Vibration and Sensitivity Analysis of a Beam With a Lumped Mass of Translational and Rotary Inertias

The free vibration analysis of a uniform beam carrying a lumped mass with the inclusion of both translational and rotary inertias are performed, and a closed-form expression of the frequency sensitivity with respect to the attachment location of the lumped mass is formulated using the discrete method upon the finite element analysis. By virtually introducing additional degrees of freedom at the mass-attached point, the first-order derivative of the natural frequency can be determined straightforwardly. Comparisons of numerical results from two typical examples show that the rotary inertia of a lumped mass may impose important effects on the natural frequency and its sensitivity. Neglecting the rotary inertia may lead to inaccurate or even erroneous solutions of the beam’s dynamics.