Tailoring and controlling the elastic postbuckling response of cylindrical shells

Postbuckling response, long considered mainly as a failure limit state is gaining increased interest for smart applications, such as energy harvesting, frequency tuning, sensing, actuation, etc. This paper demonstrates that axially compressed cylindrical shells can be viable prototypes for harnessing the use of elastic instabilities. Experimental studies on three design approaches to tailor and control the elastic postbuckling response of axially-compressed shells are presented. Prototyped cylindrical shells were fabricated through 3D printing and tested under loading-unloading cycles. Results show that, with appropriate selection of geometry, material, and stiffness distribution, these three concepts offer significant advantages over uniform cylindrical shells for use of their notoriously unreliable elastic postbuckling response. The work provides new knowledge on the possibilities and means to design the cylindrical shells with controlled elastic postbuckling behavior and opens new avenues for using this structural form for applications in smart materials and structures.