Response of an orthotropic cylindrical shell to sudden heating

The parametric resonance of thin elastic orthotropic cylindrical shells in plane strain to suddenly developed uniform temperature is investigated. The shells are fabricated from laminated fiber-reinforced composite materials. The short-term analysis identifies the excitation of particular unstable modes. The long-term analysis shows that initially unstable circumferential flexural modes exchange energy with the circular mode in a cyclic manner. If the flexural motion is excited, the resulting displacements and stresses are substantially larger than the initial membrane values. The effects of temperature applied as a step function, shell geometry, number of layers, and fiber orientation are shown. (orig.)