DEFORMATION OF ORTHOTROPIC CYLINDRICAL-SHELLS WITH DISCONTINUITY IN THICKNESS SUBJECTED TO ASYMMETRIC LOADING

Orthotropic cylindrical shells with discontinuity in thickness and sub jected to asymmetric loading have been analyzed. A higher-order finite element based on thick shell theory is used for the analysis. The mat erial used is a glass/epoxy composite with 0 degrees and 90 degrees fi ber orientation with respect to the axial direction of the cylinder. T he loadings considered are a line load along the length of the cylinde r and a point load at the mid-section. Numerical results are presented for various end conditions and step-ratios in the thickness. The weig ht of the shell is kept constant for various step-ratios. It has been shown that a 90 degrees fiber orientation gives smaller deformations a nd stresses for asymmetric loading than a 0 degrees fiber orientation. The variation in the thickness reduces the maximum stresses up to a c ertain step-ratio for various end conditions presented in this paper.