Meshless Chebyshev RPIM Solution for Free Vibration of Rotating Cross-Ply Laminated Combined Cylindrical-Conical Shells in Thermal Environment

This paper provides a numerical solution to the vibration of a rotating cross-ply laminated combined conical-cylindrical shell in the thermal environment. Its numerical discrete solution method uses the meshless method. The combined shell assumed the temperature independence of material property is divided to the fundamental conical and cylindrical shell substructures, and the theoretical formulation for each substructure is derived based on the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and Hamilton’s principle. The effects of the initial hoop tension and temperature change are considered through the kinetic energy reflecting the effects of centrifugal and Coriolis forces and additional strain energy by the nonlinear part of the Green–Lagrange strains. The substructures are then assembled according to the continuity conditions. The boundary and continuity conditions are simulated by introducing artificial virtual spring technology. The displacement component in the theoretical formulation is approximated using a meshless Chebyshev-RPIM shape function. The reliability of the method is verified by comparing with mature and reliable results. The free vibration characteristics of the rotating combined conical-cylindrical shell structure under various sizes, speeds and temperatures are given by numerical examples.