Acta Mechanica Solida Sinica, Vol. 24, No.

2, April, 2011 ISSN 0894-9166

Published by AMSS Press, Wuhan, China

A NEW APPROACH TO FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS

OF A BEAM WITH A BREATHING CRACK BASED ON
MECHANICAL ENERGY BALANCE METHOD

Mousa Rezaee Reza Hassannejad

(Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 51666-14766, Iran)

Received 10 December 2009, revision received 3 November 2010

ABSTRACT In this paper, a new approach to free vibration analysis of a cracked cantilever beam
is proposed. By considering the effect of opening and closing the crack during the beam vibration,
it is modeled as a fatigue crack. Also, local stiffness changes at the crack location are considered
to be a nonlinear amplitude-dependent function and it is assumed that during one half a cycle,
the frequencies and mode shapes of the beam vary continuously with time. In addition, by using
the experimental tests, it is shown that the local stiffness at the crack location varies continuously
between the two extreme values corresponding to the fully closed and the fully open cases of the
crack. Then, by using the mechanical energy balance the dynamic response of the cracked beam
is obtained at every time instant. The results show that for a specific crack depth, by approaching
the crack location to the fixed end of the beam, more reduction in the fundamental frequency
occurs. Furthermore, for a specific crack location, the fundamental frequency diminishes and the
nonlinearity of the system increases by increasing the crack depth. In order to validate the results,
the variations of the fundamental frequency ratio against the crack location are compared with
experimental results.

KEY WORDS free vibration, fatigue crack, beam, amplitude-dependent local stiffness, superhar-
monic, time-dependent mode

I. INTRODUCTION
Dynamic response, natural frequencies and mode shapes of a structure depend on the mass and
stiffness distributions of the structure, and any changes in these parameters should affect the dynamic
behavior of the structure. The stiffness of a structure containing a breathing crack changes continuously
with time during the vibration which causes the dynamic behavior of the structure to be significantly
nonlinear and the level of nonlinearity is sensitive to the crack parameters (depth and location). Analysis
of the dynamic behavior of a cracked beam has significant importance in engineering design. Thus,
modeling and the dynamics of the cracked structures have been a subject of intensive investigations
in the last three decades. In order to investigate the crack influence on the beam vibrations, many
researchers have modeled the crack as a massless torsional linear spring, and assumed that its constant
stiffness is related to the mechanical properties of the beam, the crack depth and the geometry of
the beam cross-sectional area[1–5] . They obtained natural frequencies and mode shapes of the cracked
beam by means of analytical or numerical techniques. Recently, many investigators also considered the
vibration and buckling of the cracked Timoshenko beams made of functionally graded materials by using
 Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
 · 186 · ACTA MECHANICA SOLIDA SINICA 2011

