Compressive buckling tests of four types of Graphite/Epoxy cylindrical shells made by filament winding method were carried out. The stacking sequences are (90˚/±60˚/±60˚), (±60˚/90˚/±60˚), (±45˚/±45˚/90˚), and (±45˚/90˚/±45˚), where the top is outside.
Also, theoretical analysis of buckling behavior of the cylindrical shell under axial compression is presented. And buckling load is predicted by a nondestructive method called static stiffness method.
It was shown by the experimental tests that the actual buckling loads were within 30% to 70% of theoretically computed loads and the empirical knockdown factor for the test composite cylindrical shells was almost same as that for the isotropic cylindrical shells at the same geometry.
