TEAM 2019, Oct.

14 - 17, 2019, Tainan, Taiwan

Experimental Measurements of Dynamic Response Characteristics

of a Horizontal Circular Cylindrical Shell in Contact with Fluid
İbrahim Tuğrul ARDIÇ1, Erden YILDIZDAĞ2, Ahmet ERGİN*3
1) Research Assistant, Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Istanbul Technical
University, Istanbul, Turkey
2) Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Istanbul Technical
University, Istanbul, Turkey
3) Professor, Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Istanbul Technical University,
Istanbul, Turkey
Email: ergina@itu.edu.tr
*) Corresponding author

Abstract
Thin-walled curved shells and plates are frequently used in naval architecture and offshore engineering as structural
elements. Therefore, it is important to have an accurate understanding of the dynamic characteristics (natural
frequencies, mode shapes, etc.) of these structures in contact with fluid. Presence of a heavy fluid significantly alters
the dynamic characteristics of the structure, and the natural frequencies of the structure in contact with fluid are
significantly reduced compared to those in air. In this study, natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes of
a horizontal cylindrical shell sealed by thin circular plates at both ends are experimentally investigated both in air
and in contact with fluid (fully and half-filled cylindrical shell). In the experiments, the cylindrical shell is
horizontally connected to a supporting structure at both ends by elastic springs. Modal testing procedures are applied,
and the elastic structure is excited impulsively on predetermined excitation points by an instrumented hammer while
an accelometer is attached at a predetermined position during the tests. The frequency response functions (FRF) for
each excitation point is obtained by PULSE LabShop software. For each test case, the corresponding dynamic
properties were obtained by a commercial finite element program, ANSYS, as well. It is observed that the
experimentally obtained dry and wet natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes are in good agreement with
the finite element calculations.

Keyword: Hydroelasticity, Cylindrical shell, Modal testing, Fluid-structure interaction.

1. INTRODUCTION

Plates and shells are used in many industrial fields such as aerospace, electric machines, storage tanks etc. Therefore,
an accurate understanding of their dynamic response behavior is of great importance when they are partially or fully
in contact with a fluid of comparable density, such as water. The dynamic characteristics, such as natural frequencies
and corresponding mode shapes, are the most important parameters for describing the response behaviour to an
external excitation. The dynamic response of plate and shell structures immersed in and/or partially in contact with
fluid has been extensively studied. Lindholm et al. [1] and Jain [2] examined the dynamic response characteristics of
the vertical cylindrical shells partially in contact with the fluid experimentally and theoretically, respectively. A
similar problem was studied by Chiba et al. [3] and Goncalves and Ramos [4] by approximate methods (e.g. Galerkin,
Rayleigh-Ritz). Lakis and Paidoussis [5] performed the dynamic response analysis of the partially fluid-filled vertical
cylindrical shell by the finite element method. Li et al. [6] studied hydroelastic vibrations of stiffened bottom plates
of fluid tanks through analytical procedures and noticed the phenomenon of “mode reversal” that implies the reversal
of the first two mode shapes of stiffened plates in vacuo and in contact with water. Cho et al. [7] studied vibration
characteristics of vertical stiffened plates by combining strain and kinetic energy expressions of stiffeners and plate.
In their study, the potential flow theory assumptions were adopted ignoring the free surface waves, and the
displacement components of the stiffened plate were obtained by using Timoshenko beam functions in conjunction
with the Mindlin plate theory. Ardic [8] investigated the dynamic response characteristics of circular cylindrical
shells both in-vacuo and partially filled with fluid. In this study, the in-vacuo dynamic characteristics (natural
frequencies and corresponding mode shapes) of the structure were obtained by FEM, and the fluid-structure
interaction effects were calculated by using BEM. Ardic and Ergin [9] obtained wet natural frequencies of spherical
and cylindrical shells infinitely submerged into unbounded fluid medium. Recently, Yildizdag et al. [10] investigated
the response behavior of a clamped rectangular plate partially submerged in fluid by using isogeometric finite element
and boundary element methods.
In this study, the in-vacuo/air and wet dynamic response characteristics (natural frequencies and corresponding mode
shapes) of a thin circular cylindrical shell is investigated both experimentally and numerically. The cylindrical shell
is sealed by circular plates at both ends. The wet dynamic response analysis of the cylinder is performed
experimentally and numerically for the half-filled and fully-filled cylindrical shell. In the experiments, the cylindrical
shell is horizontally connected to a supporting structure at both ends by elastic springs. Modal testing procedures are
applied, and the elastic structure is excited impulsively on predetermined excitation points by an instrumented
hammer while an accelometer is attached at a predetermined position during the tests. The frequency response
functions (FRF) for each excitation point is obtained by PULSE LabShop software. Furthermore, a numerical study
is performed using a commercially available finite element program, ANSYS [11]. In the numerical study, the in-
vacuo and wet natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes were calculated and compared with the
experimental measurements. A very good agreement was obtained between the experimental measurements and finite
element calculations.

