Journal of Sound and Vibration (1992) 152(1), 27-37

V I B R A T I O N ANALYSIS OF T H I C K C O M P O S I T E
CLAMPED C O N I C A L SHELLS OF V A R Y I N G THICKNESS
K. R. SIVADAS AND N. GANESAN
Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Madras 600 036, India
(Receioed 9 July 1990, and in reoisedform 22 Nooember 1990)
Thick shells made of composite materials have been analyzed by using a higher order
shell theory. In this theory thickness normal strain and two transverse strains are included.
A higher order three-noded isoparametric axisymmetric finite element is used to solve the
problem. Numerical experiments with the present element indicate that this element yields
accurate vibration results with very few elements. In the present study, the suitability of
different theories used for vibration studies has been investigated. Three theories are compared, viz. Love's first approximation shell theory, an improved theory with shear deformation and rotatory inertia, and a shell theory with thickness normal strain and shear
deformations. It is found that the shear deformations have an appreciable effect on the
vibration characteristics of comparatively thick shells, especially composite shells. A parametric study has been conducted to study the effects of various geometric properties of
shell on the free vibration characteristics of conical isotropic and composite shells. The
effect of mass distribution on the natural frequencies is also studied in the present work.

1. INTRODUCTION
Laminated shell structures are increasingly used in various fields such as chemical, mechanical, marine and especially aerospace applications, etc., as structural elements because of
their high specific properties. Many researchers have analyzed thin shell structures to
obtain their various characteristics. Bert and Francis [ 1] conducted a detailed literature
survey of the principal contributions in the field of structural mechanics of structures
containing composite materials. In their review, they discussed the various shell theories
used for composite shells.
For composite shells, the effects of shear deformation and rotatory inertia, in the case
of vibration, are comparatively large compared with those for isotropic shells. In recent
years, considerable attention has been paid to the development of appropriate shell theories
that can accurately predict the various characteristics. Many researchers have analyzed
thick shells of different configurations and levels of sophistication. Kapania [2] has presented a literature review of various research work in the field of thick laminated shells.
Circular cylindrical shells have been analyzed by many researchers, using higher order
theories. Some of the work reported is listed below. Hutchinson and E1-Azhari [3] analyzed
the vibration characteristics of thick isotropic shell using three-dimensional shell theory.
Park and Stanley [4] and Ahmad [5] analyzed thick shells using the finite element method.
Kant et al. [6] used a higher order theory of composite laminate to analyze the transient
behaviour, using the finite element method. It was found that in the composite laminate
their theory predicted more accurate results as compared with those of first order shear
deformation theories.
Composite circular cylindrical shells have been analyzed by many researchers [7-14],
but very few results are available for conical thick shells. Most of the work reported in
27
0022-460x/92/010027 + 11 $03.00/0
1992AcademicPress Limited

28

K. R

SIVADAS

AND

N. G A N E S A N

the field is for isotropic conical shells. Srinivasan and Hosur [15] and Takahashi et al. [16]
analyzed exactly the axisymmetric vibration characteristics of isotropic conical shells of
varying thickness using a first order shear deformation theory. Sun and Whitney [17]
analyzed axisymmetric vibration of shells with a quadratic shear deformation shell theory.
Ahmed [18] analyzed axisymmetric plane-strain vibrations of a thick shell. Takahashi et
al. [19, 20] analyzed the asymmetric vibration behaviour of an isotropic conical shell with
axially varying thickness.
In the present study the free vibration behaviour of thick conical shells of isotropic and
orthotropic materials has been analyzed. A comparison of three theories used for the
analysis of composite shells has been made to find to what extent a particular theory can
be used. The theories compared are thin shell theory (Love's first approximation shell
theory (Thin)), first order shear deformation shell theory (H5) and a quadratic shear
deformation shell theory with thickness normal strain (H7). A quadratic axisymmetric
isoparametric finite element has been used in the solution procedure. The 3-D problem
becomes 2-D after expressing the circumferential variable dependence in a Fourier series.
Numerical integration has been done to obtain the stiffness and mass matrices. To study
the effect of various parameters on the frequencies of the shell, a parametric study has
been made. The effect of thickness variation along the axial direction with a constraint on
the total mass of the shell for a particular length to small end radius ratio (p) on the
natural frequencies is also made.
To check the computational implementation, the present results are compared with
published values.

