Abstract:
A thin shell is a three-dimensional spatial structure made up of one or more curved surfaces
in which their thickness is small as compared to the other dimensions. Shells belong to the
class of stressed skin structures which, because of their geometry and small flexural rigidity
of the skin, tend to carry loads primarily by direct stresses acting in their plane. The shell
structures nature has maximized the ability to span over large areas with a minimum amount
of material. Previously experimental and numerical investigation were conducted on the
effect of edge constraint, crown depth and the effects of cutout on the buckling load of
isotropic compression loaded shells. But there is no numerical investigation done on the
structural performance of the skin shell with variable geometrical parameters like thickness
of shell, outer radius of curvature and crown opening in doubly curved skin shells. The main
aim of this research is to investigate the effect of geometrical parameters in skin shell with
a defined shape and cut out under normal and seismic condition. The validation of finite
element analysis is done using a flat, circular concrete shell to test isotropic behavior. The
numerical investigation was done with the geometry of Doubly curved shells, which are
square in plan and having 28.28mX28.28m dimensions. The finite element modeling and
analysis were done using finite element software SAP2000. The analysis was done varying
the dome height, outer radius of curvature, shell thickness and crown opening of the dome.
The analysis result shows that in both static and dynamic conditions the increase in rise of
spherical shell the membrane stresses; meridional stresses and hoop stress tends to decrease.
Keywords: SAP 2000, Shell, Finite element analysis (FEA), nonlinear analysis, doubly
curved thin shells