Free and forced vibration of a cylindrical shell with a floor partition

A general formulation is presented to study the modal characteristics and the vibrational response of a cylindrical shell with a floor partition. The model is based on a variational formulation in which the structural coupling is simulated using artificial spring systems. In order to show the accuracy of the approach, numerical results are carried out with special attention paid to the characterization of the shell-floor connection. Natural frequencies and mode shapes are determined. Results are compared with previous publications and also with the finite element method. The effects of individual artificial springs and the in-plane motion of the floor on the modal characteristics are discussed. Finally, the forced response analysis is performed to illustrate the physical phenomena due to the shell-floor coupling. The obtained results show the efficiency of the method in handling a wide spectrum of structural coupling. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited