Free vibration analysis of Euler-Bernoulli beam with double cracks

In this paper, the influence of two open cracks on the dynamic behavior of a double cracked simply supported beam is investigated both analytically and experimentally. The equation of motion is derived by using the Hamilton’s principle and analyzed by numerical method. The simply supported beam is modeled by the Euler-Bemoulli beam theory. The crack sections are represented by a local flexibility matrix connecting three undamaged beam segments. The influences of the crack depth and the position of each crack on the vibration mode and the natural frequencies of a simply supported beam are analytically clarified for the single and double cracked simply supported beam. The theoretical results are also validated by a comparison with experimental measurements.