Arch Appl Mech (2006) 75: 177191

DOI 10.1007/s00419-005-0429-y
ORI GI NAL
M. Bagheri A. A. Jafari
Analytical and experimental modal analysis of nonuniformly
ring-stiffened cylindrical shells
Received: 19 February 2005 / Accepted: 22 August 2005 / Published online: 9 December 2005
Springer-Verlag 2005
Abstract In this research, the free vibration analysis of cylindrical shells with circumferential stiffeners, i.e.,
rings with nonuniform stiffener eccentricity and unequal stiffener spacing, is investigated using analytical and
experimental methods. The Ritz method is applied in analytical solution, while stiffeners are treated as dis-
crete elements. The polynomial functions are used for Ritz functions. The effects of nonuniformity of stiffener
distribution on natural frequencies are considered for freefree boundary conditions. Results show that, at
constant stiffener mass, signicant increments in natural frequencies can be achieved using nonuniform stiff-
ener distribution. In experimental method, modal testing is performed to obtain modal parameters, including
natural frequencies, mode shapes, and damping in each mode. Analytical results are compared with experimen-
tal ones, showing good agreement. Because of insufcient experimental modal data for nonuniform stiffener
distribution, the results of modal testing obtained in this study could be a useful reference for validating the
accuracy of other analytical and numerical methods for free vibration analysis.
Keywords Cylindrical shell Ring stiffener Free vibration Natural frequency Modal testing
1 Introduction
Ring-stiffened cylindrical shells are applied in many structures such as pressure vessels, submarine hulls, air-
craft, launch vehicles, and offshore drilling rigs. The knowledge of these structures characteristics is necessary
to determine their structural integrity and fatigue life. The natural frequencies of vibrations are of special inter-
est to aircraft and launch vehicle designers because of increasing use of sensitive electronic instrumentation
and onboard computers and gyroscopes, which require vibration isolation from the main structure.
In the literature on this widely discussed subject, there are two main types of analysis, depending upon
whether the stiffening rings are treated by averaging their properties over the surface of the shell or by con-
sidering them as discrete elements. When ring stiffeners of equal strength are closely and evenly spaced, the
stiffened shell can be modeled as an equivalent orthotropic shell. This is also called the smearing method.
However, as the stiffener spacing increases or the vibration wavelength becomes smaller than the stiffener
spacing, the dynamic characteristics of a stiffened shell cannot be determined with high accuracy. Thus, for a
more general model, the ring stiffeners must be treated as discrete elements. When modeled in this respect, it is
advantageous to use nonuniform eccentricity and unequally spaced and different materials for ring stiffeners.
M. Bagheri (B) A. A. Jafari
Department of Mechanical Engineering, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, P.O. Box 16765-3381, Tehran, Iran
E-mail: bagheri@alborz.kntu.ac.ir
Tel.: +98-21-77343300
Fax: +98-21-77334338
M. Bagheri
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Shahid Sattari Air University, Tehran, Iran
178 M. Bagheri, A. A. Jafari
The free vibration of stiffened cylindrical shells has been investigated since the 1950s by a number of
researchers. Hopmann [3] investigated, analytically and experimentally, the free vibration of orthogonally
stiffened cylindrical shells with simply supported ends. In this study smearing method for stiffeners is used in
analytical investigation. Mikulas and McElman [4] studied the free vibration of eccentrically stiffened simply
supported cylindrical shells by averaging the stiffeners properties over the surface of the shells and found
that the eccentricity could have signicant effects on natural frequencies. Egle and Sewall [2] extended this
study with stiffeners treated as discrete elements. AL-Naja and Warburton [1] considered the free vibration of
ring-stiffened cylindrical shells using experimental and numerical methods for various boundary conditions. A
theoretical and experimental investigation into the vibration of axially loaded stiffened cylindrical shells was
carried out by Rosen and Singer [6] using Donell and Flugge theories. Mustafa andAli [5] presented an energy
method for free vibration analysis of stiffened cylindrical shells. The analysis was performed considering the
exure and extension of the shell and the exure, extension, and torsion of the stiffeners. Swaddiwudhipong
et al. [9] presented free vibrations of cylindrical shells with rigid intermediate supports. An automated Ray-
leighRitz method was adopted to evaluate the natural frequencies and the mode shapes. A special polynomial
unied set of Ritz functions was used to span the displacement elds of various types and combinations of
end boundary conditions. Wang et al. [10] extended the Ritz method for solving free vibration problems of
cylindrical shells with varying ring stiffener distributions. The Ritz formulation also makes it possible for
stiffener materials to be different from one another and from the material of the parent shell. Ruotolo [7]
presented a comparison of some thin shell theories for dynamic analysis of stiffened cylinders while using
smearing method for stiffeners. Few papers with experimental data have been published on this topic, and all
such studies are related to evenly spaced stiffeners and uniform stiffener eccentricity.
Inthis study, free vibrationanalysis of ring-stiffenedcylindrical shells withnonuniformstiffener distribution
is performed using analytical and experimental methods. The effects of nonuniformity of stiffener distribution
on the dynamic characteristics of stiffened shells are discussed, analytically. At constant stiffener mass, the
importance of stiffener distribution for increasing the natural frequencies is investigated. Moreover, modal test-
ing is performed experimentally to obtain the modal characteristics of ring-stiffened cylindrical shells. Because
of insufcient experimental modal data for nonuniform stiffener distribution, the results of modal testing
obtained by the authors could be a useful reference for free vibration considerations of stiffened cylinders.
2 Analytical formulation
The cylindrical shell as shown in Fig. 1 is considered to be thin with uniform thickness h, radius R, length
L, mass density , modulus of elasticity E, Poissons ratio , and shear modulus G = E/2(1 +). The shell
is circumferentially stiffened by N number of rings, which may be placed internally or externally. The ith
ring stiffener has a rectangular cross section with constant width br
i
and height of dr
i
and is located at a
i
L
measured from the end of the shell. The spacing and height of the rings can be varied along the shell length.
The ring stiffeners may be constructed from materials that are different both from one another and from the
parent shell material. The ith stiffener properties are dened as mass density r
i
, modulus of elasticity Er
i
,
Poissons ratio r
i
, and shear modulus Gr
i
.
2.1 Shell energy
Adopting Sanders [8] thin shell theory, the strain energy of stretching and bending of the aforementioned
cylindrical shell without stiffeners is expressed as:
U =

