Composite Structures 62 (2003) 383–390

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Analysis of laminated conical shell structures

using higher order models
I.F. Pinto Correia a, C.M. Mota Soares b,*
, C.A. Mota Soares b, J. Herskovits c

a
Departamento de M
aquinas Mar
ıtimas, ENIDH, Pacßo d’Arcos, 2780-572 Oeiras, Portugal
b
Instituto de Engenharia Mec^anica, Instituto Superior T

ecnico (IDMEC/IST), Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
c
COPPE/UFRJ, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CP58503, CEP21945-970 Rio de Jeneiro, Brazil

Abstract
In this paper is presented a numerical method for the structural analysis of laminated conical shell panels using a quadrilateral
isoparametric finite element based on the higher order shear deformation theory. The displacement expressions used for the lon-
gitudinal and circumferential components of the displacement field are given by power series of the transversal coordinate and the
condition of zero stresses in the top and bottom surfaces of the shell is imposed. The shape functions used for the transversal
displacement are C1 conforming and the finite element is a conical/cylindrical panel with 8 nodes and 40 degrees of freedom. The
model presented performs static analysis with arbitrary boundary conditions and loads, as well eigenvalue problems (free vibration
and buckling). Illustrative examples are presented and discussed.

2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Finite elements; Conic panel; Laminated shells; Higher order models; Static; Free vibrations; Buckling

1. Introduction tion (HSDT) theories with imposed condition on van-

One of the most widely used shapes in the aerospace,
aeronautic and in general industries is the shell of rev-
olution either in curved panels or in conical frustum.
The advent of laminated composites with their specific
mechanical characteristics increased the demand for
numerical tools for the analyses of these structures with
high accuracy and to achieve efficient optimized designs.
Since the mid-1960 numerous dedicated numerical so-
lutions based in shell finite elements had been continu-
ously developed for the analysis of such structures, what
is clearly described in a comprehensive survey by Yang
et al. [1].
For thin isotropic shells it is well recognized that the
classical theory of thin shells, based in the Love–Kir-
chhoff hypotheses, as described by Kraus [2], constitutes
a good approach. For moderate thickness laminated
shells a first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is
enough to deal with the effects of transverse shear de-
formation and rotary inertia although shear correction
factors ought to be used. Higher order shear deforma-
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +351-21-8417455; fax: +351-21-
8417915.
E-mail address: cmmsoares@alfa.ist.utl.pt (C.M. Mota Soares).
0263-8223/$ - see front matter
2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2003.09.009
ishing of the surfaced shear stresses are needed for
laminated anisotropic shells and were first presented by
Reddy and Liu [3]. A common approach to deal with
axisymmetric shells with arbitrary applied loads is to use
Fourier series expansion for the components of the
displacement and loads with respect to the circumfer-
ential variable. By this way a two-dimension problem is
transformed in a set of uncoupled one-dimension
problems, which correspond to the harmonics of the
Fourier expansion. Combined with a criterious choose
of the appropriated finite element this method leads to
very efficient solutions as those presented by Sheinman
and Weissnam [4] and Mota Soares et al. [5]. Related to
axisymmetric shells, Pinto Correia et al. [6] used a semi-
analytic finite element solution based in a HSDT model
for the analysis of laminated anisotropic conical shells
using the equivalent single layer theory. When axisym-
metric geometry is no longer allowed by cutouts, cir-
cumferential changes in the material properties or
boundary conditions it becomes necessary to use a two-
dimensional analysis over the shell surface.
A much seen approach that is well described in Yang
et al. [1] consists in the use of a large number of plate
elements to model the shell geometry. Although the
simplicity inherent to plate element, this method has the
384 I.F. Pinto Correia et al. / Composite Structures 62 (2003) 383–390

