Linear and nonlinear vibration analysis of sandwich cylindrical shell with constrained viscoelastic core layer

Damping characteristics of three-layered sandwich cylindrical shell for thin and thick core viscoelastic layers are studied using semi-analytical finite element method. The finite element method is developed based on the linear and nonlinear variations of the displacement distribution through the thickness of the core layer. Transient vibration has been conducted using the developed linear and nonlinear models and shown that the nonlinear formulation exhibits more damping property than the linear model. The effect of geometric nonlinearity due to the large deformation of the shell has also been considered assuming small strain and moderate rotation. Different assumptions based on the continuity and discontinuity in transverse shear stresses and slope of in-plane displacements are considered in the finite element formulation and their effects have been investigated. Considering nonlinearity of eigenvalue problem due to the frequency dependent property of viscoelastic material, an efficient algorithm has been developed to find the natural frequencies and loss factors of the viscoelastic cylindrical shell considering large deformation. The effect of imperfect bonding between the layers has also been investigated in the modeling and it is shown that slippage between layers at the interfaces leads to reduction in loss factor at the majority of modes. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.