On Vibrations of Shells of Revolution Using Bezier Polynomials

Abstract

A very computationally efficient numerical technique for the free vibration analysis of shells of revolution is presented in this study. The generic segment of the shell structure is given in the form of a circular arc which revolves around the vertical axis. Displacement fields in each segment are represented by quintic Bezier functions which are shown in this investigation to have very desired characteristics. Accurate values of the dimensionless frequency parameter were obtained using only two to four shell segments of spherical, cylindrical, and conical shells and compared favorably with the results from the open literature. Complicated-shaped rotationally symmetric shell structures described by a series of circular arc segments tangential to each other at the juncture, can be analyzed without any approximation in geometry.