Thin Floating Cylinders

Abstract

IN a letter to NATURE of February 18, 1897, I pointed out that a thin cylindrical floating shell was in equilibrium under the actions of its own weight and the external fluid load, the shell having its axis horizontal and just touching the surface or else completely submerged. The method was that of Rankine's conjugate load-areas, and building on this Dr. Thomson and myself made practical graphical solutions of the circular masonry arch; these were privately printed and circulated, and met with the approval, among others, of Prof. Perry, London, and Prof. Malverd Howe, America. In revising this matter for the new edition of our “Applied Mechanics,” I find that polygonal cylinders of uniform plates freely hinged at their edges and displacing their own weight of fluid and lying horizontally are also in equilibrium, provided the polygon be regular.