You are on page 1of 17

Page 1 of 17

Table of contents

Table of contents ........................................................................................................................ 1
- Introductory notions ............................................................................................................ 2
- Symmetrically loaded shells of revolution in membrane theory. the governing equation . 3
- Axially symmetric deformation .......................................................................................... 6
- Reinforcing rings ................................................................................................................ 8
- Application : ........................................................................................................................ 9
Numerical application : ............................................................................................................ 12
- Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 17












Page 2 of 17

SYMMETRICALLY LOADED SHELLS OF REVOLUTION IN
MEMBRANE THEORY. THE GOVERNING EQUATION.AXIALLY
SYMMETRIC DEFORMATION.REINFORCING RINGS.

- Introductory notions
Thin shells with small deflections
By thin shells it is understood that the thickness is
much smaller than the radii of curvature .
By small deflections it is understood that the shell
deflections are small compared to the shell thickness .
Thin shells versus plates
Thin shells have a great capacity to withstand
forces distributed on their surface.The thickness of
a shell may be much smaller than the thickness of
a plate for the same covered surface.They are
recommended for large spans (18 40 m ) h<<r

Computational theories
Membrane theory : the stresses are uniformly distributed on the small thickness =>
only in-plane forces are developed in the shell (normal and shear forces tangent to the
midsurface).
Bending theory : the stresses are not uniform => in-plane forces and bending forces (
bending moments,shear forces normal to the midsurface and twisting moments).
Notes :
1) Membrane forces are independent of bending forces and they are completely
defined by the conditions of static equilibrium.
2) Membrane theory is exact for thin shells having no abrupt changes in
thickness,slope or curvature.
3) Bending theory comprises the membrane solution,corrected in areas with
pronounced discontinuity effects due to edge forces or concentrated loadings.





Page 3 of 17

- Symmetrically loaded shells of revolution in membrane theory. the
governing equation

Shells that have the form of surfaces of revolution find extensive application in
various kinds of containers,tanks and domes.
A surface of revolution is obtained by rotation of a plane curve about an axis lying in
the plane of the curve.This curve is called the meridian, and its plane is a meridian plane.
An element of a shell is cut out by two adjacent meridians and two parallel circles,as
shown in figure a) below. The position of a meridian is defined by an angle , measured from
some datum meridian plane; and the position of a parallel circle is defined by the angle ,
made by the normal to the surface and the axis of rotation. The meridian plane and the plane
perpendicular to the meridian are the planes of principal curvature at a point of a surface of
revolution, and the corresponding radii of curvature are denoted by r
1
and r
2
, respectively. The
radius of the parallel circle is denoted by r
0
so that the length of the sides of the element
meeting at O, as shown in the figure, are r
1
d and r
0
d = r
2
sin d . The surface area of the
element is then r
1
r
2
sin d d .


















Page 4 of 17

The load is distributed on the shell surface and it may be divided in three components
in a point on the shell :
- X on the tangent at the parallel circle ;
- Y on the tangent to the meridian ;
- Z on the normal to the meridian ;
- X,Y,Z [F/L^2]

From the assumed symmetry of loading and deformation it can be concluded that there
will be no shearing forces acting on the sides of the element. The magnitudes of the normal
forces per unit length are denoted by N

and N

as shown in the figure. The intensity of the
external load,which acts in the meridian plane, in the case of symmetry is resolved in two
components Y and Z parallel to the coordinate axes.Multiplying these components with the
area r
1
r
2
sin d d, we obtain the components of the external load acting on the element.
In writing the equations of equilibrium of the element, let us being with the forces in
the direction of the tangent to the meridian.
On the upper side of the element the force which is acting is
The corresponding force on the lower side of the element is

From these two expressions, by neglecting a small quantity of second order, we find
the resultant in the y direction to be equal to

The component of the force in the same direction is
The forces acting on the lateral sides of the element are equal to N

r
1
d and have a
resultant in the direction of the radius of the parallel circle equal to N

r
1
d d . The
component of this force in the y direction is - N

r
1
cos d d .
Summing up the forces, the equation of equilibrium in the direction of the tangent to
the meridian becomes (a) .
The second equation of equilibrium is obtained by summing up the projections of the
forces in the z direction. The forces acting on the upper and lower sides of the element have a
resultant in the z direction equal to N

r
0
d d.
The forces acting on the lateral sides of the element and having the resultant N

r
1
d
d in the radial direction of the parallel circle give a component in the z direction of the
magnitude N

r
1
sin

d d .


Page 5 of 17

The external load acting on the element has in the same direction a component
Z r
1
r
0
d d .
Summing up the forces we obtain the second equation of equilibrium :
N

r
0
+ N

r
1
sin + Z r
1
r
0
= 0

(b)
From the two equilibrium equation the forces N

and N

can be calculated in each
particular case if the radii r
0
and

r
1
and the components Y and Z of the intensity of the
external load are given.


Instead of the equilibrium of an element, the equilibrium of the portion of the shell
above the parallel circle defined by the angle may be considered :






If the resultant of the total load on that portion of the shell is denoted by R, the
equation of equilibrium is 2 r
0
N

sin + R

= 0

( c )
This equation can be used instead of the differential equation (a), from which it can be
obtained by integration. If equation (b) is divided by r
1
r
0
it can be written in the form :
( d )
It is seen that when N

is obtained from (c) , the force N

can be calculated from eq.
(d). Hence the problem of membrane stresses can be readily solved in each particular case.








