Analysis of composite cylinders under external pressure load

Abstract Composites have been increasingly used when weight is an essential factor to be considered. Composite structures have been proposed in deep sea field as competitive replacement of traditional steel structures. So, it is very important to evaluate the mechanical performance of composite structures under high external pressure in order to avoid potential failure or over conservative designs. In this study, solution is proposed for multi-layered composite cylinder based on the classical laminated-plate theory and detailed stress-strain responses are investigated by using the proposed analytical method. It was found that the cylinder is more sensitive to external pressure than internal pressure and the difference between axial stresses is up to 8.2%. In addition, the stacking sequence has great influence on stress distribution through the thickness direction and the sequence of [45/0] may change the stress from tensile to compressive for two adjacent layers. Finally, the difference between hoop stresses at the internal and external surfaces is not affected by the ratio of radius to thickness.