2. MODAL TESTING
2.1 Equipment

Experimental modal testing usually requires several hardware components. The required basic equipments are
identified as an excitation system to provide a known or controlled input force to the structure, a transducer that
converts the displacements - or motions - of the structure into an electrical signal, signal conditioning device, analyzer
for executing signal processing and modal analysis software (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Equipment used in modal testing.

In this study, Bruel & Kjaer 8206-001 impact hammer was used as an excitation mechanism. The impact hammer
has a total voltage range of 445 N., with a typical voltage accuracy of 11.4 mV / N, and a total weight of 100 grams.
This hammer is made of stainless steel and has a BNC type connection. Bruel & Kjaer 4507B Deltatron transducer
was used as an accelerometer. Accuracy of the accelerometer is 9.63 mV/ms2 , frequency range is between 0.3 Hz. -
6 kHz, and the measurement range is +/- 71 g. The base material of the accelerometer is made of titanium ATM grade
2, with a total weight of 4.8 grams. The analyzer used in this study is the Bruel & Kjaer 3560-B-040 PULSE 5-
channel data acquisition system. The frequency range of the system is between 25.6 kHz and 0 Hz. The system has
five input and one output channels and also has a 24 bit analog digital converter and 24 bit data transfer capacity.

2.2 Experimental Setup

In this study, experimental modal analysis of the cylindrical shell, which is a scaled prototype of a submarine hull,
was performed, and the natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes of the structure were obtained. The
cylindrical shell is sealed at both ends, and it is experimentally investigated, respectively, in air and when
partially/fully filled with quiescent fluid. The cylinder was attached to steel-made carrier by elastic springs of which
rigidity were chosen to eliminate the natural modes of the carrier system (see Fig. 2a). In the experiments in air, in
order to accurately determine the mode shapes of the shell both in longitudinal and circumferencial directions, a
appropriate number of excitation points have been chosen along the cylinder and around its circumference. Therefore,
11 points along the length and 10 points around the circumference were selected for the experiments in air (see Fig.
2c). In case of the cylindrical shell partially/fully filled with liquid, only circumferential modes were concerned and
30 equally-spaced excitation points (see Fig. 2d) were chosen around the circumference at a distance of L/4 from one
end.

Fig. 2. Experimental setup: (a) elastic springs suspending cylindrical shell (b) position of accelometer in-air tests;
(c) excitation points in-air tests; (d) excitation points on cylindrical shell partially/fully filled with fluid
In all the experiments, the standart modal testing procedures were applied, and the elastic structure was excited
impulsively at the selected excitation points by an instrumented hammer. The accelometer was attached at a specific
fixed position during the tests (see Fig. 2b). The frequency response functions (FRF) for each excitation is obtained
by PULSE LabShop software (see Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. User interface of PULSE LabShop software

3. RESULTS
To compare the results obtained by aforementioned experimental setup, a finite element analysis software (ANSYS)
is adopted for calculations of dry and wet dynamic properties (natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes).
The circular cylindrical shell is made of AISI 316L stainless steel, and its dimensions and material properties are
given in Table 1. In the finite element model, the circular cylindrical shell is assumed to be made of isotropic,
homogeneous and linearly elastic material.
Table 1. Physical and geometric properties of cylindrical shell
Length (l) = 1284 mm.
Radius (r) = 180 mm.
Thickness (t) = 3 mm.

Density ( ρ) = 7900 kg/m3

Young's modulus (E) = 200x109 Pa
Poisson's ratio (ν) = 0,29

It is assumed that the ends of the cylindrical shell stay circular and do not distort; the end plates of the experimental
cylindrical shell are stiff and show little distortion during the vibration of the cylindrical shell. Therefore, the end
plates behave like simple supports for the circular cylindrical shell.

