Ritz method for the analysis of unstiffened laminated composite cylinders and cones under axial compression

This paper presents the application of the Ritz method for the analysis of laminated composite cylinders and cones using the Classical Laminated Plate Theory (CLPT) and the First-order Shear Deformation Theory (FSDT). The Donnell and an extended version of the Sander kinematic approximations are investigated for the CLPT. It is shown that the extended Sanders equations when applied with the CLPT increase the range of applicability of the CLPT in comparison with the Donnell kinematics. The developed models are suitable to obtain linear and non-linear responses of conical and cylindrical shells under displacement or load controlled axial compression and geometric imperfections. This paper demonstrates the investigation of static and buckling responses and the commercial finite element solver Abaqus was used to verify all the linear and non-linear results.

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