Technical brief: Knockdown factor for the buckling of spherical shells containing large-amplitude geometric defects

We explore the effect of precisely defined geometric imperfections on the buckling load of spherical shells under external pressure loading, using finite element analysis that was previously validated through precision experiments. Our numerical simulations focus on the limit of large amplitude defects and reveal a lower bound that depends solely on the shell radius to thickness ratio and the angular width of the defect. It is shown that, in the large amplitude limit, the buckling load depends on an single geometric parameter, even for shells of moderate radius to thickness ratio. Moreover, numerical results on the knockdown factor are fitted to an empirical, albeit general, functional form that may be used as robust design guideline for the critical buckling conditions of pressurized spherical shells.