Flat-topped conical shell under axial compression

Based on experimental observations of a grid-domed textile composite under axial compression, the large deformation mechanisms of a flat-topped conical shell are identified. Accordingly, both elastic model and rigid-plastic model are proposed to describe the collapse process and predict the load-displacement characteristics. In the rigid-plastic analysis, the energies dissipated in bending along plastic hinge lines and in stretching of the thin-wall segments between the plastic hinge lines are taken into account. Analytical expressions describing the load-displacement and energy-displacement relationships during the large deformation process are derived. Illustrated by typical numerical examples, the effects of apical angle of a flat-topped conical shell on its energy absorption capacity are revealed. The respective strain distributions on the conical shell resulted from bending deformation and membrane deformation are presented. A good agreement is shown between the theoretical predictions and experimental results.