To know the vibration characteristics of thin cylindrical shell with constrained layer damping, Hamilton principle with Rayleigh-Ritz method is used to solve the dynamic equation. Based on this, natural frequencies and loss factors of free vibration are analyzed. Modal Superposition method is used to calculate the formulas of frequency response on any points in the shell. In addition, based on frequency response, power dissipation coefficient is proposed. The power dissipation coefficient and loss factors are used respectively as constrained layer damping effect evaluation criteria and to analyze the influence of constrained layer damping structure parameters on the damping effect. Numerical results show that the constrained layer damping can effectively inhibit vibration transmission of thin cylindrical shell. The power dissipation coefficient can be used as damping effect evaluation criteria in the specified frequency band. The coefficient of viscoelastic damping material, elastic modulus of constrained layer, thickness of constrained layer and thickness of damping layer can affect the damping effect.