disadvantage of arising erroneous bending moments in
the inter elements boundary due to the change of surface
orientation.
Bhimaraddi et al. [7] presented an isoparametric
quadrilateral shear deformable shell element for the
analysis of generally laminated shells of revolution. This
element has 12 nodes, the corner nodes have 8 degrees of
freedom (dof) and the edge nodes have 4 dof, to a total
of 64 dof for the element. Serendipity and Hermitian
shape functions are used for the in-plane and transversal
displacements respectively. The continuity of the trans-
versal displacements and its derivatives is assured and
the element is of the type C1 conforming finite element.
Bhaskar and Varadan [8] uses a refined model with a
higher order displacement field combined with a piece-
wise linear C0 continuous zig-zag function for the in-
plane displacements for the analysis of anisotropic
laminated shells of revolution. The finite element for-
mulation comprises an eight-node quadrilateral shell
element and only C0 continuity functions are used in the
generalized displacement field.
Kant and Kommineni [9] presented a model using a
higher order displacement field developing a nine-none
isoparametric quadrilateral bi-quadratic (Lagrangian
family) finite element for the analysis of linear and
geometrically non-linear problems in laminated shells.
Tighe and Palazotto [10] used a HSDT model with
imposed conditions of zero transverse shear stresses at
the upper and bottom faces of the shell applied to cy-
lindrical shell panels made of laminated composites.
From Hamilton’s Principle the equations of motion and
the associated boundary conditions are derived, which
are then solved using the Galerkin technique.
Palazotto and Dennis [11] developed a HSDT model
with imposed conditions of vanishing transverse shear
stresses at the shell’s surfaces for cylindrical panel lami-
nated shells. The quadrilateral finite element with 8
nodes and 36 dof uses as shape functions Lagrange
quadratic functions for the in-plane displacements and
rotations and Hermitian polynomials for the transverse
displacement. The element is C1 non-conforming be-
cause the continuity of the normal slope of the transverse
displacement is not assured between adjacent elements.
In the present work a quadrilateral isoparametric el-
ement is developed based in the appropriate strain dis-
transverse displacement are fulfilled between adjacent
elements. An equivalent single layer assumption is fol-
lowed to deal with the laminated structure of the shell.
2. Development of the model
A higher order shear deformation theory model
is used based on a generic displacement field given by
Tighe et al. [10], Palazotto and Denis [11]
8

> z 2
3

< uðs; h; z; tÞ ¼
1 þ Rs u0 þ zbs þ z u þ z bs
>
vðs; h; z; tÞ ¼ 1 þ Rzh v0 þ zbh þ z2 v
þ z3 b
h ð1Þ
>
>
:
wðs; h; tÞ ¼ w0
where u0 , v0 , w0 are displacements in the middle plane of
the laminate referred to the local axes, bs , bh are the
rotations of the normal to the middle plane, about the s
and h axes and t is the time variable. The displacement
field is defined as: d ¼ fu; v; wgt . The functions u
, v
, b
s ,
b
h are higher order terms in the Taylor series expansion,
also defined in the middle plane. All these functions
depend only of s, h and t and the values Rh , Rs are the
principal radius of curvature of the surface in the h and
s directions.
According to the Lagrangian formulation the strain
displacement relations are obtained by specializing the
general three-dimensional strain displacement relations
from the Green’s strain tensor expressed in arbitrary
orthogonal curvilinear coordinates as in Saada [12]. In
order to define the geometric scale factors and the cur-
vature radius it is necessary to use some concepts from
surface theory. The strain-displacement expressions are
then deduced for an arbitrary conical shell. For the
HSDT model and from the condition that the transverse
shear stresses vanish on the shell top and bottom surfaces
   
h h
chz s; h; z ¼  ; t ¼ csz s; h; z ¼  ; t ¼ 0 ð2Þ
2 2
it is possible to express functions u
, v
, b
s , b
h in terms of
u0 , v0 , bs and bh . Due to the complexity of the shell strain
displacement relations with a higher order displacement
field it was necessary to use a symbolic manipulator [13].
The displacement field takes then the following form:
8   
> uðs; h; z; tÞ ¼ u0 þ zbs  u z3 3h42 sin / ow þ bs
>
>
0

placement relations. A HSDT displacement field is used >

>   os
>
> sin /
with the imposed condition of zero transversal shear < vðs; h; z; tÞ ¼ v0 þz R v0 þ bh 
2 sin / 1 ow0 ð3Þ
stresses at the surfaces of the shell. For comparative > þ u z 3R R oh
þ b h
>
>  1 ow 
purposes a FSDT model with shear correction factors is >
> 3 4
 z 3h2 R oh þ bh
0

