Utilization of characteristic polynomials in vibration analysis of non-uniform beams under a moving mass excitation

Vibration of non-uniform beams with different boundary conditions subjected to a moving mass is investigated. The beam is modeled using Euler–Bernoulli beam theory. Applying the method of eigenfunction expansion, equation of motion has been transformed into a number of coupled linear time-varying ordinary differential equations. In non-uniform beams, the exact vibration functions do not exist and in order to solve these equations using eigenfunction expansion method, an adequate set of functions must be selected as the assumed vibration modes. A set of polynomial functions called as beam characteristic polynomials, which is constructed by considering beam boundary conditions, have been used along with the vibration functions of the equivalent uniform beam with similar boundary conditions, as the assumed vibration functions. Orthogonal polynomials which are generated by utilizing a Gram–Schmidt process are also used, and results of their application show no advantage over the set of simple non-orthogonal polynomials. In the numerical examples, both natural frequencies and forced vibration of three different non-uniform beams with different shapes and boundary conditions are scrutinized.