Abstract

A unified approach for the vibration analysis of curved or straight prismatic plates and bridges and axisymmetric shells using a finite strip method based in Reissner—Mindlin shell theory is presented. Details of obtaining all relevant strip matrices and vectors are given. It is also shown how the use of the simple linear two node strip with reduced integration leads to direct explicit forms of all relevant matrices. Examples of application which show the accuracy of the linear strip for free vibration analysis of structures are presented.