2. FORMULATION
There are many shell theories of different levels of sophistication. Most of the theories
retain one or more of the assumptions of Love's first approximation shell theory. There
are shell theories in which the assumptions of the vanishing of the transverse normal stress
and preservation of the normal element are abandoned. Marquez [21], Donnell [22] and
Kraus [23] have discussed the general shell theories. The theory which is used in the present
work (H7) is one proposed by Naghdi and discussed by Kraus [23].
To accommodate the thickness normal strain, the displacements in the slant length (s),
circumferential (0) and perpendicular to the reference surface (z) co-ordinate directions
are represented by
u(s, O, z) = Uo(S, 0 ) + zu'(s, 0 ),

v(s, O, z) = Vo(S, O) + zv'(s, 0),

w(s, O, z) = wo(s, 0 ) + zw'(s, 0 ) + (z2/2)w"(s, 0).

(1)

The general strain-displacement relations in linear elasticity in an orthogonal shell coordinate system have been given by Kraus [23]. Particularizing the strain-displacement
relations for the conical co-ordinates, i.e., the slant length (s), the circumferential direction
(0) and the direction perpendicular to the reference surface (outward) (z), and substituting
into them the displacement functions (1), one obtains
e, = OUo/OS+ z ~u'/~s,
1
[(~0Uo+U0sincp+~_]+z( ~ 3 v ' + u ' s i n
--|
z 2 w"]
l +z/R2
c~O r
R2:
c~O r
~ + R 2 / + Z R2A'

E O - - - -

Ez = W' -1- ZW",

29

F R E E VIBRATION O F T H I C K CONICAL SHELLS

Os

Os 1 +2/R2

O0

y,~ = OWo/OS+ z

O0

sin rp

Ow'/Os+ (z2/2) Ow"/Os+ u',

1
(~Ow+zOw'-tzZt~w"
YOZ-l+z/R~2
O0 r O0 2r O0

v I-v'),
R2

(2)

where r is the reference surface radius at any point, q~is the semi-vertex angle and R2 is
the radius of curvature.
The strain and kinetic energies are represented by the strain energy,

S.E. = [" ~'rD~ dV

(3)

J~

and kinetic energy,

K.E. = ~

p ga-g d V,

(4)

where
~T= { e,, e0, e~, r,0, r=,

rOz},

(5)

D are the three-dimensional elastic constants,

gr= {fi, b, ~},

(6)

and (') represents differentiation with respect to time.

To derive the shell theory without the thickness normal strain (improved), the displacement function (1) in the radial direction is modified to become w(x, O, z)= Wo(X, 0),
and by modifying equation (2) accordingly, one obtains the strain-displacement relations
corresponding to this theory (H5).
3. NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
A three-noded isoparametric semi-analytical finite element with 21 degrees of freedom
can be used to solve the problem. This element has been discussed by Weaver and Johnston
[24]. The co-ordinate in the slant length direction is represented by
3

s= E N~s,,

(7)

i~l

where the Ni are the shape functions, given by

N, = ( ~ z - ~ ) / 2 ,

N2= 1 - ~ 2,

N3= (~2+ ~)/2,

in which ~ is the isoparametric axial co-ordinate and s/is the nodal co-ordinate.
Similarly, one can represent the seven dependent variables uo, vo, Wo, u', v', w' and w"
in terms of shape functions and nodal quantities. Fourier expansions are used in the
circumferential direction.
The strain matrix {t} can be represented by
{I~}T = ~ l e ,

where qe is the displacement vector (nodal quantities).

(8)

30

K.R.

SIVADAS

AND

N. GANESAN

Substituting equation (8) in equation (3) yields the strain energy of an element as
1 T

S.E. = -'qeKe,qe,
where K~n is the stiffness matrix of the jth element, given by
Ken = f BXDB d V.
Similarly, upon substituting the displacement function in equation (6), the velocity vector
becomes
g = 09B'qe.

(9)

Upon substituting equation (9) in the kinetic energy expression (5), the kinetic energy
becomes
I

2 T

K.E. = ~o~ qeMenqe,

Men

pB'TB ' dV.

