A REFINED ASYMPTOTIC THEORY FOR DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF DOUBLY-CURVED LAMINATED SHELLS

The asymptotic theory developed recently for dynamic analysis of doubl y curved laminated shells is refined by including the transverse rotat ions as auxiliary variables. The theory embraces the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and the higher-order shear deformation theo ry (HSDT) as the first-order approximation. Higher-order corrections t o the approximation are determined by solving the FSDT or HSDT equatio ns in a hierarchic way. The secular terms in the asymptotic solution a re eliminated systematically by means of multiple scales and solvabili ty conditions for the higher-order equations. The performance of the r efined theory is illustrated by applying it to benchmark problems. Num erical comparisons are made to examine the convergence of the solution s. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.