Buckling, vibration and flutter of shells via a simplified analysis

An analytical-numerical model to study the nonlinear vibration and flutter behaviour of laminated circular cylindrical shells is presented. The model is based on Donnell-type shell equations, and can be used to investigate the influence of important parameters, such as geometric imperfections and static loading, on the nonlinear vibrations and on the flutter in axial supersonic flow. Starting point of the analytical-numerical approach are Donnell-type equations for a circular cylindrical shell, with the radial displacement and an Airy stress function as variables. The aerodynamic pressure is obtained from first-order piston theory. Characteristic results of the analyses are presented for specific isotropic and laminated shells in order to illustrate the capabilities of the computational modules developed.