Nonlinear long-term behaviour of spherical shallow thin-walled concrete shells of revolution

The nonlinear long-term buckling behaviour (creep buckling) of spherical shallow, thin-walled concrete shells of revolution (including domes) subjected to sustained loads is investigated herein. A thorough understanding of their nonlinear time-dependent behaviour, as well as the development of comprehensive analytical models for their analysis, has hitherto not been fully established and further studies are required. A nonlinear axisymmetric theoretical model, which accounts for the effects of creep and shrinkage, and which considers the ageing of the concrete material and the variation of the internal stresses and geometry in time, is developed for this purpose. The governing field equations are derived using variational principles, equilibrium requirements, and integral-type constitutive relations. A systematic step-by-step procedure is used for the solution of the integral-type governing equations. First, the nonlinear short-term behaviour is studied to provide a benchmark for the long-term analysis. Different theories for the analysis of the shell structure are examined for this purpose and compared with results obtained by the finite element method. A numerical study, which highlights the capabilities of the nonlinear theoretical model and which provides insight into the nonlinear long-term behaviour of shallow concrete domes, is presented. The results show that long-term effects are critical for the design and structural safety of shallow, thin-walled concrete domes, and so these effects need to be fully understood and quantifiable.