AbstractExperimental studies have been carried out on the dynamic stability of a cantilever cylindrical shell partially filled with liquid, under vertical excitation. Two polyester test cylinders with radius 100 mm, thickness 0.25 mm, and lengths 113 and 227 mm were used. The test cylinder was harmonically excited with constant acceleration‐ or displacement‐amplitude. It was found that not only the parametric principal instability resonance but also the parametric combination involving two natural vibrations, each of which has the same circumferential wave number but different axial mode numbers, could occur. The latter type of vibration apparently has not been previously studied. By varying the dimensionless water height from 0.25 to 1.0 stepwise by 0.25 increments, the instability regions and vibration modes were determined for the two test cylinders. The response waves of shell wall and liquid free surface, and axial and circumferential vibration modes were also obser