Influence of thickness shear deformation on free vibrations of rectangular plates,cylindrical panels and cylinders of antisymmetric angle-ply construction

This paper is concerned with the influence of thickness shear deformation and rotatory inertia on the free vibrations of antisymmetric angle-ply laminated circular cylindrical panels. Two kinds of thickness shear deformable shell theories are considered. In the first one, uniformly distributed thickness shear strains through the shell thickness and, therefore, thickness shear correction factors are used. In the second theory a parabolic variation of thickness shear strains and stresses with zero values at the inner and outer shell surfaces is assumed. The analysis is mainly based on Love's approximations but, for purposes of comparison, Donnell's shallow shell approximations are also considered. For a simply supported panel, the equations of motion of the aforementioned theories, as well as of the corresponding classical theories, are solved by using Galerkin's method. For a family of graphite-epoxy angle-ply laminated plates and circular cylindrical panels, numerical results are obtained, compared and discussed and some interesting conclusions are made regarding the shell theories considered as well as the mathematical method employed.     

Errors in shell finite element models for the vibration of circular cylinders

Four commonly used shell theories, membrane, thin, thick and proportional theories, are compared with an accurate triangular torus cubic finite element method in their ability to predict the natural frequencies and mode shapes of infinite and free-free finite length solid and hollow circular cylinders. In the computation each shell theory is replaced by a finite element approximation which satisfies the same basic assumptions as the shell theory. Error curves are given for the first two axial-shear, torsional-shear and radial-stretch modes of infinite cylinders. Error contours are given for the first symmetric and first antisymmetric mode of cylinders for circumferential wave numbers n = 0, 1, 2.     

Self-consistent calculations for the electronic structure of a vacancy in copper. A solution of the embedding problem

The charge density and the local density of states for a vacancy in Cu and for the first shell of Cu neighbours are calculated by the KKR-Green's function technique. The muffin-tin potentials for the vacancy and the neighbour shell atoms are determined self-consistently in the local density approximation of density functional theory. By the use of the proper host Green's function the embedding of this cluster of 13 perturbed muffin-tins into the infinite array of bulk Cu muffin-tin potentials is described rigorously, thus representing a solution of the embedding problem. The calculations demonstrate a rather large charge transfer of 1.1 electrons from the first neighbour shell to the vacancy.     

On the free vibration of moderately thick spherical shell panel—A new exact closed-form procedure

A new exact closed-form procedure for free vibration analysis of moderately thick spherical shell panel is presented based on the first-order shear deformation theory. The strain-displacement relations of Donnell and Sanders theories are used to illustrate the procedure. The shell has two opposite edges simply supported (i.e., Lévy-type). Based on the present solution, the governing equations of the vibrated spherical shell panel were exactly solved by introducing the new auxiliary and potential functions as well as using the separation method of variables. The accuracy and superiority of the formulations are validated by comparing the results with those available in the literature and the 3D finite element analysis. The effects of various stretching-bending couplings on the frequency parameters are discussed. Finally, the validity and the range of applicability of the Sanders and Donnell shell theories are investigated.     

Free vibration of antisymmetric,angle-ply laminated plates including transverse shear deformation by the finite element method

A finite element formulation of the equations governing the laminated anisotropic plate theory of Yang, Norris and Stavsky, is presented. The theory is a generalization of Mindlin's theory for isotropic plates to laminated anisotropic plates and includes shear deformation and rotary inertia effects. Finite element solutions are presented for rectangular plates of antisymmetric angle-ply laminates whose material properties are typical of a highly anisotropic composite material. Two sets of material properties that are typical of high modulus fiber-reinforced composites are used to show the parametric effects of plate aspect ratio, length-to-thickness ratio, number of layers and lamination angle. The numerical results are compared with the closed form results of Bert and Chen. As a special case, numerical results are presented for thick isotropic plates, and are compared with those for 3-D linear elasticity theory and Mindlin's thick plate theory.     

A sector finite element for dynamic analysis of thick plates

A 24 degree of freedom sector finite element is developed for the static and dynamic analysis of thick circular plates. The element formulation is based on Reissner's thick plate theory. The convergence characteristic of the elements is first studied in a static example of an unsymmetrically loaded annular plate. The obvious advantageous effect of including the twist derivatives of deflection as degrees of freedom is shown. The elements are then used to analyze the natural frequencies of an annular plate with various ratios of inner to outer radius. The results are in good agreement with an alternative solution in which thick plate theory is used. The versatility of this finite element is finally demonstrated by performing free vibration analysis of an example of clamped sector plates with various thicknesses and different sectorial angles.     

