The goal of this paper is to highlight promising methods in current thin metallic shell design practice and to define a future needs framework from which research can launch. Thin shell structural members are a staple in many industries - from aerospace, ship building, to offshore oil and gas to residential and commercial buildings. Shell types and geometries are numerous including ship hulls, silos, tanks, pipelines, chimneys and wind turbine towers. Despite large research investments there is still wide debate and uncertainty when designing thin shell structural members. Failure modes are complex and sensitive to initial geometric imperfections. The types of loadings vary widely- including axial, shear, flexure combined with internal or external pressure - making calculation-based methods challenging. Shell geometry - including longitudinal and transverse stiffeners and conical, tapered along a member - compound the complexity. This paper synthesizes these current approaches and organizes the most promising ideas into a framework for future research. A specific focus will be on research needed to expand current GMNIA (geometrically and materially nonlinear analysis with imperfections included) capabilities.
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