Free vibration analysis of functionally graded cylindrical shells including thermal effects

Free vibration analysis of simply supported FG cylindrical shells for four sets of in-plane boundary conditions is performed. The material properties are assumed to be temperature-dependant and gradually changed in the thickness direction of the shell. The effects of temperature rise are investigated by specifying arbitrary high temperature on the outer surface and the ambient temperature on the inner surface of the cylinder. Distribution of temperature across the shell thickness is found from steady state heat conduction only in the thickness direction. The equations of motion are based on Love's shell theory and the von Karman–Donnell-type of kinematic nonlinearity. The static analysis is first performed to determine the prestressed state induced by the thermal loadings, using the exact solution of the governing equations and then the equations of motion are solved by Galerkin's method. The results are obtained to indicate the effects of power law index on the natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes in the thermal environment.