Page 6 of 17

- Axially symmetric deformation

In the case of symmetrical deformation of a shell, a small displacement of a point can
be resolved into two components : v in the direction of the tangent to the meridian and w in
the direction of the normal to the middle surface .


Considering an element AB of the meridian, we see that the increase of the length of
the element due to tangential displacements v and v + (dv/d)d of its ends is equal to
(dv/d)d. Because of the radial displacements w of the points A and B the length of the
element decreases by an amount w d . The change in the length of the element due to the
difference in the radial displacements of the points A and B can be neglected as a small
quantity of higher order.
Thus the total change in length of the element AB due to deformation is :


Dividing this by the initial length r1 d of the element, we find the strain of the shell
in the meridional direction to be

Considering an element of a parallel circle it may be seen that owing to displacements
v and w the radius r
0
of the circle increases by the amount v cos w sin . The
circumference of the parallel circle increases in the same proportion as its radius; hence
, r
0
=r
2
sin =>



Page 7 of 17

Eliminating w from the eqs above, we obtain for v the differential equation (1)

The strain components

and

can be expressed in terms of the forces N



and N

using Hookes law :

Substituting in (1) we get (2) :
In each particular case the forces N

and N

can be found from the loading conditions
and the displacement v will then be obtained by integration of the differential equation.
Denoting the right-hand side of this equation by f() we get
General solution : where C is an integration constant
to be determined from the condition at the support.
For the application in this report,a spherical sphere loaded by its own weight, with
r1=r2=R and the appropriate boundary conditions,we get:















v
1 u + ( ) q R
2

E h
ln 1 cos ( ) + ( )
1
1 cos ( ) +
1 +
|

\
|
|
.
sin ( ) :=
w
1
E
q R
2

h 1 cos ( ) + ( )
1 cos ( ) cos ( )
2
u +
( )

1 u + ( ) q R
2

E h
ln 1 cos ( ) + ( )
cos ( )
1 cos ( ) +
+
|

\
|
|
.
:=


Page 8 of 17

- Reinforcing rings
Due to the fact that in practice, the support is on the vertical direction, there appear
bending moments. The bending theory of thin shells of revolution in axisymmetrical
loading shows that the values of the bending moments decrease quickly. This means
that the membrane theory is good for the most part of the shell, except in the support
vicinity.
In order to resist these bending moments, a reinforcing ring is done on the support
edge, by increasing the thickness of the shell in this local area. If necessary, concrete
rings will have reinforcements to resist tension .


























Page 9 of 17

- Application :
Hemispherical roof dome supporting its own weight



=> 2r N sin + P

= 0 (eq.1)
P =



dA = r d R d
sin =

=> r = R sin =>


dA = R
2
sin d d




= > Z = q cos
=> Y= q sin

P

=

)|

( )

(eq.1) =>

( ) = 0





( )






Page 10 of 17






r1 = r2 = R
Z = q cos =>



( )






















Page 11 of 17

Due to the fact that in practice, the support is on the vertical direction, there appear
bending moments. The bending theory of thin shells of revolution in axisymmetrical loading
shows that the values of the bending moments decrease quickly. This means that the
membrane theory is good for the most part of the shell, except in the support vicinity.
In order to resist these bending moments, a reinforcing ring is done on the support
edge, by increasing the thickness of the shell in this local area.
Equal and opposite compression forces(those acting in the membrane) are transmitted
to the reinforcing ring.










Vring = Rs => check global equilibrium on the vertical :

) OK












Page 12 of 17

N
|
q R
cos ( ) cos ( )
2
+ 1
1 cos ( ) +
150kN = :=
Numerical application :
For a concrete shell


self-weight of the dome
radius of the spherical dome















25
kN
m
2
:=
h 20cm :=
q h 5
kN
m
= :=
R 30m :=
0deg :=
N

q R
1 cos ( ) +
75 kN = :=
30deg :=
N

q R
1 cos ( ) +
80.385 kN = :=
60deg :=
N

q R
1 cos ( ) +
100 kN = :=
90deg :=
N

q R
1 cos ( ) +
150 kN = :=
0deg :=
N
|
q R
cos ( ) cos ( )
2
+ 1
1 cos ( ) +
75 kN = :=
30deg :=
N
|
q R
cos ( ) cos ( )
2
+ 1
1 cos ( ) +
49.519 kN = :=
60deg :=
N
|
q R
cos ( ) cos ( )
2
+ 1
1 cos ( ) +
25kN = :=
90deg :=


Page 13 of 17

The state of stress will be computed for the same data using the finite element approach in
SAP :




















Fig.1 3D view of the spherical roof dome


The type of element used for modeling was the thin shell type, having a thickness of 20 cm .
The only load case used was the DEAD one, since we are interested in the state stress only
due to the own weight of the element.




Page 14 of 17



















Fig.2 N efforts





Page 15 of 17




















Fig.3 N

efforts


Page 16 of 17

- Numerical results comparison between the two approaches it can be seen that the
results are very close one to the other



0
o
30
o
60
o
90
o

Analytic
solution
N
(kN) -75 -80.3 -100 -150
N

(kN) -75 -49.51 25 150
SAP
solution
N
(kN) -87 -80.79 -99.99 -157.7
N

(kN) -77.9 -49.27 25.32 140.47

























Page 17 of 17

- Bibliography

- Lecture notes
- Timoshenko S., Theory of plates and shells , McGraw Hill Book Company

You might also like