Optimization of plastic conical shells loaded by a rigid central boss

Simply supported conical shells loaded by the central rigid boss with vertical load are considered. The thickness of the shell wall is assumed to be piece-wise constant with a ®nite number of jumps. The minimum weight design of the shell is established under the condition that the load carrying capacity of the shell is given. The shell material is assumed to be an ideal rigid-plastic one obeying the generalized diamond yield condition and associated ¯ow law