Proceedings of the ASME 2010 29th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering

OMAE2010
June 6-11, 2010, Shanghai, China

OMAE2010-21088

NONLINEAR FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF A TOROIDAL SHELL WITH RING-

STIFFENED RIBS

Qing-Hai Du Wei-Cheng Cui Zheng-Quan Wan

China Ship Scientific Research China Ship Scientific Research China Ship Scientific Research
Center(CSSRC) Center(CSSRC) Center(CSSRC)
Wuxi, Jiangsu, China Wuxi, Jiangsu, China Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
Email: qinghai.du@yahoo.com.cn Email: wccui@sjtu.edu.cn Email: zqwans@eyou.com

ABSTRACT Many researchers in the field of engineering mechanics

The toroidal shell is a special type of shells of revolution,
which is hardly solved by analytical method. To show the
nonlinear structural characteristics of a circular toroidal shell
with ring-stiffened ribs due to external pressure, both material
nonlinear and geometric nonlinear Finite Element Analyses
(FEA) have been presented in this paper, especially for the
stability to the type of pressure hull. In the presented Finite
Element Method (FEM), the elastic-plastic stress-strain
relations have been adopted, and the initial deflection of
toroidal shell created by manufacture was also taken into
account. The analytic results eventually indicate that by
nonlinear FEA such a new type of ring-stiffened circular
toroidal shell could be used to a main pressure hull as the
traditional ring-stiffened circular cylindrical shell, which could
obtain kinds of performance in underwater engineering, such as
better stability and more reserve buoyancy to the classical ring-
stiffened cylindrical shell.
INTRODUCTION
Compared to the cylindrical, spherical or conical shell, the
toroidal shell is rarely used in underwater structures because of
the difficulty of theoretical solution and manufacture. However
the type of toroidal shell is widely used as joint components or
accessories in pressure vessel and piping industry, nuclear
power industry and ocean engineering for its specific structural
shape to obtain kinds of performance. Especially Ross[1,2]
recently suggested a conceptual design of an underwater vehicle
and an underwater space station with the main pressure hull in a
toroidal shape, because of the advantages and disadvantages of
using a circular cylindrical shell as pressure hull.
have spent great efforts to solve this problem in order to obtain
the analysis and design method. Zhang[3], Clark[4] and
Novozhilov[5] had obtained an elastic asymptotic solution of
pure toroidal shells under axisymmetric loading. Moreover Xia
and Zhang[6] had ever obtained its elastic general solution due
to arbitrary loading. Maching[7], Sobel and Flgge[8,9] had
explored the buckling and stability of toroidal shells.
Bushnel[10], Jordan[11] and Panagiotopoulos[12] had approached
the stability analysis of the toroidal shells by finite difference
method(FDM) or FEM. The buckling of the segments of
toroidal shells had been solved by Stein and Mcelman[13] and
Hutchinson[14]. Galletly[15,16] had studied the stability of closed
toroidal shells with circular or non-circular cross-section. Wang
and Zhang[16] had obtained the analysis of geometric nonlinear
buckling and post-buckling of toroidal shells by asymptotic
approach. However all these works had been to solve the pure
complete toroidal shell or its segments in elastic or nonlinear
analysis, but then its critical pressure could not reach higher for
non-ring-shaped ribs. Although Du[17] had shown some
structural characteristics of a ring-stiffened toroidal shell with
certain parameters by FEM, the characteristics of a ring-
stiffened toroidal shell with variant parameters have not been
discussed, especially for its stability.
In this paper the structural characteristics of complete
toroidal shell under pressure, with circular meridian cross-
section, is studied by FEM and non-moment theoretical
solution. And to obtain the stability of the toroidal shell with
ring-stiffened ribs, the nonlinear FEM is presented in detail,
which includes both the material nonlinearity and the geometry
nonlinearity. Then under external pressure and with circular
cross-section, the structural characteristics of ring-stiffened