also developed and evaluated. The present HSDT ele- >

>
: wðs; h; tÞ ¼ w
0
ment has 8 nodes and 40 dof and the shape functions
used are Lagrange quadratic functions and Hermitian which in a more compact form is given by
polynomials respectively for the in-plane displacements 8 9
and rotations and for the transverse displacement. In this <u=
work the element is C1 conforming because the conti- d ¼ v ¼ R0 þ zR1 þ uðz2 R2 þ z3 R3 Þ ð4Þ
: ;
nuity of both the normal and the tangential slopes of the w
 I.F. Pinto Correia et al. / Composite Structures 62 (2003) 383–390 385

The type of the displacement field used is defined by the 4. Finite element formulation
value u ¼ 1 and 0 for HSDT and FSDT, respectively.
The linear strain-displacement relations for a generic The structural analysis is carried out using an iso-
conical geometry are represented by a power series of parametric finite element with conical panel geometry,
the transversal coordinate z as shown in Fig. 1.
8 9 8 0 9 8 j 9 The element has eight nodes, the corner nodes have
2
>
> ess >
> >
> ess >> >
> jss >> eight degrees of freedom fu0 ; v0 ; w0 ; ow 0 ow0 o w0
; os ; osoh ; bs ; bh g
>
> >
> >
> 0 >
> >
> j > >
oh
< ehh >
> < ehh >
= > = XN < jhh >
> = and the mid-side nodes have two degrees of freedom
e ¼ csh ¼ c0sh þ j
z jsh j
ð5Þ fu0 ; v0 g each, for a total of 40 degrees of freedom for the
>
> > > > j¼1 > >
>
>
> chz >
>
>
>
>
>
>
> c0hz >
>
>
>
>
>
>
> jjhz >
>
>
element.
: ; : 0 ; : j > ; The shape functions chosen are of C1 continuity
csz csz jsz
conforming which means that the inter element conti-
nuity of the transversal displacement w0 and of its
where if a HSDT displacement field is used N ¼ 4 and in 2
derivatives ow 0 ow0 o w0
, oh , osoh are fulfilled. The transversal dis-
the case of a FSDT displacement field N ¼ 2. Further os
placement within the element is given by
details in the deduction of expression (5) can be seen in
Pinto Correia et al. [6]. w0 ðn;gÞ
X  ow0j ow0j o2 w0j

¼ H2j1 w0j þ H2j þ H2jþ1 þ H2jþ2
j¼1;3;5;7
oh os osoh
3. Constitutive relations ð8Þ
Considering a shell made of layers of orthotropic whose expressions are deduced as
material, the fibers of the kth individual layer or ply are
nk gk 2 2
oriented at an angle ak in reference to the shell coordi- H2k1 ¼ ðn  2nk Þðn þ nk Þ ðg  2gk Þðg þ gk Þ
nate system. Therefore, the stresses and strains are 16
evaluated with respect to the shell coordinate system Ln
H2k ¼ gk ðn  nk Þðn þ nk Þ2 ðg  2gk Þðg þ gk Þ2
ðs; h; zÞ according to the rules of a second order tensor 32
ð9Þ
transformation, Reddy [14]. The constitutive relations Lg 2 2
H2kþ1 ¼ nk ðn  2nk Þðn þ nk Þ ðg  gk Þðg þ gk Þ
for that layer are given by 32
Ln Lg 2 2
b H2kþ2 ¼ ðn  nk Þðn þ nk Þ ðg  gk Þðg þ gk Þ
rk ¼ f rss rhh ssh gtk ¼ Qk e 64
t s ð6Þ
sk ¼ f shz ssz gk ¼ wQk c

where the strain vectors are: e ¼ f ess ehh csh gt and

b
c ¼ f chz csz gt . The matrices: Qk ¼ Qij ði; j ¼ 1; 2; 6Þ
s
and Qk¼ Qmn ðm; n ¼ 4; 5Þ are symmetric arrays of
transformed stiffnesses for the kth layer with respect to
the shell coordinate system ðs; h; zÞ, following a fourth
order tensor transformation,

