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Memorial Tributes Volume 19 (2015) / Chapter Skim
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WARNER T. KOITER
Pages 187-192

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From page 188...
... , was spent at the Technological University of Delft. Before becoming chair of Applied Mechanics there in 1949 he worked in several government research positions mainly related to aircraft development, including the National Aeronautical Research Institute (1936–1938)
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From page 189...
... , deserves telling.1 A strong tradition existed in structures and mechanics at Delft, personified by Koiter's thesis supervisor, Cornelis Benjamin Biezeno. In the first half of the 20th century, it had become clear that there was a major discrepancy between experimentally measured buckling loads for the elastic buckling of many shell structures and theoretical buckling predictions derived from shell theory.
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From page 190...
... The cylindrical shell under axial compression and the spherical shell under external pressure are the most imperfection-sensitive, with experientially measured loads that are typically as low as one fifth of the prediction for the perfect shell. Koiter carried out his thesis work in the dark period of World War II when the occupiers of the Netherlands did not permit publication in the country's native language.
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From page 191...
... Buckling phenomena are inherently nonlinear and in his thesis Koiter had addressed some of the unresolved issues of nonlinear shell theory. Because no single set of equations is capable of characterizing all nonlinear shell phenomena, a specific set of equations must be identified for a given class of problems (e.g., large strain membrane behavior versus finite amplitude bending and stretching)
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From page 192...
... , the French Academy of Sciences in 1981, and the Royal Society of London in 1982. In 1965 he was awarded the Theodore von Kármán Medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Key Terms

  • nonlinear shell
  • stability theory
  • elastic stability
  • shell structures
  • van der

  • applied mechanics
  • postbuckling behavior
  • solid mechanics
  • buckling predictions
  • royal society

  • elastic buckling
  • linear shell
  • der heijden
  • union manipulated
  • engineering division

  • leading expert
  • strain membrane
  • idealized geometries
  • buckling experiments
  • specific set

  • theory approximations
  • cornelis benjamin
  • national aeronautical
  • van campen
  • soviet invitees

  • elastisch evenwicht
  • warner tjardus
  • theoretical buckling
  • using perturbation
  • lead researcher


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