EML Webinar overview: New developments in shell stability

Abstract The stability of structures continues to be scientifically fascinating and technically important. Shell buckling emerged as one of the most challenging nonlinear problems in mechanics in the middle of the last century when it was first intensively studied. The subject has returned to life motivated not only by structural applications but also by developments in the life sciences and in the field of soft materials. The challenge is that shell structures are susceptible to dramatic load-carrying reductions due to relatively small imperfections in their geometry. Imperfections must be factored into buckling load estimations. Recent work on spherical shells subject to external pressure will be used to illustrate some of the new developments in shell stability. Buckling mode localization, imperfection-sensitivity, energy barriers for stability, and probing to establish the stability landscape will be discussed. EML Webinar speakers and videos are updated at https://imechanica.org/node/24098 .