Double orthogonal set of solution functions for cross-ply laminated shear flexible cylindrical/doubly curved panels

An alternate set of solution functions in the form of orthogonal double Fourier series to analyse boundary-value problems of shear flexible general anti-symmetric cross-ply laminated cylinder/doubly curved panels is presented. Two types of boundary conditions are considered, simply supported, and all-edge clamped. The shell deformation characteristics are defined by five highly coupled partial differential equations in second order, according to the shell theory laid by Sanders. The solution functions that define the displacement behaviour of the shell presented in the form of double Fourier series are considered of mixed type, in contrast to the one prescribed earlier by Chaudhuri and Kabir. Efficiencies in the form of convergence and computational time are observed in the present method with improvement in the solutions. The numerical results, thus presented for various parametric effects can be considered as valuable tools to check the numerical solutions obtained from approximate methods.