Static and vibration analysis of orthotropic toroidal shells of variable thickness by differential quadrature

In this study the static and free vibration characteristics of linear elastic orthotropic toroidal shells of variable thickness are considered. A solution based on the Sanders-Budiansky shell equations is developed. The semi-analytical differential quadrature method in which Fourier series are written in the circumferential direction is adopted. This approach reduces the computational work to a series of one-dimensional problems. A novelty in the solution concerns the use of power series as trial functions in a domain exhibiting cyclic periodicity. Using the developed theory numerical results are determined for two separate applications. The results obtained are compared with results from the finite element method, and conclusions are drawn. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.