Abstract
The theoretical method is developed to investigate the vibration characteristics for the partially fluid-filled continuous cylindrical shells with the intermediate supports. The intermediate supports are simulated by two types of artificial springs : the translational spring for the translation for each direction and the rotational spring for a rotation. The springs are continuously distributed along the circumferential direction. By allowing the spring stiffness to become very high compared to the stiffness of the structure, the rigid intermediate supports are approximated. In the theoretical procedure, the Love's thin shell theory is adopted to formulate the theoretical model. The frequency equation of the continuous cylindrical shell is derived by the Rayleigh-Ritz approach based on the energy method. Comparison and convergence studies are carried out to verify and establish the appropriate number of series term and the artificial spring stiffness to produce results with an acceptable order of accuracy. The effect of intermediate supports, their positions and fluid level on the natural frequencies and mode shapes are studied.
