Stability of Nonlinear Shells - On the Example of Spherical Shells (Hardcover)

This is a compilation of work analyzing the behaviour of spherical caps and related shell structures under various (axisymmetric) load systems. It specifically attempts to deal with the effects of multi-parameter load systems. In addition, the book presents an u nusual way to characterize properties of solutions of the governing equations for spherical caps - a classification anchored in a theory called "reciprocal systems". The authors have introduced a deformation map, a projection of multi-dimensional solutions to two-dimensional graphs, to enable analysts to gain insight into the physical meaning of the results obtained. Numerous examples illustrate the concepts introduced. This book also comes to grips with many misconceptions existing in engineering literature about the question of the stability of solutions.