Objectives   As a new type of pressure-resistant structure, the titanium alloy sandwich cylindrical shell has not yet been studied comprehensively. The topology of the core layer needs to be confirmed using the optimization method. This paper carries out the core topology optimization of titanium alloy pressure- resistant sandwich cylindrical shells.

  methods  An unreinforced cylindrical shell with high thickness is selected as the analysis object, and the axisymmetric element is used to calculate the structural stresses via ANSYS. The cylindrical shell is divided into the upper, middle and lower regions along the thickness direction. The structures of the middle region are set as the design variables, and a two-stage topology optimization mathematical model of its core structure is proposed. Based on Matlab, the main control program of the genetic algorithm is established to carry out the core layout optimization of the unreinforced cylindrical shell along the axial direction only and both the axial direction and radial direction respectively.

  results  The optimal core topological form consists of equidistant ribs connecting the inner shell and outer shell vertically.

  Conclusions  A sandwich cylindrical shell under hydrostatic pressure is a reasonable pressure-resistant structure.