DYNAMIC STABILITY OF CURVED PANELS WITH CUTOUTS

The parametric instability behaviour of curved panels with cutouts subjected to in-plane static and periodic compressive edge loadings are studied using finite element analysis. The first order shear deformation theory is used to model the curved panels, considering the effects of transverse shear deformation and rotary inertia. The theory used is the extension of dynamic, shear deformable theory according to Sanders' first approximation for doubly curved shells, which can be reduced to Love's and Donnell's theories by means of tracers. The effects of static and dynamic load factors, geometry, boundary conditions and the cutout parameters on the principal instability regions of curved panels with cutouts are studied in detail using Bolotin's method. Quantitative results are presented to show the effects of shell geometry and load parameters on the stability boundaries. Results for plates are also presented as special cases and are compared with those available in the literature.     

A comparison of some shell theories used for the dynamic analysis of cross-ply laminated circular cylindrical panels

The free vibration problem of thin elastic cross-ply laminated circular cylindrical panels is considered. For this problem, a theoretical unification as well as a numerical comparison of the thin shell theories most commonly used (in engineering applications) is presented. In more detail, the problem is formulated in such a way that by using some tracers, which have the form of Kronecker's deltas, the stress-strain relations, constitutive equations and equations of motion obtained produce, as special cases, the corresponding relations and equations of Donnell's, Love's, Sanders' and Flugge's theories. By using a closed form solution, obtained for simply supported panels, a comparison of corresponding numerical results obtained on the basis of all of the aforementioned shell theories is attempted.     

Two-dimensional analysis of natural frequencies and mode shapes of a wide beam: Application to the determination of mechanical characteristics of viscoelastic materials

The theory of plane elastodynamics is used to provide a simple method for calculating the natural frequencies and the normal mode shapes of a wide rectangular beam. The boundary conditions at both ends are prescribed in a mean-value sense. It is shown that the elementary (vibrating string) beam theory turns out to be an approximation of the theoretical model; the results obtained agree with those given by the Love theory. The method enables one to predict all frequency branches in terms of the width-to-length ratio, by comparatively simple calculations, in contrast to the situation when sufficiently elaborate one-dimensional theories are used. A second application is the determination of the complex Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio for viscoelastic materials.     

Shear and rotatory inertia effects on large amplitude vibration of skew plates

The large amplitude free flexural vibration of elastic, isotropic skew plates is investigated, the effects of transverse shear and rotatory inertia being included. By use of Galerkin's method and the extended Berger approximation, solutions are obtained on the basis of an assumed vibration mode. The non-linear period vs. amplitude behavior is of the hardening type and the non-linear period is found to increase when the effects of transverse shear and rotatory inertia are considered in the analysis. The influence of these effects on aspect ratios and skew angles of thin and moderately thick skew plates is investigated both at small and large amplitudes.     

Effects of large amplitude and transverse shear on vibrations of triangular plates

In this paper an analytical investigation of large amplitude free flexural vibrations of isotropic and orthotropic moderately thick triangular plates is carried out. The governing equations are expressed in terms of the lateral displacement, w, and the stress function, F, and are based on an improved non-linear vibration theory which accounts for the effects of transverse shear deformation and rotatory inertia. Solutions to the governing equations are obtained by using a single-mode approximation for w, Galerkin's method and a numerical integration procedure. Numerical results are presented in terms of variations of non-linear frequency ratios with amplitudes of vibrations. The effects of transverse shear, rotatory inertia, material properties, aspect ratios, and thickness parameters are studied and compared with available solutions wherever possible. Present results are in close agreement with those reported for thin plates. It is believed that all of the results reported here that are applicable for moderately thick plates are new and therefore, no comparison is possible.     

Shear and rotatory inertia effect on Beck's column

In this paper the influence of transverse shear deformation and rotatory inertia upon the flutter load of Beck's column with various support characteristics for a variety of slenderness ratios and cross-sectional shapes is presented. The analysis is based on Cowper's formulae for establishing Timoshenko's shear coefficient K'. From this investigation it is found that the inclusion of these parameters may have an appreciable destabilizing effect in the case of a fully fixed cantilever, and particularly in the case of a partially fixed cantilever with an attached mass at the support. This occurs especially in columns with low critical slenderness ratios and thin cross-sections. Moreover, it is noticed that the flutter frequency— for flutter loads obtained by coalescing either of the first and second or second and third flexural eigenfrequencies-never exceeds the precise value 11·01l… of Beck's column.     

Gravitational two-body problem—A source theory viewpoint

An analysis of the semirelativistic gravitational two-body problem based on Schwinger's source theory is given. Our treatment is purely classical but nongeometrical. Only the large distance behavior of the gravitational stress tensor is seen to be relevant for order G² contributions. For a gravitational stress tensor that has a pure Newtonian form, only the traceless choice is seen to be consistent with Einstein's theory. We find results in agreement with the earlier results of Einstein, Infeld, and Hoffmann, and Barker and O'Connell for spin-2 graviton exchanges between Dirac particles, and with Börner, Ehlers, and Rudolph for spin precession in theories with arbitrary post-Newtonian parameter γ. The source approach clearly displays the analogy between gravitational interactions and classical electrodynamics. We also discuss the general relationship between the periastron advance and spin-precession frequencies for a class of gravitation theories. Brief estimates of the various spin-precession effects are given for the Hulse-Taylor pulsar.     

