Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206

Stresses and pressures in thin-walled structures

with damage and imperfections
Luis A. Godoy
*
Civil Infrastructure Research Center, Civil Engineering Department, University of Puerto Rico,
Mayaguez PR 00681-09041, USA
Abstract
This paper is a sequel to a recent book of the author, in which stress concentrations and
redistributions due to structural imperfections in thin-walled structures were reviewed. Here
the emphasis is on other complementary aspects. Only shape damage and imperfections are
considered in the paper, while intrinsic imperfections are out of the scope discussed. The
mechanics of generation of damage is studied for several cases, including a relative in-plane
displacement that induces an out-of-plane distortion; impact of an object on the structure;
impact of the structure on a rigid surface; damage due to local buckling; and removal of part
of the structure. Possible mechanisms that lead to the generation of imperfections include
errors in construction; inuence of mists and misalignments; welding; and design-imperfec-
tions. Practical cases in which imperfections are measured and data banks of such information
is also briey reviewed. The eld of mechanics of stress redistributions, and the modeling of
distortional damage using numerical tools, are discussed with reference to previous publi-
cations by the author. New problems of changes in the pressures due to modications in the
shape are highlighted, with reference to the discharge of silos. Finally, several areas are ident-
ied in which future developments are expected for the next ve to ten years. 1998 Elsevier
Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Damage; Imperfections; Shells; Stress analysis; Thin-walled structures
1. Introduction
Research in thin-walled structures is largely dominated by consideration of new
constructions. An area usually neglected in education and research refers to the study
* Tel.: 1-787-265-3815; Fax: 1-787-833-8260.
0263-8231/98/$see front matter 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0263- 8231( 98) 00032- 9
182 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
of the mechanics of thin-walled structures already built and which present forms
of damage and imperfections. Here mechanics can make important contributions to
understand how damage and imperfections develop, to assess the response of such
a structure, and to estimate how the loads change due to modications in the shape.
A review of what has been done in this eld (recent developments) is presented in
this paper. We also expect to witness important developments in the next ve to ten
years as a consequence of present and emerging needs and new developments in
computer and experimental mechanics, and this is also discussed in the nal part of
the paper (future trends).
To have an idea of the economic importance of the studies in this eld, let us
consider the infrastructure in one country, namely the United States. A recent study
carried out by ASCE on the civil infrastructure evaluated each category on the basis
of its conditions and performance. To renew and repair the infrastructure to meet
current and growing needs, it is estimated that a capital investment of 1.3 trillion
US dollars (1.3 10
12
US dollars) are required over a period of ve years. There
is an urgent need to repair what is damaged, and this cannot be done without a
serious evaluation of the actual structure to be repaired. It is expected that the budget
for repair alone may amount to approximately 20% of the investment mentioned
above.
The ASCE study states that current infrastructure research and development efforts
towards repairing and upgrading are minimal compared with other industries.
Emmons et al. [1] acknowledge that the current use of advanced materials to repair
structures is done without proper understanding of the behavior of damaged struc-
tures, and subsequently of the repaired structure. Thus, there is a great need to fully
understand the behavior of a thin-walled structure in its damaged form, before a
decision is made regarding ways to repair the structure.
It is now well known that even small to moderate levels of damage and imperfec-
tions signicantly affect the behavior of slender structures. Thin-walled structures
carry loads transverse to their mid-surface by a very efcient membrane action, in
which the shape is the most important design factor. Whenever the shape is modied
(due to constructional or fabrication imperfections, or due to damage produced by
an external agent), then the way equilibrium is satised also changes. Following the
pioneering work of Koiter, we now know that small modications in the geometry
of a shell or plate assembly produce important reductions in the buckling loads of
the structure. But not only the buckling capacity is modied: second in importance
of the consequences are the elastic stress redistributions that result, in which the
thin-walled structure is required to develop high bending stresses to compensate for
the loss in membrane resistance to the loads.
This paper is concerned with damage and imperfections that modify the geometry
of a thin-walled structure, and their consequences on the stress elds. Such modi-
cations in the geometry will be called distortional damage or imperfections. Alterna-
tive words employed here are geometric or shape deviations. Of course, damage also
modies other properties of the structure, and may lead to loss of part of the thick-
ness, corrosion in metal structures, concrete spalling, delamination and ber damage
183 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
in composites, etc. Because of limitations of space (and of our own interest) only
distortional deviations are considered in this paper.
In Section 2 we consider a distinction between imperfections and damage, and
explain why they can be considered together although there are substantial differ-
ences between them. The generation of distortions in the shape of a thin-walled
structure due to damage is the subject of Section 3. This includes several examples
of damage in different structures, and highlights the ways to model the problem.
The counterpart for geometric imperfections is discussed in Section 4, where again
models of generation of imperfections are described. A summary of techniques
employed to survey shells with geometric distortions is presented in Section 5. Data
banks are briey discussed in Section 6, mainly in the context of one structural form:
the cylinder in aero-industries. Approaches to study stress redistributions in distorted
shells are presented in Section 7, and the mechanisms of stress redistributions are
the subject of Section 8. Analytical and computer models for stress analysis of imper-
fect shells are presented in Section 9. The special case of structures in which distor-
tional damage does affect the loading system acting on the structure is in Section
10, where the theme case is the discharge of silos lled with cereals or other granular
materials. Section 11 deals with future trends in this eld.
