Proceedings of the ASME 2010 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences &

Computers and Information in Engineering Conference

IDETC/CIE 2010
August 15-18, 2010, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

DETC2010-28484

NONLINEAR VIBRATIONS OF CANTILEVER CIRCULAR CYLINDRICAL SHELLS

M. Amabili
Department of Mechanical Engineering
McGill University
817 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2K6
marco.amabili@mcgill.ca

ABSTRACT
Only experimental studies are available on large
amplitude vibrations of cantilever shells. In the present paper,
large-amplitude nonlinear vibrations of cantilever circular
cylindrical shell are investigated. Shells with perfect and
imperfect shape are studied. The Sanders-Koiter nonlinear
shell theory, which includes shear deformation, is used to
calculate the elastic strain energy. Shells displacement fields
(longitudinal, circumferential and radial) are expanded by
means of a double mixed series: harmonic functions for the
circumferential variable; Chebyshev polynomials for the
longitudinal variable. Boundary conditions are exactly
satisfied. The Lagrangian approach is applied to obtain a
system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The
nonlinear equations of motion are studied by using arclength
continuation method and bifurcation analysis. Numerical
responses in the spectral neighborhood of the lowest natural
frequency are obtained.

1. INTRODUCTION
Many efforts were made to study nonlinear vibrations of
cylindrical shells due to their wide application in aerospace,
mechanical and civil engineering. A great number of studies
on geometrically nonlinear vibrations of circular cylindrical

Ye. Kurylov
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale
Universit degli Studi di Parma
Viale Usberti, 181/A
43100 Parma, Italy
ars_met@mail.ru

shells is available (see the extensive review of Amabili and

Padoussis [1]). The problem is also broadly discussed by
Amabili in his recent monograph [2]. A good percentage of
them is addressed to large-amplitude free and forced vibrations
under radial harmonic excitation. In the majority of these
studies the Donnells nonlinear shallow-shell theory is used to
obtain the equations of motion; see e.g. references [3-12]. Only
a few used the more refined Sanders-Koiter (also referred as
Sanders) nonlinear shell theory [13-22] and the Flgge-LureByrne (also referred as modified Flgge) nonlinear shell theory
[23]. Mostly of these studies do not include geometric
imperfections and some of them use a single-mode
approximation to describe the shell dynamics.
The literature analysis shows also that in the past several
methods were developed for investigating: (i) linear vibrations
of complex shells; (ii) nonlinear vibrations of shells having
simple shape and boundary conditions. Therefore, a
contribution toward developing a general framework that
allows to study shells with different boundary conditions is
welcome. The present work is a contribution in such direction
and continuation of study, carried out recently [24].
Most of the studies address to vibrations of shells with
simply-supported and clamped-clamped boundary conditions,
while more complicated boundary conditions, as cantilever
(clamped-free) shells are still not investigated. In the past it
had been made some attempts of studies in this direction, but

Copyright 2010 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 11/08/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

all of them dedicated to linear response of cantilever shells

[25-27]. Till now the only available research on nonlinear
vibrations of cantilever shells is the experimental study
performed by Chiba [28].
In the present study, linear and nonlinear vibrations of
cantilever circular cylindrical shells are analyzed. Sanders
Koiter theory is considered for shell modeling; in this theory,
the shell deformation is described in terms of three
displacements fields; geometric nonlinearities due to large
amplitude of vibration are taken into account. Displacement
fields are expanded by means of a double mixed series:
harmonic functions for the circumferential variable;
Chebyshev polynomials for the longitudinal variable.
The Lagrange equations of motion are obtained by an
energy approach, retaining damping through Rayleighs
dissipation function. Boundary conditions for cantilever shells
are satisfied. Different expansions involving from 18 to 40
generalized coordinates, associated to natural modes are used.
The nonlinear equations of motion are studied by using a code
based on arclength continuation method that allows bifurcation
analysis.

