Stability of a cylindrical shell subject to an annular flow of rotating fluid.

Abstract: The paper is concerned with the analysis of dynamic behavior of elastic cylindrical shells of rotation subjected to an annular flow of compressible fluid (gas) having both the axial and tangential velocity components. The behavior of the rotating and flowing fluid is described in the framework of the potential theory. The elastic shell is considered based on the model of the classical shell theory. Numerical simulation is done using a semi-analytical variant of the finite element method. The results of numerical experiments made to analyze the stability of shells with different boundary conditions, geometrical dimensions and widths of the annular gap are discussed. The influence of the fluid rotation on the critical flow velocities and the influence of the axial flow on the critical angular velocities of fluid rotation are estimated with reference to the variants, in which one of the velocity components is not taken into account. The effect of elasticity of the outer shell on the boundary of hydroelastic stability is analyzed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]