Applied Acoustics 21 (1987) 259-266 Whirling of Flexible Silmfts with Intermediate S u ~ P. A. A. Laura Institute of Applied Mechanics,8111 Puerto BclgranoNaval Base (Argentina) S. La Malfa, L. Ercoli Institute of Applied Mechanics,and Facultad Regional Bahia Blanca (UTN) (Argentina) and V. H. Cortinez Department of Engineering,UniversidadNational del Sur 8000 Bahia Blanca (Argentina) (Received 20 February 1986; accepted9 Jllne 1986) SUMMARY The present paper deals with an approximate solution of the title problem using the Rayleigh-Schmidt procedure. It is shown that rotating shafts of non- uniform cross section can be analyzed in a straightforward manner. Experimental and analytical results are obtained for the case of uniform shafts with intermediate supports, and good engineering agreement is shown to exist. INTRODUCTION Excellent books, papers and reports deal with the extremely important problem of whirling of flexible shafts. 1-3 It is felt, however, that some of the methods available in the open literature cannot be implememted in a straightforward fashion by the mechanical designer in the case of rather complicated rotating rods. 259 Applied Acoustics 0003-682X/87/$03-50 © Elsevier AppliedScience PublishersLtd, England, 1987. Printed in Great Britain