Viscous Theory for the Vibrations of Coaxial Cylinders: Analytical Formulas for the Fluid Forces and the Modal Added Coefficients

This article addresses the small-amplitude forced beam vibrations of two coaxial finite-length cylinders separated by a viscous Newtonian fluid. A new theoretical approach based on an Helmholtz expansion of the fluid velocity vector is carried out, leading to a full analytical expression of the fluid forces and subsequently of the modal added mass and damping coefficients. Our theory shows that the fluid forces are linear combinations of the Fourier harmonics of the vibration modes. The coefficients of the linear combinations are shown to depend on the aspect ratio of the cylinders, on the separation distance, and on the Stokes number. As a consequence, the linear fluid forces do not have, in general, the same shape as the forced vibration mode, so that the fluid makes it possible to couple vibration modes with different wave numbers. Compared to the previous works, the present theory includes the viscous effects of the fluid, accounts for the finite length of the cylinders, does not rely on the assumption of a narrow annulus, and covers in a unique formulation all types of classical boundary conditions for an Euler–Bernoulli beam. The theoretical predictions for the modal added mass and damping coefficients (self and cross) are corroborated numerically, considering rigid, pinned-pinned, and clamped-free vibrations.