2. STRAIN ENERGY
In Figure 1 a circular cylindrical shell having radius R,
length L and thickness h is represented; a cylindrical
coordinate system (O; x, r, ) is considered in order to take
advantage from the axial symmetry of the structure, the origin
of the reference system is located at the centre of one end of
the shell. In Figure 1 three displacement fields are represented:
axial u(x, , t), circumferential v(x, , t) and radial w(x, , t).
Geometric imperfections can be considered in the theory
by means of an initial radial displacement field w0(x, );
however, in the numerical results, only perfect shells are
considered.
x
v w
R

L
h

middle surface after deformation, no thickness stretching is

present (KirchhoffLove kinematic hypothesis); (v) rotary
inertia and shear deformations are neglected.
Strain components x , and x at the arbitrary point
of the shell are:
(1a)
x = x ,0 + z k x ,

= ,0 + z k ,

(1b)

(1c)
x = x ,0 + z k x ,
where z is the distance of the arbitrary point of the shell from
the middle surface.
According to Sanders-Koiter nonlinear shell theory, the middle
surface strain-displacement relationships and changes in the
curvature and torsion are obtained for a circular cylindrical
shell [29, 30]
2

x,0 =

u 1 w 1 v
u
w w0 ,
+

+
+
L 2 L 8 L R L L

,0 =

w0 w v
v
v
w 1 w v 1 u
+ +
+

R R 2 R R 8 R L R R R

(2a)

(2b)
x ,0

u
v
w w v w0 w v w w0
=
+
+
+
+

R L L R R L R R L R

(2c)
2w
kx = 2 2 ,
L
v
2w
k = 2 2 2 ,
R R

k x = 2

(2d)
(2e)

2w
1 v
u
+

3
LR 2 R L R

,
(2f)

longitudinal

where
= x / L is the nondimensional
coordinate.
The elastic strain energy US of a circular cylindrical shell,
neglecting z as stated by in Loves first approximation
assumptions, is given by [34]
2 1 h / 2
1
U S = LR ( x x + + x x ) d R (1 + z / R) d d z ,
2
0 0 h/ 2
(3)
where h is the shell thickness, R is the shell middle radius and
the stresses x, and x are related to the strain for
homogeneous and isotropic material ( z = 0 , case of plane
stress) by [34]

FIGURE 1. Circular cylindrical shell: coordinate system and

dimensions.
The SandersKoiter theory is based on Loves first
approximation: (i) h<<R; (ii) strains are small; (iii) transverse
normal stresses are small; and (iv) the normal to the
undeformed middle surface remains straight and normal to the

x =

E
( x + ) ,
1 2

(4a)

E
( + x ) ,
1 2

(4b)

x =

E
x ,
2 (1 + )

(4c)

Copyright 2010 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 11/08/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

where E is the Youngs modulus and is the Poissons ratio.

By using equations (1-3), the following expression is
obtained
US =

2 1

1 Eh
1 2

LR x2,0 + 2,0 + 2 x ,0 ,0 +
x ,0 d d
2 1 2
2

0 0
2 1

1 E h3
1 2

LR k x2 + k2 + 2 k x k +
k x d d
2 12 1 2
2

0 0

1
E h3
LR
2 6 R 1 2

(5)

2 1

x ,0

k x + ,0 k + x ,0 k + ,0 k x +

0 0

x ,0 k x d d + O(h 4 ),
2

where O(h4) is a higher-order term in h according to the

SandersKoiter theory. If this term is neglected, the righthand side of equation (5) can be easily interpreted: the first
term is the membrane (also referred as stretching) energy and
the second one is the bending energy. If the last term is
retained, membrane and bending energies are coupled.

direction is presented by harmonic functions, Chebyshev

polynomials are considered in the axial direction.
Let us now consider a modal vibration, i.e. a synchronous
motion:
u ( , , t ) = U ( , ) f (t ),
(10)
v( , , t ) = V ( , ) f (t ), ,

w( , , t ) = W ( , ) f (t ),
where U ( , ) , V ( , ) and W ( , ) represent a modal
shape.
Now the modal shape is expanded in a double series in terms
of Chebyshev polynomials Tm* ( ) and harmonic functions:
MU

m = 0 n= 0
MV

3. KINETIC ENERGY
The kinetic energy TS of a circular cylindrical shell, by
neglecting rotary inertia, is given by
2 1
1
(6)
TS = S h LR ( u& 2 + v& 2 + w& 2 ) d d ,
2
0 0
where S the mass density of the shell. In equation (6) the
overdot denotes a time derivative.
The virtual work W done by the external forces is written as
2 1