the linear spring model[6–8] . Such linear models are not able to reveal the crack nonlinear effects on the
dynamic behavior of the system, and extract the superharmonics in the dynamic response of the beam.
Therefore, a realistic model for simulation of the nonlinear behavior of the cracked beams is sought by
some researchers. Friswell and Penny[9] investigated nonlinear behavior of a cantilever cracked beam
under harmonic excitation. They simulated the cracked beam as a single degree of freedom (SDOF)
system with bi-linear stiffness. By using numerical methods, they showed that the harmonics of the
excitation appear in the dynamic response. Such a model takes into account only fully open and fully
closed states of the crack, and it ignores partially open or closed situations. In a similar approach, some
of the other researchers[10, 11] have investigated the dynamic behavior of beams containing a transverse
crack using the finite element method. They used bi-linear stiffness models for taking into account the
stiffness changes of a cracked beam in the crack location. Krawczuk and Ostachowicz[12] studied the
transverse vibration of a cracked beam considering a time-varying stiffness for modeling partially open
and closed situations of the crack. They have solved the equation of motion by using the harmonic-
balance technique. Abraham and Brandon[13] have simulated the changes in stiffness at the location
of the breathing crack by employing the Fourier series. They assumed that the beam stiffness varies
between the stiffness of the beam with the open crack and that of the intact beam. Cheng et al.[14] , have
considered a single degree of freedom model with time-varying stiffness to study the forced vibration
behavior of a cracked cantilever beam. The time-varying stiffness of the beam is modeled as a simple
periodic function. They obtained the forced vibration response of the cracked beam numerically using
the Runge-Kutta method. Moreover, they announced that the crack detection based on the open crack
model leads to inaccurate results and underestimates the crack severity.
Here, a new method is developed to investigate the free vibration behavior of a cantilever beam
with a breathing crack. A nonlinear amplitude-dependent function is developed for modeling the local
stiffness changes at the crack location. Local stiffness at the crack location varies continuously between
two extreme values corresponding to the fully open and fully closed crack states. These extreme values
of the stiffness are obtained experimentally. The nonlinear behavior of the breathing crack causes the
mode shape of the cracked beam to vary with time.
In order to obtain the undamped free vibration response of the cracked beam, first the total mechanical
energy corresponding to the beam initial condition is calculated in terms of the amplitude of a specified
point on the cracked beam e.g., the free end of the beam. Then, the time required for traveling the point
on the beam to a neighboring position with a given amplitude is calculated by setting equal the total
mechanical energies of the beam corresponding to the mentioned situations. By repeating the procedure,
the successive amplitudes of the point are obtained in terms of time. In this way, the free response of
the cracked beam is obtained. By examining the obtained frequency spectrum of the cracked beam free
response, it is concluded that the severity of nonlinearity and amplitudes of the superharmonics in the
spectrum depend on the crack parameters. In order to validate the theoretical results, some tests have
been conducted on the cracked beams.

II. MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF THE BEAM

WITH A BREATHING CRACK
A uniform cantilever cracked beam with a length of L is shown in Fig.1(a). The crack depth is a
and it is located at a distance of L0 from the clamped end of the beam. The width and the height of
the beam cross section are w and h, respectively. The crack is modeled as a fatigue one with nonlinear
stiffness (see Fig.1(b)). Local stiffness at the crack location varies with time due to the crack opening
and closing during the beam vibrations. Therefore, the dynamic behavior of the beam is affected by the
stiffness variations at the crack location. For the sake of simplicity, Cheng et al.[14] , use a SDOF model
for the cracked beam. They consider the equivalent stiffness of the cracked beam as a time-varying
harmonic function
1
K(t) = Ko + (Kc − Ko ) [1 + cos(ωt)] (1)
2
where ω is the fundamental frequency, Kc is the equivalent stiffness of the intact beam and Ko is the
equivalent stiffness of the beam when the crack is fully open. In this research, unlike the abovementioned
model proposed by Cheng et al.[14] , the cracked beam is analyzed as a continuous system and the local
 Vol. 24, No. 2 Mousa Rezae et al.: New Approach to Free Vibration Analysis of Beam · 187 ·

Fig. 1. (a) Cantilever beam with a breathing crack, (b) a nonlinear stiffness model for the breathing crack on a cantilever
beam.

stiffness changes at the crack location are considered as an amplitude-dependent function of the flexural
vibration.
Assume that Ac and Ao are the amplitudes of a specified point on the cracked beam corresponding
to the fully closed and fully open situations of the crack, respectively. Also, assume that kc and ko are
the local stiffness of the crack corresponding to the amplitudes of Ac and Ao , respectively. In this case,
during the oscillation of the beam between Ac and Ao , the local stiffness at the crack location will vary
continuously between the magnitudes of kc and ko . Here, it is assumed that the local stiffness change
at the crack location during the vibration is a harmonic function of the amplitude of the cracked beam,
as     
kc − ko π A2o + A2c Ao + Ac 2
kA = ko + 1 + cos 1− A+ A (2)
2 2 Ao Ac (Ao − Ac ) Ao Ac (Ao − Ac )
where, A is the amplitude of a specified point on the beam e.g., the free end of the beam. Unlike Eq.(1)
which models the cracked beam as a SDOF system with a time-varying equivalent stiffness, Eq.(2)
introduces local stiffness changes at the crack location in terms of the amplitude of the cracked beam.
The agreement between Eq.(2) and experimental results is discussed in §VI.

