Stability Problems in Missile Structures

A number of specific buckling problems relating to missile propellant tanks and transition sections are enumerated. In some cases approximate techniques used by missile designers to determine stability are mentioned. The inadequacies of these approximate methods and the
unavailability of appropriate usable information is stressed. Furthermore, the mathematical complexities of nonlinear buckling problems are considered. Some possibly fruitful areas of mathematics to simplify these complexities are discussed with the hope that research in
these areas will provide a batter means through which the analyst may supply the designer with more realistic and accurate theoretical data.