A simple first-order shear deformation shell theory for vibration analysis of composite laminated open cylindrical shells with general boundary conditions

Abstract This paper presents, for the first time, a simple first-order shear deformation shell theory (S-FSDST) for free and transient vibration analysis of composite laminated open cylindrical shells with general boundary conditions. By partitioning the radial displacement into bending and shear components, the present theory contains only four unknowns and can be regarded as an enhanced classical shell theory with the consideration of the effects of shear deformation and rotary inertia terms. The governing equations and appropriate boundary conditions are derived from Hamilton’s principle. To obtain natural frequencies and transient responses accurately, the method of reverberation ray matrix (MRRM) is employed based on the obtained exact closed-form solutions. The artificial spring technology is adopted to achieve the general boundary conditions. Accordingly, the scattering matrix is redefined in MRRM to make it suitable for different boundary cases. The excellent accuracy, reliability and efficiency of the present theory and approach are verified by examining the free and transient vibrations of composite laminated open cylindrical shells under various combinations of classical and non-classical boundary conditions. Meanwhile, a variety of new parameter studies regarding the influence of the boundary conditions, geometry parameters, lamina number, material properties and loading forms are performed in detail.