Free and Forced Nonlinear Dynamics of Composite Shell Structures

Natural frequencies and forced responses of thin laminated composite shells of general form are investigated using a high-order curved shell finite element. The effect of geo metric nonlinearity is included in the determination of the forced responses which are ob tained using Newmark's numerical integration scheme. A class of shell problems which are general with respect to geometry; boundary conditions; number, stacking sequence, and angle of orientation of the lamina; and load function can be solved using the present formulations. Numerical results and their comparisons with existing solutions are pre sented for cylindrical shells, shells of positive and negative Gaussian curvature, spherical caps, and shells of translation with different boundary conditions.