Critical combinations of shear and direct axial stress for curved rectangular panels

A solution is presented for the problem of the buckling of curved rectangular panels subjected to combinded shear and direct axial stress. Charts giving theoretical critical combinations of shear and direct axial stress are presented for panels having five different length-width ratios. Because the actual critical compressive stress of rectangular panels having substantial curvature is known to be much lower than the theoretical value, a semi-empirical method of analysis of curved panels subjected to combined shear and direct axial stress is presented for use in design.