Vibration analysis of cross-ply laminated composite cylindrical shells using the wave propagation approach

The wave propagation approach is extended to analyse the natural frequencies of cross-ply laminated composite cylindrical shells. Results obtained using the method have been evaluated against those available in the literature and good agreement has been found. With the present method the effects of shell parameters on the frequencies are investigated. The boundary conditions considered are clamped/clamped (CC), clamped/simply supported (CSS), simply supported/simply supported (SSSS) and clamped/sliding (CSL) conditions. The influences of boundary conditions can be seen to be more significant at small circumferential mode n than at large circumferential modes. There are transitions of fundamental frequencies from the n = 3 curve to the n = 2 curve with the h/R ratios. The differences of frequency between different E₁₁/E₂₂ ratios are significant at low circumferential modes but not so significant at large circumferential modes.