Reddy [14]. The coeffi-
whz 0
cients w ¼ that appear in the transverse
0 wsz
shear stress expressions are the shear correction factors
given by Vinson and Sierakowski [15]. These coefficient
are only introduced if the FSDT displacement field is
used. Hence, considering the constitutive relationships
(6) and the strain displacement relations (5), the final
form for the stresses in the kth lamina for the in-plane
and transverse shear stresses are
( )
b X
N
0 j j
rk ¼ Qk e þ zj
j¼1
( ) ð7Þ
s X
N Fig. 1. Conical panel shaped element with eight nodes showing the
0
sk ¼ Qk w c þ zj jjs nodal displacement components and the local coordinate referential
j¼1 axes.
386 I.F. Pinto Correia et al. / Composite Structures 62 (2003) 383–390

where n and g are the element local coordinates, nk and The first order (linear) and second order (non-linear)
gk the nodes coordinates in the element local referential strain energies, the kinetic energy and the external load
(Fig. 1), Ln and Lg are the element length in the n and g work of an element are given by
directions and k ¼ 1, 3, 5 or 7 indicates the element Z Z
1 1 2 1
corner nodes. Ue ¼ t
e r dV ; Ue ¼ et r0 dV ;
2 V 2 V nl
For the in-plane displacement field displacements u0 Z Z
1
and v0 , quadratic serendipity shape functions Qi are used Te ¼ qd_ d_ dV ; Xe ¼ pd dA ð14Þ
[14] and for the rotations bs and bh linear Lagrange 2 V A

functions Li [14] are chosen. The shape function matrix where p represents the vector of the applied surface
with dimensions (5 · 40) is then defined as loads, enl and r0 are the non-linear strain and initial
stress vectors, respectively.
The total potential energy of the element is given by
Pe ¼ ðUe1 þ Ue2 Þ  Te  Xe ð15Þ
The governing equations of the element are then ob-
tained by using the Hamilton’s Principle in the total
potential energy equation (15), yielding the following
expressions for the stiffness, mass and geometric stiffness
ð10Þ matrices, which for an HSDT displacement field are
given by

Z þ1 Z þ1 
Ke ¼ Be t ABe þ Be t BB1B þ Be t DB2B þ Be t EB3B þ Be t FB4B þ B1B t BBe þ B1B t DB1B þ B1B t EB2B þ B1B t FB3B
1 1

þ B1B t GB4B þ B2B t DBe þ B2B t EB1B þ B2B t FB2B þ B2B t GB3B þ B2B t HB4B þ B3B t EBe þ B3B t FB1B þ B3B t GB2B þ B3B t HB3B
þ B3B t IB4B þ B4B t FBe þ B4B t GB1B þ B4B t HB2B þ B4B t IB3B þ B4B t JB4B þ Bes t As Bes þ Bes t Bs B1S þ Bes t Ds B2S þ Bes t Es B3S
þ Bes t F s B4S þ B1S t Bs Bes þ B1S t Ds B1S þ B1S t Es B2S þ B1S t F s B3S þ B1S t Gs B4S þ B2S t Ds Bes þ B2S t Es B1S þ B2S t F s B2S
þ B2S t Gs B3S þ B2S t H s B4S þ B3S t Es Bes þ B3S t F s B1S þ B3S t Gs B2S þ B3S t H s B3S þ B3S t I s B4S þ B4S t F s Bes þ B4S t Gs B1S

