Free vibration analysis of a non-uniform beam with multiple point masses

The natural frequencies and the corresponding mode shapes of a non-uniform beam carrying multiple point masses are determined by using the analytical-and-numerical-combined method. To confirm the reliability of the last approach, all the presented results are compared with those obtained from the existing literature or the conventional finite element method and close agreement is achieved. For a "uniform" beam, the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the "clamped-hinged" beam are exactly equal to those of the "hinged-clamped" beam so that one eigenvalue equation is available for two boundary conditions, but this is not true for a "non-uniform" beam. To improve this drawback, a simple transformation function ${\varphi}({\xi})=(e+{\xi}{\alpha})^2$ is presented. Where ${\xi}=x/L$ is the ratio of the axial coordinate x to the beam length L, ${\alpha}$ is a taper constant for the non-uniform beam, e=1.0 for "positive" taper and e=1.0+$|{\alpha}|$ for "negative" taper (where $|{\alpha}|$ is the absolute value of ${\alpha}$). Based on the last function, the eigenvalue equation for a non-uniform beam with "positive" taper (with increasingly varying stiffness) is also available for that with "negative" taper (with decreasingly varying stiffness) so that half of the effort may be saved. For the purpose of comparison, the eigenvalue equations for a positively-tapered beam with five types of boundary conditions are derived. Besides, a general expression for the "normal" mode shapes of the non-uniform beam is also presented.