DYNAMIC-RESPONSE OF CANTILEVER CYLINDRICAL-SHELLS WITH DISCONTINUITY IN THICKNESS SUBJECTED TO AXISYMMETRICAL LOAD

Cylindrical shells with discontinuity in the thickness and subjected t o harmonic axisymmetric load are analyzed for a clamped-free end condi tion. The loadings considered are uniform internal pressure and circul ar ring load at the tip. The semi-analytical finite element method is used for the analysis. A thin shell finite element method is used for the analysis. A thin shell finite element with four degrees of freedom per node and two nodes per element is used. Three shell models are an alyzed for possible reduction of maximum displacement and maximum stre ss by choosing the discontinuity at different locations. Numerical res ults are presented for the first three modes and for various step-rati os in the thickness. The weight of the shell is kept constant for vari ous step-ratios. It is shown that the maximum displacement and maximum stress decreases for certain types of thickness variations.