Optimal design of cylindrical shells

In this paper, two types of problems of the optimal design of cylindrical shells with arbitrary axisymmetrical boundary conditions and distributed load, under the condition of the volume being constant, are discussed. These problems involve the minimax deflection and minimal compliancy of a cylindrical shell. Expressions of the objective function can be obtained by a stepped reduction method. In minimizing the maximum deflection, the position of the maximum deflection from the previous iteration is used as the next one. This procedure converges (Avriel 1976). Several examples are provided to illustrate the method.