2. Damage and imperfections
This section is concerned with differences and similarities between damage and
imperfections that modify the shape of a thin-walled structure.
2.1. Distortional damage
In this work, damage is dened as an undesired permanent change in the
properties of a structure produced by an external agent. For each particular case
we need to specify the agents and the properties associated to damage.
The agents can be the loads considered for the design of the structure, or a new
action not considered at the design stage. New actions can be a foundation settle-
ment, an accidental impact with another body, etc. Progress in design has often
consisted in including agents that cause considerable damage into the design.
Changes in the properties can be detected in the material at a microscopic level,
while changes can also be shown at a macroscopic level. We shall focus on macro-
scopic changes.
Damage is here identied as a change that produces a modication of the stiffness
of the structure. The reason to employ stiffness is that the main condition to be
satised by the structure is equilibrium. If a certain damage is to be signicant,
it has to affect the conditions of equilibrium.
Damage can affect the modulus of the material, the geometry, etc. In this paper
we only deal with geometric aspects of damage.
Other global properties such as the mass or the damping of a structure are not
substantially modied by distortional damage.
184 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
More specically, we shall refer to distortional damage as an undesired permanent
change in the geometry of a structure produced by an external agent.
What are the consequences of damage? Damage has consequences on the response
of the structure, i.e. displacements, stresses, strains, energy, natural frequencies, etc.
Damage is associated to deections because for a given load, the deections are a
direct consequence of the stiffness if the problem is linear.
As an extreme case, damage may change the structure in such way that equilibrium
is no longer possible. This case is collapse. If equilibrium is not satised on part of
the structure, then one may have partial collapse. Damage is then an intermediate
state between a perfect structure and a collapsed one.
There are many ways to quantify damage. There are indicators of the occurrence
of damage, which can be used for damage assessment. A common approach now-
adays is to dene a damage index. There are basically two components employed
in the denition of a damage index: a displacement term (relative to a displacement
capacity of the structure) and an energy term (relative to an energy capacity, usually
the energy required to reach material plasticity). Damage indices are arbitrary, and
are useful only when they are adopted by an engineering community. In this paper
we concentrate on damage under static actions. Local damage indices are sometimes
employed in discrete structures formed by elements, such as frames, trusses, etc.
In summary, damage is a local change in properties that may affect the local and
global response of the structure. The damaged state of a structure depends on the
distribution (space locations) and severity (amplitude) of localized damage.
2.2. Geometric imperfections
It is very difcult to build a thin-walled structure with the exact shape specied
in the analysis, and this leads to local distortions in the shape. Such distortions occur,
for example, due to problems associated to the fabrication process in metal structures,
errors in setting the geometry during the construction of large concrete shells,
changes introduced during the fabrication, etc. Examples of shape imperfections may
be found, for example, in Godoy [2]. In this work, an imperfection is dened as a
permanent change in the properties of a structure produced during the con-
struction or fabrication.
To avoid large imperfections, tolerances are specied in some shell structures.
Tolerances in shape are specic of each application, and the codes establish limits
to radial deviations from a perfect shape measured with respect to the radius (in
shells of revolution), and limits to deviations in the slope of the shell meridian.
A common source of geometric errors in construction may be described as follows:
A certain structural component has proven to be successful on a certain scale.
Changes in industrial needs induce an increase in the size of the structure using the
original technologies; however, for the larger structures the defects in construction
are amplied, so that the nal product is less perfect than the original smaller one.
An illustration of this increase in size occurred in reinforced concrete cooling
towers, and has been illustrated in many publications. For example, the Ferrybridge
towers in England were constructed in 1965 with height of 114 m; and by the year
185 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
1980 there was another generation of larger towers reaching 160 m. Small deviations
from the perfect geometry became more important with the increase in the dimen-
sions of the shells. Similar trends are found in the cylinders used in the off-shore
platforms, in shells for nuclear containment, in the roofs of industrial and sports
buildings, etc.
2.3. Distortional damage and imperfections
To summarize this section we notice that imperfections are associated to the con-
struction or fabrication of a thin-walled structure, while damage is associated to its
service life. In general, controls on fabrication are stringent, and result in small
amplitude imperfections, while large amplitude damage may occur due to accidents.
Thus, one expects to nd larger amplitudes of shape distortions in damage. The
distorted shape is rather smooth in constructional imperfections (even the slope is
controlled in some fabrication procedures); while there are slope discontinuities in
damage due to impact. Damage is taken in the form of a local kink, quite different
from that of fabrication geometry errors in which longer wavelength imperfections
tend to predominate [3].
But the similarities between the two cases arise at the level of mechanisms of
stress redistributions that they produce in a shell. The relative modications between
membrane and bending resistance of the shell are very much the same in any local
deviation in shape, irrespective of the origin of the distorted shape.
3. Mechanics of damage formation
Many sources can produce damage in a thin-walled structure, and this depends
on the environment in which it is located. Damage is often caused by accidents
producing impact on the structure, or by unexpected actions developed during the
service life. Only a limited number of damage mechanisms are reported in this sec-
tion, and this is representative of the authors interests. Many other mechanisms have
been reported in the literature.
3.1. Localized in-plane displacements (i.e. settlement of foundation)
An uneven or localized in-plane displacement at the bottom of a shell of revolution
induces large geometric distortions with out-of-plane deviations in parts of the shell
away from the boundaries. The cause of such localized in-plane displacements may
be a foundation settlement of a large shell; or due to damage in one of the supporting
columns, leading to a localized loss of support of the shell. Notice that these are not
constructional imperfections, since there is an external agent inducing a change in
the geometry.
