Scaling methodology applied to buckling of sandwich composite cylindrical shells

Studying buckling behavior of large shell structures through full-scale test articles can be complex and expensive. Therefore, reduced-scale structures are often preferred for investigating buckling behavior. However, designing reduced-scale structures that are representative of the full-scale structure can be difficult. An analytical scaling methodology for compression-loaded sandwich composite cylindrical shells based on the nondimensionalization of the buckling equations is presented herein. The methodology was used to develop scaled configurations that show similar buckling responses to the full-scale baseline configuration. Finite element analysis results showed that both a baseline and a scaled configuration buckled similarly, when the nondimensional stiffness, defined as the ratio between the nondimensional load and nondimensional displacement, was matched between the different scale models. Limitations of the methodology are discussed and are believed to be a result of neglecting the flexural anisotropy and the transverse shear compliance. A preliminary material failure assessment for the different scales is also considered.