Abstract
An analysis is presented on the stability of an elastic cantilever column having the elastic restraints at its free end, carrying an added tip mass, and subjected to uniformly distributed follower forces. The elastic restraints are formed by both a translational spring and a rotatory spring. For this purpose, the governing equations and boundary conditions are derived by using Hamilton's principle, and the critical flutter loads and frequencies are obtained from the numerical evaluation of the eigenvalue functions of this elastic system. The added tip mass increases as a whole the critical flutter load of the elastic cantilever column, but the presence of its moment of inertia of mass has a destabilizing effect. The existence of the translational and rotatory springs at the free end increases the critical flutter load of the elastic cantilever column. Nevertheless, their effects on the critical flutter load are not uniform because of their coupling. The translational spring restraining the free end of the cantilever column decreases the critical flutter load by coupling with a large value of tip mass, while by coupling with the moment of inertia of tip pass its effect on the critical flutter load is contrary. The rotatory spring restraining the free end of the cantilever column increases the critical flutter load by coupling with the tip mass, but decreases it by coupling with the moment of inertia of the tip mass.
