Forced vibrations of a cantilever beam

Abstract

The theoretical and experimental solutions for vibrations of a vertical-oriented, prismatic, thin cantilever beam are studied. The beam orientation is ‘downwards’, i.e. the clamped end is above the free end, and it is subjected to a transverse movement at a selected frequency. Both the behaviour of the device driver and the beam’s weak-damping resonance response are compared for the case of an elastic beam made from PVC plastic excited over a frequency range from 1 to 30 Hz. The current analysis predicts the presence of ‘pseudonodes’ in the normal modes of oscillation. It is important to note that our results were obtained using very simple equipment, present in the teaching laboratory.