(10)

By combining all the element matrices one obtains the stiffness matrix Kn and the mass
matrix M, of the shell for a particular circumferential mode (n). Finally, solving the
eigenvalue problem K,q-o~ 2M,q = 0 yields the natural frequencies.
Linear variation of the thickness along the axial direction, symmetric about the midlength of the shell, is assumed and is represented by h = ho(1 +kJ2s'-11). With the total
mass of the shell considered constant, the shell thickness at s '= 1/2, where the minimum
thickness occurs, is given by h0 and is ho=hav(l + k / 2 ) ; here s'=s/l, k is the thickness
variation parameter and ha~ is the average thickness.
For the thin shell theory, the shells are analyzed by using a two-noded ring element with
eight degrees of freedom per element. The authors made a convergence study for the twonoded element and found that 15 elements will give a good convergence (which is not
presented), and hence 15 elements were used for the computation.
Clamped-clamped boundary conditions are used in the present analysis and are given
by u0 = v0 = w0 = u' = v' = w' = w" = 0 at s = 0 and 1.
4. CONVERGENCE STUDY AND COMPARISON
Results of a convergence study for the three-noded isoparametric ring element are shown
in Figure 1. The values of the thickness parameter h* (=a/h,,v) and semi-vertex angle ~0
used for this figure were 5 and 30 , respectively. Also here a is the reference surface radius
at the small end of the shell. It can be seen that convergence is obtained with very few
elements. In the present study five elements were used for computation. A comparison of
the frequency parameters, ~, (=~/p/E2 ko), is shown in Table 1. It is seen from the table
that the present results tally with reference values [ 15]. The first two frequencies converge
with four elements, with errors of 1.2% and 3-5%, respectively. For higher modes more
elements are required to obtain corresponding percentage errors.
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The dimensions and properties used are as follows: small end radius of the shell, 0.1 m;
isotropic material properties (steel): Young's modulus E, 2 101~ N/m2; Poisson ratio v
0.3 ; mass density p 7800 kg/m 3; orthotropic material properties: Youngs' modulus in fibre
direction E~, 1.4 10 ~ N / m 2; Youngs' modulus in transverse direction E2, 15 x 10~ N / m 2;

F R E E V I B R A T I O N OF T H I C K CONICAL SHELLS

31

I%

E
g a

u_

._ +.

Number of elements

Figure 1. Convergence study./J =2-924, h * = 10, ~o=20 . , m = 1; 17, m = 2 .

TABLE 1
Comparison of frequency parameters, ~ (n = O)
Mode

Present

Reference [ 15]

Error (%)

1
2
3
4
5

1"853
2"107
2"697
3.409
3"794

1.845
2"088
2"594
3"274
3"565

0"43
0.91
3"97
4.12
6"42

Youngs' modulus in thickness direction E3, 1.5 x 101 N/m2; shear moduli Gi2 = Gi3 = G23,
6 x 109 N/m2; Poisson ratios vl2 = Via = v23, 0.21 ; mass density 1600 k g / m 3. Here 1, 2 and
3 represent the properties in the directions of the fibre, transverse to the fibre and perpendicular to the surface of the shell. The results for constant thickness shells are presented in
Figures 2-5.
In Figure 2 is shown a comparison of different shell theories used for the prediction of
natural frequencies of isotropic and orthotropic shells when p= 30 and/~ = 1. In Figure
2(a) are shown the variations of the frequency parameters, ~., ofisotropic shells with respect
to the circumferential mode number, n, for different values of the thickness parameter, h*
(=a/h,,v) when m = 1 (first axial wave). In this figure Love's first approximation shell
theory (Thin), first order shear deformation theory (HS) and the theory with thickness
normal strain (H7) are compared. It can be seen that the effect of the thickness normal
strain is very small in the range of geometric parameters considered. In fact, the effect of
the thickness normal strain is to increase slightly the natural frequencies. But it is seen
that the differences in the values of the natural frequencies of shells obtained by using thin
shell theory and thick shell theories, respectively, are large for lower values of h*. When
h* = 5 and n = 9 the difference in natural frequencies observed is about 30% for the isotropic
shell. When h* increases, i.e., when the shell becomes thinner and thinner, then, as expected,
all the three shell theories predict more or less the same results.

