Large Deflection of a Fluid-Filled Spherical Shell Under a Point Load

Large deflection of a fluid-filled spherical shell under a concentrated load was studied analytically and experimentally. The analysis involves a strain energy approach based on thin shell theory for moderately large rotation. Load and fluid pressure from tests on rubber shells filled with water show good agreement with computed results for deflection as large as 60 percent of the radius of the shell. Deflection less than 20 percent of the radius is dominated by bending while larger deflection is governed mainly by stretching due to the displaced fluid.