Buckling tests of three 4.6 meter diameter aluminum honeycomb sandwich conical shells loaded under external pressure

Three aluminum honeycomb sandwich conical shells with a 120 apex angle and a 4.6-m (15.0-ft) base diameter were loaded to failure by a uniform external pressure. The cones differed from one another only in the thickness of their respective face sheets. Test specimen details, test procedure, and test results are discussed. Both buckling and prebuckling data are compared with appropriate theoretical predictions, and good agreement was obtained between test and theory. Extensive imperfection measurements were made and reported on the three cones in the as fabricated condition.