Study of spherical steel shell buckling

Buckling test and linear buckling analysis has been performed on the spherical steel shell structure. Measured buckling loads are less than the values obtained by analysis and the knock-down factors are usually defined as the ratios of the experimental buckling load to the analytical values. The knock-down factors derived from the study are: for horizontal direction: 0.47 ∼ 0.57 and for vertical direction: 0.40 ∼ 0.60. The allowable buckling stress can be evaluated by using a knock-down factor and a safety factor. A simple and practical method for evaluating the allowable buckling stress for spherical shell has been proposed as a result of the study