Analytical, experimental and numerical comparative studies on steel cylindrical thin shells with structural orthotropy

The paper presents a synthesis of the results obtained by authors concerning steel cylindrical shells with orthotropic structure. The authors have directed their research work on the study of cylindrical shells used in hydrotechnic constructions, with the role of water retention. These cylindrical shells consist of curved sheets and stiffening ribs distributed over a single part of the sheet along two orthogonal directions; thus, a structural orthotropy is obtained. They have a special particularity, namely the two sets of ribs possess different stiffnesses and spacings. The analytical studies based on the use of the general theory of orthotropic shells have been only partially confirmed by the experimental results and by the numerical model of F. E. M