Perhaps the most relevant studies in this area were experiments carried out by
Kalujza and Mateja [4] on small hyperboloids of revolution. The dimensions of the
model investigated were 1000 mm height and 786 mm base diameter. Irregular dis-
186 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
placements were forced at the lower edge, and out-of-plane displacements were
recorded at different elevations for the most affected meridian. For vertical deection
imposed, the ratio of the maximum out-of-plane distortion recorded was between
3.7 and 5.6 times the settlement. The variations reect different boundary conditions
of the problems tested. It appears that considerable displacements of the center
surface of the shell occur even with relatively small displacement of the lower edge
of the shell [4]. This is a rather alarming situation, and conrmed previous numeri-
cal computations carried out by Wunderlich and co-authors. Other researchers have
investigated the stresses (high hoop bending moments) associated to such localized
foundation settlements, and are reported for example in Croll and Billington [5];
however, the distorted shape of the shells are not shown there.
Our theme structure here is a large reinforced concrete cooling tower shell [60].
The specic tower considered is 165 m tall with base diameter of 135 m. The shell
itself has a height of 145 m, with thickness at the throat of 200 mm and increases
at the bottom and top of the shell. The structure is supported on 100 columns
arranged in a V conguration. The foundation was provided by a reinforced concrete
ring beam. The soil was characterized as granular soil with layers of cohesive soils.
Secondary consolidation of clay soils left in place produced a settlement of a local
part of the foundation. Seven years after the construction a local settlement of the
order of 31.5 mm was measured with respect to columns located at about 60, thanks
to frequent monitoring done since construction. The design life for this class of
structures is 40 years, so the structure had to be evaluated under the present and
also the future conditions of increasing settlement which were of about 57.2 mm.
A direct nite element analysis was carried out to evaluate the damage produced
to the structure in terms of changes in the geometry. This requires of the use of a
nite element analysis of the shell, using a commercial package. Some results are
presented in Fig. 1, showing the new geometry measured with respect to the original
design. Maximum out-of-plane displacements occur near to the throat, with ampli-
tudes of 150 mm, i.e. 0.75 of the thickness. Damage in this case is of a localized
nature, and shows a clear correlation between the new shape of the damaged structure
and the source that causes damage. The distorted shape is very similar to what was
obtained in the experiments of Kalujza and Mateja [4].
Fig. 1. Damaged shape of a cooling tower due to a localized settlement of the foundation.
187 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
Because of the exibility of these very thin shell structures, a small vertical dis-
placement at the lower edge is amplied within the body of the structure so that
large changes in the geometry are induced. For this source of damage there is both
experimental and theoretical evidence of the mechanics leading to a distorted shape.
3.2. Impact of an object on the structure (damage due to collisions between
deformable bodies)
The prediction of damage due to impact is important not only in relation to the
stress concentrations discussed in Section 8, but also because the structure should
have the capacity to absorb the energy of the impact. The actual impact may be
produced in a variety of practical situations, such as a ship on a structural component
of an off-shore platform [43]; between a boat and a coastal structure; or between
ships [42]. Related to this class one nds debris transported during hurricanes or
tornadoes that impact on constructions. This case is of great importance in the design
of nuclear power plant protection. The list can also include an object dropped from
a certain height that impacts on a thin-walled structure. Another situation is provided
by an object transported by a crane that is accidentally dropped on the structure.
The mechanics of impact is based on the simultaneous solution of the equations
of conservation of momentum and conservation of energy of the two structures that
impact. The condition of conservation of momentum may be written as
m
1
v
1
m
2
v
2
(m
1
m
2
)v
e
(1)
where m
1
and m
2
are the mass of each body; v
1
and v
2
are the initial velocities before
the impact. This is an idealized situation, and allows evaluation of the resulting
velocity v
e
.
The condition of energy conservation can be written as
1/2 m
1
v
2
1
1/2 m
2
v
2
2
1/2(m
1
m
2
)v
2
e
E
1
E
2
(2)
where E
1
and E
2
are the energies absorbed by each body. This takes into account
the energy dissipation that occurs due to plastic deformation. The values of E
1
and
E
2
can be obtained from Eq. (2) using v
e
from Eq. (1).
Detailed studies of the damage due to impact between a ship and an off-shore
structure are reported by Soreide and Kavlie [6]. Tubular members in a platform
were investigated under the assumption of a central impact, to evaluate the energy
absorption that the shell can take. Both analytical and nite element results were
reported.
There are other cases in which the capacity to absorb energy is important, such
as in the design of storm-shutters employed to protect windows and buildings from
debris transported by hurricanes or tornadoes. Folded plate elements are employed
as storm-shutters and are designed to withstand the impact of a piece of wood of 5
10 cm
2
with length of about 3 m. Research at the University of Puerto Rico is
currently under development in this eld [7].
188 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
3.3. Impact of the structure on a rigid body
The impact of a thin-walled structure and a rigid body may be viewed as a special
case of the problems discussed in the previous section. The rigid body may be con-
sidered to have m
2
0 and if it is at rest, then v
2
0.