32

K. R. SIVADAS A N D N. ( i A N E S A N

5I

(a)

II

(b)
13
o

D
o

13

3-

h*=

5~

8
Q}

ut

ol0

o /

, oo

0
3
Circumferentialmodenumber

Figure 2. Effect of h* on frequency parameters of conical shells; m = 1. (a) Isotropic; (b) orthotropic.
I-7, Thin; O, H5, H7.

In the case of orthotropic shells the nature of the variations of natural frequencies is
more or less the same as for isotropic shells. The corresponding variations are shown in
Figure 2(b). It can be seen that the effect of shear deformation is higher for composite
shells compared with that for isotropic shells. When n = 8 and h* = 5, the natural frequency
predicted by thin shell theory is almost 100% higher than that predicted by thick shell
theory. In the case of orthotropic shells, there is some difference due to shear deformation
when h* = 25; this indicates that the first approximation shell theory is not suitable for
calculating the various characteristics of shells having lower values of h* (h* < 25). For
orthotropic shells, also, the effect of thickness normal strain is very small.

2.0
2"5 f (b)

(a)

1.5

2'0[

= /

/.~= O"5 ~ , , , ~

e- 1.0
1-() ~

It.

0.5

0'5

,
o

I
s

Circumferentialmodenumber

Figure 3. Effect of p on frequency parameters of conical shells: m = 1. (a) Isotropic; (b) orthotropic.

In Figure 3 is shown the effect of the length parameter, p (=l/a) on the frequency
parameter, Z, of a CC conical shell of constant thickness when (p= 30 o and h* = 10. The
variations of the frequency parameters of isotropic shells are shown in Figure 3(a). It can

F R E E V I B R A T I O N O F T H I C K C O N I C A L SHELLS

33

be seen that when p = 0.5 the frequency parameter increases as n increases. When p > 0- 5
the frequency parameters decrease initially and later increase as n is increased. It can be
seen that the rate of variation of ;t increases as ~ increases. In Figure 3(b) are shown the
variations o f ;t o f an orthotropic shell with respect to n for different values of g when the
winding angle a = 0 . The variation of 2 with respect to n is more or less the same as
observed in the case of isotropic shells, except that the lowest value of ;t is higher for
orthotropic shells.

2"4

L.

2'0
o
o
o.

~ 1'6
U.

1.2
0

30
60
Semi-vertex angle, ~o(degrees)

90

Figure 4. Effect o f ~0 on frequency parameters of CC orthotropic conical shells; rn = 1, h* = 10, ~0= 30 .

Figure 4 is shown the effect of the semi-vertex angle, cp, on the frequency parameters of
CC conical shells when h* = 10. For all the values o f n the frequency parameter, Z, decreases
as increases. It is seen that the n at which the lowest natural frequency occurs shifts as
cp increases. It is assumed that the winding angle a is zero. A similar trend has been
observed in the case of isotropic shells (not presented).
In Figure 5 is shown the effect of the winding angle, ct, on the frequency parameters of
single layer (a) CC conical shells when h* = 10. For this case a semi-vertex angle of ~ =
30 has been assumed. When n > 6 and n = 0, the frequency parameter, Z, always increases
as a is increased. When n = 1 and 5 there is an increase and later a decrease as a is
increased. For all other values of n the frequency parameters decrease. A similar trend has
been observed for a three-layer symmetrical laminate (a/O/a) shell.
Many researchers have analyzed conical shells, but in most of these analyses thin shell
theory has been used. Some research work has been published which deals with thick
conical shells by using first order shear deformation theory, and with some typical cases
of variable thickness shell. According to the authors' knowledge, no published results are
available on the effect o f the mass distribution in the axial direction with a constraint on
the total mass for a particular value of/a. In the present paper, the authors have made an
attempt to study this effect for isotropic and orthotropic conical shells.
In Figures 6(a) and (b) are shown the normalized frequencies (o/c00), where co is the
frequency of the tapered shell and coo is the corresponding natural frequency of the average
thickness shell, o f a CC conical shell for different values of g. In this,/3 is the ratio of the
maximum thickness to the minimum thickness. There is a linear symmetric variation of
thickness along the axial direction with maximum thickness at the ends. A semi-vertex
angle of 30 is considered in this case.

