Introduction

Abstract

Due to strong potential applications and more demanding requirements imposed upon applications of cylindrical structures, there has been increasing research and development activities during recent years in the field of vibration analysis and damping treatment for this type of structure. An important step in vibration analysis of cylindrical structures is the evaluation of their vibration modal characteristics, such as natural frequencies, mode shapes, and modal loss-factors. This modal information plays a key role in the design and vibration suppression of these structures when subjected to dynamic excitations. Most reported studies on the dynamic response of cylindrical structures have been restricted to the application of shell theories. These theories are based on a number of simplifying assumptions, the most important of which is that the considered shell must be relatively thin to assume constant stresses within the cylinder. Therefore, due to this limitation, shell theories are inadequate to accurately describe many modes of vibrations which occur in thick cylindrical structures. The primary scope of this chapter is to address a brief historical background on the key reported investigations on this topic.