FREE VIBRATION OF FREE-FREE BEAMS WITH A GROOVE.

Effects of a groove on the natural frequencies of the free-free beams with square cross-section have been studied theoretically and experimentally. The beam considered has a rectangular groove at the middle of the span. In the theoretical analysis the transfer matrix method based on the Timoshenko beam theory was used. In the experimental analysis two types of groove were used; that is, symmetrical and unsymmetrical ones with respect to the beam axis. The effects of groove size on the natural frequencies up to the third mode were discussed in detail.