Abstract
Shell structures are indispensable in virtually every industry. However, in the design, analysis, fabrication, and maintenance of such structures, there are many pitfalls leading to various forms of disaster. The experience gained by engineers over some 200 years of disasters and brushes with disaster is expressed in the extensive archival literature, national codes, and procedural documentation found in larger companies. However, the advantage of the richness in the behavior of shells is that the way is always open for innovation. In this survey, we present a broad overview of the dynamic response of shell structures. The intention is to provide an understanding of the basic themes behind the detailed codes and stimulate, not restrict, positive innovation. Such understanding is also crucial for the correct computation of shell structures by any computer code. The physics dictates that the thin shell structure offers a challenge for analysis and computation. Shell response can be generally categorized by states of extension, inextensional bending, edge bending, and edge transverse shear. Simple estimates for the magnitudes of stress, deformation, and resonance in the extensional and inextensional states are provided by ring response. Several shell examples demonstrate the different states and combinations. For excitation frequency above the extensional resonance, such as in impact and acoustic excitation, a fine mesh is needed over the entire shell surface. For this range, modal and implicit methods are of limited value. The example of a sphere impacting a rigid surface shows that plastic unloading occurs continuously. Thus, there are no short cuts; the complete material behavior must be included.