A new periodic imperfect quasi axisymmetric shell element

The object of this paper is to give the formulation and the validation of a ''quasi axisymmetric'' shell element: the main idea is to develop the theory of an imperfect quasi axisymmetric shell element. The imperfection is a variation of the circumferential radius of curvature rsub(theta). The equations are obtained by transporting the equilibrium equations from the actual geometry onto the theoretical axisymmetric (rsub(theta)=r0 geometry. It is shown that the main hypothesis convenient to perform simply this transformation is that the membrane strains associated with that variation of geometry are less than 1% (that is always the case if you suppose that the imperfect structure is obtained from the perfect one by an inextensional displacement field). The formulation of the element is given in the general case. The rigidity matrices, are given in the particular case in which the imperfection has a component on a single Fourier harmonic. The comparison of theoretical and computed, 3D and quasi axisymmetric, solution or a very simple case shows the influence of the number of the Fourier harmonics chosen on the response of the structure. The influence of the initial imperfections on the natural frequency are studied with element and compared with 3D calculations. Comparison of 3D, quasi axisymmetric, and analytical buckling loads are given and explained. This element gives a very efficient tool for the calculation of thin shells of revolution (which are always imperfect) and especially unables easy parametric study of the variation of the buckling load and eigen frequencies with the amplitude and shapes of non axisymmetric imperfections