Nonlinear vibrations of circular cylindrical shells with thermal effects: an experimental study

The nonlinear dynamics of a polymeric cylindrical shell carrying a top mass under axial harmonic excitation are experimentally investigated; the tests have been carried out in a controlled environment under several conditions of homogeneous temperature and excitation amplitude. The thermal effects on shells dynamics have been studied. The purpose of this paper is to fill an important gap in the literature regarding the effect of the temperature on the complex dynamics of shells. The cylindrical shell is excited in the axial direction by means of a seismic excitation provided by an electrodynamic shaker. The analysis is focused on the range of frequencies of excitation close to the first axisymmetric mode resonance; the base motion induces a parametric excitation. A saturation phenomenon of the top mass vibration is observed; the vibrating energy directly transferred from the shaker to the first axisymmetric mode is transferred to radial motion of the shell. The experimental data are examined and discussed in detail; a complete dynamic scenario is analyzed by means of: amplitude–frequency curves, bifurcation diagrams, spectrograms, Poincaré maps, phase portraits, Fourier spectra and time histories. Results show that: (i) the temperature strongly affects the instability regions and the magnitude of the measured kinematic quantity, (ii) high environmental temperature leads to a more complex shell dynamics.