Steady Solution for Circumferentially Moving Loads on Cylindrical Shells

The steady, forced-wave solution is obtained for loads that travel with constant speed on a simply supported circular shell, the motion of which is damped externally by air. Critical speeds are identified above which the waveform, which is a standing wave in moving coordinates, exhibits shorter wavelengths in front of the load than behind it. At supercritical speeds the solution becomes unbounded, because of loss of stability, in the limit of no damping.