Experimental Bending Strength Of An Atlas Lv 3c Booster Beyond Compressive Skin Wrinkling

Three bending-strength tests were performed at Lewis Research Center, on a full-scale Atlas LV-3C booster to determine the bending strength available after the start of compressive wrinkling of the vehicle tank skin. Experimental data are compared with analytical predictions and show a good correlation. A description of these tests, The test results, and a method of analytically evaluating postwrinkling bending of thin-walled pressure-stabilized cylinders are presented.