Modal test and analysis of cantilever beam with tip mass

The phenomenon of dynamic stiffening is a research field of general interest for flexible multi-body systems. In fact, there are not only dynamic stiffening but also dynamic softening phenomenon in the flexible multi-body systems. In this paper, a non-linear dynamic model and its linearization characteristic equations of a cantilever beam with tip mass in the centrifugal field are established by adopting the general Hamilton Variational Principle. Then, the problems of the dynamic stiffening and the dynamic softening are studied by using numerical simulations. Meanwhile, the modal test is carried out on our centrifuge. The numerical results show that the system stiffness will be strengthened when the centrifugal tension force acts on the beam (i.e. the dynamic stiffening). However, the system stiffness will be weakened when the centrifugal compression force acts on the beam (i.e. the dynamic softening). Furthermore, the equilibrium position of the system will lose its stability when the inertial force reaches a critical value. Through theoretical analysis, we find that this phenomenon comes from the effect of dynamic softening resulting from the centrifugal compression force. Our test results verify the above conclusions and confirm that both dynamic stiffening and softening phenomena exist in flexible multi-body systems. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (19972002) and the Doctoral Programme from The State Education Commission China (20010001011)