Hybrid integral transform and finite element methods for thermo-elastic analysis of thick cylindrical shells

This article introduces a novel mixed method that combines the fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and a conventional Finite Element Method (FEM) for investigating a thermo-mechanical problem with asymmetric loading. The elasto-static governing equations with the effect of thermal conductivity are derived using principle of virtual work in cylindrical coordinates. Plane strain assumption is considered for a long cylinder in the analysis. FFT is utilized in circumferential direction to discretize equations and related boundary conditions. FEM is then applied onto remaining equations. For convergence study, the results obtained from this method are compared with those of extracted from exact solutions. In thermo-elastic analysis of long cylinder, it is observed that the present method benefits from some features such as fast convergence and low computational cost.