Effects of Cut-Out on the Buckling Characteristics of Ring-Stiffened Cylindrical Shells

In the current paper, linear, non-linear, and post-buckling analysis of a ring-stiffened isotropic Al 7075 T6 alloy cylindrical shell with cut-out is carried out using Finite Element Analysis solver ANSYS. Linear buckling analysis of cylindrical shell without cut-out is first investigated under axial compression, bending, and external pressure loading conditions one at a time. The effect of incorporating a square, circular, and elliptical cut-out in the cylindrical shell without ring-stiffener is then investigated, and the results are validated with those available in the literature. A suitable cut-out design is chosen based on the preceding parametric study, and by incorporating a ring-stiffener, linear, non-linear, and post-buckling analysis is done for the same.