Effect of Slenderness Ratio on the Natural Frequencies of Pre-Twisted Cantilever Beams of Uniform Rectangular Cross-Section

This paper is concerned with the vibrational characteristics of pre-twisted cantilever beams of uniform rectangular cross-section allowing for shear deformation and rotary inertia.A method of solution of the differential equations of motion allowing for shear deformation and rotary inertia is presented which is an extension of the method introduced by Dawson (1)§ for the solution of the differential equations of motion of pre-twisted beams neglecting shear and rotary inertia effects.The natural frequencies for the first five modes of vibration are obtained for beams of various breadth to depth ratios and lengths ranging from 3 to 20 in and pre-twist angle in the range 0–90°. The results are compared with those obtained by an alternative method (2), where available, and also to experimental results.