Dynamics of cylindrical shells with variable curvature

Abstract The transfer matrix method is extended to the analysis of non-circular cylindrical panels. The exact solution for the transfer matrix of a panel with exponential curvature is obtained by solving exactly the variable coefficient differential equations of motion of the shell using a Laplace transform—difference equation technique. The results are compared with respect to accuracy and computer time with various approximate methods of computing the transfer matrix for the same panel. Natural frequencies and mode shapes for typical non-circular panels are computed and compared with a constant curvature panel to show the effects of variable curvature.