CROSS-PLIED CYLINDRICAL COMPOSITE SHELLS UNDER TRANSVERSE END LOAD

Analytical solutions for cross-plied composite shells under transverse end load are presented. Based on a Saint-Venant's semi-inverse method and the theory of cylindrically orthotropic elasticity, two connected partial differential equations are developed using Lekhnitskii's stre ss functions. Solutions are obtained using separation of variables and solved the governing equations sequentially. Special cases of a singl e transversely isotropic (0 degrees ply) shell, mu = 2 and/or xi = 3 o ccurring in a layer are also briefly derived for stress and displaceme nt response. To illustrate the fundamental nature of the problem, deta iled distributions of radial strain and stress for two layups, [90/0]( 2) and [0/90](2), with two different midradius to thickness ratios are discussed.