Numerical finite difference modeling of cylindrical panels under Pasternak contact constraints

Resumo

This study examines the radial displacement of cylindrical panels in contact with a Pasternak elastic foundation. Permanent contact situation between the structure and the medium is considered, characterizing the contact problem as bilateral. Simply supported isotropic cylindrical panels are defined and subject to concentrated external loads, and the finite difference method is adopted to approximate the equilibrium differential equation derivatives. The cylindrical panel approach follows the Sanders theory. Thus, a computational tool is developed, using the Fortran programming language, to study this class of bilateral contact problem. The results analyze focus on: the panel radial displacements for different meshes when nodal points variation occurs in different directions; the influence of the cylindrical panel thickness; the stiffness offered by the two parameters base model; and the boundary condition influence.