Three-dimensional free vibration analysis of cylindrical shells with continuous grading reinforcement

Three dimensional free vibrations analysis of functionally graded fiber reinforced cylindrical shell is presented, using differential quadrature method (DQM). The cylindrical shell is assumed to have continuous grading of fiber volume fraction in the radial direction. Suitable displacement functions are used to reduce the equilibrium equations to a set of coupled ordinary differential equations with variable coefficients, which can be solved by differential quadrature method to obtain natural frequencies. The main contribution of this work is presenting useful results for continuous grading of fiber reinforcement in the thickness direction of a cylindrical shell and comparison with similar discrete laminate composite ones. Results indicate that significant improvement is found in natural frequency of a functionally graded fiber reinforced cylinder due to the reduction in spatial mismatch of material properties and natural frequency