Experimental investigation on buckling strength of cylindrical panel: Effect of non-uniform temperature field

Experimental investigation performed to evaluate buckling strength of a cylindrical panel exposed to non-uniform temperature field is presented. A novel experimental set-up developed in-house is used to evaluate buckling strength of a cylindrical panel made of Aluminum. Influence of nature of non-uniform temperature variation, structural boundary conditions and panel aspect ratio on buckling strength is investigated experimentally. Experimental results reveals that effect of nature of temperature field, resulting from the location of heat source, on buckling strength is significant. It is also observed that buckling strength is less when the least stiffness area of the panel is exposed to peak temperature of a particular temperature field. Similarly, CCCC boundary constraints results in high thermal stress which lowers the buckling strength of the panel as compared to CCFC boundary constraints. Temperature-deflection plot and corresponding buckling strength evaluated experimentally are compared with those obtained using non-linear finite element analysis, taking into account the initial geometric imperfection.