Free vibration analysis of simply supported beam with breathing crack using perturbation method

In this paper, a new analytical method for vibration analysis of a cracked simply supported beam is investigated. By considering a nonlinear model for the fatigue crack, the governing equation of motion of the cracked beam is solved using perturbation method. The solution of the governing equation reveals the superharmonics of the fundamental frequency due to the nonlinear effects in the dynamic response of the cracked beam. Furthermore, considering such a solution, an explicit expression is also derived for the system damping changes due to the changes in the crack parameters, geometric dimensions and mechanical properties of the cracked beam. The results show that an increase in the crack severity and approaching the crack location to the middle of the beam increase the system damping. In order to validate the results, changes in the fundamental frequency ratios against the fatigue crack severities are compared with those of experimental results available in the literature. Also, a comparison is made between the free response of the cracked beam with a given crack depth and location obtained by the proposed analytical solution and that of the numerical method. The results of the proposed method agree with the experimental and numerical results.