In this study, a linear buckling analysis is performed on a cylindrical latticed shells composed of H-section members subjected to a uniformly distributed load. The overall and member buckling modes and corresponding buckling loads obtained from the linear analysis are introduced as initial imperfections in subsequent elastic buckling analyses. The resulting deformation patterns and buckling behaviors are investigated to clarify the distinction between overall and member buckling. Furthermore, empirical equation for the knockdown factors are proposed to estimate the elastic buckling loads of cylindrical lattice shell structures.
SHIBUYA et al. (Sun,) studied this question.