W = LR

(q

u + q v + qr w ) d d ,

(7)

0 0

where qx, q and qr are the distributed forces per unit area
acting in axial, circumferential and radial direction,
respectively.
In-plane forces and bending moments depend on the shell
strain; in the following, only relationships used in applying
boundary conditions are reported:
E h3
(8)
Mx =
( k x + k ) = 0 ,
12(1 2 )
Eh
(9)
Nx =
x ,0 + ,0 = 0 .
1 2

4. LINEAR VIBRATIONS. MODAL ANALYSIS

In order to carry out a linear vibration analysis, in the
present section, linear SandersKoiter theory is considered, i.e.
in equation (5), only quadratic terms are retained.
The best basis for expanding displacement fields is the
eigenfunction basis, but only for special boundary conditions
such basis can be found analytically; for clamped-free
boundary conditions eigenfunctions must be evaluated
numerically.
In order to attack the general problem of circular
cylindrical shell vibration, displacement fields are expanded by
means of a double series: deformation in the circumferential

U ( , ) = U% m ,nTm* ( ) cos n ,
N

V ( , ) = V%m ,nTm* ( )sin n ,

(11)

m = 0 n= 0
MW

W ( , ) = W%m ,nTm* ( ) cos n ,

m = 0 n= 0

where Tm* ( ) = Tm (2 1) and Tm () is the m-th order

Chebyshev polynomial. The transformation of coordinates
from to 2-1 is necessary since Chebyshev polynomials are
defined between 1 and 1, while Tm* ( ) has been introduced in
order to be defined between 0 and 1. In equations (11) Um,n,
Vm,n and Wm,n are unknown coefficients.
In absence of imperfections the linear mode has the following
simplified expression [40]:
MU

U ( , ) = U% m ,nTm* ( ) cos n ,
m =0
MV

(12)

V ( , ) = V%m ,nTm* ( )sin n ,

m =0

MW

W ( , ) = W%m ,nTm* ( ) cos n .

m =0

4.1 Boundary conditions

Boundary conditions are considered by applying
constraints to the free coefficients of expansions (11) or (12).
Some of the coefficients U% m ,n ,V%m ,n ,W% m ,n are obtained in order
to satisfy boundary conditions.
For the cantilever shell the following boundary conditions
are imposed for the mode shape [34]:
w
(13a)
=0
w=v=u =
for = 0
x
M
M x
N x = N x + x = M x = Qx +
=0
for = 1 (13b)
R
R
Which imply
MW

W ( , ) = W%m, nTm ( ) cos n = 0

*

for

=0

(14a)

m = 0 n =0

Copyright 2010 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 11/08/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

MV

V ( , ) = V%m ,nTm* ( ) sin n = 0

for

=0

(14b)

m= 0 n = 0

W ( , ) M N % Tm* ( )
= Wm ,n
( ) cos n = 0

m =0 n = 0
W

MU

U ( , ) = U% T ( ) cos n = 0
*
m,n m

for

for

U% m( j,n) , V%m( ,jn) ,W% m( ,jn) , which are components of the j-th eigenvector

=0

=0

of

MV

V%

T ( ) = 0,

*
m,n m

T ( ) = 0,

Tm* ( )
(15)
%
U
= 0,

m ,n

m =0
m=0
n = 0,1...
for = 0.
The linear algebraic system (15) is solved in terms of the
coefficients U% 0,n , V%0,n , W% 0,n , W%1,n , n = 0,1... ; which can be
obtained exactly in terms of remaining unknown coefficients.

W%m, nTm*, ( ) = 0,

the
vector
function
is the j-th eigenfunction

vector of the original problem.

