Flutter of thin cylindrical shells conveying fluid

Abstract When the flow velocity in a finite, thin, circular cylindrical shell, either clamped at both ends or cantilevered, exceeds a certain critical value, the system is observed to lose stability by flutter in its second circumferential mode. This paper describes the phenomenon, and presents a theory for its analysis which is based on Flugge's equations for the description of shell motion and a classical potential-flow theory for the coupled hydrodynamic forces. Complex frequency calculations reveal the existence of flutter in the case of cantilevered shells; for clamped-clamped shells the theory predicts buckling instability followed by coupled-mode flutter. Theory and experiment are in adequately close agreement.