Buckling of Reticulated Shells: State-of-the-Art

Abstract

In spite of spectacular development of reticulated shells, at least one problem has not yet been solved satisfactorily and that is the problem of buckling. The instability of isolated members is still an open question, while the instability of continuous shells is one of the most instricate problems of structural mechanics. Since reticulated shells have common feature with both lattice structures and shells, the characteristic difficulties of both types of structures are cumulated and amplified. The purpose of this report is to present the state-of-the-art of the buckling problems and the up-to-date bibliography for the reticulated shells. Many valuable theoretical and experimental studies have been carried out. However, from the designer's point of view, the situation cannot be considered satisfactory. It is of prime importance to have information concerning the essential factors influencing the behaviour, presented in the simplest possible form, emphasizing the essence of the phenomena.