This paper describes the development of an algorithm of the free vibrational analysis suitable for a personal computer. The present method is based on the concept of the successive transmission of the dynamic influence coefficients at every station and so overcomes the numerical difficulties which occur normally in using transfer matrices when computing higher natural frequencies and when intermediate elastic supports are very stiff. The computational time of the transfer influence coefficient method for a discrete parameter system is about one eighteenth the value for the transfer matrix method. A rotating shaft analysis demonstrates the numerical accuracy of the method on a personal computer.