3.1. In-vacuo Analysis

In this part, a series of numerical calculations are performed to compare with the experimental results. In these
calculations, the thin cylindrical shell was discretized with eight-noded higher order SHELL281 elements in ANSYS,
allowing for membrane and bending stiffness influences.
Table 2 shows the convergence of the calculated natural frequencies, where three different group of calculations were
performed with 1024, 3136 and 6400 numbers of elements, respectively. The differences between numerical results
indicate that the calculated values shows excellent convergence even in the 1st discretization. In addition, due to two
planes of symmetry of the structure, each mode shape is obtained in pairs. It can also be seen that there is a small
differences between the calculations (below %3), and a good convergence is obtained between the numerical and
experimental results for all the modes.
Table 2. Convergence of the in-vacuo natural frequencies (Hz.)
ANSYS
Mode FEM, FEM, FEM,
Experiment
number 1024 el. 3136 el. 6400 el.
1-2 193.4 193.3 193.3 187.7
1-2 193.4 193.3 193.3 -
1-3 194.6 194.6 194.6 190.3
1-3 194.6 194.6 194.6 -
1-4 333.3 333.1 333.0 328.1
1-4 333.3 333.1 333.0 -
2-3 380.8 380.8 380.8 370.2
2-3 380.9 380.8 380.8 -

In order to denominate the modal configuration of the cylindrical shell both in Table 2 and Figure 4, two parameters
are introduced, one of which represents the number of half waves along the longitudinal direction, and the other
respresents the number of waves around the circumference. The number of stationary points on the plane
perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder, or the number of standing waves around the circumference, is represented
by n. The modal configuration along the axial direction is represented by the wave number, m.
In Figure 4, the in-vacuo mode shapes are seen for first three modes. It should be noted that the modes occur in pairs.
Only one of the pairs, with same frequency values, is presented. It should also be observed that the number of
circumferential standing waves does not necessarily occur in order of sequence. Arnold and Warburton [12] have
linked this to the internal strain energy of the cylindrical shell; because the amount of energy required to bring the
unit shape change in the circumferential and lengthwise direction of the cylinder is different, the minimum
characteristic frequency value of any axial wave may correspond to any number of circumferential waves. Figure 4
shows that the mode shapes obtained experimentally compare very well with the corresponding ANSYS results.

Fig. 4. Mode shapes of cylindrical shell in vacuo and air

3.1. Wet Analysis

The hydroelastic vibration characteristics of the cylindrical shell are investigated experimentally for partially or fully
filled conditions, and the measurements are compared with those obtained by using finite element program ANSYS.
In the finite element analysis, the cylindrical shell is discretized with four-node quadrilateral SHELL181 elements.
The fluid is modeled by FLUID30 elements, assuming inviscid and compressible fluid, and the density and sonic
velocity is taken as 1000 kg/m3 and 1507 m/s, respectively. As the structure vibrates in high frequency region, the
infinite frequency limit condition is imposed on the free surface of contained fluid. Therefore, the zero-velocity
potential boundary condition (Φ=0) is applied on the free surface. Additionally, the fluid-structure interaction (FSI)
condition is applied on the wetted surface of the cylinder. The circular sealings at the end of the shell is assumed to
be rigid, and, therefore, the fluid actions are omitted over the ends of the cylinder. The fluid-structure interaction
system adopted in ANSYS is seen in Figure 5.

Fig. 5. Half-filled cylinder model in ANSYS

The convergences of the natural frequencies for half and fully filled cylindrical shell are seen in Table 3. To test the
convergence of the finite element computations, various numbers of elements were used for both structure and fluid
idealizations. Three different groups of calculations were performed for 146300, 272000 and 631000 fluid elements,
respectively, for half filled cylindrical shell, and 273000, 532000 and 1174000 fluid elements, respectively, for fully
filled cylinder. The discrepancies between the second and third idealizations are negligibly small for the first six wet
modes both for half and fully filled cylindrical shell. In addition, it is found that the experimental results agree well
with the finite element calculations obtained for the last idealizations.
Table 3. Convergence of the wet natural frequencies (Hz.) a) half filled; b) fully filled
a) b)
ANSYS ANSYS
FEM, FEM, FEM, FEM, FEM, FEM,
Experiment Experiment
146300 el. 272000 el. 631000 el. 273000 el. 532000 el. 1174000 el.
110.4 109.6 109.5 111.1 97.3 97.3 97.2 93.7
112.0 111.5 111.4 114.0 97.3 97.3 97.2 94.6
159.8 158.9 158.7 159.2 108.9 108.3 108.2 105.5
161.4 160.0 159.9 164.9 108.9 108.3 108.2 106.5
236.9 235.7 235.4 228.4 203.8 201.6 201.2 195.2
240.7 239.3 238.9 230.9 203.8 201.6 201.2 196.4