Mode shapes are normalized by U (j) ( ) / max (U (j) ( ) ) ,

m=0

MW

and

(14d)

*
m ,n m

m =0

(18)

U ( ) = U ( ), V ( ), W ( )

m =0 n = 0

MW

equation

(14c)

In fact, since the Rayleigh-Ritz method is used to find the

solution, just geometric boundary condition has to be exactly
satisfied.
Such conditions are valid for any and n , therefore
equations (14a-d) are modified as follows:

W%

A modal shape corresponding to the j-th mode is given by

equations (11), where U% m ,n , V%m ,n , W% m ,n are substituted with

MU

(j)

(j)

(j)

(j)

V (j) ( ) / max V (j) ( ) and W (j) ( ) / max (W (j) ( ) ) for any .

5. NONLINEAR VIBRATIONS
In the nonlinear analysis, the full nonlinear expression of the
potential shell energy (5), containing terms up to fourth order,
is considered. Displacement fields u ( , , t ) , v ( , , t ) and
w( , , t ) are expanded by using the linear mode shapes
obtained in the previous linear analysis:
M

u ( , , t ) = U (j) ( ) u j,n,c (t ) cos(n ) + u j,n,s (t ) sin(n ) ,

j=1 n =0

v ( , , t ) = V (j) ( ) v j,n,c (t )sin(n ) + v j,n,s (t ) cos( n ) , (19)

j=1 n =0
M

w( , , t ) = W (j) ( ) wj,n,c (t ) cos(n ) + wj,n,s (t ) sin(n ) ,

j=1 n =0

4.2 Discretization
Equations (11) are inserted into the expressions of kinetic
and potential energy (for the linear system); then a set of
ordinary differential equations is obtained by using Lagrange
equations.
An intermediate step is the reordering of variables. A
vector q containing all variables is built depending on
boundary conditions [35]:
q = [U%1,0 , U% 2,0 ,..., U%1,1 ,U% 2,1 ,..., V%1,0 , V%2,0 ,..., V%1,1 ,V%2,1 ,...,
(16)
W%2,0 ,W%3,0 ,...,W%2,1 ,W%3,1 ,...] f (t )
The number of variables needed to describe a mode with

n nodal diameters is N p = M U + M V + M W 1 .
Lagrange equations for free vibrations are
d L L
= 0, i = 1, 2,..., N max ,

dt q&i qi

(17)

where L = Ts U s and N max = N p N .

Using (16) and assuming harmonic motion, f (t ) = e jt ,one
obtains
(18)
2 M + K q = 0 ,

which is the classical nonstandard eigenvalue problem; it gives

natural frequencies and mode shapes.

where the total number of degrees of freedom in the nonlinear

analysis is 2M N + M , which is generally much smaller
than Nmax used in the linear analysis. In equations (19) both sin
and cos mode shapes in are introduced since a circular
cylindrical shell is axisymmetric; therefore, both families of
modes are participating in the shell response.
Expansions (19) satisfy the boundary conditions and the
normalized mode shapes U (j) ( ) , V (j) ( ) , W (j) ( ) are known
functions, evaluated in the previous linear analysis, and are
expressed in terms of polynomials. In equation (19) the
generalized coordinates uj,n,c/s(t), vj,n,c/s(t), wj,n,c/s(t) are obviously
no more harmonic functions. Using expansion (19) one can
select suitable shapes for each displacement field separately,
improving convergence and reducing number of degrees of
freedom. It is interesting to note that, due to the normalization,
the generalized coordinates represent the maximum amplitude
of vibration since max (U (j) ( ) ) , max (V (j) ( ) ) and

max W (j) ( ) after normalization are one.

