Vibration of functionally graded cylindrical shells based on higher order shear deformation plate theory with ring support

In this paper, a study on the vibration of thin cylindrical shells with ring supports made of a functionally gradient material (FGM) composed of stainless steel and nickel is presented. The cylindrical shells have ring supports which are arbitrarily placed along the shell and which impose a zero lateral deflection. The study is carried out based on third order shear deformation shell theory (T.S.D.T). The objective is to study the natural frequencies, the influence of constituent volume fractions and the effects of configurations of the constituent materials on the frequencies. The properties are graded in the thickness direction according to the volume fraction power-law distribution. The analysis is carried out with strains-displacement relations from Love's shell theory. The governing equations are obtained using an energy functional with the Rayleigh-Ritz method. Results are presented on the frequency characteristics, influence of ring support position and the influence of boundary conditions. The present analysis is validated by comparing results with those available in the literature.