STRUCTURAL SIMILITUDE FOR VIBRATION RESPONSE OF LAMINATED CYLINDRICAL-SHELLS WITH DOUBLE CURVATURE

In order to understand the applicability of scaled down models in desi gning laminated composite structures, an analytical investigation was undertaken to assess the feasibility of their use. Employment of simil itude theory to establish similarity among structural systems can save considerable expense and time, provided the proper scaling laws are f ound and validated. The developed methodology is demonstrated through application of similitude theory to laminated cylindrical shells. Part icular emphasis is placed on the case of free vibration of cross-ply l aminated cylindrical shells with double curvature. The results present ed herein indicate that, for free vibration responses of laminated cyl indrical shells of double curvature, based on structural similitude, a set of scaling laws can be found which are used to develop design rul es for designing small scale models. This analytical study indicates t hat distorted models with a different number of layers, geometries and material properties than those of the prototype can predict the behav ior of the prototype with good accuracy. However, it is shown that a s caled down model with distorted curvature is incapable of predicting t he response of the prototype. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.