A study on the free vibration of the joined cylindrical–spherical shell structures

The free vibration characteristics of the joined spherical–cylindrical shell with various boundary conditions are investigated. The boundary conditions considered herein are free–free, simply supported–free and clamped–free for the joined cylindrical–spherical shell structures. The Flügge shell theory and Rayleigh’s energy method are applied in order to analyze the free vibration characteristics of the joined shell structure and individual shell components. In the modal test, the I-DEAS test module is used to calculate mode shapes and natural frequencies of the joined shell structure. The natural frequencies and mode shapes are calculated numerically and they are compared with those of the FEM and modal test to confirm the reliability of the analytical solution. The effects of the shallowness of the spherical shell and length of the cylindrical shell to the free vibrational behavior of joined shell structure are investigated.