Simplification of the derivation of influence coefficients for symmetric frusta of shells of revolution

Shell-of-revolution frusta that possess symmetry in a plane perpendicular to the axis of revolution of the shell are often encountered as parts of bigger shell assemblies, and these frusta can have a wide variety of possible midsurface geometries such as spherical, ellipsoidal, toroidal, parabolic or hyperbolic. This paper presents a new technique for the simplification of the derivation of the influence coefficients for symmetric frusta of shells of revolution. The key strategy is the reduction of the number of unknowns of the problem by decomposing a system of arbitrary shell-edge actions into symmetric and anti-symmetric components conforming to the equatorial symmetry of the configuration.