þ B4S t H s B2S þ B4S t I s B3S þ B4S t J s B4S Jl dn dg ð16Þ

where where
  
ow0 ow0 o2 w0
q¼ u0 ; v0 ; w0 ; ; ; ; bs ; bh ; ðu0 ; v0 Þiþ1 ðA; B; D; E; F ; G; H ; I; J Þ
oh os ohos i Z zk  
X NL
b z
i ¼ 1; 3; 5; 7 ð11Þ ¼ Qk ð1; z; z2 ; z3 ; z4 ; z5 ; z6 ; z7 ; z8 Þ 1 þ dz
k¼1 zk1 Rlam
is the vector with the degrees of freedom of the element.
The strain displacement relations can be arranged ð17Þ
in a matrix form in terms of the element degrees of ðAs ; Bs ; Ds ; Es ; F s ; Gs ; H s ; I s ; J s Þ
freedom as, for the in-plane strains Z zk  
! ! X NL
s z
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
XN XN ¼ Qk ð1; z; z ; z ; z ; z ; z ; z ; z Þ 1 þ dz
e ¼ Le þ j j
z LB Nq ¼ Be þ j j
z BB q ð12Þ k¼1 zk1 Rlam
j¼1 j¼1
ð18Þ
and also for the shear strains
The Jacobian is given by
! !
XN
j
X
N
j
c ¼ Les þ zj LS Nq ¼ Bes þ zj BS q ð13Þ Lg L

Jl ¼ Rlam ð19Þ
j¼1 j¼1 2 2
From the power of z arrangement of expressions (12) and Rlam is the mean radius of the layer.
and (13) substantial simplification arise in the definition The consistent mass matrix for an HSDT displace-
of the stiffness matrix. ment field is given by
 I.F. Pinto Correia et al. / Composite Structures 62 (2003) 383–390 387

Z þ1 Z þ1 Z þ1 Z Z þ1 Z þ1
þ1   Z þ1 Z þ1
M e ¼ I1 R0 t R0 Jl dn dg þ I2 R0 t R1 Jl dn dg þ R1 t R0 Jl dn dg þ I3 R0 t R2 Jl dn dg
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Z þ1 Z þ1 Z þ1 Z þ1   Z þ1 Z þ1 Z þ1 Z þ1
þ R1 t R1 Jl dn dg þ R2 t R0 Jl dn dg þ I4 R0 t R3 Jl dn dg þ R1 t R2 Jl dn dg
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Z þ1 Z þ1 Z þ1 Z þ1   Z þ1 Z þ1 Z þ1 Z þ1
t t
þ R2 R1 Jl dn dg þ R3 R0 Jl dn dg þ I5 R1 t R3 Jl dn dg þ R2 t R2 Jl dn dg
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Z þ1 Z þ1   Z þ1 Z þ1 Z þ1 Z þ1  Z þ1 Z þ1
þ R3 t R1 Jl dn dg þ I6 R2 t R3 Jl dn dg þ R3 t R2 Jl dn dg þ I7 R3 t R3 Jl dn dg
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
ð20Þ

where where matrix G with dimensions (18 · 5) is given by

NL Z
X zk  
z m
Im ¼ qk z 1 þ dz ð21Þ
k¼1 zk1 Rlam

In the expression of the second order strain energy, U2e , ð25Þ

the non-linear strain vector
nl can be arranged in a
power series of the z coordinate
8 9 8 9 8 j 9
> essnl > > e00ssnl > >
> essnl >>
>
> >
> >> 0 > > > j >
> >
>
> e >
> >
> e >
> >
> e >
>
< hhnl >
> = >< 0hhnl > = XM < hhnl >
> = The sub-matrices: Q (3 · 1), H (6 · 1) and L (3 · 1) are
enl ¼ cshnl ¼ c0shnl þ0 j
z cshnlj defined as
>
> >
> >> >
> >
> >
> 2 3
>
> chznl >
> >
> c 0 >
> j¼1 >
> c j >
> 1
>
> >
> > > > >
; > > > >
0hznl hznl
: : 0 ; : j >
> ; 2 3 6 oso 7 2 3
csznl c0sznl csznl 1 6 o 7 1
6 oh 7
6 7
X
M Q ¼ 4 oso 5; H ¼ 6 o2 7 and L ¼ 4 oso 5 ð26Þ
¼ e0nl þ zj ejnl ð22Þ o 6 os2 7 o
6 2 7
j¼1
oh
4 oho 2 5 oh