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 toroidal shells are shown accordingly compared with its
equivalent ring-stiffened cylindrical shell, which could reveal
the superiority of toroidal shell used in underwater structures.
THE STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTIC OF TOROIDAL
SHELL
The toroidal shell is a special type of shells of revolution
for the existence of horizontal tangents at =0 and , which are
called the turning points. The Gaussian curvature changes its
sign from positive to negative (see Figure 1, where R represents
the distance of the center of the meridian circles to the axis of
rotation, is the tangential angle of shells, r is the curvature
radius of the parallel circle on the toroidal shell to revolving
direction, t is the wall thickness of shells, a is the radius of the
meridian circle, is the rotational angle of the meridian circle).
R
pa
k = / (3)
2t
pa
k = / (4)
2t
where and are the stress of toroidal shell in and
direction respectively.
With the parameters a/t =100 and R/a =2.5, a pure toroidal
shell has been solved. Fig.2 and Fig.3 show the stress
concentration factor of k and k at the circle cross-section, and
Fig.4 gives the deformed shape of the cross-section circle
comparing with its initial shape. The numerical results verify
those of membrane theoretical solution, and the bending
moments exist exactly at the turning points.
The maximum and minimum of k appear close to the
turning points but not on it (=0), while the maximum and
minimum of k appear respectively at the =-/2 and =/2.

x t

r a

Fig. -2 Distribution of k along the cross-section circle

Fig. -1 The toroidal shell

According to the non-moment theory of shell, the
components of the internal force of a closed pure toroidal shell
subjected to pressure (internal or external) are:
pa a
N = sin + R (1)
a sin + R 2
pa
N = (2)
2
[20]
As was stated by Flgge , however, the displacement at the
turning points is discontinuous, and there exist always bending Fig. -3 Distribution of k along the cross-section circle
moments at the turning points.
To confirm the conclusion of the membrane theory, the
stress and deformation fields of the complete pure toroidal shell
have been solved by elastic FEA. Here, the stress concentration
factor k and k are defined as:

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 Fig. -4 Deformed (and initial) shape of the cross-
section circle
However it is necessary to expose structural characteristics
of the complete toroidal shell with variant parameters. And Fig. -6 The stress concentration factor k for the
Fig.5 and Fig.6 show the maximum and minimum of k and k different a/t and R/a
varying with the parameter a/t with different R/a. It is seen from
these curves that the maximum and minimum of k tend to
change slowly when a/t is greater than 40. So then Fig.7 shows
the maximum and minimum of k and k varying by the
parameter R/a for a/t =53.
Here, the stress difference coefficient and are defined
as:
k
= max (5)
k min
k max
= (6)
k min
Fig.8 shows the stress difference coefficient and
varying by the parameter R/a for a/t =53. It is found that and
tend to 1 when R/a tends to infinity while the toroidal shell
would have changed to a cylindrical shell. Fig. -7 The stress concentration factor k and k for
the different R/a (a/t =53)

Fig. -5 The stress concentration factor k for the Fig. -8 The stress difference coefficient and for
different a/t and R/a the different R/a (a/t =53)

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 THE NONLINEAR FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR
=
1
6
[ ]
( XX YY )2 + ( YY ZZ )2 + ( ZZ XX )2 + XY2 + YZ2 + ZX2
ANALYSIS OF STABILITY (9)
For a compartment of toroidal shell with radial ring- Here Sij is deviator tensor of stress; s is yield stress; XX, YY,
stiffened ribs as Fig.9, its strength and stability are also complex ZZ are the normal stresses of the X, Y and Z direction; XY, YZ,
because of its especial shape and the form of ribs. But as a main ZX are the shear stresses of the XY, YZ and ZX plane
pressure hull in underwater engineering, the structure is chiefly coordinate.
subjected to hydrostatic external pressure. The stability of The analysis process chart of nonlinear FEA is shown in
pressure hull is certainly more important than its stress intensity. Figure10.
Then the calculation of hulls critical pressure is significant
work to the designers. Analysis of the linear-elastic and eigenvalue buckling

