Buckling of spherical shells subjected to external pressure: A comparison of experimental and theoretical data

This paper focuses on spherical shells under uniform external pressure. Ten laboratory scale models, each with a nominal diameter of 150 mm, were tested. Half of them were manufactured from a 0.4-mm stainless steel sheet, whereas the remaining five shells were manufactured from a 0.7-mm sheet. The geometry, wall thickness, buckling load, and final collapsed mode of each spherical shell were measured, as well as the material properties of the corresponding sheet. The buckling behaviors of these shells were demonstrated analytically and numerically according to experimental data. Analyses involved considering the average geometry, average wall thicknesses, and average elastic material properties. Numerical calculations entailed considering the true geometry, average wall thicknesses, and elastic-plastic modeling of true stress-strain curves. Moreover, the effects of purely elastic and elastic-perfectly plastic models on the buckling loads of spherical shells were examined numerically. The results of the experimental, analytical, and numerical investigations were compared in tables and figures.