A Study on Vibration Characteristics of Laminated Composite Cylindrical Shells : An Influence of Material Anisotropy and Geometric Parameters of Shells on Natural Frequencies

Laminated shells made of fiber-reinforced composite materials have been increasingly used in light weight structural applications. Many laminated composite shells among these applications are made by filament-wound forming. In this paper an influence of material anisotropy and geometric parameters on natural frequencies for laminated cylindrical shells for the case of simply supported is studied and discussed. The formulation is based on the Flugge-type and Donnell-type shell theories using the First Order Shear Deformation Theory (FSDT). The results are compared to those of the Classical Shell Theory (CST). The purpose of the present analysis is to show a guideline for the convenience of dynamic design in a wide variety design situations with a view point to selecting shell theory.