Non-linear dynamic analysis of symmetric and antisymmetric cross-ply laminated orthotropic thin shells

In this paper, the governing equations for non-linear free vibration of truncated, thin, laminated, orthotropic conical shells using the theory of large deformations with the Karman-Donnell-type of kinematic nonlinearity are derived. Applying superposition principle and Galerkin's method, these equations are reduced to a time dependent non-linear differential equation. The frequency-amplitude relationship for the laminated orthotropic thin truncated conical shell is obtained using the method of weighted residuals. In the particular case, we can obtain the similar relationships for the single-layer and laminated orthotropic cylindrical shells, also. The influence played by geometrical parameters of the conical shell and physical parameters of the laminate (i.e. material properties, staking sequences and number of layers) on the non-linear vibration behavior of the conical shell is examined. It is noticed that the non-linear vibration of shells is highly dependent on laminate characteristics and, from these observations, it is concluded that specific configurations of laminates should be designed for each kind of application. Present results are compared with available data for special cases. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.