The buckling of GRP hemi-ellipsoidal dome shells under external hydrostatic pressure

The paper reports on a theoretical and an experimental investigation into six GRP hemi-ellipsoidal dome shells, which were tested to destruction under external hydrostatic pressure. All six domes were of oblate shape and of three different aspect ratios. Each aspect ratio consisted of two dome shells, one made from two layers of glass fibre and one made from three layers of glass fibre. The theoretical analysis was via the finite element method where a non-linear theory was used which allowed for both geometrical and material non-linearity. Comparison between theory and experiment was good.