The vibration study of a sandwich conical shell with a saturated FGP core

This paper is provided to analyze the free vibration of a sandwich truncated conical shell with a saturated functionally graded porous (FGP) core and two same homogenous isotropic face sheets. The mechanical behavior of the saturated FGP is assumed based on Biot’s theory, the shell is modeled via the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT), and the governing equations and boundary conditions are derived utilizing Hamilton’s principle. Three different porosity distribution patterns are studied including one homogenous uniform distribution pattern and two non-homogenous symmetric ones. The porosity parameters in mentioned distribution patterns are regulated to make them the same in the shell’s mass. The equations of motion are solved exactly in the circumferential direction via proper sinusoidal and cosinusoidal functions, and a numerical solution is provided in the meridional direction utilizing the differential quadrature method (DQM). The precision of the model is approved and the influences of several parameters such as circumferential wave number, the thickness of the FGP core, porosity parameter, porosity distribution pattern, the compressibility of the pore fluid, and boundary conditions on the shell’s natural frequencies are investigated. It is shown that the highest natural frequencies usually can be achieved when the larger pores are located close to the shell’s middle surface and in each vibrational mode, there is a special value of the porosity parameter which leads to the lowest natural frequencies. It is deduced that in most cases, natural frequencies decrease by increasing the thickness of the FGP core. In addition, reducing the compressibility of the porefluid a small growth in the natural frequencies can be seen.