Cylindrical Shells

Abstract

Through the first two chapters, governing equations have been derived for shells of any geometry using a general curvilinear coordinate system. It is convenient now to specialize attention to cylindrical shells for perhaps three reasons: they are widely used, they are the simplest of all shell geometries, and because of this, they provide a vehicle to study the characteristic behavior of shells lucidly through obtaining solutions and introducing approximate solutions. This provides a significant contrast to the material of the first two chapters, but also results in a long chapter. However, the material presented and approaches taken are sufficiently general that they are useful for the study of all shell geometries, many of which are treated in subsequent chapters, as well as shells of all shapes composed of composite materials in Chapters 14 through 24.