The derivation of fundamental equations the free vibration of a spiral thin cylindrical shells is presented in this paper . Firstly, the strain-displacement relationships based on assumptions of the thin shell theory are derived and their simplified equations are proposed. Then, the principle of virtual work for the vibration of spiral thin cylindrical shells is formulated, together with some numerical results using a Rayleigh-Ritz method . The numerical results are compared with those in the literature, and those obtained by finite element method, etc. The comparison shows the method presented in this paper is useful for analyzing free vibration of spiral thin cylindrical shells.
