Numerical Study of Cracked Titanium Shell under Compression

In many industrial conditions, light thin titanium shells are well used under various severe loading conditions. It is of interest to know the real conditions that govern the instability of a cracked panel subject to buckling loads in order to conserve as maximum as possible the strength of the structure. Several parameters can be varied in order to achieve this objective. The aim of this study is to determine the evolution of these parameters in order to achieve optimal crack propagation conditions while keeping these parameters within “reasonable” limits of physical and economic feasibility. For the purpose of the current study the considered structure can be regarded as thin cylindrical shell of radius r, thickness t with an initial through crack of length a. The titanium cylindrical shell is sealed on one edge and compression is applied on the other. An additional applied pressure can generates a stress and deformation field around the crack tip that has bending stresses and membrane stresses and appears as a bulge around the crack area. This paper give details of a simulation with FEA numerical analysis that determine governing instability conditions of a Titanium shell under particular loading conditions and to put in light the effect of bulging on the stress intensity factor at the crack tips. This bulging factor measures the severity of the stress intensity in the bulged crack compared to a plane shell subjected to equivalent loading conditions.