micro curvature plate structure is subjected to transverse load. And this phenomenon is related to the radius of curvature. The smaller the radius is, the higher the critical buckling load is. Under the same curvature radius of plates, the influence of length-width ratio on critical instability load is not obvious. For plates with a curvature radius of 4000-6000 mm, the prediction formula of critical buckling load has a high accuracy. © 2022, Editorial Board of Journal of Ship Mechanics. All right reserved.