A Study about the Damage Model of a Cantilever Beam with Open Crack Generated in Whole Breadth of the Beam

We studied the influences of open cracks in free vibrating beam with rectangular section using a numerical model. The crack was assumed to be single and always open during the free vibration and equivalent bending stiffness of a cracked beam was calculated based on the strain energy balance. By Galerkin`s method, the frequencies of cantilever beam could be obtained with respect to various crack depths and locations. Also, the experiments on the cracked beams were carried out to find natural frequencies. The cracks were initiated at five locations and the crack depths were increased by five steps at each location. The experimental results were compared with the numerical results and the comparison results were discussed.