Abstract
The nonlinear periodic response characteristics of symmetrically and nonsymmetrically excited oval cylindrical shells are investigated using the first order shear deformation theory based finite strip method. The periodic solutions of the governing second order equations of motion are obtained using the shooting technique coupled with Newmark time marching and the arc length continuation algorithm. The effect of ovality parameter and loading locations on the steady state frequency response and modal participation factors is studied. For circular shells (zeta = 0.0), travelling waves emanating at loading point but moving in opposite directions for certain range of forcing frequency are brought out. For the symmetrically excited oval shell with zeta = 0.6, due to 1:1 internal resonance between the AS/SS and SA/AA modes, a secondary branch with traveling wave response emanates from the primary one through a symmetry breaking bifurcation. For the nonsymmetrically excited oval shells (zeta = 0.6), either waves moving in anticlockwise direction or those originating near the major axis and moving in opposite directions in the top and bottom halves of the shell are observed for certain forcing frequency ranges.