Shell structures are widely used in the fields of civil, mechanical, architectural, aeronautical, and marine engineering. Shell technology has been enhanced by the development of new materials and prefabrication schemes. Despite the mechanical advantages and aesthetic value offered by shell structures, many engineers and architects are relatively unacquinted with shell behaviour and design. This book familiarizes the engineering and architectural student, as well as the practicing engineer and architect, with the behaviour and design aspects of shell structures. Three aspects are presented: the Physical behaviour, the structural analysis, and the design of shells in a simple, integrated, and yet concise fashion. Thus, the book contains three major aspects of shell engineering: (1) physical understanding of shell behaviour; (2) use of applied shell theories; and (3) development of design methodologies together with shell design examples. The theoretical tools required for rational analysis of shells are kept at a modest level to give a sound grasp of the fundamentals of shell behaviour and, at the same time, an understanding of the related theory, allowing it to be applied to actual design problems. To achieve a physical understanding of complex shell behaviour, quantitative presentations are supplemented by qualitative discussions so that the reader can grasp the `physical feeling' of shell behaviour. A number of analysis and detailed design examples are also worked out in various chapters, making the book a useful reference manual. This book can be used as a textbook and/or a reference book in undergraduate as well as graduate university courses in the fields of civil, mechanical, architectural, aeronautical, and materials engineering. It can also be used as a reference and design-analysis manual for the practicing engineers and architects. The text is supplemented by a number of appendices containing tables of shell analysis and design charts and tables.

Shells are basic structural elements of modern technology. Examples of shell structures include automobile bodies, domes, water and oil tanks, pipelines, ship hulls, aircraft fuselages, turbine blades, laudspeaker cones, but also balloons, parachutes, biological membranes, a human skin, a bottle of wine or a beer can. This volume contains full texts of over 100 papers presented by specialists from over 20 countries at the 8th Conference "Shell Structures: Theory and Applications", 12-14 October, 2005 in Jurata (Poland). The aim of the meeting was to bring together scientists, designers, engineers and other specialists in shell structures in order to discuss important results and new ideas in this field. The goal is to pursue more accurate theoretical models, to develop more powerful and versatile methods of analysis, and to disseminate expertise in design and maintenance of shell structures. Among the authors there are many distinguished specialists of shell structures, including the authors of general lectures: I.V. Andrianov (Ukraine), V.A. Eremeyev (Russia), A. Ibrahimbegovic (France), P. Klosowski (Poland), B.H. Kröplin (Germany), E. Ramm (Germany), J.M. Rotter (UK) and D. Steigmann (USA). The subject area of the papers covers various theoretical models and numerical analyses of strength, dynamics, stability, optimization etc. of different types of shell structures, their design and maintenance, as well as modelling of some surface-related mechanical phenomena.

The design of many structures such as pressure vessels, aircrafts, bridge decks, dome roofs, and missiles is based on the theories of plates and shells. The degree of simplification needed to adopt the theories to the design of various structures depends on the type of structure and the re quired accuracy of the results. Hence, a water storage tank can be satis factorily designed using the membrane shell theory, which disregards all bending moments, whereas the design of a missile casing requires a more precise analysis in order to minimize weight and materials. Similarly, the design of a nozzle-to-cylinder junction in a nuclear reactor may require a sophisticated finite element analysis to prevent fatigue failure while the same junction in an air accumulator in a gas station is designed by simple equations that satisfy equilibrium conditions. Accordingly, this book is written for engineers interested in the theories of plates and shells and their proper application to various structures. The examples given throughout the book subsequent to derivation of various theories are intended to show the engineer the level of analysis required to achieve a safe design with a given degree of accuracy. The book covers three general areas. These are: bending of plates; membrane and bending theories of shells; and buckling of plates and shells. Bending of plates is discussed in five chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 cover rectangular plates with various boundary and loading conditions.

The authors present a modern continuum mechanics and mathematical framework to study shell physical behaviors, and to formulate and evaluate finite element procedures. With a view towards the synergy that results from physical and mathematical understanding, the book focuses on the fundamentals of shell theories, their mathematical bases and finite element discretizations. The complexity of the physical behaviors of shells is analysed, and the difficulties to obtain uniformly optimal finite element procedures are identified and studied. Some modern finite element methods are presented for linear and nonlinear analyses. A state of the art monograph by leading experts.

Presenting recent principles of thin plate and shell theories, this book emphasizes novel analytical and numerical methods for solving linear and nonlinear plate and shell dilemmas, new theories for the design and analysis of thin plate-shell structures, and real-world numerical solutions, mechanics, and plate and shell models for engineering appli

Plate and Shell Structures: Selected Analytical and Finite Element Solutions Maria Radwañska, Anna Stankiewicz, Adam Wosatko, Jerzy Pamin Cracow University of Technology, Poland Comprehensively covers the fundamental theory and analytical and numerical solutions for different types of plate and shell structures Plate and Shell Structures: Selected Analytical and Finite Element Solutions not only provides the theoretical formulation of fundamental problems of mechanics of plates and shells, but also several examples of analytical and numerical solutions for different types of shell structures. The book contains advanced aspects related to stability analysis and a brief description of modern finite element formulations for plates and shells, including the discussion of mixed/hybrid models and locking phenomena. Key features: 52 example problems solved and illustrated by more than 200 figures, including 30 plots of finite element simulation results. Contents based on many years of research and teaching the mechanics of plates and shells to students of civil engineering and professional engineers. Provides the basis of an intermediate-level course on computational mechanics of shell structures. The book is essential reading for engineering students, university teachers, practitioners and researchers interested in the mechanics of plates and shells, as well as developers testing new simulation software.