Dynamic Characteristics of a Small-Size Beam Mounted on an Accelerating Structure

This study focuses on the nonlinear vibration of a small-size beam hosted in a high-speed moving structure. The equation of the beam’s motion is derived using the coordinate transformation. The small-size effect is introduced by applying the modified coupled stress theory. The equation of motion involves quadratic and cubic terms due to mid-plane stretching. Discretization of the equation of motion is achieved via the Galerkin method. The impact of several parameters on the non-linear response of the beam is investigated. Bifurcation diagrams are used to investigate the stability of the response, whereas softening/hardening characteristics of the frequency curves are used as an indication of nonlinearity. Results indicate that increasing the magnitude of the applied force tends to signify the nonlinear hardening behavior. In terms of the periodicity of the response, at a lower amplitude of the applied force, the response appears to be a one-period stable oscillation. Increasing the length scale parameter, the response moves from chaotic to period-doubling to the stable one-period response. The impact of the axial acceleration of the moving structure on the stability as well as on the nonlinearity of the response of the beam is also investigated.