Vibration analysis of a Timoshenko beam carrying 3D tip mass by using differential transform method

Dynamic behaviour of beam carrying masses has attracted attention of many researchers and engineers. Many studies on the analytical solution of beam with concentric tip mass have been published. However, there are limited works on vibration analysis of beam with an eccentric three dimensional object. In this case, bending and torsional deformations of beam are coupled due to the boundary conditions. Analytical solution of equations of motion of the system is complicated and lengthy. Therefore, in this study, Differential Transform Method (DTM) is applied to solve the relevant equations. First, the Timoshenko beam with 3D tip attachment whose centre of gravity is not coincident with beam end point is considered. The beam is assumed to undergo bending in two orthogonal planes and torsional deformation about beam axis. Using Hamilton's principle the equations of motion of the system along with the possible boundary conditions are derived. Later DTM is applied to obtain natural frequencies and mode shapes of the system. According to the relevant literature DTM has not been applied to such a system so far. Moreover, the problem is modelled by Ansys, the well-known finite element method, and impact test is applied to extract experimental modal data. Comparing DTM results with finite element and experimental results it is concluded that the proposed approach produces accurate results.