o2
osoh
when a HSDT displacement field is used M ¼ 7 and in
the case of a FSDT displacement field M ¼ 3. Expressing the non-linear strain displacement relations
The second order strain energy expression (14) can in terms of the nodal degrees of freedom, the second
then be factorized as in Moita et al. [16] and Pinto order strain energy, U2e , for an element is then given by
Correia et al. [6] 1
U2e ¼ qt Kre q ð27Þ
Z Z !t 2
1 1 X
M
U2e ¼ t 0
enl r dV ¼ e0nl þ zj ejnl r0 dV where Kre is the geometric stiffness matrix associated to
2 V 2 V j¼1 an initial stress state, given by
Z !
1 X
M
¼ e
nl t r0j e
nl dV ð23Þ Z Z
2 V
X
M 1 1
j¼0
Kre ¼ AGp N t Gt r0p GNJl dn dg ð28Þ
p¼0 1 1
This factorization is carried out in a such way that, in
the e
nl expressions, only linear terms appear in the dis- with
NL Z
X zk  
placement field functions and related derivatives in order z
to coordinates s and h. The initial stress vector r0 is now AGp ¼ p
z 1þ dz ð29Þ
k¼1 zk1 Rlam
represented by matrices r00 ; . . . ; r0M , which are defined by
the relations In the element stiffness, mass and geometric stiffness
matrices the integration over the z direction is performed
X
M X
M X
M analytically and the integration in the n, g directions is
epnl t r0 ¼ e
nl t r0p e
nl ¼ qt N t Gt r0p GNq ð24Þ carried out using numerical Gaussian quadrature [17]
p¼0 p¼0 p¼0 with a rule of 4 · 4 points. Following that, and taking in
388 I.F. Pinto Correia et al. / Composite Structures 62 (2003) 383–390

account the contribution of all elements in the domain Table 1

and introducing the boundary conditions in the appro- Radial displacements (in) of the point of application of the force P for
an isotropic pinched cylinder
priate nodal values, the equilibrium equations of the
system are obtained after performing the usual finite Mesh Palazotto and Dennis [11] Present work
element assembling techniques FSDT HSDT
4·9 0.1016 0.1015 0.1018
M d€ þ ðK þ KG Þd ¼ P ð30Þ 4 · 12 0.1078 0.1077 0.1080
4 · 15 0.1099 0.1097 0.1100
where: M, K and KG are the system mass, stiffness and 4 · 18 0.1108 0.1106 0.1109
geometric stiffness matrices, P is the system applied 4 · 21 0.1112 0.1110 0.1113
loads vector and d are the system degrees of freedom.

Palazotto and Dennis [11]. For the 4 · 21 mesh maxi-

5. Numerical applications
5.1. Isotropic pinched cylinder
In this example presented by Palazotto and Dennis
[11], an isotropic cylinder with R (radius) ¼ 4.953 in., L
(length) ¼ 10.35 in. and h (thickness) ¼ 0.094 in., is acted
by two self equilibrating point loads of magnitude
P ¼ 100 lbs. The material properties of the cylinder are
E ¼ 10:5  106 psi and m ¼ 0:3125. Because of symmetry
only one octant of the cylinder is discretized as indicated
in Fig. 2, the symmetry boundary conditions are given
by
ow0
x ¼ L=2 : u0 ¼ ¼ bs ¼ 0
os
ow0
h ¼ 0; p=2 : v0 ¼ ¼ bh ¼ 0
oh
A finite element model with 4  n panel elements of
equal size is used, where n is the number of actual di-
visions in the circumferential direction. Table 1, shows
the radial displacements of the point of application of
the force P obtained with HSDT and FSDT displace-
ment field models for various meshes. A good agreement
is found between the present model and the C1 non-
conforming element HSDT based model presented by
mum discrepancies of 0.18% and 0.09% are found for
the FSDT and HSDT models respectively.
5.2. Clamped conical panel with external pressure
A clamped conical panel made of a laminated with a
ply layout [90/0/90] as described by Bhaskar and
Varadan [8] is subjected to an external constant pres-
sure. The materials properties of the layers are as follow:
EL ¼ 2:0  1011 Pa, EL =ET ¼ 2, 10, 20 and 30, G12 ¼
G13 ¼ 0:5  ET , G23 ¼ 0:2  ET and m12 ¼ m13 ¼ m23 ¼
0:25. A 10 · 4 mesh is used to discretize one-half of the
panel. The central deflections are calculated for several
values of the ratio EL =ET using the developed model
with HSDT and FSDT displacement fields and results
are presented in Table 2. For comparative purposes re-
sults from Bhaskar and Varadan [8] are also shown. All
values are normalized as indicated in the previous work
3
by w ¼ 100 EpLT h4 w. As can be seen in Table 2 the results
from the present work are in fair agreement with those
presented by Bhaskar and Varadan [8] with a layerwise
based model. The results from the FDST based ap-
proach always shows lower values, which indicate a
stiffener model.
5.3. Laminated orthotropic pinched cylinder