A situation in which this occurs is in a thin-walled structure that is transported
by a crane and falls from a certain height by accident. The structure chosen to illus-
trate this problem is a large steel spherical shell employed in a nuclear power plant,
with diameter of 56 000 mm and thickness of 25 mm, thus having radius/thickness
ratio of about 1000. The resulting damage is shown in Fig. 2, where we illustrate
proles of deformation in a thin-walled sphere employed in a nuclear power plant.
The geometric distortion is localized at an elevation of 45 above the equator of the
sphere, where the impact occurred. Less than one quarter in the circumferential direc-
tion was affected by the impact. The amplitude of the distortions is about four times
the thickness of the shell.
The kind of damage reported in this section exceeds the tolerance specications
for imperfections, and crucial decisions have to be made on how to proceed with
the construction.
3.4. Overloading (large deections)
A localized shape distortion can be generated as a consequence of overloading a
structure into a geometrically nonlinear behavior. Within the eld of nonlinear kin-
ematics, a change in the shape of a structure under an increasing load is known as
buckling. In this section we look at the problem of bifurcation buckling of thin-
walled structures under a certain load as a potential generator of damage.
The theme case is the buckling of cylindrical tanks under wind loads due to hurri-
canes. Short steel tanks (radius to height ratio of the order of three) with large diam-
eters (radius to thickness ratio of 1900) are commonly employed to store oil or water
in many Caribbean islands. Buckling of such tanks occurred during hurricane Hugo
in 1989 and hurricane Marilyn in 1995 in the US Virgin Islands of St. Croix and
St. Thomas. In-situ inspection of the damaged tanks and nite element evaluations
of the structural response identied bifurcation buckling of the shell, with local defor-
mation patterns as shown in Fig. 3 [45].
Both elastic and elasto-plastic computations were performed to evaluate buckling
loads and buckling modes. For the present interest in the generation of damage, it
is the buckling mode that is most interesting. In the case of shells, it has been shown
that there is mode jumping along a post-critical equilibrium path, i.e. the mode of
deformation of the shell changes as the deections increase. This means that the
elastic deections at the onset of buckling may change in the loading process to the
nal deections with plastic deformations. For distortional damage it is the nal
plastic deformation that counts. An illustration of damage affecting the shape of such
shells is shown in Fig. 4.
The literature on buckling is too large to attempt to summarize even the most
important features; however, the tools required to accurately predict deformation
189 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
Fig. 2. Distortional damage in a spherical metal shell (from [2]).
patterns into the plastic range are now available. Once the structure suffers damage
due to buckling, a practical remedial action is to modify the shape and attempt to
recover circularity of the shell. However, the results are less than satisfactory and
often such shells continue to be used with severe shape distortions.
190 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
Fig. 3. Buckling deformation along the free edge of a short tank using computer simulation (from [45]).
Fig. 4. Damage in circular steel tanks in St. Thomas, 1995 (photograph by the author).
191 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
3.5. Removal of part of the structure
The loss of part of the structure changes the topology of a problem and is a very
serious form of damage. A removal process may occur as a consequence of an acci-
dent. A case has been reported in which the crane employed in the construction of
a large reinforced concrete cooling tower shell produced an impact on the structure
during a tornado [9].
4. Mechanics of imperfection formation
The study of a large number of fabricated shells shows that imperfections do not
occur at random, but there is a correlation between imperfection distributions and
different fabrication processes. In this paper it is not possible to present all fabrication
processes even within one industry employing thin-walled structures; but we shall
instead consider selected examples in which a correlation can be conrmed.
4.1. Fabrication-induced distorted shapes
Not enough accuracy during the construction of a large structure produces geo-
metric imperfections. A few scientists have investigated actual imperfections
recorded in shells such as Arbocz and co-workers, who tried to answer the question
Can one associate characteristic initial imperfection distributions with a specied
manufacturing procedure? [10]. Their answer is an emphatic yes.
To illustrate this correlation Arbocz considered a number of different problems.
Two shells fabricated in different laboratories were machined out of a seamless thick
duraluminum alloy cylinder and the geometry recorded with accuracy. The imperfect
surface was decomposed into its Fourier components. The Fourier coefcients have
remarkably the same form, except for a factor of scale. Other cases included aeros-
pace shells which are fabricated from a xed number of curved panels with riveted
joints. The resulting imperfections have the same number of circumferential waves
as the number of panels employed in the fabrication [11].
Similar conclusions are derived in the work of Chryssanthopoulos and Poggi [12].
For one set of steel cylinders the shells were fabricated from a at plate to which
stringer stiffeners were welded, and then the plate was curved on a circular mandrel
and welded at the matching ends. Fiber-reinforced composite cylinders were fabri-
cated on a different scale and in a different laboratory, but again using mandrels to
limit the overall distortions. The recorded imperfections and their Fourier compo-
nents show remarkable similarities, no doubt the signature of the fabrication pro-
cedure on the nal structure.
4.2. Distorted shapes produced by mists and misalignments
Construction mists are a common source of imperfections in thin-walled metal
cylindrical silos constructed using curved plates. Once a complete ring is constructed,
192 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
it is welded to the previous one, and gaps are found between rings. To proceed with
the fabrications, such gaps are closed by forcing the parts to t before welding is
done. The mechanism is similar to what we discussed in the case of foundations
settlement of a large shell: a localized in-plane displacement of the shell induces out
of plane deections that are now called imperfections.
A recent discussion of this topic was presented by Holst et al., [13]. Here the
structure is modeled as elastic, and the mists are represented by initial strains
applied to the shell. A commercial package has been employed in this case, and a
strain is imposed on a small rectangular patch of the shell. As a result of the strain
and the associated stresses in the zone of the patch, a local dimple is formed.