On the shear coefficient in Timoshenko's beam theory

Some existing formulations for the shear coefficient in Timoshenko's beam theory are discussed, especially through evaluation of the accuracy to which natural frequencies of simply supported, prismatic, thin walled beams can be obtained. The main conclusion drawn is that if a consistent expression for the shear coefficient, such as those given by Cowper [1] or Stephen [2], is used in Timoshenko's beam theory, then very high accuracies can be expected for the natural frequencies, even for wavelengths of the same magnitude as the transverse dimension of the beam. It is noted that no reduction of the moment of inertia due to shear lag effects should be made as these effects are included in the consistent formulas for the shear coefficient. Finally, some apparently paradoxical results indicating that a reduction in shear stiffness occurs in rare cases if more material is added to a section are discussed and explained as resulting from the use of integrated rather than pointwise deflection measures in the derivation of consistent shear coefficient expressions. The results are discussed in the light of the importance of the shear stiffness of the hull girder in ship hull vibration analysis.     

Vibration and stability of an orthotropic plate

Using previously derived governing equations, this paper presents closed form solutions for the statics and dynamics of thick rectangular plates. A higher-order shear deformation theory is developed for the vibration and buckling of simply supported orthotropic plates. Present results based on higher-order theory are compared with the results of other theories. It can be concluded from the natural frequency results that the accuracy of the present theory is better than the other theories. In addition, the effects of various orthotropic parameters on the natural frequencies and buckling loads are studied.     

On the role of the shear term in jet noise

Increasing attention is being focused on Lilley's convected wave equation for the analysis of flow noise. It has the capability, not found in Lighthill's equation, of being able to deal with refraction. The other chief difference stems from the shift of a “source” term (shear noise) from the right-hand side of Lighthill's equation to the left-hand side to become a “propagation-amplification” term. It is argued herein, supported by comparative calculations according to theories of Mani and of Ri brier, that the alternative roles of the shear term have roughly equivalent effects on jet noise prediction outside the “refraction valley”. In either role certain mean flow “shrouding effects” are accounted for.     

On the energy-momentum tensor in gauge field theories

The energy-momentum tensor in spontaneously broken non-Abelian gauge field theories is studied. The motivation is to show that recent results on the finiteness and gauge independence of S-matrix elements in gauge theories extends to observable amplitudes for transitions in a gravitational field. Path integral methods and dimensional regularization are used throughout. Green's functions Γ_μν^(j)(q; p₁,…,p_j) involving the energy-momentum tensor and j particle fields are proved finite to all orders in perturbation theory to zero and first order in q, and finite to one loop order for general q. Amputated Green's functions of the energy momentum tensor are proved to be gauge independent on mass shell.     

Vibrational anomalies and marginal stability of glasses

The experimentally measured vibrational spectrum of glasses strongly deviates from that expected in Debye’s elasticity theory: The density of states deviates from Debye’s ω² law (“boson peak”), the sound velocity shows a negative dispersion in the boson-peak frequency regime, and there is a strong increase in the sound attenuation near the boson-peak frequency. A generalized elasticity theory is presented, based on the model assumption that the shear modulus of the disordered medium fluctuates randomly in space. The fluctuations are assumed to be uncorrelated and have a certain distribution (Gaussian or otherwise). Using field-theoretical techniques one is able to derive mean-field theories for the vibrational spectrum of a disordered system. The theory based on a Gaussian distribution uses a self-consistent Born approximation (SCBA),while the theory for non-Gaussian distributions is based on a coherent-potential approximation (CPA). Both approximate theories appear to be saddle-point approximations of effective replica field theories. The theory gives a satisfactory explanation of the vibrational anomalies in glasses. Excellent agreement of the SCBA theory with simulation data on a soft-sphere glass is reached. Since the SCBA is based on a Gaussian distribution of local shear moduli, including negative values, this theory describes a shear instability as a function of the variance of shear fluctuations. In the vicinity of this instability, a fractal frequency dependence of the density of states and the sound attenuation ∝ ω^1+a is predicted with a ? 1/2. Such a frequency dependence is indeed observed both in simulations and in experimental data. We argue that the observed frequency dependence stems from marginally stable regions in a glass and discuss these findings in terms of rigidity percolation.     

Radiative equilibrium in a rectangular enclosure bounded by gray walls

Two-dimensional temperature and heat flux distributions are calculated for an absorbing-emitting gray medium at radiative equilibrium in a rectangular enclosure. The bounding walls are gray and diffuse with arbitrary surface temperature distributions, and heat generation may take place inside the medium. As a first approximation, the problem is solved for optically thick systems (differential approximation). These results are subsequently improved by the introduction of a number of geometrical parameters to yield good accuracy for all optical thicknesses. As examples, two cases are discussed in detail: (1) uniform heat generation in a black enclosure and (2) an enclosure with one gray surface at constant temperature. Comparison with some numerical solutions generated by Hottel's zonal method shows excellent agreement.