Cylindrical shells subjected to an axial compressive load can withstand a high load in relation to their mass, but buckle when the critical load is reached. The force at which deflection occurs depends largely on imperfections and damage to the cylinder liner. In this thesis, we first analysed the stability of cylindrical shells. We then simulated these imperfections numerically using the finite element method in the software package Abaqus 6.13-1. The results were checked with analytical equations from the literature. In the last part, a series of experiments were performed in which, samples with the same dimensions as in the simulations were loaded with axial pressure. We found that the non-linear numerical analysis predicts the situation in real tests very well.
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