Set initial deflection to the model

Use elastoplastic stress-strain relation

Apply arc-length method to model Post-buckling

Analysis of the non-linear finite element method

Analysis of the results

Get the deformation-pressure curve

Obtain the critical pressure

Fig. -10 The nonlinear FEM analysis process chart

ANALYSIS OF THE RING-STIFFENED TOROIDAL SHELLS

Fig. -9 A compartment of toroidal shell with radial Just as cylindrical and spherical form of the pressure hull,
ring-stiffened ribs the toroidal shell would be set series of ring stiffener to achieve
The buckling analysis should include not only large sufficient stability. Meanwhile the ring stiffener must be set
deformation and nonlinear strain-displacement relations, but adequately to provide not only sufficient rigidity but also
also material nonlinearity, because that the material of effective cubage and large dimension while having less weight.
somewhere in the pressure hull has become into plastic stage However taking account of the difficulty to build it and for
when the buckling approached. And in this paper the stress- the convenience of optimizing design, no more than a quarter of
strain relations have been adopted just as Fig.6 in Ref.[18] to a closed ring-stiffened toroidal shell is determined as a
simulate the true material. compartment for analyzing in this paper. It means that
The nonlinear buckling analysis had been presented in 1
L R or (10)
detail by Wang [20]. And in the paper Von-Mises yield criterion 2 2
was adopted to judge whether the local buckling has happened. Then according to the optimization method and the design
So that is experience of traditional ring-stiffened cylindrical shell, the axis
3S ij S ij length (L) of the center of the meridian circles is given as
F (J 2 ) = eq s = s = 0 (7) follows:
2
L
Generally the equivalent stress strength could be expressed as 1< <2 (11)
follows: 2a
eq = 3J 2 (8) So taking account of the above factors, the following
parameters have been assumed to the ring-stiffened toroidal
1
J2 = Sij Sij shell for analysis.
2

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 L R a
= 1.75 , = 2.5 , = 57 (12)
2a a t

Then by nonlinear FEA and under the definitive primary

dimensions as conditions (12), the influences of initial
deflection on critical pressure have been studied. And here the
form of initial deflection of model was set as same as the first
elastic buckling modal. Fig.11 gives out the influences of initial
deflection on critical pressure of the ring-stiffened toroidal shell
(Where, w0 corresponds to the initial radial displacement of the
meridian cross-section, t is the thickness of pressure hull, pc is
the calculated critical pressure and pE is the elastic buckling
critical pressure, s is the yield strength of the material).
It is confirmed from Fig.11 that if the maximal initial
deflection is not more than about 0.2t, the critical pressure of
ring-stiffened toroidal shell would be determined mostly by its
Fig. -12 The deformation of the ring-stiffened toroidal
material, otherwise its critical pressure would be affected by the
shell under ultimate pressure
initial deflection.

Fig. -13 The deformation of the ring-stiffened toroidal

shell in post-buckling flow
Fig. -11 The influence of the initial deflection on
critical pressure to the ring-stiffened toroidal shell

Hence to show the nonlinear structural characteristics of a

ring-stiffened toroidal shell, the maximal initial deflection w0 on
the pressure hull would be set as w0=0.2t. By the nonlinear
FEA, the characteristics of a ring-stiffened toroidal shell with
parameters as condition (12) have been presented.
Fig.12 and Fig.13 show the deformation of the ring-
stiffened toroidal shell under its ultimate pressure and perfect
plastic flow buckling respectively. And Fig.14 gives that the
normal deformation of two points on the toroidal shell, whose
deflection was maximal on the hull when local buckling
appeared firstly and under perfect plastic flow buckling
respectively, varies with the external pressure.

