Large amplitude vibrations of circular cylindrical shells

By using a C-0 continuous, QUAD-4 shear flexible shell element, based on the field consistency principle, the non-linear free flexural vibrations of thin circular cylindrical shells have been studied. The formulation is general in the sense that it includes anisotropy, transverse shear deformation, in-plane and rotary inertia effects. Primarily, an attempt is made to clarify the existing controversies in the prediction of the non-linear behaviour of isotropic circular cylindrical shells through a finite element formulation with dynamic response analysis. The non-linear governing equations are solved by using a Wilson-theta numerical integration scheme with theta = 1.4. For each time step, modified Newton-Raphson iterations are employed to achieve equilibrium at the end of that time step. Detailed numerical results are presented for various parameters for the isotropic shell. The present study also brings out the participation of the axisymmetric contraction mode with the asymmetric mode. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited