University of Sheffield Department of Mechanical Engineering

MEC 308: Applied Noise and Vibration TUTORIAL 3

The objective of this tutorial is to provide another example of using Rayleigh’s method for estimating
the fundamental natural frequency of a structure; the second question shows how the Rayleigh-Ritz
method extends Rayleigh’s method.

Question 1

Use Rayleigh’s method to estimate the first natural frequency of the tapered beam shown below.
Assume unit width for the beam.

O h
x

Figure 1: Tapered cantilever beam.

Assume a trial mode shape of the form,

( )2
x
W (x) = 1 −
L
Question 2

Use the Rayleigh-Ritz method to estimate the first two natural frequencies of the tapered beam
considered in Question 1. You may assume basis functions of the form,
( )2
x
W1 (x) = 1 −
L
( )2
x x
W1 (x) = 1−
L L

1
Solution 1

The proposed trial function for the mode shape is,

( )2
x
W (x) = 1 −
L
First of all, you check that the function satisfies the appropriate boundary conditions e.g. W (L) = 0,
dW/dx(L) = 0.
Rayleigh’s quotient requires one to specify the cross-sectional area A(x) and second moment of area
I(x). You should establish that,

hx
A(x) =
L
( )3
1 hx
I(x) =
12 L
Then, Rayleigh’s quotient is,
∫L ( )( )2
h3 x3 2
0 E 12L3
dx Eh2
L2
ω2 = ∫ ( ) ( )4 = 2.5 4
L hx
1 − Lx dx ρL
0 ρ L

or,
√
Eh2
ω = 1.5811
ρL4
In this case, the exact value for the frequency is known to be,
√
Eh2
ω = 1.5343
ρL4

2
Solution 2

The trial basis is,

( )2
x
W1 (x) = 1 −
L
( )
x x 2
W1 (x) = 1−
L L
So a two-term approximation to the beam mode shape is,
( )2 ( )2
x x x
W( x) = c1 1− + c2 1−
L L L
Rayleigh’s quotient is,
Vmax
ω2 = ∗
Tmax
where,
∫ ( )2
L d2 W (x)
Vmax = EI(x) dx
0 dx2
∫ 2
∗
Tmax = ρA(x)W (x)2 dx
0
where A(x) and I(x) are defined as for Question 1.
Subsituting the mode shape expansion W (x) into the equations above gives,
( )
Eh3 c21 c2 c1 c2
Vmax = + 2 +
3L3 4 10 5
( )
∗ c2 c2 2c1 c2
Tmax = ρhL 1 + 2 +
30 280 105
so the Rayleigh quotient is clearly a function of c1 and c2 .
The conditions that make the quotient stationary are,
∂ω 2
=0
∂c1
∂ω 2
=0
∂c2
As discussed in the notes, these lead to,
∂Vmax ∂T ∗
− ω 2 max = 0
∂c1 ∂c1
∂Vmax ∂T ∗
− ω 2 max = 0
∂c2 ∂c2

3
 ∗
Substitution of the expressions for Vmax and Tmax leads to the matrix equation,
 ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
1
− ω̂ 2 15
1 1
− ω̂ 2 105
2
c1 0
 (2 ) (5 )  =
1
2
− ω̂ 2 2
105
1
5
− ω̂ 2 140
1 c2 0

where,
( )
3ρL4
ω̂ 2 = ω2
Eh2

Setting the determinant of the matrix to zero gives the characteristic equation for the natural
frequencies,
1 4 13 2 3
ω̂ − ω̂ + =0
8820 1400 50
The roots of the above equation are found to be ω̂1 = 2.6599 and ω̂2 = 8.6492 and these lead to
estimates of the natural frequencies,
√
Eh2
ω1 = 1.5367
ρL4
√
Eh2
ω2 = 4.9936
ρL4
Note that the first of these is a better approximation to the exact first natural frequency than the
solution found by Rayleigh’s method to Question 1.