THE MODAL DENSITY AND MODE COUNT OF THIN CYLINDERS AND CURVED PANELS

The modal density and mode count of the out-of-plane modes of a thin cylindrical shell or curved panel are expressed in terms of elliptic integrals. The modes are divided into two separate groups; type 1 modes are similar to the bending modes of a flat plate, while type 2 modes involve out-of-plane motion but in-plane elastic tractions. The mode count is tabulated for each type, allowing rapid calculation of the number of modes which are resonant within a given frequency band. The total out-of-plane modal density of a thin cylinder has previously been expressed in terms of an elliptic integral; the present work represents an extension of this result to the mode count and to the separate consideration of the two mode types. © 1994 Academic Press Limited.