L
0

2
0

Eh
2(1
2
)

u
x

2
+
1
R
2

2
+
2
R

u
x

+
1
2

v
x
+
1
R
u

+
Eh
3
24(1
2
)

2
w
x
2

2
+
1
R
4

2
w

2
+
v

2
+
2
R
2

2
w
x
2

2
w

2
+
v

+
2(1 )
R
2

2
w
x
+
3
4
v
x

1
4R
u

Rd dx, (1)
where u, v, and w are displacements in the longitudinal, tangential, and radial directions, respectively, and x
and are longitudinal and circumferential coordinates, respectively.
Analytical and experimental modal analysis 179
Fig. 1 Ring-stiffened cylindrical shell with nonuniform stiffener distribution
Neglecting the effect of rotary inertia since the shell under consideration is thin, the kinetic energy of a
cylindrical shell without stiffeners will be:
T =
1
2
h

L
0

2
0

u
t

2
+

v
t

2
+

w
t

Rd dx. (2)
2.2 Ring stiffener energy
In this analysis, the geometric characteristics and materials of the rings may be different from one another.
Also, ring spacing and eccentricity can have nonuniform distributions.
The strain energy of the ith ring stiffener with the effects of stretching, biaxial bending, and wrapping is
given by:
Ur
i
=
2

