Traveling-wave vibration analysis of rotating composite laminated cylindrical shells with general elastic end restraints using a full layerwise theory

Rotating laminated shells are widely used in engineering structures, where their vibration behavior is jointly affected by material anisotropy, centrifugal stiffening, gyroscopic coupling, and boundary flexibility. For moderately thick and thick shells, these effects become more complicated and may not be captured accurately by equivalent single-layer models. Accordingly, this paper presents a semi-analytical formulation for the traveling-wave vibration analysis of rotating laminated cylindrical shells with general elastic end restraints based on a full layerwise shell theory and the boundary spring technique. The governing equations are derived from Hamilton’s principle, in which the Fourier series and one-dimensional finite elements are employed to discretize the circumferential displacement field and axial domain, respectively, while a mass-weighted modal assurance criterion is introduced to track the continuous modal branches under rotation. The validity of the proposed method is verified through convergence studies, comparison with experimental results, and benchmark solutions available in the literature. The results show that the present formulation can accurately capture the forward and backward traveling-wave branches, together with the associated frequency splitting and mode veering phenomena induced by rotation. The effects of elastic end restraints and stacking sequence on the traveling-wave vibration characteristics are further clarified. The proposed method provides an efficient and accurate tool for the vibration analysis of rotating laminated cylindrical shells under general elastic support conditions.