The vibration of a corrugated carbon fibre pressure vessel under external hydrostatic pressure

Abstract The paper presents a theoretical and an experimental investigation into the vibration of a corrugated carbon fibre cylinder in air and under external water pressure. The theoretical investigation was via the finite element method, where both the shell and the surrounding water were modelled with axisymmetric finite elements. In the case of the shell, the element allowed for orthotropicity and in the case of the water, the element was a solid element with an isoparametric cross-section. Good agreement was found between experiment and theory for both the vibration in air and the vibration under external water pressure. The results showed that as the external water pressure was increased, the resonant frequencies decreased. This appeared to agree with previous findings that a form of dynamic buckling could occur when the vibration eigenmode was the same form as the buckling eigenmode, in response to a periodic excitation force.