General solution of the overall bending of flexible circular ring shells with moderately slender ratio and applications to the bellows (IV)—Calculation for U-shaped bellows

Abstract

This is one of the applications of Part (I), in which the angular stiffness, and the corresponding stress distributions of U-shaped bellows were discussed. The bellows was divided into protruding sections, concave sections and ring plates for the calculation that the general solution (I) with its reduced form to ring plates were used respectively, but the continuity of the surface stresses and the meridian rotations at each joint of the sections were entirely satisfied. The resent results were compared with those of the slender ring shell solution proposed earlier by the authors, the standards of the Expansion Joint Manufacturers Association (EJMA), the experiment and the finite element method. It is shown that the governing equation and the general solution (I) are very effective.