Continuous Systems

Longitudinal Vibration of a Bar

Consider an elastic bar of length l with varying cross-sectional area A(x),

The forces acting on the cross sections of

a small element of the bar are given by

where σ is the axial stress, E is Young s modulus, u is the axial

displacement, and is the axial strain. If f(x, t) denotes the external
force per unit length, the summation of the forces in the x direction gives the
equation of motion
For free-vibration
EXAMPLE 1

A uniform bar of cross-sectional area A, length l, and Young s modulus E is

connected at both ends by springs, dampers, and masses,. State the
boundary conditions.

The free-body diagrams of the masses

 EXAMPLE 2

Find the natural frequencies and the free-vibration solution of a bar fixed at
one end and free at the other.

?
Using
EXAMPLE 3

Find the natural frequencies of a bar with one end fixed and a mass attached
at the other end

At the end the tensile force in the bar must be equal to the inertia force of the
vibrating mass M, and so
solution gives the natural frequencies of the system.