III. THE GOVERNING EQUATION OF MOTION FOR THE CRACKED BEAM

WITH A NONLINEAR FATIGUE CRACK MODEL
Considering the mentioned nonlinear behavior of the crack, the crack divides the beam into two
segments. In order to develop a mathematical model for the cracked beam, it is assumed that the two
segments of the beam are connected together by a nonlinear massless spring (Fig.1(b)). The governing
equations of motion for the two segments are as follows:

∂ 4 W1 (x, t) ∂ 2 W1 (x, t)
EI + m =0 (0 ≤ x ≤ L0 )
∂x4 ∂t2 (3)
4 2
∂ W2 (x, t) ∂ W2 (x, t)
EI 4
+m =0 (L0 ≤ x ≤ L)
∂x ∂t2
where EI is the flexural rigidity of the beam, m is the mass per unit length of the beam and, W1 and
W2 are the deflection functions of the beam at the left and right sides of the crack, respectively.
Here, we assume that the beam vibrates at its fundamental mode, in which its stiffness is an amplitude-
dependent function. Therefore, the beam natural frequencies and its mode shape will vary continuously
according to the vibration. Thus, the vibration response of the beam can be considered as follows:

W1 (x, A(t)) = A(t)φ1 (x, A(t)) (0 ≤ x ≤ L0 )

(4)
W2 (x, A(t)) = A(t)φ2 (x, A(t)) (L0 ≤ x ≤ L)

where A(t) is the displacement of a specified point on the beam and φ1 (x, A(t)) and φ2 (x, A(t)) are
amplitude-dependent eigenfunctions of the beam at the right and left side of the crack, respectively.
Substituting Eq.(4) into Eq.(3), one obtains

φ1 (x, A(t)) = c1 cosh(λx) + c2 sinh(λx) + c3 cos(λx) + c4 sin(λx)

(5)
φ2 (x, A(t)) = c5 cosh(λx) + c6 sinh(λx) + c7 cos(λx) + c8 sin(λx)
 · 188 · ACTA MECHANICA SOLIDA SINICA 2011

where λ4 = mω 2 /(EI). Here, ω is the circular frequency and ci , (i = 1, 2, · · · , 8) are unknown constants
to be determined from the boundary conditions. It is worth noting that λ and ω are time-dependent
variables. The boundary conditions at the ends of the beam are
— at the clamped end
dφ1 (0, A)
φ1 (0, A) = 0, =0 (6)
dx
— at the free end
d2 φ2 (L, A) d3 φ2 (L, A)
EI = 0, EI =0 (7)
dx2 dx3
At the crack location, x = L0 , the matching conditions are as follows:
d2 φ1 (L0 , A) d2 φ2 (L0 , A) d3 φ1 (L0 , A) d3 φ2 (L0 , A)
φ1 (L0 , A) = φ2 (L0 , A), = , = (8a)
dx2 dx2 dx3 dx3
Equation (8a) shows the equality of the displacements, the bending moments and the shear force at
the left and right sides of the crack. On the other hand, due to the bending moment, there will be a
discontinuity in the slope of the beam deflection curve at the crack location. The relationship between
the bending moment and the slope discontinuity is
 
d2 φ1 (L0 , A) dφ2 (L0 , A) dφ1 (L0 , A)
EI = kA − (8b)
dx2 dx dx
Equation (5) and the boundary and matching conditions (Eqs.(6)-(8)) constitute an eigenvalue problem
with time-varying eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. The characteristic determinant is
 
 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 
 
 0 0 0 0 cosh(λL0 ) sinh(λL0 ) − cos(λL0 ) − sin(λL0 )

