BENDING DYNAMICS

of
UNIFORM BEAMS

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Configuration and FBD

y
x

Free Body Diagram of element dx:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Assumptions

Small displacements v(x,t);

Bending is uncoupled from torsion;
Beam is initially straight and untwisted;
Neglect deformation due to shear;
Neglect rotary inertias of cross section;
Beam is uniform.

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Equation of motion

where:

Bending stiffness;
linear mass;

Governing equation is 4th order PDE in

space and 2nd order in time.
The solution requires 4 boundary
conditions and 2 initial conditions
AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Free vibrations
Separation of variables

where

a is a parameter defined by the application of the boundary conditions

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Free vibrations
and:
or

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Boundary conditions
Pinned (hinged) end at x=0:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Boundary conditions
Clamped end at x=0:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Boundary conditions
Free end at x=0:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Boundary conditions
Translational elastic constraints at x=0 and x=l:

x=0:

x=l:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Boundary conditions
Rotational elastic constraints at x=0 and x=l:

x=0:

x=l:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Boundary conditions
Translational inertial constraints at x=0 and x=l:

x=0:

x=l:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Boundary conditions
Rotational inertial constraints at x=0 and x=l:

x=0:

x=l:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Examples of results of
calculations of natural
frequencies and mode
shapes

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Simply supported beam

Characteristic equation:

Natural frequencies:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Simply supported beam

Mode shapes:

Node

i=1

i=2

i=3

i=4

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Clamped-free beam

Characteristic equation:

Natural frequencies:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Clamped-free beam
Mode shapes:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Clamped-free beam
Mode shapes:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Free-free beam

Characteristic equation:

Natural frequencies:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Free-free beam
Mode shapes:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Free-free beam
Mode shapes (rigid body modes):

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078

Free-free beam
Mode shapes:

AE 6230 Structural Dynamics

Massimo Ruzzene
School of Aerospace Engineering
massimo.ruzzene@ae.gatech.edu
Ph: (404) 894 3078