Effect of Euclidean and Geodesic Distance Models on Stochastic Buckling of Imperfect Cylindrical Shells

Yan-Ping Liang¹, Shixue Liang², Xiaodan Ren^3,*
1 Department of Civil Engineering, Hangzhou City University, Hangzhou, China
2 Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Green, Digital and Intelligent (GDI) Renovation for Urban Infrastructures, School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
3 State Key Laboratory of Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
* Corresponding Author: Xiaodan Ren. Email: email

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2026.088525

Received 05 July 2026; Accepted 03 September 2026; Published online 17 September 2026

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Abstract

Random geometric imperfections strongly influence the buckling resistance of thin cylindrical shells. In random field imperfection modeling, Euclidean and geodesic distances may generate different spatial correlation structures on closed cylindrical shells. This study examines whether such distance model differences are transmitted to nonlinear stochastic buckling response. A paired stochastic finite element framework is developed, in which Euclidean- and geodesic-distance imperfection fields are generated from common nodal white noise inputs and rescaled to the same prescribed root-mean-square (RMS) amplitude. Eight normalized correlation lengths are considered, with 200 paired samples for each case, and the corresponding critical buckling loads are evaluated. The results show that the field-level discrepancy increases with correlation length, but its transmission to buckling response is not proportional. For the present benchmark, the Euclidean distance effect is very small at short correlation lengths but becomes increasingly evident as the correlation length approaches the shell radius scale, indicating a correlation scale-dependent trend rather than a universal acceptability threshold.