Perfect Cones Are as Weak as They Seem

October 3, 2023• Physics 16, s137

The early failure of thin-walled cones under compression was thought to arise mainly from the presence of imperfections. A new model suggests otherwise.  

Physicists simplify problems to make calculations easier, but doing so risks neglecting important physical properties, as illustrated by the fabled spherical cow in a vacuum, for example. For decades, oversimplification was thought to explain why thin-walled cones crumple under smaller loads than predicted by theory. Researchers suspected that the descrepancy might result from…