Modal Identification and Nonlinear Vibration of Flexible Manipulator With Revolute Pair Incorporating Generic Payload

The effect of all-inclusive generic offset payload characteristics on the modes of vibration and nonlinear characteristics of a rotating flexible manipulator with a revolute pair has been accomplished in the present article. A brief dynamic modelling and free vibration analysis to obtain the eigenspectrums of the system, whereafter nonlinear analysis of a manipulator with a general offset payload undergoing overall motion has been accomplished. Dynamic equation of motion and associated boundary conditions have been developed where the payload is considered as a mass whose center of gravity doesn’t coincide with the point of attachment with the manipulator. The effect of various system parameters such as offset mass, offset inertia, offset length, hub mass, actuated inertia and hub stiffness on eigenfrequency is well tabulated and the same effect on eigenspectrums is presented graphically. Further, MMS is employed to investigate the effect of parametric variation on the nonlinear behaviour and associated bifurcation of the rotating single-link flexible manipulator being harmonically driven at the joint under primary resonance considering the centrifugal forces acting on the link and payload as well. The present analysis indicated the pronounced effect of system mass, inertia, stiffness and rotating speed on the eigencharacteristics and bifurcations of a flexible manipulator with a rotating joint.