Steady-state response of the flexible connecting rod of a slider-crank mechanism with time-dependent boundary condition

This paper presents a finite element method for the dynamic analysis of a flexible connecting rod in a slider-crank mechanism with time-dependent boundary conditions. Kinetic and strain energies of the flexible link are formulated and used with Hamilton's principle to develop the governing equations. Time-dependent boundary conditions instead of simply-supported end conditions are used to define the displacement field of the connecting rod. A special finite element method is developed for such a time-dependent boundary condition. The equations of motion are transformed into a set of ordinary differential equations and the harmonic balance method is used to obtain the steady-state amplitudes and rotary angles. The results are compared for the time-dependent and simply-supported end conditions. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.