Three-dimensional non-linear oscillations of a rod with hinged supports

The free and forced flexural oscillations of a rod with hinged supports are investigated analytically and numerically. The geometrical non-linearity due to the change in the length of the central line of the rod accompanying its three-dimensional motion is taken into account. The oscillations of a rod with different natural frequencies in two mutually perpendicular directions as a consequence of the variance in the flexural stiffnesses of the rod or the stiffnesses of the supports in the different directions, are considered. It is shown in the case of natural oscillations that, together with two planar forms of motion, a form exists when a certain threshold value is exceeded, which corresponds to the motion of the cross-sections of the rod in a circle. The amplitude-frequency and phase-frequency characteristics of the system are constructed and qualitatively investigated in the neighbourhood of the principal resonance.