Buckling Analysis of Eccentrically Stiffened Functionally Graded Toroidal Shell Segments under Mechanical Load

An analytical approach is presented to investigate the linear buckling of eccentrically stiffened functionally graded thin toroidal shell segments subjected to axial compression, lateral pressure, and hydrostatic pressure. On the basis of classical thin shell theory, the smeared stiffener technique and the adjacent equilibrium criterion, the governing equations of buckling of eccentrically stiffened functionally graded toroidal shell segments are derived. The functionally graded toroidal shell segments with simply supported edges are reinforced by a ring and stringer stiffener system on an external surface. The resulting equations in the case of compressive and pressure loads are solved directly. The obtained results show the effects of stiffeners and input factors on the buckling behavior of these structures. In this paper, the results are also compared with the solutions published in the literature for the specific cases of a toroidal shell. (C) 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.