Vibrational behavior of exponentially graded joined conical-conical shells

This article is dedicated to predict the natural frequencies of joined conical shell structures made of Functionally Graded Material (FGM). The structure includes two conical segments. The equivalent material properties are found by using the rule of mixture based on Voigt model. In addition, three well-known patterns are employed for distribution of material properties throughout the thickness of the structure. The main objective of the present research is to propose a novel exponential pattern and obtain the related equivalent material properties. Furthermore, the Donnell type shell theory is used to obtain the governing equations of motion. Note that these equations are obtained by employing First-order Shear Deformation Theory (FSDT). In order to discretize the governing system of differential equations, well-known and efficient semi-analytical scheme, namely Generalized Differential Quadrature Method (GDQM), is utilized. Different boundary conditions are considered for various types of single and joined conical shell structures. Moreover, an applicable modification is considered for the continuity conditions at intersection position. In the first step, the proposed formulation is verified by solving some well-known benchmark problems. Besides, some new numerical examples are analyzed to show the accuracy and high capability of the suggested technique. Additionally, several geometric and material parameters are studied numerically.