A simply supported cross ply cylindrical shell, with

ply layout [90/0/90] and geometric relation L=R
(length/radius) ¼ 4 as presented by Bhaskar and Vara-
dan [18], is analyzed. The materials properties of the
layers are as follow: E1 =E2 ¼ 25, G12 =E2 ¼ 0:5,
G23 =E2 ¼ 0:2 and m12 ¼ m23 ¼ 0:25. Two diametrically

Table 2
Normalized central deflections w of a clamped [90/0/90] laminated
3
conical shell panel ðw ¼ 100 EpLT h4 wÞ
EL =ET Bhaskar and Varadan [8] Present work
N-HSDT FSDT HSDT FSDT
2 0.3646 0.3323 0.3701 0.3596
10 0.1270 0.1117 0.1286 0.1263
20 0.0751 0.0675 0.0780 0.0763
30 0.0538 0.0493 0.0571 0.0555
Fig. 2. Pinched cylinder showing the discretized panel.
 I.F. Pinto Correia et al. / Composite Structures 62 (2003) 383–390 389

Table 3
Normalized radial deflection of a the point of application of the force for a laminated orthotropic pinched cylinder (L=R ¼ 4)
R=h Layerwise solution Love–Kirchhoff Axisymmetric semi- Present work
[18] solution [18] analytic element [6] FSDT HSDT
25 · 25 30 · 40 40 · 40 25 · 25 30 · 40 40 · 40
10 1.00 – 1.01 0.89 0.98 0.99 0.90 0.98 0.98
20 1.00 – 1.00 0.87 0.95 0.96 0.89 0.96 1.01
50 1.00 0.93 0.99 0.84 0.93 0.94 0.86 0.94 0.96
100 1.00 0.97 0.98 0.83 0.93 0.94 0.84 0.94 0.96

opposite patch surface forces, with patch size Lp  hp , x ¼ 0; b : v 0 ¼ w 0 ¼ bh ¼ 0

