Wave dispersion in deep multilayered doubly curved viscoelastic shells

This study is concerned with the dispersion of axisymmetric and asymmetric plane waves in viscoelastic cylindrical shells. The originality of the approach lies in the use of a refined laminated shell theory that allows one to satisfy exactly the boundary conditions for displacements and transverse shear stresses, while, at the same time, refinements of membrane and shear terms are considered. By comparison with previous theories, light is shed upon the advantage of using such a refined model to determine the dispersive behaviour of structures. The shell model is then applied to a viscoelastic cylinder, for which frequency and phase velocity spectra are presented. In order to point out the influence of viscoelasticity, especially as concerns phase velocities, comparison is made with the equivalent elastic case. (C) 1998 Academic Press.