Intersections in steel shell structures

Cylinders, cones, spheres and tori are some of the common basic shell elements. Steel shell structures such as silos, tanks, pressure vessels, offshore platforms, chimneys and tubular towers generally consist of two or more of these basic shell elements. Axisymmetric intersections featuring meridional slope mismatches between the connected elements are common features in steel shell structures. High bending and circumferential membrane stresses are developed in these intersections, and their buckling and collapse strengths are a key design consideration. This paper presents a summary of recent research on the stress, stability and strength of axisymmetric steel shell intersections. Particular attention is paid to intersections formed from cylindrical and conical segments as these are more common and have been more extensively researched. A simple approximate method for extrapolating the knowledge gained on these intersections to those containing curved shell segments is also suggested.