Postbuckling of 3D braided composite cylindrical shells under combined external pressure and axial compression in thermal environments

A postbuckling analysis is presented for a three-dimensional (3D) braided composite cylindrical shell of finite length subjected to combined loading of external pressure and axial compression in thermal environments. Based on a micro–macro-mechanical model, a 3D braided composite may be a cell system and the geometry of each cell is highly dependent on its position in the cross-section of the cylindrical shell. The material properties of epoxy are expressed as a linear function of temperature. The governing equations are based on a higher order shear deformation shell theory with a von Kármán–Donnell-type kinematic nonlinearity and includes thermal effects. A singular perturbation technique is employed to determine interactive buckling loads and postbuckling equilibrium paths. The numerical illustrations concern the postbuckling behavior of perfect and imperfect, braided composite cylindrical shells with different values of shell geometric parameter and of fiber volume fraction under combined loading conditions. The results show that the shell has lower buckling loads and postbuckling paths when the temperature-dependent properties are taken into account. The effects of temperature rise, fiber volume fraction, shell geometric parameter, load-proportional parameter, as well as initial geometric imperfections are studied.