Introduction to Shells

Abstract

This book is concerned with thin elastic shells. A thin shell has a very small thickness-to-minimal-radius ratio, often smaller than 1/50. As with plates, an applied load that acts out-of-plane leads to larger displacements than those generated by a load acting in-plane with the same intensity. Due to its initial curvature, a shell is able to transfer an applied load by in-plane as well as out-of-plane actions. A thin shell subjected to an applied load therefore produces mainly in-plane actions, which are called membrane forces. These membrane forces are actually resultants of normal stresses and in-plane shear stresses that are uniformly distributed across the thickness.