Buckling of homogeneous isotropic cylindrical shells under axial stress

A 2D higher-order shell theory that can take into account the complete effects of higher-order deformations is applied to the buckling problems of a thick circular cylindrical shell subjected to axial compression. The effects of higher-order deformations such as shear deformations and thickness changes on buckling stresses of homogeneous isotropic circular cylindrical shells are studied. Based on the power series expansion of displacement components, a set of fundamental equations of a 2D higher-order shell theory is derived through the principle of virtual displacements. Several sets of truncated approximate theories are applied to solve the buckling problems of a simply supported thick circular cylindrical shell. To assure the accuracy of the present theory, the convergence of the buckling stresses is examined in detail, and the results are compared with those obtained in existing theories.