Shell buckling transformed: Mechanics, design processes and their inter‐relation

Abstract Herrn Univ.‐Prof. em. Dr.‐Ing. Herbert Schmidt zur Vollendung seines 80. Lebensjahres gewidmet This paper, in honour of Professor Herbert Schmidt, provides a brief description of two parallel but connected historical developments in the field of the buckling of thin metal shells, an area in which Professor Schmidt has made very significant contributions over the last four decades. The developments in shell buckling mechanics have been enormous over the last century, in addressing challenging practical problems and in changing from difficult mathematics to universal access for competent engineers. The second development has been in design calculations for practising engineers, moving from crude empiricism based on simple tests into a complete framework that can house all computational predictions in a structured manner, permitting very complex problems to be fully characterised. These two fields are quite separate, especially in the early part of the 20th century, and still lie somewhat apart, but the problems encountered in practical engineering continue to influence the development of shell buckling mechanics, whilst the conceptual framework for practical design is evolving to accommodate the most complex of findings in structural mechanics.