Free Vibration Analysis of Centrifugally Stiffened Tapered Functionally Graded Beams

Abstract

Free vibration of rotating tapered beams made of functionally graded (FG) materials is studied through a finite element approach. A new element is introduced that takes advantage of the exact shape functions for nonrotating tapered FG beam elements. Developing a new type of unit-dummy-load method, special functions, namely, basic displacement functions (BDFs) are derived from which the exact shape functions are obtained. The element is employed in free vibration analysis where the effects of taper ratio, rotational speed, and hub radius are investigated. The present results could be efficiently used for future research works in this field.