Abstract
An analytical solution for the dynamic plastic deformation of a ring-stiffened cylindrical shell subject to high intensity pressure pulse loading is presented. By using an analogy between a cylindrical shell that undergoes large plastic deformation and a rigid-plastic string resting on a rigid-plastic foundation, one derives closed-form solutions for the transient and final deflection profiles and fracture initiation of the shell. Discrete masses' and springs are used to describe the ring stiffeners in the stiffened shell. The problem of finding the transient deflection profile of the central bay is reduced to solving an inhomogeneous wave equation with inhomogeneous boundary conditions using the method of eigenfunction expansion. The overall deflection profile consists of both global (stiffener) and local (bay) components. This division of the shell deflection profile reveals a complex interplay between the motions of the stiffener and the bay. Furthermore, a parametric study on a ring-stiffened shell damaged by a succession of underwater explosions shows that the string-on-foundation model with ring stiffeners described by lumped masses and springs is a promising method of analyzing the structure.