Expansion (19) is inserted in the expressions giving strain

and kinetic energies (5, 6).
Only a radial harmonic concentrated force is assumed to
act on the shell. The external radial distributed load qr applied

to the shell, due to the radial concentrated force f% , is given by

(20)
q = f% ( R R% ) ( x x% ) cos( t ) ,
r

Copyright 2010 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 11/08/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

where is the excitation frequency, t is the time, is the Dirac

delta function, f% gives the radial force amplitude positive in z

direction, x% and % give the axial and angular positions of the
point of application of the force, respectively; here, the point
excitation is assumed to be located at x% = L / 2 , % = 0 ; as a
consequence of this excitation, the generalized coordinates
with subscript c are directly excited (driven modes) and those
with subscript s are not directly excited (companion modes).
The following notation is introduced for brevity

p = {u j,n,c , u j,n,s , v j,n,c , v j,n,s , wj,n,c , wj,n,s } ,

T

(21)

j = 1, K M and n = 0, K N .

The generic element of the time-dependent vector p is

referred to as pi; the dimension of p is dofs, which is the
number of degrees of freedom used in the mode expansion.
The generalized forces Qj are obtained by differentiation of
the Rayleighs dissipation function and of the virtual work
done by external forces
F W .
(22)
+
Qi =
p& i pi
The Lagrange equations of motion for the fluid-filled shell
are
d T T U
(23)
+
= Qi ,

d t p& i pi pi

i = 1,K dofs , where T pi = 0 . These second-order

equations have very long expressions containing quadratic
and cubic nonlinear terms.
The very complicated term giving quadratic and cubic
nonlinearities can be written in the form
dofs
dofs
U dofs
= pk f k,i + p j pk f j,k,i + p j pk pl f j,k,l,i , (24)
pi k =1
j,k=1
j,k,l=1
where coefficients f have long expressions that include also
geometric imperfections.

5. NUMERICAL RESULTS
The set of ordinary nonlinear differential equations (23) is
studied by using numerical continuation methods and
bifurcation analysis.
The equations of motion have been obtained by using the
Mathematica 6 computer software [37] in order to perform
analytical surface integrals of trigonometric and Chebyshev
functions. The generic Lagrange equation j is divided by the
modal mass associated with q&&j and then is transformed in two
first-order equations. A non-dimensionalization of variables is
also performed for computational convenience: the frequencies
are non-dimensionalized dividing by the natural frequency of

the resonant mode and the vibration amplitudes are divided by

the shell thickness h. The resulting 2dofs equations are
studied by using the software AUTO 97 [38] for continuation
and bifurcation analysis of nonlinear ordinary differential
equations. The software AUTO 97 is capable of continuation of
the solution, bifurcation analysis and branch switching by
using arclength continuation and collocation methods. In
particular, the shell response under harmonic excitation has
been studied by using an analysis in two steps: (i) first the
excitation frequency has been fixed far enough from resonance
and the magnitude of the excitation has been used as
bifurcation parameter; the solution has been started at zero
force where the solution is the trivial undisturbed configuration
of the shell and has been continued up to reach the desired
force magnitude; (ii) when the desired magnitude of excitation
has been reached, the solution has been continued by using the
excitation frequency as bifurcation parameter.

5.1 Perfect Shell

A test case of a cantilever circular cylindrical shell when
W0=0 is analyzed. Calculations have been performed for a
shell having the following dimensions and material properties:
L = 0.48 m, R = 0.24 m, h = 0.254 mm, E = 4.65 109 Pa, =
1400 kg/m3 and = 0.38, which corresponds to a case studied
by Chiba [28]. The mode investigated is (m=1, n=7) which
has one longitudinal half-wave and 6 circumferential waves.
Chebyshev polynomials of 15th power were used to obtain
mode shapes of the problem (linear vibration study).
Calculations showed that first and third axisymmetric modes
are torsional, which completely complies with results obtained
with finite element method using ANSYS software. All other
axisymmetric modes are radial prevalent, or mixed radialaxial. To simplify the notations in further discussion indexing
of axisymmetric modes do not contain torsional modes, since
they are not used. Test calculations showed that among
asymmetric modes the most important are modes with
numbers (1,n), (1,2n), (3,n) and (3,2n). So these modes were
taken as a base for further calculations for all u, v and w. The
response of the system (without participation of companion
modes) was obtained using the following model containing 18
generalized coordinates:
w: (1,n), (1,2n), (3,n), (3,2n), (1,0), (2,0), (3,0)
u: (1,n), (1,2n), (3,n), (3,2n), (1,0), (2,0), (3,0)
v: (1,n), (1,2n), (3,n), (3,2n).

f1,7

(25)

The amplitude of the external modal excitation is

= 0.0012h2 2 . The linear circular frequency is

1,7 = 2 28.3 rad/s.

