Analysis of the buckling of long cylindrical shells embedded in an elastic medium using the energy method

Buckling of a long cylindrical shell, embedded in an elastic material and loaded by a far-field hydrostatic pressure, is reanalysed using the energy method together with a Rayleigh-Ritz trial function. For simplicity, linear elasticity theory is employed and inextensional buckling is assumed. An expression is derived relating the pressure load to the buckling mode number, from which the critical load can be determined. The solution is similar to that given by Forrestal and Herrmann using a more elaborate approach. However, the present solution predicts lower buckling load if Poisson's ratio of the surrounding medium is less than 0.5 and hence seems to provide better agreement with experiments.