Axisymmetric response of nonlinearly elastic cylindrical shells to dynamic axial loads

The axisymmetric response of nonlinearly elastic cylindrical shells subjected to dynamic axial loads is analysed by using an incremental formulation. The material elastic nonlinearity is modeled by the generalized Ramberg-Osgood representation. The time-dependent displacements of the shell are assumed to be governed by nonlinear equations of motion based on the von Karman-Donnell kinematic relations; moreover, both in-surface and out-of-surface inertia terms are included. The finite difference method with respect to the spatial coordinate and the Runge-Kutta method with respect to time are employed to derive a solution. Numerical results demonstrate the effect of the material nonlinearity on the deflections, stiffness matrices and dynamic buckling behavior of cylindrical shells.