Plastic buckling of eccentrically stiffened multilayered circular cylindrical shells

A transcendental stability criterion is derived for plastic buckling of eccentrically stiffened circular cylindrical sbells with multiple isotropic layers under combinations of axial and lateral pressure (including one component of pressure which causes tension). The deformation theory of plasticity is utilized in conjunction with classical stability theory, which implies a membrane prebuckled shape, for a set of simply supported edge boundary conditions. The uniaxial character of the stiffeners and their eccentricity (asymmetry about the reference surface) are accounted for as are variable Poisson's ratios above the yield stress (proportional limit). Coupling between bending and extension of the shell layers is included. The technique of applying this type of stability criterion is discussed for the first time and includes new procedures required for multilayered shells. Numerical examples are given to illustrate application of the theory.