With each step of investigation number of axisymmetric
modes in (25) was increased by adding next mode for both u
and w to see the convergence of solution. Models up to 40

Copyright 2010 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 11/08/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

1.2

degrees of freedom were studied. Figure 2 shows the

frequency-response curve (computed by using the models from
18 to 40 degrees of freedom) of the principal mode w1,7,c:

1.0

1.0

w 1 ,n ,ch

0.8

w 1 ,n ,c h

0.8

0.6

0.6

0.4

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.0
0.97

0.98

0.99

1.00

1.01

1.02

1.03

w w1 ,n
0.0
0.95

1.00

1.05

1.10

w w1 ,n
FIGURE 2. Frequency-response curve with companion modes
participation. Comparison of models with 18, 20, 22, 24, 26,
28, 30 and 40 dofs.
In Figure 2 every model with a larger number of axisymmetric
modes gives less hardening result. But adding more dofs
increases the computational time. Considering the fact that
the most significant axisymmetric mode for compensation of
breathing of shell is a mode which have a shape of first
asymmetric mode, and also the fact that axisymmetric modes,
obtained for cantilever shell in Section 4.2 do not contain a
mode with such shape and only converge with increase of
number of dofs, authors introduce a kind of artificial
axisymmetric modes. Shapes of such modes are naturally
shapes of asymmetric modes with the same number of
longitudinal half-waves, i.e. mode (1,0) is presented by mode
shape of (1,n), (2,0) of (2,n), etc.
The response of the system (without participation of
companion modes) was obtained using the following model
containing 22 generalized coordinates, including first five
artificial axisymmetric modes:
w: (1,n), (1,2n), (3,n), (3,2n), (1,0)-(5,0)
u: (1,n), (1,2n), (3,n), (3,2n), (1,0)-(5,0)
(25)
v: (1,n), (1,2n), (3,n), (3,2n).
Figure 3 shows comparison of such model with artificial
axisymmetric modes and model with 40 dofs presented in the
previous figure:

FIGURE 3. Comparison of model with artificial

axisymmetric modes, 22 dofs (dotted line) and model with
natural axisymmetric modes, 40 dofs (solid line).

5.1 Shell with imperfections

In order to clarify the difference of response obtained in
the previous section with only nonlinear results, available in
literature (experiment by Chiba, [28]) it is natural to suppose
that experimental shell could have some imperfections.
Calculations have been performed for the same shell as in
Section 5.1 and [28].
Procedures of obtaining modes of vibrations and nonlinear
equations are similar to the case of shell with perfect shape,
but in equations (2) imperfection is different from zero:
(26)
w0 = imp W (1) cos (7 ) ,
where imp is amplitude of imperfection, W(1) is known function
of principal mode shape.
Model (25) with artificial axisymmetric modes is used.
Two test cases with imperfections are studied: amplitude of
imperfection equal to thickness of the shell and equal to two
thicknesses.

Copyright 2010 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 11/08/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

1.2

vibrations and dynamics of circular cylindrical shells and

panels, with and without fluid-structure interaction.

1.0

[2] M. Amabili, 2008. Nonlinear Vibrations and Stability of

Shells and Plates. Cambridge University Press, New York,
USA.

w 1 ,n ,c h

0.8

[3] D. A. Evensen, 1967. Nonlinear flexural vibrations of

thin-walled circular cylinders. NASA TN D-4090.
[4] E. H. Dowell and C. S. Ventres, 1968. International
Journal of Solids and Structures 4, 975-991. Modal equations
for the nonlinear flexural vibrations of a cylindrical shell.