Er
i
Izr
i
2
1
R +er
i

wr
i
x
+
1
R +er
i

2
ur
i

2
+
Er
i
Ixr
i
2
1
(R +er
i
)
3

wr
i
+
1
R +er
i

2
wr
i

2
+
Er
i
Ar
i
2
1
R +er
i

vr
i

wr
i

+
Gr
i
Jr
i
2
1
R +er
i

2
wr
i
x
+
1
R +er
i
ur
i

d. (3)
The kinetic energy of the ith ring stiffener with the effects of triaxial translational inertia and rotary inertia
about the x and z axes is given by:
T r
i
=
1
2
r
i

2
0

Ar
i

ur
i
t

2
+

vr
i
t

2
+

wr
i
t

+(Ixr
i
+Izr
i
)

2
wr
i
t x

(R +er
i
)d, (4)
180 M. Bagheri, A. A. Jafari
where the second moments of areas Izr
i
and Ixr
i
, cross-sectional area Ar
i
, and torsional rigidity Jr
i
are:
Izr
i
=
br
3
i
dr
i
12
; Ixr
i
=
br
i
dr
3
i
12
; Ar
i
= br
i
dr
i
;
Jr
i
=
1
3

1
192br
i

5
dr
i

n=1,3,5,..
1
n
5
tanh
ndr
i
2br
i

br
3
i
dr
i
, (5)
and the eccentricity of the ring stiffener is expressed as:
er
i
=
h +dr
i
2
, (6)
where the + and signs represent external and internal stiffening, respectively.
From geometrical considerations the relationships between the displacements (ur
i
, vr
i
, wr
i
) of the ith
stiffener and the displacements (u, v, w) of the shell at the position of the stiffener are given by:
ur
i
= u +er
i
w
x
,
vr
i
= v

1 +
er
i
R

+
er
i
R
w

,
wr
i
= w. (7)
Substituting (5)(7) into (3) and (4), the ring stiffener energy can be written in the form of a shell middle
surface displacement.
Therefore, the energy functional of a ring-stiffened cylindrical shell can be written as:
F = U T +
N

i=1
(Ur
i
T r
i
) . (8)
The following functions are adopted to separate the spatial variables x and and the time variable t :
u(x, , t ) = u(x) sin(n +t ),
v(x, , t ) = v(x) cos(n +t ),
w(x, , t ) = w(x) sin(n +t ), (9)
where n is the number of circumferential waves and is the circular frequency of vibration.
For generality and convenience, the following nondimensional terms are dened:
u =
u
h
; v =
v
h
; w =
w
R
; x =
x
L
; =
R
L
; =
h
R
; er
i
=
er
i
h
Er
i
=
Er
i
E
; r
i
=
r
i

; Izr
i
=
Izr
i
Rh
3
; Ixr
i
=
Ixr
i
Rh
3
; Ar
i
=
Ar
i
h
2
; Jr
i
=
Jr
i
Rh
3
F =
2(1
2
)
hRLE
F;
2
=
(1
2
)R
2
E

2
. (10)
Using (9) and (10), the nondimensional total energy functional can be expressed as:
F =

1
0

du
dx

2
+(nv +w)
2
2

du
dx

(nv +w) +
1
2

2

dv
dx
+nu

2
+

2
12

d
2
w
dx
2

2
+(n
2
w +nv)
2
2
2

d
2
w
dx
2

(n
2
w +nv) +2(1 )
2

n
dw
dx
+
3
4

dv
dx

n
4
u

Analytical and experimental modal analysis 181

2
u
2
+
2
v
2
+w
2

dx
+
N

i=1

1
2
(1 +er
i
)
3
Er
i

Ur
1i
+Ur
2i
+Ur
3i
+Ur
4i

2
r
i
(1 +er
i
)