Fig. 6. Mode shapes of half-filled cylindrical shell

The first three mode shapes of half filled and fully filled cylindrical shell are depicted in Figures 6 and 7, respectively.
For the half filled cylinder, the wet mode shapes are ordered and numbered according to increasing natural frequency,
because of that the circumferential mode patterns are completely changed and that they can not be described by half
waves as defined in-vacuo cases. These considerable discrepancy in mode shapes between in-vacuo and half filled
cylindrical shell may be explained by the hydrodynamic coupling between the in-vacuo mode shapes [13].
Meanwhile, one can observed that the mode shapes of the fully filled cylindrical shell are almost same with those in-
vacuo. As seen from Figures 6 and 7, the natural frequency decreases with increasing area of fluid contact. Therefore,
the lowest frequencies are obtained for the fully-filled case. In general, the wet modal configurations obtained by the
experimental study are in excellent agreement with the numerical results.
 Fig. 7. Mode shapes of fully-filled cylindrical shell

4. CONCLUSIONS
An experimental study is performed to estimate the natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes of a circular
cylindrical shell in air and filled with fluid, respectively. In order to demonstrate the effect of fluid presence on the
dynamic response characteristics, two different cases, namely half-filled and fully-filled shell, are investigated. It is
observed that the presence of heavy fluid, e.g. water, is significantly alter the dynamic response characteristics of the
shell. From the results, that is to say that the wet natural frequencies decrease with increasing level of fluid. For the
half filled case, the mode shapes differ significantly from those in vacuo/air, meanwhile, it is observed that the mode
shapes are identical when the cylindrical shell is in-vacuo/air and fully-filled with fluid. The mode shapes obtained
by experiments compare very well with the corresponding numerical results obtained by ANSYS software.

5. REFERENCES

[1] Lindholm, U.S., Kana, D.D., Abramson, H.N., 1962. Breathing vibrations of a circular cylindrical shell with an
internal liquid. Journal of the Aerospace Sciences 29, 1052–1059.
[2] Jain, R.K., 1974. Vibration of fluid filled, orthotropic cylindrical shells, Journal of Sound and Vibration 37,
379–388.
[3] Chiba, M., Yamaki, N., Tani, J., 1984. Free vibration of a clamped-free circular cylindrical shell partially filled
with liquid – Part I: Theoretical Analysis, Thin-Walled Structures 2, 265–284.
[4] Gonçalves, P.B. and Ramos, N.R.S.S., 1996. Free vibration analysis of cylindrical tanks partially filled with
liquid, Journal of Sound and Vibration 195, 429–444.
[5] Lakis, A.A. and Paidoussis, M.P., 1971. Free vibration of cylindrical shells partially filled with liquid, Journal
of Sound and Vibration 19, 1–15.
[6] Li, P.L., Shyu, R.J., Wang, W.H., Cheng, C.Y., 2011. Analysis and reversal of dry and hydroelastic vibration
modes of stiffened plates. Ocean Engineering 38, 1014–1026.
[7] Cho, D.S., Kim, B.H., Vladimir, N., Choi, T.M., 2014. Natural vibration analysis of vertical rectangular plates
and stiffened panels in contact with fluid on one side. Proc. IME M J. Eng. Marit. Environ. 230, 114–125.
[8] Ardic, I. T., 2017. Hydro-elastic and acousto-elastic analyses of shells immersed in and/or partially in contact
with fluid. MSc thesis (in Turkish), Istanbul Technical University.
[9] Ardic, I. T. and Ergin, A., 2018. A hydroelastic investigation into dynamic response characteristics of spherical
and cylindrical shells infinitely submerged into fluid medium. 3rd International Naval Architecture and
Maritime Symposium (INT-NAM), 24-25 April 2018, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey.
[10] Yildizdag, M.E., Ardic, I.T., Demirtas, M., Ergin, A., 2019. Hydroelastic vibration analysis of plates partially
submerged in fluid with an isogeometric FE-BE approach. Ocean Engineering 172, 316-329.
[11] ANSYS 15.0, User’s Manual, 2013.
[12] Arnold, R. N. and Warburton, G. B., 1949. Flexural vibrations of the walls of thin cylindrical shells having
freely supported ends. Proceedings of the Royal Society (Series A) 197, 238-256.
[13] Ergin, A. and Temarel, P. 2002. Free vibration of a partially liquid-filled and submerged, horizontal cylindrical
shell. Journal of Sound and Vibration 254(5), 951-965.