0.6

0.4

[5] J. C. Chen and C. D. Babcock, 1975. AIAA Journal 13,

868-876. Nonlinear vibration of cylindrical shells.
0.2

0.0
0.92

0.94

0.96

0.98

1.00

1.02

w w1 ,n
FIGURE 4. Frequency-response curve for cantilever shell with
imperfections having different magnitude: one thickness
imperfection (dashed-dotted line), two thickness magnitude
(solid line), no imperfection (dashed line).
Figure 4 shows that presence of imperfections can significantly
change the behavior of the system. Moreover, type of the
system response depends also on magnitude of imperfection.
6. CONCLUSIONS
The present study models for the first time the nonlinear
vibrations of clamped-free (cantilever) shells. Results show
that the perfect shell has a weak hardening behavior, turning
to softening when geometric imperfections are included. This
is in agreement with the experimental results obtained by
Chiba [28] that show a softening type behavior, assuming that
the shell tested presented non-negligible geometric
imperfections.
The approach used in the present study has the advantage
of being suitable to be applied to different boundary conditions,
of satisfying them exactly and of being very flexible to
structural modifications without complication of the solution
procedure. Approach to reduce number of degrees of freedom
is presented. Influence of imperfections on quality of system
behaviour is studied.

REFERENCES
[1] M. Amabili and M. P. Padoussis, Applied Mechanics
Reviews. Review of studies on geometrically nonlinear

[6] V. D. Kubenko, P. S. Kovalchuk and T. S.

Krasnopolskaya, 1982. Soviet Applied Mechanics 18, 34-39.
Effect of initial camber on natural nonlinear vibrations of
cylindrical shells.
[7] M. Amabili, F. Pellicano and M. P. Padoussis, 1998.
Journal of Fluids and Structures 12, 883-918. Nonlinear
vibrations of simply supported, circular cylindrical shells,
coupled to quiescent fluid.
[8] M. Amabili, F. Pellicano and M. P. Padoussis, 1999.
Journal of Sound and Vibration 225, 655-699. Non-linear
dynamics and stability of circular cylindrical shells containing
flowing fluid. Part I: stability.
[9] M. Amabili, F. Pellicano and M. P. Padoussis, 1999.
Journal of Sound and Vibration 228, 1103-1124. Non-linear
dynamics and stability of circular cylindrical shells containing
flowing fluid, Part II: large-amplitude vibrations without flow.
[10] M. Amabili, F. Pellicano and M. P. Padoussis, 2000.
Journal of Sound and Vibration 237, 617-640. Non-linear
dynamics and stability of circular cylindrical shells containing
flowing fluid. Part III: truncation effect without flow and
experiments.
[11] M. Amabili, 2003. Journal of Sound and Vibration 262,
921-975. Theory and experiments for large-amplitude
vibrations of empty and fluid-filled circular cylindrical shells
with imperfections.
[12] A. A. Popov, J. M. T. Thompson and F. A. McRobie,
2001. Journal of Sound and Vibration 248, 395-411. Chaotic
energy exchange through auto-parametric resonance in
cylindrical shells.
[13] J. Mayers and B. G. Wrenn, 1967. On the nonlinear free
vibrations of thin circular cylindrical shells. Developments in
Mechanics, Proceedings of the 10th Midwestern Mechanics
Conference, 819-846. New York: Johnson Publishing Co.
[14] H. Radwan and J. Genin, 1975. International Journal of
Non-Linear Mechanics 10, 15-29. Non-linear modal equations

Copyright 2010 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 11/08/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

for thin elastic shells.

