Further results for modal characteristics of rotating tapered Timoshenko beams

The in-plane and out-of-plane modes of free vibration of a tapered Timoshenko beam mounted on the periphery of a rotating rigid hub are investigated. The finite element method is used to discretize the beam. This formulation permits.unequal breadth and depth taper ratios as well as unequal element lengths. The effects of shear deformation, rotary inertia, hub radius, setting angle, and spinning rotation are considered. The generalized eigenvalue problem is defined using explicit expressions for the mass and stiffness matrices and numerical solutions are generated for a wide range of parameter variations. Explicit expressions of Southwell coefficients are presented for the first time for the case of rotating uniform and tapered Timoshenko beams. Comparisons are made wherever possible with exact solutions and other numerical results available in the literature. Extended results are obtained to serve as a benchmark solution for other numerical techniques and specialized applications. (C) 1999 Academic Press.