We consider an elastic inclusion in a cylinder with isotropic materials properties. The inclusion possesses a multi-step dependence of the dilatational eigenstrain along the cylinder axis. Basing on the solution for the trace of the stress tensor of the dilatational inclusion with sharp boundaries (single-step inclusion) the stored elastic energy of the multi-step inclusion is determined and analyzed. Then, the found analytical solution for the inclusion energy is used to investigate the energy properties of...