4.3. Distorted shapes produced by welding
Welding of metal plates for the construction of thin-walled structures produces
severe localized changes in the geometry of the shell. Studies in this eld are reported
for example by Yada et al., [14].
4.4. A change in the shape for the worse
An imperfection in the geometry may also be introduced by the designer before
construction. Petrovski [15] has described this case as a change in the design for
the worse. An illustration of this case in a practical application is discussed next.
Partial failure of a pressurized water pipeline running for 150 km was reported
[16]. The pipeline was formed using tubes each with 5 m length, thickness of 110
mm, and internal diameter of 1080 mm. The elements were fabricated at a plant and
transported to the construction site, where they were buried.
The joints between tubes are indicated in Fig. 5, from real dimensions measured on
site. The structure has hoop prestressing steel (4 mm cables) as well as longitudinal
prestressing steel (5 mm cables). There is a 30 mm concrete cover.
The tubes had been successfully employed for a number of years, but for this new
Fig. 5. Dimensions of a buried pipeline, in cm.
193 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
application the designer decided to change the geometry of the joints between tubes.
In the new design (shown in Fig. 5), the slope of the longitudinal prestressing cable
was increased to 18, and the external wall of the tube had a slope of 25.
Following construction, damage was observed in a number of tubes along the
pipeline, with collapse in some areas. Typical damage of the tubes before collapse
was in the form of cracks in the hoop direction at the section of the joints, and also
at the joint between the concrete cover and the tube. Examples of cracking are shown
in Fig. 6, with crack width of 1 and 2 mm. More severe damage was detected at
other locations, with collapse of the tubes. The study was called to identify the main
causes of damage in the tubes.
The rst model considered the tube with the uncracked concrete, and a stress
analysis was carried out using axisymmetric nite elements and elastic properties.
The stresses under longitudinal prestressing were rst computed, and the principal
stresses showed minor tensile stress, and uniform compression in the main body of
the tube. This is clearly a uniaxial state of stresses. The stresses are not constant
across the thickness.
Next, the inuence of the hoop prestressing was introduced in the analysis. There
are now tensile forces on the outer part of the tube, larger than 2 MPa. There are
two peaks in the stresses computed using nite elements, and they occur in coinci-
dence with the cracks detected in the tubes. This would indicate that in the new
design, the concrete had cracking due to the hoop prestressing. This is a paradox,
because the role of the prestressing in this structure was to introduce cracking, rather
than avoiding it! There is also a high concentration of compressive stresses. The
actual stresses are higher than the admissible values adopted by the designer.
The second step was to introduce cracking into the model, at the locations indi-
cated by the rst analysis. The nite element mesh was redened to include cracking
as a new boundary. The model was modied by increasing the length of the crack
as the values of the stresses were obtained. High tensile stresses were computed,
and the cracks were shown to extend to about 80% of the cross section. High com-
pression was also obtained. The only way to restore equilibrium would be if the
longitudinal steel provided the necessary force in conjunction with the high com-
pression of the concrete; however, in the new design, the location of the steel is
located so that a moment cannot be signicant.
The third step was to include the inuence of plasticity in the concrete, to model
redistributions where there is high compression. The effect of plasticity is to reduce
Fig. 6. Damage detected in some tubes of the pipeline.
194 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
the compression in the cracked structure from 40 MPa to 25 MPa, but the basic
conclusions are not changed by non-linear material behavior.
A simplied explanation of the mechanism of failure of the damaged tube is shown
in Fig. 7, where the hoop prestressing force produces an overturning moment that
cannot be equilibrated at the section 22. Cracks in two directions are rst intro-
duced, and the complete joint is lost under additional stresses.
5. Techniques for measuring damaged or imperfect geometries
If you have a thin-walled structure with a distorted shape, how do you measure
it? It depends on the size of the structure, and on the purpose of the survey of
the geometry.
The main motivation to measure imperfections in shells in the sixties and seventies
was the discovery that small amplitude imperfections may have a large reduction in
the buckling load of a thin-walled structure. Such a discovery helped to reconcile
theory and experiments done in laboratory conditions. Fundamental research on
buckling and post-buckling required experimental conrmation (mainly using small
scale models) and accurate shape and amplitude of imperfections to be employed as
data of the problem. Measuring techniques developed to record the actual geometry
of a small thin-walled structure (i.e. cylinders with diameters ranging between 100
and 3000 mm). An important requirement in this case is that the measuring device
should not introduce new changes in the geometry of the structure.
Mainly developed for buckling, but also relevant to investigate stress redistri-
butions Singer and Abramovich [17] reviewed the techniques employed since the
sixties to measure the surface of a metal cylindrical shell. Information on stiffened
cylindrical shells in the context of off-shore structures is now available, for example
in [18]. Measurement of the shape of large cooling towers was reported by Pope
[19,20].
6. Data banks from real structures
Information on the geometry of thin-walled structures obtained from different
sources can be collected in a data base in a systematic way, so that other researchers
Fig. 7. Simplied mechanism of the consequences of damage in the pipeline.
