A three-dimensional layerwise-differential quadrature free vibration analysis of laminated cylindrical shells

A mixed layer-wise theory and differential quadrature (DQ) method (LW-DQ) for three-dimensional free vibration analysis of arbitrary laminated circular cylindrical shells is introduced. Using the layerwise theory in conjunction with the three-dimensional form of Hamilton's principle, the transversely discretized equations of motion and the related boundary conditions are obtained. Then, the DQ method is employed to discretize the resulting equations in the axial directions. The fast convergence behavior of the method is demonstrated and its accuracy is verified by comparing the results with those of other shell theories obtained using conventional methods and also with those of ANSYS software. In the case of arbitrary laminated shells with simply supported ends, the exact solution is developed for comparison purposes. It is shown that using few DQ grid points, converged accurate solutions are obtained. Less computational efforts of the proposed approach with respect to ANSYS software is shown. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.