T r
1i
+T r
2i

, (11)
where
Ur
1i
= Izr
i

1 +er
i
n
2
er
i

dw
dx
n
2
u

2
, (12-1)
Ur
2i
= Ixr
i

1 n
2

2
, (12-2)
Ur
3i
= Ar
i
(1 +er
i
)
2

n(1 +er
i
)v +(1 +n
2
er
i
)w

2
, (12-3)
Ur
4i
= Jr
i
1
2(1 +
i
)

nu +n
dw
dx

2
, (12-4)
and
T r
1i
= Ar
i

u +
2
er
i

dw
dx

2
+((1 +er
i
)v +er
i
nw)
2
+w
2

, (13-1)
T r
2i
=
2
(Ixr
i
+Izr
i
)

dw
dx

2
. (13-2)
2.3 Geometric boundary conditions
For free boundary conditions all of the displacement functions are nonzero:
u = 0; v = 0; w = 0. (14)
2.4 Ritz functions
In view of satisfying the foregoing geometric boundary conditions, the proposed Ritz functions for approxi-
mating the displacements are:
u =

NS

j=1
p
j
x
j1

(x)
P
0
u
(1 x)
P
1
u
=
NS

j=1
p
j
u
j
,
v =

NS

j=1
q
j
x
j1

(x)
P
0
v
(1 x)
P
1
v
=
NS

j=1
q
j
v
j
,
w =

NS

j=1
r
j
x
j1

(x)
P
0
w
(1 x)
P
1
w
=
NS

j=1
r
j
w
j
, (15)
where the powers of P are shown in Table 1. The superscripts of P, i.e., 0 and 1, denote the cylindrical shell
ends at x = 0 and x = 1, respectively.
These forms of Ritz functions allow easy exact differentiation and integration. Also, by increasing the
number of polynomial sentences NS, better convergence to exact solution can be achieved.
182 M. Bagheri, A. A. Jafari
Table 1 Powers of P for Ritz functions
Boundary condition F
P
u
0
P
v
0
P
w
0
2.5 Equations of motion
Applying the RayleighRitz method (minimization of nondimensional energy functional with respect to Ritz
function coefcients), the equations of motion are derived as follows:
F
p
j
= 0,
F
q
j
= 0,
F
r
j
= 0

j = 1, 2, . . . , NS. (16)
Substituting (15) into (11) and then into (16) results in the following eigenvalue equation:

[K] +
N

i=1
[Kr
i
]
2

[M] +
N

i=1
[Mr
i
]

{C} = {0} , (17)

where [K] and [M] are the stiffness and mass matrices of a cylindrical shell, respectively, and [Kr
i
] and [Mr
i
]
are the correspondingmatrices of the ithringstiffener. Also, {C} = {p
1
, . . . , p
NS
, q
1
, . . . , q
NS
, r
1
, . . . , r
NS
}
T
is the column vector of Ritz coefcients and
2
= (1
2
)R
2

2
/E is the nondimensional frequency
parameter.
3 Results and discussions
3.1 Analytical results for cylindrical shell with nonuniform ring spacing and eccentricity with freefree
boundary condition (FFBC)
Here, the effects of nonuniform ring spacing and nonuniform stiffener eccentricity distribution are considered,
separately and simultaneously. The main purpose of this study is to determine whether it is possible to obtain
higher natural frequencies given a nonuniform stiffener distribution with constant stiffener mass. To this end,
the M1 model with uniform stiffener distribution and freefree boundary condition (FFBC) is considered,
which its properties are shown in Table 2. Uniform distribution is the case of evenly spaced stiffeners and
stiffeners of equal depth. Some cases of nonuniform ring spacing and nonuniform eccentricity distributions
are shown in Fig. 2. The minimum stiffener depth is located at the two ends of the shell, and the maximum
stiffener depth is located at the midsection of the shell length. The maximum and minimum stiffener depth is
determined such that the mass and volume of stiffeners remain unchanged with respect to uniformdistribution.
Table 2 Geometrical and material properties of stiffened shell
Characteristics (dimensions) Dimension values M1 model
Number of rings (N) 4
Shell radius R (m) 0.0825
Shell thickness h (m) 0.0025
Shell length L (m) 0.2475
Ring depth dr (m) 0.0037
Ring width br (m) 0.002
Modulus of elasticity E (Gpa) 201
Mass density (kg/m
3
) 7823
Poissons ratio 0.3
Stiffening type External
Analytical and experimental modal analysis 183
Fig. 2 Nonuniform ring spacing and nonuniform eccentricity distribution
Assuming the same width for all stiffeners, the volume of rings for externally stiffened shell can be written
as:
V
uniform
= 2N

