A Study of the Vibrations of Shallow Spherical Shells

Abstract

This paper presents a comparison of the theoretically and experimentally determined frequencies and zero displacement lines for the normal mode vibrations of shallow spherical shells. Results are given for the clamped-edge and the momentless-edge boundary conditions. Calculations of frequencies and loci of zero displacement components for various shell sizes were made on an IBM 650 computer for the rotationally symmetric vibrations only, as the theory is not available for the case of asymmetric vibrations. Experiments were performed to determine the vibration characteristics both for the symmetric and the asymmetric vibrations. Several model shells constructed of steel were used for the purpose.