The Method of Successive Approximations in the Mathematical The-ory of Shallow Shells of Arbitrary Thickness

The method of sequential approximations (MSA) in mathematical theory (MT) of transversal-isotropic shallow shells of arbitrary thickness is developed. MT takes into account all components of stress-strain state (SSS). SSS and boundary conditions are considered to be functions of three varia-bles. Three-dimensional problems are reduced to two- dimensional decompositions of all the compo-nents of the SSS into series in the transverse coordinate using Legendre polynomials and using the Reisner variational principle. The boundary conditions for stresses on the front surfaces of the shell are fulfilled precisely. Previous studies have shown the high efficiency of this MT. The boundary-value problem for a shallow shell is reduced to sequences of two boundary-value problems for the respective plates. One sequence describes symmetric deformation relative to the median plane, and the other sequence is skew symmetric. MSA makes it easier to find a common solution of differential equations (DE) for shallow shells. Highly accurate results for SSS are already in the first approxi-mation. MSA can be used when solving problems for shallow shells by other theories