R +
h +d
0
2

bd
0
, (22-1)
V
non-uniform
= 2b

=1

R +d
1
+
h +d

+2N

R +
h +d
1
2

bd
1
, (22-2)
where d
1
represents the minimum stiffener depth and d
0
is the stiffener depth in uniform distribution.
Equating the volume of stiffeners in uniform and nonuniform distributions, a second-order equation
corresponding to D

can be obtained as follows:

1
N

R +d
1
+
h
2

2
N

=1

r
2

+
2
N

R +d
1
+
h
2

=1

R +
h
2

(d
0
d
1
)

R +d
1
+
h
2

d
2
0
d
2
1

R +d
1
+
h
2

2
= 0, (23)
where D

denotes the difference between the maximum and minimum depth of nonuniformly distributed
stiffeners.
For internally stiffened shell, the corresponding equation can be written as:
1
N

R d
1

h
2

2
N

=1

r
2

+
2
N

R d
1

h
2

=1

R
h
2

(d
0
d
1
)

R d
1

h
2

2
+

d
2
0
d
2
1

R d
1

h
2

2
= 0. (24)
Selecting a value for d
1
, the value of D

can be determined by solving (23) or (24). The depth of each

stiffener dr
k
would be obtained as follows:

=
d

(2a

, N/2,
(2 (1 a

))

, > N/2;
(25)
a

k
N +1

, = 1, . . . , N; (26)
184 M. Bagheri, A. A. Jafari
Fig. 3 Natural frequency variations vs. depth ratio for equal ring spacing ( = 1) and m = 1. a n = 2. b n = 3. c n = 4. d n = 5
dr