[15]K. K. Raju and G. V. Rao, 1976. Journal of Sound and
Vibration 44, 327-333. Large-amplitude asymmetric vibrations
of some thin shells of revolution.
[16]A. Maewal, 1986. International Journal of Non-Linear
Mechanics 21, 433-438. Miles' evolution equations for
axisymmetric shells: simple strange attractors in structural
dynamics.
[17]A. Maewal, 1986. Computer Methods in Applied
Mechanics and Engineering 58, 37-50. Finite element analysis
of steady nonlinear harmonic oscillations of axisymmetric
shells.
[18]P. B. Gonalves and R. C. Batista, 1988. Journal of Sound
and Vibration 127, 133-143. Non-linear vibration analysis of
fluid-filled cylindrical shells.
[19]I. V. Andrianov, E. G. Kholod and V. I. Olevsky, 1996.
Journal of Sound and Vibration 194, 369-387. Approximate
non-linear boundary value problems of reinforced shell
dynamics.
[20]A. Selmane and A. A. Lakis, 1997. International Journal
for Numerical Methods in Engineering 40, 1115-1137.
Influence of geometric non-linearities on free vibrations of
orthotropic open cylindrical shells.
[21]A.A. Lakis, A. Selmane and A. Toledano, 1998.
International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 40, 27-49. Nonlinear free vibration analysis of laminated orthotropic
cylindrical shells.
[22]L. J. Mente, 1973. AIAA Journal 11, 793-800. Dynamic
nonlinear response of cylindrical shells to asymmetric pressure
loading.
[23]J. H. Ginsberg, 1973. Journal of Applied Mechanics 40,
471-477. Large amplitude forced vibrations of simply
supported thin cylindrical shells.
[24] Ye. Kurylov, M. Amabili, 2010. Journal of Sound and
Vibration 329, 1435-1449. Polynomial versus trigonometric
expansions for nonlinear vibrations of circular cylindrical
shells with different boundary conditions.
[25] G. Warburton, J. Higgs, 1970. Journal of Sound and
Vibration 11, 335-338. Natural frequencies of thin cantilever
shells.

[28] M. Chiba, 1993. International Journal of Non-Linear

Mechanics 28, 591-599. Non-linear hydroelastic vibration of a
cantilever cylindrical tank I. Experiment (Empty case).
[29] N. Yamaki, 1984. Elastic Stability of Circular Cylindrical
Shells. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
[30] B. Budiansky, 1968. ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics
35, 393-401. Notes on nonlinear shell theory.
[31] V. V. Novozhilov, 1953. Foundations of the Nonlinear
Theory of Elasticity. Rochester: Graylock Press.
[32] J. L. Sanders Jr., 1963. Quarterly of Applied Mathematics
21, 21-36. Nonlinear theories for thin shells.
[33] W. T. Koiter, 1966. Proceedings Koninklijke Nederlandse
Akademie van Wetenschappen B 69, 1-54. On the nonlinear
theory of thin elastic shells. I, II, III.
[34] A. W. Leissa, 1973. Vibration of Shells, NASA SP-288.
Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Now available
from The Acoustical Society of America (1993).
[35] F. Pellicano, 2007. Journal of Sound and Vibration 303,
154170. Vibrations of circular cylindrical shells: Theory and
experiments.
[36] F. Pellicano, M. Amabili and M. P. Padoussis, 2002.
International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 37, 11811198. Effect of the geometry on the nonlinear vibrations
analysis of circular cylindrical shells.
[37] S. Wolfram, 1999. The Mathematica Book, 4th edition.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
[38] E. J. Doedel, A. R. Champneys, T. F. Fairgrieve, Y. A.
Kuznetsov, B. Sandstede and X. Wang, 1998. AUTO 97:
Continuation and Bifurcation Software for Ordinary
Differential Equations (with HomCont). Montreal, Canada:
Concordia University.
[39] M. Amabili, 2003. Journal of Sound and Vibration 264,
1091-1125. Comparison of different shell theories for largeamplitude vibrations of empty and fluid-filled circular
cylindrical shells with and without imperfections: Lagrangian
approach.
[40] M. Ganapaphi and T. K. Varadan, 1996. Journal of Sound
and Vibration 192, 114. Large amplitude vibrations of
circular cylindrical shells.

[26]C. Sharma, 1984. Thin-Walled structures 2, 175-193. Free

vibrations of clamped-free circular cylinders.
[27]H. Tottenham, K. Shimizu, 1972. International Journal of
Mechanical Sciences 14, 293-310. Analysis of the free
vibration of cantilever cylindrical thin elastic shells by the
matrix progression method.

Copyright 2010 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 11/08/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use