Minimum mass design of thin tubular structures under eccentric compressive loading

•Axial crushing failure does not prevail in eccentric compressive loading of thin shell structure.•Global buckling, yield and local buckling are dominant compressive failures in thin shell structure.•Higher eccentricity decreases global buckling failure zone and increases yield, local buckling failure zone.•Design with higher shape factor contributes to increased material efficiency.

A minimum mass design study applicable to thin circular tube is performed for various modes of eccentric compressive loading. Axial crushing failure mode, frequently noticeable in uniform axial compressive loading of thin circular tube, does not appear in eccentric compression. Hence, other compressive failure modes, e.g., global buckling, yield and local buckling are studied with respect to non-dimensional load and geometric shape factors for a fixed-free condition. These modes are predominant in ductile engineering alloys. A failure mode map in terms of non-dimensional load and shape-factor for a given load-eccentricity are obtained and the prescription for minimum mass is given.