Postbuckling behaviour of a pressurized stiffened composite panel – Part I: Experimental study

Results of an experimental study of the buckling and postbuckling behaviour until the collapse of a cylindrical stiffened composite panel are presented. The specimen is subjected to a uniform pressure on one of its faces using a combination of gas and liquid inside a hermetic box. The present analysis shows the postbuckling load carrying capacity of elements of this kind without developing failure mechanism. Due to the high sensitivity to geometric imperfections of these structures, a simple procedure to obtain their measurements once the specimen is placed in the experimental device is set out. The data registered in these tests will be used for the subsequent validation of the numerical model in order to develop more accurate solutions. This will produce a significant increment in the fidelity of those predictions, making possible a reduction in the number of tests to be performed in real applications.