The paper illustrates the effect of boundary conditions on the buckling loads of closed toroidal shells. The buckling strength of closed toroids is dependent on the shape of the cross-section. This is exemplified by the inclusion of elliptical cross-sections, in addition to circular ones. Calculations show that peak bifurcation buckling pressure of a toroid with an elliptical cross-section can be several times larger than the bifurcation load of a corresponding toroid with the circular cross-section. Results are provided for both elastic and elastic-plastic cases. There seems to be no great sensitivity of buckling pressures to the initial eigenmode imperfections within the elastic range for the circular cross-sections. But the level of stresses in these imperfect toroids is such that the elastic-plastic analysis becomes necessary. It reveals that the buckling loads are sensitive to imperfections which are affine to the eigenmode. Eigenmode shape imperfections in elliptical cross-sections, on the other hand, severely reduce the elastic buckling pressures.

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