Having a restricted space or constrained mass for structural modification to aim design improvement, it can't be adequate utilizing a conventional structure design change such as adding a shiffner. In that situation, shape design through curvature change can be a preferable solution. The purpose of this study is examing the natural frequencies changes with respect to its curvature.
Theoretical solutions, which were derived by Soedel and Szechenyi, are carefully examined. A non-dimensional number, the ratio of curved panel's natural frequency to that of flat panel which has the same size of the curved one, are introduced, and the natural frequency sensitivity with respect to its curvature were studied using this non-dimensional number. The effect of varying length and thickness are also studied.
Based on the above result, optimization technique was applied to cylindrical dome and duct structures to get dynamically improved design.