195 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
and engineers can take advantage of the information stored. The objectives of
developing such a data base are manifold, and include the identication of patterns
of occurrence of certain features in the shapes of shells; the correlation between
fabrication procedures and imperfections patterns; the possibility of performing stat-
istical analysis of imperfections; an indication of what you should measure when
you have a chance to do so; etc. The information to construct the data base can be
obtained from the literature, but there is a signicant effort to make compatible
information coming from different sources, and the problem of missing information
reported or measured in different sources. Thus, most of what is available nowadays
comes from a coordinated effort of several centers that agreed to perform measure-
ments on imperfections in shells.
An International Initial Imperfection Data Bank started as an effort of a researcher
from the University of Delft and the University of Haifa to record systematic infor-
mation about imperfections in metal cylindrical shells (see for example [4]). The
motivation of this effort is the importance of imperfections in the eld of buckling
of aerospace structures.
To compare data from different sources a convenient way to present the infor-
mation is by means of a doubly Fourier series to represent imperfections, i.e.
w/r sin(mx/L)[C
kl
cos(ny/r) D
kl
sin(ny/r)] (3)
where C
kl
and D
kl
are the amplitudes in the cosine and sine components, and the
summation extends to about 30 sine waves in the circumferential direction
(summation in n), and usually 5 half waves in the longitudinal direction (summation
in m); r is the radius of the cylinder; w is the deviation from the perfect geometry;
and L is the length. By means of a Fourier characterization of imperfections, one
can compare different imperfections and classify them. Typical plots of imperfection
data are presented in the form of an amplitude versus the circumferential wave num-
ber, for specic values of meridional half waves.
The importance of understanding the mechanics of the generation of damage and
imperfections can now be realized. Rather than measuring a very large number of
shells to identify patterns by means of inductive observation, one can generate dis-
torted shapes by working within margins of damage sources. This is further discussed
in Section 11.
7. Approaches to the study of geometric distortions
How do we handle variables that have not yet occurred? It would seem at rst
sight that a structure should be analyzed with degeneracies at all possible locations,
and at all possible combinations of these locations. However, it will frequently
happen that certain locations are much more likely than others, as a consequence of
the structures shape, or that certain combinations will be impossible. Furthermore,
it will often be possible to spot immediately the worst degeneracy conditions and
others need not be analyzed [21].
196 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
7.1. Probability analysis
To model imperfections using stochastic methods one needs to have a signicant
number of imperfections recorded (complete maps of the surface of the shell studied).
This information can be represented as a double summation of Fourier series, so that
mean values of modal amplitudes can be obtained. Thus, a statistical description of
the Fourier contents and phase angles can be obtained as representative of a number
of shells investigated.
The above description can be used with a deterministic model of the mechanics
of the shell to obtain the required response. One can thus obtain the probability of
getting certain response levels. This approach has been used for shell buckling studies
[12] but not for stress concentrations due to shape distortions.
7.2. Worst shape distortion
Another possibility is to look at information on imperfect structures and choose
the worst geometry to perform a deterministic analysis. In this case one considers
the imperfection, and not the response, as an indication of the most important case
to be studied. This may be a most convenient way to start an investigation, but not
the nal approach in a study.
7.3. Worst effect of shape distortion
The third approach is to investigate extreme cases of imperfections based on the
response of the structure. Here one needs to study the relation between the imperfec-
tions or damage parameters and the response, i.e. stress resultants, and to do this it
is necessary to solve a problem of applied mechanics. The worst situation arises
from a parametric study, or else from an optimization study.
8. Mechanics of stress redistributions
In the new, deteriorated situation, the structure still has to carry loads without
collapse, so that it is necessary to understand the new stress concentration in order
to take appropriate decisions about the future of the structure.
To understand the structural consequences of geometric distortions in shells or
folded plates one must remember that such structural forms carry loads by means
of a membrane mechanism, and only a marginal part of the load is equilibrated
by bending stresses. But in zones of high changes in geometric curvature, a local
redistribution of stresses induces high bending as well as high membrane stresses.
This important redistribution of stresses in shells has not been evident until
recently [58]. It was only with the collapse of several large cooling tower shells with
geometric imperfections that engineers started to consider imperfections as stress-
concentrators [33,4756,59].
In some situations concentrations of stresses due to imperfections in the form
197 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
are of little concern to the designer; as, for example, when the material possesses
ample ductility. In other cases, notably when fatigue is an important design consider-
ation, the effects are not negligible and should therefore be studied [22].
Croll et al. [23] have identied the mechanisms of redistribution of stresses in
thin shells of revolution with geometric damage. A basic state of stresses in the
perfect structure is formed by a membrane action, with bending contributing only
marginally at the boundaries of the shell. Geometric damage induces a local out-of-
balance moment (formed by the membrane forces multiplied by the eccentricity due
to damage). To equilibrate such new moment the shell develops two mechanisms:
First, bands of membrane stresses which have a moment resultant, and second, bend-
ing across the thickness.
Defects and damage produce a redistribution of stresses in a thin-walled structure
with respect to the as-designed or perfect situation, and it is very important to evalu-
ate the new stress state. For linear elastic structures under increasing load, the stress
redistributions are uniquely dened, but for non-linear systems, there may be several
redistributions [24]. Thus, the state of stresses of a structure with damage and the
way it provides equilibrium may be quite different from what was considered in the
design [34,35].
A review of results in this area may be found in a book by the author [2], so that
no duplication is attempted here.
