PSO-Based Approach for Buckling Analysis of Shell Structures with Geometric Imperfections

The buckling loads of shell structures are sensitive to initial geometric imperfections. Conventional methods used to model geometric imperfections cannot determine the accuracy of buckling loads with high computational efficiency. A new computational approach based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed to obtain the lower bound of the buckling load of shell structures with geometric imperfections. The proposed approach assumes a nodal geometric position using uncertain parameters. The buckling loads of the shell structures are then optimized using the PSO-based approach. Both academic and practical numerical examples have been thoroughly investigated. Thus, the applicability and accuracy of the proposed method is critically validated.