Analysis of natural frequency of flexural vibrations of a single-span beam with the consideration of Timoshenko effect

Abstract

This paper presents general solution of boundary value problem for constant cross-section Timoshenko beams with four typical boundary conditions. The authors have taken into consideration rotational inertia and shear strain by using the theory of influence by Cauchy function and characteristic series. The boundary value problem of transverse vibration has been formulated and solved. The characteristic equations considering the exact bending theory have been obtained for four cases: the clamped boundary conditions; a simply supported beam and clamped on the other side; a simply supported beam; a cantilever beam. The obtained estimators of fundamental natural frequency take into account mass and elastic characteristics of beams and Timoshenko effect. The results of calculations prove high convergence of the estimators to the exact values which were calculated by Timoshenko who used Bessel functions. Characteristic series having an alternating sign power series show good convergence. As it is shown in the paper, the error lower than 5% was obtained after taking into account only two first significant terms of the series. It was proved that neglecting the Timoshenko effect in case of short beams of rectangular section with the ratio of their length to their height equal 6 leads to the errors of calculated natural frequency: 5%÷12%.