Critical stress of ring-stiffened cylinders in torsion

A chart in terms of nondimensional parameters is presented for the theoretical critical stress in torsion of simply supported cylinders stiffened by identical equally spaced rings of zero torsional stiffness. The results are obtained by solving the equation of equilibrium by means of the Galerkin method. Comparison of the theoretical results with experimental results indicates that ring-stiffened cylinders buckle, on the average, at a buckling stress about 15 percent below the theoretical buckling stress. (author)