where Lp ¼ L=25 and hp ¼ p=25 are applied at the mid- h ¼ 0; b=R : u0 ¼ w0 ¼ bs ¼ 0
dle of the cylinder.
In the finite element model only one quarter of the
Monotonically convergence is observed as can be seen in
cylinder is discretized and the boundary conditions
Table 4, where for the case of R=h ¼ 50 and b=h ¼ 30
considered are as follow:
the values of the first three frequencies are show to
x ¼ 0: u0 ¼ v0 ¼ w0 ¼ bs ¼ bh ¼ 0 converge very quickly with the refining meshes: 5 · 5,
10 · 10, 15 · 15 and 20 · 20. In Fig. 3, it is shown the
x ¼ L: v0 ¼ w0 ¼ bh ¼ 0
natural frequency for a simply supported shell panel
ow0 with ratio R=h ¼ 50 for discrete values of b=h. The val-
h ¼ 0; p=2 : v0 ¼ ¼ bh ¼ 0
oh ues calculated are in good agreement with those pre-
sented by Tighe and Palazotto [10] using a direct method
Three meshes (25 · 25, 40 · 30 and 40 · 40) are used for
solved with the Galerkin technique.
the panel element. In Table 3 it is shown the normalized
radial deflections results for R=h (radius/thickness) ¼ 10,
20, 50 and 100. The maximum radial deflections are
normalized with respect to an elasticity solution and Table 4
then compared with results from two models: a high Convergence of the fundamental frequencies with mesh refining for a
order layerwise theory and a Love–Kirchhoff based laminated cylindrical panel with R=h ¼ 50, b=h ¼ 30 and ply layout
[)45/45]S
theory, both presented by Bhaskar and Varadan [18].
For comparative purposes results obtained by Pinto Frequency Mesh
(rad s1 ) 5·5 10 · 10 15 · 15 20 · 20
Correia et al. [6] with a semi-analytic axisymmetric finite
element model are also shown. In that case the model f1 4041.8 4020.4 4016.6 4015.3
was discretized in a mesh of 40 ring elements of equal f2 4593.4 4408.4 4382.5 4375.0
length. A good agreement is found between both finite f3 6090.8 5935.4 5908.4 5900.1
element models (semi-analytic axisymmetric ring and
shell panel) and the alternative layerwise and Kirchhoff
models (for R=h P 50). A maximum discrepancy of 2%
and 4% (40 · 40 mesh) is found, respectively.
18
FSDT
5.4. Natural frequencies of a laminated cylindrical panel 16
HSDT
14 Tighe et al. [10]
The natural frequencies of a square cylindrical panel
12
shell as described by Tighe and Palazotto [10] are cal-
culated. The laminated panel has a ply layout given by 10
[)45/45]S . The panel geometric data is defined by 8
R=h ¼ 50 and the value of the ratio b=h varies between
6
10 and 40. The material used for the cylindrical com-
posite shell panel studied in this case is a graphite/epoxy 4
(AS 3501) with the following properties: E1 ¼ 144:79 2
GPa, E2 ¼ 9:65 GPa, G12 ¼ G23 ¼ 4:14 GPa, G23 ¼ 10 20 30 40
0:8  G12 , m12 ¼ 0:2 and q ¼ 1:522  103 kg m3 . For the Fig. 3. Natural frequencies in 103 rad s1 for a laminated cylindrical
boundary conditions the following simply supported panel with ply layout [)45/45]S , simply supported boundary condi-
impositions are made: tions and R=h ¼ 50 for discrete values of b=h.
390 I.F. Pinto Correia et al. / Composite Structures 62 (2003) 383–390
500.0
450.0
400.0
350.0
300.0
250.0
200.0
150.0
100.0
50.0
0.0
0º 15º 30º 45º 60º 75º 90º
Fig. 4. Variation of the critical buckling external pressure, in kPa,
versus ply angle for a ½h=  hs laminated clamped conical panel.
5.5. Critical buckling external pressure of a laminated
conic panel
The variation of the critical buckling external pres-
sure for a laminated conical shell panel with the ply
angle is analyzed. The conic panel is clamped at the
edges and the laminated has four layers with ply layout
½h=  hs . The shell is a conic panel with dimensions: L
(length) ¼ 2.0 m, RT (top radius) ¼ 2.0 m, RB (bottom
radius) ¼ 2.5 m, Dh (angular amplitude) ¼ 45 and h
(thickness) ¼ 0.01 m. The material used for the lami-
nated panel studied in this case is graphite/epoxy with
the following properties: E1 ¼ 128:0 GPa, E2 ¼ 11:0
GPa, G12 ¼ G13 ¼ 4:48 GPa, G23 ¼ 1:53 GPa, m12 ¼ 0:25
and q ¼ 1:5  103 kg m3 . In the finite element model a
10 · 10 mesh is used and convergence was easily ob-
tained in all studied cases. In Fig. 4 it is shown the
evaluation of the critical buckling external pressure for a
clamped laminated conical shell panel versus the ply
layout angle. A maximum value for the critical buckling
external pressure is observed for a ply layout of [75/
)75]S .
6. Conclusions
A cylindrical/conical panel shaped finite element
model, based in a higher order displacement field, has
been developed. The quadrilateral shell element has 8
nodes with a total of 40 degrees of freedom and uses C1
conforming shape function for the transversal displace-
ment. Since it has been imposed the vanishing of the
transverse shear stresses on the shell top and bottom
surfaces there is no need to use any shear correction
factors in the element stiffness matrix. The model is
suitable for conical shaped panels made of thick or thin
laminated shells with arbitrary boundary conditions and
loads. The convergence of the solutions obtained has
been proved in the results presented some of them in
comparison with other alternative solutions.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the financial support of
POCTI/FEDER/FCT and Projects: POCTI/P/EME/
12028/98/2001, POCTI/P/EME/37559/2001, FCT/GRI-
CES and CNPq (Brazil).
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