Forced and post-forced responses of multi-stepped composite cylindrical shell under general moving excitations

•A MSCCS dynamic system including arbitrary geometric characteristic and general moving load distribution is developed.•The continuous moving problem of uniform load on the inhomogeneous coupling structures is improved and verified for the MRRM.•The periodic elimination behaviors of the post-forced vibration are revealed with the segment length distribution of the MSCCS.•Influences of thickness ratios, axial loading span and circumferential distribution under moving loads are determined. For the first time, this work presents a comprehensive analysis of the forced and post-forced vibration responses for the multi-stepped composite cylindrical shell (MSCCS) subjected to moving excitation with the general distribution. Based on the method of reverberation-ray matrix (MRRM) of the general connection conditions, the investigated structural system composed of several cylindrical shells having different lengths and thicknesses is modeled analytically by the inhomogeneous dynamic equations with introduced the continuous acting mechanism of the moving excitations precisely. In order to address the discontinuity problem of the moving excitation at the multi-stepped connections, a coupling technique involving the recombination of wave numbers and a matrix excitation coordinate transfer scheme is adopted. This approach allows for a flexible span of axial loading and arbitrary circumferential distribution. The verification results exhibit excellent accuracy for dealing with the transient responses under various moving excitations of the MSCCS. The novel parameters examples reveal that the post-forced vibration phenomenon can be eliminated within a certain parametric range instead of changing the load velocity. Furthermore, the thickness ratio, axial loading span and circumferential distribution also play an important role in the dynamic responses under moving excitations. [Display omitted]