Instability of Monocoque Structures in Pure Bending

Abstract

The growing demand for aerodynamically advantageous forms, for smooth surfaces, and last but not least for a better ratio of useful cross section to total cross section of fuselages lead to an increasing application of monocoque structures in aircraft construction. Unlike ordinary beams the behaviour of such thin walled structures under loads and their ultimate failure is influenced a great deal by instability phenomena. In the present paper these problems are dealt with in some detail for the case of pure bending.