34

SIVADAS AND

(IANESAN

5"2

n =9
~

Z4

0"81
0

I
30

I
90

60

Winding angle, a (degrees)

F i g u r e 5. E f f e c t o f a o n f r e q u e n c y p a r a m e t e r s o f single layer C C c o n i c a l shells; m = 1. h* = 10, q~= 3 0 .

The normalized frequencies of the shell when p = 0.5 and m = 1 are shown in Figure
6(a). The figure shows a decreasing trend in the normalized frequencies for all the values
o f fl as n is increased. When n < 4 the normalized frequencies are maximum: i.e., the
maximum increase in natural frequencies due to mass distribution is observed in this
region. The normalized frequency may fall below unity: i.e., the natural frequency o f the
tapered shell becomes less than that of the average thickness shell, for higher circumferential modes. It is seen that the normalized frequencies are higher for higher values o f ft.
For other values of #, the normalized frequencies increase initially and decrease later, and
eventually fall below unity as n is increased. In these cases the maximum values o f the
normalized frequencies occur at different values of n. When # = 1 and 2 they occur at n =
3, and when # = 5 they occur at n = 2. From Figure 6 one can see that the maximum values
of the normalized frequencies are lower for higher values o f p. It is also observed that the

"I

(o)
o

1-5 -

~=9

(b)
=

1-2

==
1":5
I

.O t

E
z

1.1

,
0

0.8

Circumferential m o d e number

F i g u r e 6. Effect o f fl o n n o r m a l i z e d

f r e q u e n c i e s ( i s o t r o p i c ) ; nz = 1, tp = 30 . (a) # = 0.5; (b) # = 2.

FREE VIBRATION

OF THICK CONICAL

SHELLS

35

1.0
(a)

(b)

1'3

0.9

1.1

o6

0"9

",
0

I
3

1
6

0.8
9

I
3

Circumferential

I
6

,
9

mode number

Figure 7. Effect of/~ on normalized frequencies (isotropic) ; m = 2, = 30 . (a) It = 0-5; (b) It = 2.

circumferential mode number n at which the normalized frequency falls below unity shifts
to lower values of n as/~ increases.
In Figures 7(a) and (b) are shown the normalized frequencies of CC isotropic conical
shell for different values of/~ when m = 2 and = 30 . In this case, the normalized frequencies decrease as n increases. For a short shell (p = 0.5) most of the normalized frequencies
are always higher than unity in the range of n considered. When /~ = 1 and n > 4 the
normalized frequencies are less than unity. When p = 2 and 5, all the normalized frequencies are less than unity except when p = 5 and n = 0.
1.5
(a)

(b)
1.5

1"4

1g

1.3

,~ 1.3
o

1.1

1.2

1-1

I
3

I
6

0"9
9

Circumferential

I
3

0
mode

Figure 8. Effect o f ~ on normalized frequencies (orthotropic);

I
6

number

m=

1, a = 0 , q~=30 . (a) It = 0 . 5 ; (b) It = 2 .

In Figures 8(a) and (b) are shown the normalized frequencies of a CC orthotropic
conical shell for different values of ~ and ~ when a = 0 and ~ = 30 . The trends of the
variations of the normalized frequencies are more or less the same as observed in the case
of isotropic shells, but the percentage increase in natural frequencies is slightly higher than
for isotropic shells. When rn = 2, the normalized frequencies are higher than in the isotropic
case. The corresponding variation is shown in Figure 9. In all the cases the percentage
variation of natural frequencies are higher for higher values of 8.

K R. S1VADAS AN[) N (;ANESAN

36
--- /3=9

(a)

(b)

1 3I

o
1-3

12

=1"1

N-

-g
N
"6
E

1"1

10

L'

5!3

iI
0'9

I
6

0"9[

i
9

L
0

Circumferential m o d e n u m b e r

Figure 9. Effect of fl on normalized frequencies (orthotropic): m=2, a =0 '~, (0=30. (a) p =0.5; (b) p =2.
6. CONCLUSIONS
A higher order shell theory for conical composite shells has been developed to analyze
the free vibration characteristics. The effect o f thickness shear is large for lower values of
the small end radius to thickness ratio, and is greater for orthotropic shells than for
isotropic shells. The lowest frequency o f the shell can be increased by distributing the mass
along the axial direction.

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FREE VIBRATION OF THICK CONICAL SHELLS

37

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