Exact characteristic equations for free vibrations of thin orthotropic circular cylindrical shells

This paper presents an analytical procedure and closed-form vibration solutions with analytically determined coefficients for orthotropic circular cylindrical shells having classical boundary conditions. This analysis is based upon the Donnell–Mushtari shell theory. This is the simplest thin shell theory and its results for the lowest frequencies of a closed cylinder may not be as accurate. It is known that the exact procedure is complicated for orthotropic shells and this complexity has apparently prevented most researchers from getting results. Using the separation of variables method, the closed-form natural frequencies are successfully obtained in this work. They are found in a compact form. Moreover, the characteristics of the eigenvalues are examined. The exact solutions are validated through numerical comparisons with available solutions in literatures and the semi-analytical differential quadrature finite element method (S-DQFEM) solutions calculated by the authors.

► We solved exact solutions for free vibrating thin orthotropic cylindrical shells.
► The exact solutions are found to be in compact and neat forms.
► The exact solutions are validated through comparisons with other solutions.
► The characteristics of the two largest eigenvalues are examined.
► The exact solutions are theoretically valuable and computationally efficient.