Vibration Analysis of Ring Stiffened Cylindrical Shells with a Rectangular Cutout

The Rayleigh-Ritz method is used to investigate the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the ring stiffened cylindrical shells with a rectangular cutout. The cutout is located on the center of the shell. The Love's thin shell theory combined with the discrete stiffener theory is adopted to formulate the analytical model of the shell. The effect of stiffener eccentricity, number, and position on vibration characteristics of the shell is examined. Also the effect of cutout size is examined. By comparison with previously published analytical and new FEM results, it is shown that natural frequencies and mode shapes can be determined with adequate accuracy.