9. Modeling stress redistributions
At present, there are sophisticated computational tools to model complex behavior
of structures; however, a full non-linear material and geometric analysis using nite
elements would provide little information about the inuence of damage unless we
knew what kind of feature we are expecting to nd in the response. Thus, there are
no standards for the analysis of damaged structures. This is a case in which the
analytical and computational tools to be employed depend heavily on the expected
behavior of the structure. A most common approach is to follow an iterative pro-
cedure for the solution: A rst approximation is obtained, and the solution is rened
in successive computations and guided by the early results.
The model of a thin-walled structure with shape damage can be performed by
means of
A direct model of the damaged structure using numerical methods, in which the
modied shape is followed by rened nite element meshes [8,38,44].
Equivalent load analysis, in which the shape deviation is substituted by a set of
loads which produce equivalent displacements and stresses. This approach was
introduced by Croll et al. [23], and was employed by a number of researchers
[36,37,39,40,41,46]. An alternative derivation of this technique is due to Augusti
and Chiostrini [25].
Perturbation analysis, in which the solution is expanded in series of a damage
parameter [57]. Details of the general procedure are given in [2,26], and the nite
element implementation is shown in [27].
198 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
In perturbation techniques, a damage parameter is rst dened to represent the
amplitude and distribution of the damage considered. The displacement vector a is
expanded in terms of the amplitude of the damage parameter
a a
0
a
1
a
2

2
$ (4)
The coefcient of the series are the derivatives of the vector of displacements with
respect to
a
1
a/ a
2

2
a/
2
(5)
The new form of displacements is substituted in the total potential energy of the
system. Then the equilibrium conditions result as a function of . Terms which are
multiplied by with alike powers are grouped together, leading to a polynomial
expansion of . Because can take values from 0 to other values, then the coefcients
of need to be zero in order to satisfy the equilibrium condition. These are linear
conditions, that lead to a
1
, a
2
, etc.
An application of the above procedure is shown in Fig. 8, for a circular plate
under in-plane load. The plate has a geometric damage in the central part, and the
problem is to obtain the stress redistributions due to damage. The damage mechanism
in this case is not of interest.
Results using perturbation/nite element techniques are shown in Fig. 9. The
results plotted are limited to the membrane stress resultants and for one case, because
of limitations of space. However, a more thorough discussion of the results is
presented by the author elsewhere [27].
10. Damageload interaction
Our next excursion illustrates a problem in which damage of the structure produces
a change in the load acting on the system. Consider a metal silo structure, lled with
cereal. Damage in metal silos is very common in the form of changes in the
Fig. 8. Plate with geometric damage.
199 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
Fig. 9. Membrane stress resultants in a plate with geometric damage (from [27]).
geometry, with height equal to the height of the plates used in the construction. The
origin of such damage is usually associated to wind action, often buckling of the
empty silo. Can this damage affect the pressures due to the bulk stored material on
the silo walls? It does, as rst noticed by Eibl et al. [28].
The problem arises when the silo is discharged by gravity ow, because the new
modied geometry induces perturbations to the ow. But now we need to model the
ow, not (only) the structure.
The model of the ow of solid granular material stored in silos has been studied
by the author and co-workers using uid ow models, with non-Newtonian properties
[29,30]. A pseudo-viscosity is dened based on the cohesion, the friction and uidity
of the material. This viscosity is employed in a two dimensional nite element discre-
tization of the domain. The problem is non-linear due to the constitutive material.
The process of discharge is stimulated as a steady-state, in order to avoid the com-
plexities of the rst seconds of transient response.
As an example, consider a silo shown in Fig. 10, with the dimensions and the
material taken from [31]. This is a small silo, with 0.8 m diameter and 2.55 m height,
tested in a laboratory. The geometric damage is assumed to have an axisymmetric
shape in order to simplify the already complex computations. The location of the
change is in the cylindrical part of the silo, because parametric studies indicated this
to be the worst location for modication of pressures on the walls. The maximum
amplitude produced by damage is 10% of the radius of the shell, and the ratio
between the height of the damaged zone and the amplitude is 5.
The results are plotted as pressures on the walls of the silo during the discharge,
for different elevations measured from the silo outlet. Consider rst the dotted line
in Fig. 11. Between elevations 0 and 1.30 m there is a smooth increase in the press-
ures. At the junction between the conical and the cylindrical parts there is a peak
in the pressures, which is independent of the damage in the shell. The changes in
pressures due to the damaged zone are seen to be concentrated in the zone of damage
itself, with a high peak of overpressure and another peak of negative pressure that
alleviates the bottom of the damaged zone. The overpressure in this problem is about
ve times the pressures in the perfect structure.
200 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
Fig. 10. Dimensions of a silo with a geometric imperfection, after [31].
Fig. 11. Pressures on the walls during discharge.
The dotted curve was computed using a discontinuity function (yield surface) for
the granular material as given by [32], while the solid curve represents values com-
puted using a cap model, similar to those employed in soil mechanics [30]. The
differences between constitutive models affect more the ow pressures in the perfect
structure than in the structure with damage.
Damage was assumed in this case to move the shell towards the inside of the silo.
201 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
For damage in the opposite direction, the changes in pressures are less dramatic than
in Fig. 11.
In the studies of Figs 10 and 11 we have assumed that the walls of the structure
are rigid. This may be a reasonable assumption for reinforced concrete silos, but in
the case of metal silos one should take into account the deformations of the walls
due to the peak pressures associated to imperfections. One could solve the two prob-
lems coupled at the level of the formulation; however, a simpler alternative would
be to perform an iterative analysis between pressures on the bulk stored material on
the wall and deections of the thin-walled structure.
