Calculating the Natural Frequency of Pre-Twisted Beam

Abstract

Beams in two configurations; uniform and non-uniform, are common structural components utilized for several engineering applications. Thus, the studies dealing with their behavior under dynamic and vibrations have been increased. In this research, the transverse vibration phenomena of pre-twisted beams were experimentally and theoretically studied by investigating the effect of twisting angles on the first three transverse natural frequencies. In the present experimental part, the pre-twisted beams are manufactured using a 3D printer, and the fundamental frequencies of manufactured pre-twisted beams are measured by a suitable rig. In the theoretical work, the finite element method is used to simulate the transverse vibration behavior of the pre-twisted beams. The accuracy of the simulation process is checked by comparison of the first natural frequencies calculated by the finite element method (using ANSYS Workbench Software) with those measured experimentally. The results show that there is an excellent agreement between the experimental results and finite element outputs. For the clamped-free pre-twisted beam, there is no critical twisting angle. The critical twisting angle is equal to the mode number for simply – simply and clamped simple pre-twisted beam. While there is more than one value of critical twisting angle for the clamped-clamped pre-twisted beam.