Catastrophic Failure in Defect-Sensitive Shells

What is the force needed to crush a soda can? Surprisingly, there is no straightforward answer. From everyday items like soda cans to critical applications in aerospace engineering, accurately estimating the buckling loads for shell structures is crucial. However, these systems are extremely defect-dependent, and classical linear analysis frequently overestimates the buckling loads of cylindrical shells, leading to catastrophic failures. To address this challenge, we have developed a fully nonlinear framework inspired by research in turbulent flows. We tested this by smashing hundreds of commercial soda cans, such as Coke and Beer, and capturing the stability of shells through lateral probing to measure their stability landscape. Our results introduce a practical, fully nonlinear paradigm for understanding the fundamental processes that lead to catastrophic failure in shells.