Large-Amplitude Vibration Analysis of Shear Deformable Laminated Composite Cylindrical Shells with Initial Imperfections in Thermal Environments

Abstract

Large-amplitude vibration analysis for a shear deformable cross-ply laminated composite cylindrical shell of finite length in thermal environments is presented. The material of each layer of the shell is assumed to be linearly elastic and fiber reinforced. The motion equations are based on Reddy’s higher-order shear deformation shell theory with a von Kármán-Donnell–type of kinematic nonlinearity. The thermal effects and initial imperfections of the shell are both taken into account. A two-step perturbation technique is employed to determine the linear and nonlinear frequency of the laminated cylindrical shells. The numerical illustrations concern the nonlinear vibration behavior of laminated composite cylindrical shells with different values of geometric parameters and different cases of thermal environmental conditions. The results show that the shell has relatively lower natural frequencies when the temperature-dependent properties are taken into account. The results reveal that the temperature changes, initial imperfections of the shell, and the shell geometric parameter have significant effects on the nonlinear vibration behavior of laminated composite cylindrical shells.