11. The future in this eld
This is an imperfect world. As engineers, we also construct an imperfect part of
the world, and our constructions are in turn modied by external agents. Nothing is
exactly the way we thought it would be. No matter how accurate we try to construct
a thin-walled structure, there is always the event of imperfections or accidental dam-
age that may involve large amplitude distortions to a shell.
Thus we need to be able to handle problems of assessing the real shape of a
structure, and the response of imperfect structures to further load. The author under-
stands that new trends in this eld will occur within the next ve to ten years as a
consequence of new applications of shells and folded plate structures, advances in
modeling techniques; improvements in experimental mechanics; all within a frame-
work of increasing computing facilities and easier access to high performance com-
puting.
Only eight trends are listed below, and other researchers could possibly add a few
topics to this list based on their different experiences in this eld.
11.1. Non-deterministic structural analysis
A deterministic approach has been followed in most studies reported in the litera-
ture regarding damage and imperfections in shells. An alternative is to consider a
non-deterministic analysis, in which one computes probabilistic displacements and
stresses based on probabilistic information about imperfections. A stochastic analysis
requires large sets of information about real imperfections and damage forms in the
specic class of structural component studied, so that this is not just a problem of
introducing a new form of carrying out the computations. With the advent of data
banks, it is expected that stochastic analysis will produce meaningful information
about expected shell behavior.
11.2. Data banks
Data banks were mentioned in this paper, and are already available for some
structural components in the aerospace and aeronautical industries. Through them it
is possible to proceed with identication of relevant parameters that characterize an
202 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
imperfect shell. The future trends in this eld may include new data banks for other
structural forms. Cooling towers are a good candidate to provide information for a
data bank, specially because there have been major efforts towards measuring
geometry and cracks in such shells in England [19,20]. Another eld in which they
can be available is in cylindrical shells employed in the off-shore industry [43,61,62].
Will they be freely available as scientic information? Perhaps not, and there is a
good chance that you will be able to buy data banks for your application in a not-
so-distant future.
The data will be enhanced by current developments in experimental mechanics
and instrumentation techniques, so that easier and more sophisticated information on
the surface of a shell will be available. But data banks need not be solely based on
actual measurements of real structures. Because we can understand how imperfec-
tions are generated, or the way damage occurs associated to certain external agents,
then a large amount of information can be generated using computer simulations.
This would be a much more economic way to have information on possible geometric
distortions, specially for cases in which only a few measurements are available.
11.3. Damage into the software
Today computer packages provide a choice to the analysts in a number of para-
meters of a structure, including material models. Describing the shape with local
distortions and appropriate nite element meshes to produce a meaningful result is
not easy, as has been shown by the failure of numerous direct nite element analysis
in the past. One can envisage that tomorrow there may be libraries of imperfections
and damage available for different applications, and included in computer packages.
11.4. The combination of damage mechanics and geometric degeneracies
Models of geometric distortion are today considered for elastic materials. How-
ever, material damage accompanies the distortion of the geometry in many cases,
specially in damage-induced geometric deviations. An area in which limited progress
has been made is to follow the redistribution of stresses in conjunction with the
degradation of the material properties of the structure. With new computational facili-
ties becoming available to the engineer at a design ofce, it may soon be the case
that we can perform more complete studies about non-elastic redistributions of loads
and stresses associated to geometric distortions.
11.5. Dynamic response of imperfect structures
Another limitation that we witness today is that most studies are restricted to static
loads acting on the system. Information about the inuence of imperfections and
damage on the dynamic response of shells and plates may be very important, speci-
ally because real structures are subject to dynamic actions, such as wind, earthquake,
ambient vibrations, etc. It is expected that distortional damage does not modify the
203 L.A. Godoy/ Thin-Walled Structures 32 (1998) 181206
mass of a structure, or its damping properties, so that the inuence on the dynamic
response will be made through the stiffness.
11.6. The impact of more computational power
Many of the current limitations have to do with our limited capacity to provide
an accurate answer using direct nite element techniques of analysis. The limitations
emerge because one tries to model a large system in which local effects should also
be considered. This combination of local damage/global response leads to either
simplications by means of ad-hoc assumptions, or to large computer requirements
to solve the problems. With new generations of personal computers and workstations,
one will be able to solve problems faster, not being afraid of dealing with a very
large number of elements, non-linear analysis, local mesh renements, all at once.
11.7. Different levels of computer environments
The increasing capability of computer modeling does not mean that simple sol-
utions are not required. On the contrary, the interpretation of a large set of results,
including variations of stresses, displacements, call for a thorough understanding of
the basic mechanics of the problems in hand. Thus, it is expected that simple models
based on equilibrium and compatibility will still be a vital ingredient of a serious
investigation of the safety of an imperfect or damaged structure.
11.8. Better data acquisition and visualization
The ability to show information about the geometry of a structure may be
important in many cases, specially if one is trying to understand the generation of
damage or imperfections due to a known agent. Examples are the shape distortions
due to settlement of foundations in large exible shells, for which numerical models
can predict levels of out-of-plane distortions associated to specic local settlements.
New facilities for rapid visualization will make an impact in this area and will
accompany the impact of more computational power.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by a grant from NSF-EPSCoR on Behavior of structures
with damage. The author is indebted to Dr S. Elaskar, who performed the compu-
tations for the silo structure in Section 10.
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