A simple and accurate solution for calculating stresses in conical shells

In this paper, new variable transformation formulas are introduced to solve the basic governing differential equations for conical shells. By performi ng magnitude order analysis and neglecting the quantities with h/R magnitud e order, the basic governing differential equations for conical shells are transformed into a second-order differential equation with complex constant coefficients. By solving this second-order differential equation, a simple and accurate solution for conical shells is derived. The present solution is simpler than the exact solution because it does not use Bessel's functio ns, and also more accurate than the equivalent cylinder solution. Numerical examples are given to illustrate this conclusion. The simple and accurate solution provides a quick means for analyzing stresses in conical shells. ( C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.