Strength Tests of Thin-Walled Duralumin Cylinders in Compression Page: 1 of 18
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REPORT No. 473
STRENGTH TESTS OF THIN-WALLED DURALUMIN CYLINDERS IN COMPRESSION
By EUG(m E. LUNDQUISTSUMMARY
This report is the second of a series presenting the results
of strength tests of thin-waled duralumin cylinders and
truncated cones of circular and elliptic section. It con-
tains the results obtained from compression tests on 45
thin-walled duralumin cylinders of circular section with
ends clamped to rigid bulkheads. In addition to the
tests on duralumin cylinders, there are included the re-
sults of numerous tests on rubber, celluloid, steel, and
brass cylinders obtained from various sources.
The results of all tests are presented in nondimensional
form and are discussed in connection with existing theory.
In the theoretical discussion, it is shown that the buckling
of the walls of a thin-walled cylinder in compression can
be correlated with the buckling of flat plates under edge com-
pression in an elastic medium, and that perhaps many
solutions for problems in the buckling of plates can, with
the proper factors, be applied to similar problems in the
buckling of cylinders and curved sheets.
INTRODUCTION
In a stressed-skin or monocoque structure, the
strength and stability of the curved skin are closely re-
lated to the strength and stability of the walls of a thin-
walled cylinder, not only for compression but for other
types of loading as well. The National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics, in cooperation with the
Army Air Corps; the Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy
Department; the Bureau of Standards; and the
Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce,
made on extensive series of tests on thin-walled cylin-
ders and on truncated cones of circular and elliptic
section at Langley Field, Va. In these tests the abso-
lute and relative dimensions of the specimens were
varied in order to study the types of failure and to
establish useful quantitative data in the following
loading conditions: Torsion, compression, bending,
and combined loading.
The filst report of this series (reference 1) presents
the results obtained in the torsion (pure shear) tests on
cylinders of circular section. The present report is the
second of the series and presents the results obtained
in the compression tests on cylinders of circular
section.
40768-0-34- 38In addition to the results of the NA.C-A. compres-
sion tests on duralumin cylinders, there are presented,
through the courtesy of Dr. L. H. Donnell of the Cali-
fornia Institute of Technology, the unpublished
results of 40 compression tests on steel and brass
cylinders. There are also included the results of
numerous compression tests on rubber, celluloid,
and steel cylinders reported in references 2, 3, and 4.
The latter two of these references came to the atten-
tion of the author after the experiments of the present
report had been completed. It is suggested that they
be read in conjunction with the present report. The
first is largely theoretical; the second, experimental.
By way of introduction to the detailed discussion
of the test data herein presented, it may be said that
secondary, or local, failure in thin-walled cylinders of
circular section under uniform compression seems to
have been first investigated by Lilly (1905-07).
Since that time Timoshenko, Lorenz, Southwell, and
others have studied the problem theoretically. The
first theoretical studies were confined to the case of
deformation symmetrical with respect to the axis
(fig. 1). Later the theory was extended to include the
case of deformation not symmetrical with respect to
the axis (figs. 2 and 6), but the results of the extensions
did not always lead to the same conclusions.
Perhaps the best known of the early treatises on the
subject of the stability of thin-walled cylinders in
compression is that by Southwell (reference 5), but
unfortunately his interpretation of the general equa-
tion is incomplete. In reference 2, Robertson shows
that Southwell's final equations are invalid for certain
cases, and he derives new equations for these cases.
In the present report it is shown that Southwell's
general equation contains the equations for the buckling
of flat and curved plates subjected to edge compres-
sion.1
Until Robertson made the tests reported in refer-
ence 2, there seem to have been no comprehensive tests
made to verify the theory. Robertson found that fail-
ure occurred by the formation of a multilobed wrinkle
I In reference 3 FIgge has presented the general equation In graphical form and
has recognized that the buckling of flat plates is a special case of the buckling of a
cylinder of infinite radius. Tlmoshenko aso seems to have recognized the same
fact In some of his early work, 1914-16.
585
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Lundquist, Eugene E. Strength Tests of Thin-Walled Duralumin Cylinders in Compression, report, June 10, 1933; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc66130/m1/1/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.