The dynamic process of the inflation of thin elastomeric shells under the action of an excess pressure

A problem of the dynamic process of their deformation is formulated in the momentless approximation for thin shells made of rubber-like elastomers under the action of a time-varying excess hydrostatic pressure. A system of non-linear equations of motion is set up for the case of arbitrary displacements and deformations in which the true deformation of the transverse compression of the shell, corresponding to the use of the modified Kirchhoff–Love model proposed earlier, and the coordinates of the points of the middle surface with respect to a fixed Cartesian system of coordinates, are taken as the required unknown functions. Physical relations connecting the components of the true internal stresses with the elongation factors and the extent of the shear strain are constructed using relations proposed earlier by Chernykh. A finite-difference method is developed for solving the initial-boundary value problem and, on the basis of this, the dynamic process of the inflation of shells of revolution at different rates of pressure increase is investigated and the unstable stages of their deformation are established with a determination of the corresponding limiting (critical) pressure value. After this value has been reached, a further increase in the deformations occurs at decreasing values of the internal pressure.