Dynamic stability analysis of composite laminated cylindrical shells via the mesh-free kp-Ritz method

In this paper, a novel numerical technique is developed for the dynamic stability analysis of composite laminated cylindrical shells under static and periodic axial forces. The mesh-free kernel particle (kp) estimate is employed in hybridized form with harmonic functions, to approximate the 2-D transverse displacement field. A system of Mathieu-Hill equations is obtained through the application of the Ritz minimization procedure to the energy expressions. The principal instability regions are then analyzed via Bolotin's first approximation. The mesh-free kp-Ritz method is validated through comparison with existing available numerical data taken from open literature. Effects of boundary conditions and lamination schemes on the instability regions are also examined in detail. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.