STATIC ANALYSIS OF MODERATELY-THICK FINITE ANTISYMMETRIC ANGLE-PLY CYLINDRICAL PANELS AND SHELLS

The analytical (exact in the limit) or strong (or differential) form of solutions to the benchmark problems of (i) axisymmetric angle-ply circular cylindrical panels of rectangular planform and (ii) circumferentially complete circular cylindrical shells, subjected to transverse load and with SS2-type simply-supported boundary conditions prescribed at the edges, are presented. The problems investigated, which were hitherto thought to be incapable of admitting analytical solutions, have been solved, utilizing a recently developed novel boundary-discontinuous double Fourier series approach, for three kinematic relations, which are extensions of those due to Sanders, Love and Donnell to the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT). Numerical results presented for two-layer square antisymmetric angle-ply panels, which demonstrate good convergence, and show the effects of fiber orientation and thickness on the static response of these panels, should serve as baseline solutions (in the context of FSDT) for future comparison with various approximate weak forms of solutions with either local (e.g. finite element methods) or global supports (e.g. Raleigh-Ritz, Galerkin).