+d
1
, (27)
where in Fig. 2 and in (25)(27) and represent, respectively, the order of variations of the eccentricity
distribution function and the ring spacing distribution function along the shell length.
For > 1, the stiffener concentration at the two ends of the shell is more than its middle. This means that
the ring spacing in the middle section of the shell is greater than the ring spacing at the two ends. On the other
hand, for < 1, the ring stiffeners are compressed in the midsection of the shell length. In this study, varies
from 0.1 to 2. The case of = 1 denotes the case of evenly spaced ring stiffeners along the shell length. Also,
varies from 0 to 2. The case of = 0 and = 1 denotes a uniform distribution of ring stiffeners along the
shell length like the M1 model, as shown in Table 2.
Figure 3ad shows the variations of the natural vibration frequencies with respect to depth ratio (d
1
/d
0
),
corresponding to circumferential waves n = 2, 3, 4, 5 and longitudinal wave m = 1, for different values of .
Here, the ring spacing is uniform ( = 1), and only the effect of nonuniform eccentricity is considered. The
mode associated to n = 1 and m = 1 is rigid body motion with natural frequency equal to zero, which is
not shown. In cylindrical shells with FFBC, the radial component of amplitude for different points is constant
along the shell length for m = 1.
It should be noted that reduction of the depth ratio increases the mass and stiffness in the midsection of the
shell and decreases them at the two ends of the shell. Since the decrease in stiffness is more than the decrease
in mass at the two ends, the natural frequencies of various circumferential modes decrease, as can be seen in
Fig. 3ad. On the other hand, for higher depth ratios, an increment in natural frequencies is observed for these
modes.
Figure 4ad shows the aforementioned results corresponding to m = 2. In this gure, the natural frequency
variations are different for n = 2, 3 and n = 4, 5. In cylindrical shells with FFBC, the radial component of
amplitude for different points is a linear function of x for m = 2 and one node is introduced in the midsection
of the shell length. Given a reduction in the depth ratio, the stiffness decrease is less than the mass decrease at
the two ends for n = 2, 3. Therefore, the natural frequencies for different values of increase, as can be seen
in Fig. 3a,b.
Conversely, for n = 4, 5 reduction in the depth ratio, the stiffness decrease is greater than the mass decrease
at the two ends. Therefore, the natural frequencies for different values of decrease, as can be seen in Fig. 3c,d.
Figures 5 and 6ad show the so-called results corresponding to m = 3. In these gures, the natural fre-
quency variations are different for n = 1, 3, 4, 5 and n = 2. For m3, the radial component of amplitude for
Analytical and experimental modal analysis 185
Fig. 4 Natural frequency variations vs. depth ratio for equal ring spacing ( = 1) and m = 2. a n = 2. b n = 3. c n = 4. d n = 5
different points is a characteristic curve, similar to that obtained for a freefree beam, with (m1) axial nodes.
In m = 3, the rst and the last rings are in axial nodes, and these stiffeners are not affected by the stiffness of
the shell. At a constant stiffener mass, reducing the depth of the rst and the last rings allow to increase the
depth of other stiffeners. Therefore, reduction of the depth ratio increases the natural frequencies for different
values of , as shown in Figs. 5 and 6a,c,d. The natural frequency variations for n = 2 (Fig. 6b) are different.
Because the fundamental frequency of this shell occurred at n = 2, the behavior in this mode is irregular (see
below).
Figure 7ad shows the variations of the natural frequencies of vibration versus the depth ratio, correspond-
ing to n = 2 and m = 1, 2 for = 1 and different values of . The crossing of some natural frequency curves
is observed for higher depth ratios. Increasing , this crossing point occurs at higher depth ratios. Therefore,
Fig. 5 Natural frequency variations vs. depth ratio for equal ring spacing ( = 1) and m = 3, n = 1
186 M. Bagheri, A. A. Jafari
Fig. 6 Natural frequencies variations vs. depth ratio for equal ring spacing ( = 1) and m = 3. a n = 2. b n = 3. c n = 4.
d n = 5
Fig. 7 Natural frequency variations vs. depth ratio for equal ring spacing ( = 1). a = 0.5. b = 1. c = 1.5. d = 2
if the depth ratio is increased, the fundamental frequency mode switches from m = 1, n = 2 to m = 2, n = 2
and a sudden reduction in the fundamental frequency is observed. This case occurs in Fig. 7ad. Therefore, at
constant mass of total stiffeners, a higher fundamental frequency can be obtained by selecting a suitable value
for d
1
/d
0
.
Analytical and experimental modal analysis 187
Figure 8a,b shows the variations of the fundamental frequency vs. , corresponding to different values of
for d
1
/d
0
= 0.1, 0.5. The maximum fundamental frequency is obtained corresponding to = 2, = 2,
and d
1
/d
0
= 0.1.
3.2 Experimental results for nonuniformly ring-stiffened cylindrical shells
