ABSTRACT
Non-uniformly distributed external surface loadings – as wind pressure in particular – may bring about two additional effects compared to the standard case of buckling under uniform external pressure. The first one of these effects is related to the fact, that only a localized part of the circumference – the so-called stagnation zone – is under circumferential compression while the rest is under suction, so that buckles due to circumferential stresses occur only within a localized width in circumferential direction. The second effect is related to the overall load-carrying behaviour of the structure, which – particularly for cylinders of large length – creates additional membrane forces like axial compression and shear and by that may impair the buckling behaviour of the shell significantly, in a quantitative as well as in a qualitative sense.
