Vibration analysis of rotating beam with variable cross section using Riccati transfer matrix method

In this paper, a semi-analytical method will be discussed for free vibration analysis of rotating beams with variable cross sectional area. For this purpose, the rotating beam is discretized through applying the transfer matrix method and assumed the axial force is constant for each element. Then, the transfer matrix is derived based on Euler-Bernoulli's beam differential equation and applying boundary conditions. In the following, the frequencies of the rotating beam with constant and variable cross sections are determined using the transfer matrix method in several case studies. In order to eliminate numerical difficulties in the transfer matrix method, the Riccati transfer matrix is employed for high rotation speed and high modes. The results are compared with the results of the finite elements method and Rayleigh-Ritz method which show good agreement in spite of low computational cost.