Fig. -14 The pressure- flexibility post-buckling track

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 ring-stiffened toroidal shell would be always superior to the
COMPARISON BETWEEN TOROIDAL SHELLS AND cylindrical shell. But the maximal initial deflection of shell must
CYLINDRICAL SHELLS WITH RING-STIFFENED RIBS be limited in the engineering.
The ring-stiffened cylindrical shell is adopted widely as the Hence to obtain the optimization design and keep better
pressure hull in the underwater engineering, and it could be performance, the maximal initial deflection w0 on the pressure
solved thoroughly by theoretical method. Therefore to solve the hull should be set as
ring-stiffened toroidal shell and explore its characteristics, its
w0 0.2t (16)
equivalent ring-stiffened cylindrical shell is defined as follows:
(a) The axis length (L) of cross-section is equivalent.
(b) The radius (a) of the cross-section circle is equivalent.
(c) For a better performance to the structure, 1<L/2a<2.
According to above definition, with the corresponding to
the original ring-stiffened toroidal shell shown in Fig.9, the
equivalent ring-stiffened cylindrical shell is shown in Fig.15.

Fig. -16 The influence curves of the initial deflection

on critical pressure

Just as Ref.[18], it is tried to determine whether can

Fig. -15 The equivalent ring-stiffened cylindrical shell
With the parameters of condition (12), the pressure hull
was set least ribs in order to appear buckling of the shells firstly
but not the ribs. Then by the presented nonlinear FEA in the
paper, the ring-stiffened toroidal shell and its equivalent ring-
stiffened cylindrical shell have been solved respectively.
Fig.16 shows out the influences of initial deflection on
critical pressure of the ring-stiffened toroidal shell and its
equivalent cylindrical shell for above primary dimension. Here
PE* is the elastic buckling critical pressure of the equivalent
cylindrical shell, and it means that
construct the toroidal pressure hull for the depth about of 1.5
km with high strength steel here, because this form of pressure
hull is only built by a composite material for the larger depth of
about 5 km (Ross[1,2]).
Here the metallic material is assumed as a high strength
steel with yield strength about 800MPa according to Ross[1,2].
The primary parameters of type I were set alike as conditions
(12) while type II was set as conditions (12) in Ref.[18]. And
presented design goal was the least weight with larger cubage
and enough ring stiffener for appearing the shell buckling but
also convenient to construct them.
Table 1 shows the numerical results of a compartment,
which include both the ring-stiffened toroidal hull and its

PE* = 2
1 D 2

n 1 + 0.5 2 a 3
n( 1 + )
2 2
+
Et
(
4
) (13)
a n 2 + 2
equivalent cylindrical hull with the different parameters. The
calculation reveals that the toroidal hull could have larger
reserve buoyancy than the cylindrical hull. But a/t is smaller
a than that of cylinder, which means the thickness of the toroidal
= (14)
l shell would be larger than cylindrical shell with same circular
Et 3 cross-section. So it is seen from Eq.(16) that in such condition
D=
(
12 1 2 ) (15) the maximal tolerance initial deflection on the hull of toroidal
shell could be larger than that of cylinder. And thus it provides
where n is the buckling-shape number letting the minimal PE* , l some convenience for manufacturing it.
is the distance from center to center spacing of two adjacent
stiffeners, E is the Young's modulus and is the Poisson ratio.
It is confirmed from Fig.16 that if the maximal initial
deflection of shell is not more than 0.2t or not less than 0.7t, the

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 Table 1 The optimal design of the two shape of [9] L.H. Sobel and W. Flgge, Stability of toroidal shells
pressure hull under uniform external pressure, AIAA J.,
the ring-stiffened the equivalent 1967(5):425-431.
toroidal shell cylindrical shell [10] D. Bushnell, Symmetric and Nonsymmetric buckling
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w0/t 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 [11] P. f. Jordan, Buckling of toroidal shells under
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pc/pE 0.412 0.409 0.408 0.406 [12] G. D. Panagiotopoulos, Stress and stability analysis of
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