The three-dimensional (3D) free vibration of twisted cylinders with sectorial cross section or a radial crack through the height of the cylinder is studied by means of the Chebyshev–Ritz method. The analysis is based on the three-dimensional small strain linear elasticity theory. A simple coordinate transformation is applied to map the twisted cylindrical domain into a normal cylindrical domain. The product of a triplicate Chebyshev polynomial series along with properly defined boundary functions is selected as the admissible functions. An eigenvalue matrix equation can be conveniently derived through a minimization process by the Rayleigh–Ritz method. The boundary functions are devised in such a way that the geometric boundary conditions of the cylinder are automatically satisfied. The excellent property of Chebyshev polynomial series ensures robustness and rapid convergence of the numerical computations. The present study provides a full vibration spectrum for thick twisted cylinders with sectorial cross section, which could not be determined by 1D or 2D models. Highly accurate results presented for the first time are systematically produced, which can serve as a benchmark to calibrate other numerical solutions for twisted cylinders with sectorial cross section. The effects of height-to-radius ratio and twist angle on frequency parameters of cylinders with different subtended angles in the sectorial cross section are discussed in detail.