 0 0 0 0 sinh(λL0 ) cosh(λL0 ) sin(λL0 ) − cos(λL0 ) 
 cosh(λL0 ) 
 cosh(λL ) sinh(λL0 ) cos(λL0 ) sin(λL0 ) − cosh(λL0 ) − sinh(λL0 ) − cos(λL0 ) − sin(λL0 )
 (9)
 0 sinh(λL 0 ) − cos(λL 0 ) − sin(λL 0 ) − cosh(λL 0 ) − sinh(λL 0 ) cos(λL 0 ) sin(λL 0 ) 
 sinh(λL0 ) 
 λ cosh(λL )+ λ sinh(λL )+ −λ cos(λL )− −λ(sin λL )+
cosh(λL0 ) sin(λL0 ) − cos(λL0 ) − sinh(λL0 ) − cosh(λL0 ) − sin(λL0 ) cos(λL0 )

 k 0 0 0 0 kA kA kA kA 
 A sinh(λL0 ) kA cosh(λL0 ) kA sin(λL0 ) kA cos(λL0 ) − EI sinh(λL0 ) − EI cosh(λL0 ) EI sin(λL0 ) − EI cos(λL0 ) 
EI EI EI EI

In order to have a non-trivial solution for ci ’s, the determinant must be zero, that is
|Δ (ω, L0 , A(t))| = 0 (10)
Solving this characteristic equation will give the eigenvalue λ and the mode shapes φ1 (x, A(t)) and
φ2 (x, A(t)) corresponding to the amplitude A(t) in terms of time t. i.e., for a given A, the local stiffness
at the crack location, the natural frequency and the mode shape corresponding to A are determined.
Also, one can obtain the total mechanical energy of the system when the beam passes through position
A. Then, by calculating the time intervals corresponding to the successive movements of the beam from
a given position to a neighboring position, the response of the beam can be obtained.

IV. MECHANICAL ENERGY BALANCE APPROACH

As mentioned before, by neglecting the energy loss during the beam vibration, the free vibration
response of the cracked beam is obtained by using the energy conservation law. The mechanical energy
of the cracked beam at a given time t can be written as
E = EK + EP + ES (11)
where EK , EP and ES denote the kinetic energy, the elastic strain energy and the energy stored at
the crack location, respectively. When the specified point of the cracked beam during the vibration
is moved from position Aj to its neighboring position Aj+1 , the change in the kinetic energy of the
cracked beam with respect to its previous position Aj can be calculated as
L0  2 L 2
m Aj+1 φ1 (x, Aj+1 ) − Aj φ1 (x, Aj ) Aj+1 φ2 (x, Aj+1 ) − Aj φ2 (x, Aj )
EKj = dx + dx
2 0 Δt L0 Δt
(12)
 Vol. 24, No. 2 Mousa Rezae et al.: New Approach to Free Vibration Analysis of Beam · 189 ·

in this equation Δt is the time required for moving the specified point of the cracked beam from position
Aj to position Aj+1 . Also, the elastic strain energy of the beam corresponding to position Aj can be
written in the form
L0 L
EI 2 2
EP = [Aj φ1 (x, Aj )] dx + [Aj φ2 (x, Aj )] dx = A2j UP (A) (13)
2 0 L0

The potential energy stored at the crack location, which is modeled as a nonlinear spring, depends on
the magnitude of the slope discontinuity of the mode shapes at the two sides of the crack. The slope
discontinuity at the crack location is given by

θ (A) = AΘ (A) (14)

where Θ (A) = [φ2 (x, A) − φ1 (x, A)]. The prime denotes derivatives with respect to x. Equation (14)
shows that for any mode shape corresponding to a given amplitude A, there is a specified slope discon-
tinuity at the crack location. Also, for a given kA , there is a corresponding mode shape, and in turn, a
given kA corresponds to a given and unique amplitude A. As a result, for a cantilever beam with given
crack parameters, geometric dimensions and mechanical properties, variations of the local stiffness at
the crack location can be plotted against the variations of the slope discontinuity at the crack location.
Also, the magnitude of the bending moment at the crack location is given by