A model of a ring-stiffened cylindrical shell with unequal ring spacing and nonuniform eccentricity is con-
sidered. Two approaches to this shell model with FFBC are applied for the modal analysis, namely, analytical
and experimental.
In the experimental method, modal testing is performed. To this end, an experimental stiffened shell model
with dimensions as shown in Fig. 9 is machined from a thick steel pipe. It should be noted that both the ring
stiffeners and the shell are made of the same material. The model is hung with rubber rope to simulate FFBC.
The experimental testing equipment setup and FFBC simulation are shown in Fig. 10. The modal testing is
performed to obtain the modal characteristics of the stiffened cylindrical shell between 0 and 3200 Hz. The
model is excited at predetermined points with an impact hammer in the radial direction of the shell. Then the
response is measured using an accelerometer at a specied xed point in the radial direction (roving hammer
and xed response method).
To avoid hiding of some modes and also to obtain accurate longitudinal and circumferential mode shapes,
the model is divided into 24 points in the circumferential direction and 12 points along the shell length (Fig. 11).
The shell is excited by a hammer on these points. A piezoelectric accelerometer is attached to the model at
point 1 by wax to measure the output acceleration. The analysis of frequency response functions (FRFs) is
performed using the STAR MODAL software. Outputs of this analysis are natural frequencies, mode shapes,
and damping in each mode. Figure 12 shows the FRF of point 1, which is called the driving point. Table 3
shows the obtained experimental results including natural frequencies and damping ratios for each mode. In
total, 11 natural frequencies are found within that range with corresponding damping ratios and mode shapes.
Fig. 8 Fundamental frequency variations vs. parameter corresponding to different values. a d
1
/d
0
= 0.1. b d
1
/d
0
= 0.5
Fig. 9 Experimental model physical dimensions
188 M. Bagheri, A. A. Jafari
Fig. 10 Modal testing equipment setup and freefree boundary condition simulation
Fig. 11 Excitation points in modal testing
Table 4 shows the comparison of predicted analytical results of natural frequencies with obtained experi-
mental results of modal testing, which are in good agreement.
Figures 1316 show some mode shapes of vibration obtained from analytical solution and modal testing.
In experimental mode shapes, dashed lines represent the undeformed shape.
4 Conclusions
The free vibration of ring-stiffened cylindrical shells with nonuniform eccentricity and unequal ring spacing
for FFBCis considered with analytical and experimental approaches. In the analytical method, the Ritz method
is used and stiffeners are treated as discrete elements. Some new natural frequency results for various orders
of eccentricity distribution function and ring spacing distribution function are presented. At constant stiffener
mass, selecting the best stiffener distribution parameter values can increase natural frequencies signicantly.
Therefore, it is important to study the optimal distribution of ring stiffeners for further enhancement of natural
frequencies.
Analytical and experimental modal analysis 189
Fig. 12 Driving point frequency response functions (FRF)
Table 3 Modal testing results including natural frequencies and damping for each mode
Mode Frequency (Hz) Damping (Hz) Damping (%)
1 326.283 0.6868 0.2105
2 347.7278 4.1598 1.1962
3 877.7521 1.2028 0.1370
4 920.8615 1.0412 0.1131
5 1597.2084 7.0756 0.4430
6 1697.7704 2.1497 0.1266
7 2295.2971 12.9315 0.5634
8 2384.1682 6.7627 0.2836
9 2516.2180 4.4320 0.1761
10 2642.9446 2.0020 0.0757
11 3066.7891 4.4320 0.1445
Table 4 Comparison of experimental and analytical results
Mode number Experimental results (Hz) Analytical results (Hz) Difference (%)
m n
1 1 0
2 326.3 323.8 0.76
3 920.9 911.3 1
4 1703.4 1700 0.2
5 2643 2584 2.23
6 3639
2 1 2
2 347.7 324.3 6.73
3 877.7 874 0.42
4 1601.9 1622 1.25
5 2516 2543 1
6 3639
3 1 6472
2 3715
3 2384 2357 1.13
4 2295 2252.6 1.85
5 3066 3036 0.98
6 4144
190 M. Bagheri, A. A. Jafari
Fig. 13 Extracted mode shape. a Analytical. b Modal testing m = 2, n = 2
Fig. 14 Extracted mode shape. a Analytical. b Modal testing m = 2, n = 3
Fig. 15 Extracted mode shape. a Analytical. b Modal testing m = 3, n = 3
Analytical and experimental modal analysis 191
Fig. 16 Extracted mode shape. a Analytical. b Modal testing m = 3, n = 5
Moreover, modal testing is performed experimentally, using xed response approach, and modal param-
eters are obtained from the test data. A comparison of the results of these methods showed good agreement.
The results show that the presented analytical method has enough accuracy and is useful for free vibration
analysis. Since the modal testing data for nonuniformly ring-stiffened cylindrical shells are not available, these
obtained data could be very useful for other researchers in this subject.
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