General Stability Analysis of Lattice Shells by Continuum Modeling

In this paper a linear elastic stability problem of lightweight lattice shells is studied. For this purpose a calculation on an equivalent rigidity continuum model is used. It is assumed that the rods of the analysed shells consist of a homogeneous, isotropic elastic material the mechanical properties of which are invariant in the time. The Author derived analytical expressions the point of departure of which is the theory of finite deflections of shallow shells. The use of the Bubnov-Galerkine method allows to define a relationships yielding the values of critical stress in closed analytical form. The effect of initial geometrical shell imperfections of the “medial” surface is taken into consideration, too. Sample numerical results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the continuum modeling approach. The obtained theoretical results are documented some of the numerical examples.