Ms = kA θ(A) (15)

Using this equation, the variations of the bending moment against the variations of the slope discontinuity
at the crack location are obtained. It is worth noting that by calculating the area under the curve Ms -θ,
one can obtain the stored potential energy at the crack location. Therefore, if the slope discontinuity at
the crack location changes in the range of θ1 ≤ θ ≤ θ2 , the stored energy at the crack can be obtained
as
θ
ES = Ms dθ (16)
0
The curve Ms -θ may be obtained by experimental tests. Therefore, one can plot the variations of the
stored energy at the crack location against the variations of slope discontinuity θ(A).
In order to avoid repetitive and tedious integration, we can obtain the stored energy at the crack location,
ES , for some values of θ, and then by interpolation, we can obtain ES as a function of θ. Here, we use
a fifth order polynomial interpolation as

ES = a1 θ5 + a2 θ4 + a3 θ3 + a4 θ2 + a5 θ + a6 (17)

where ai (i = 1, 2, · · · , 6) are the coefficients of the polynomial which depend on the curve Ms -θ obtained
experimentally. Finally, by using Eqs.(12), (13) and (17) one can obtain the total mechanical energy
of the cracked beam corresponding to the given amplitude of A.
Suppose that the cantilever beam is displaced, according to its first mode, from its static equilibrium
position to an extent in which the crack reaches its fully closed situation and then it is released from
rest at t = 0. Also, suppose that at t = 0 the displacement of a given point on the beam, e.g. the free
end of the beam, is Ac . In this case, the local stiffness at the crack location will be kA = kc . Now, by
substituting kc instead of kA into the characteristic equation Eq.(9), and solving the equation, one can
obtain the second derivatives of the mode shape functions, φ1 and φ2 , and the slope discontinuity at
the crack location, θ(A) = θc , corresponding to Ac . Therefore, using Eqs.(13) and (17), the mechanical
energy of the beam at t = 0 will be
L0 L
EI 2 2
Ec = A2c [φ1 (x, Ac )] dx + [φ2 (x, Ac )] dx + a1 θc5 + a2 θc4 + a3 θc3 + a4 θc2 + a5 θc + a6 (18)
2 0 L0

Through one half of a cycle, the beam reaches a new extreme position in which the crack becomes fully
open, and the free end of the beam reaches a point with amplitude of Ao . In this case, the local stiffness
at the crack location will be kA = ko . Therefore, in a similar way, one can obtain the derivatives of the
 · 190 · ACTA MECHANICA SOLIDA SINICA 2011

mode shapes, φ1 and φ2 , the slope discontinuity at the crack, θ(A) = θo , and therefore, the mechanical
energy of the beam corresponding to Ao through solving the eigenvalue problem. On the other hand,
since it is assumed that there is no energy dissipation during the cracked beam vibration, therefore
L0 L
EI 2 2
A2o [φ1 (x, Ao )] dx + [φ2 (x, Ao )] dx +a1 θo5 +a2 θo4 +a3 θo3 +a4 θo2 +a5 θo +a6 −Ec = 0 (19)
2 0 L0

where θo = Ao Θo . By solving the above equation, one obtains Ao . By having Ac and Ao , and kc , ko
in hand, Eq.(2) gives the local stiffness at the crack location,kA , as a function of A. Here, it is worth
noting that kc and ko are obtained through the tests, and due to the nonlinear behavior of the crack,
|Ac | = |Ao |.
Here, a step by step method is introduced to obtain the free vibration response of the cracked
beam at its first mode. Suppose that the specified point on the cracked beam oscillates in the range of
A1 ≤ Aj ≤ Amax , where A1 is the initial amplitude of that point in the direction in which the crack
is closing (A1 ≤ Ac ) and Amax is the maximum amplitude of that point in the direction in which the
crack is opening (Amax ≤ Ao ). For a given A1 by applying the principle of energy conservation, one
can obtain Amax through the aforementioned procedure. If the distance from A1 to Amax is divided
into N − 1 equal distances ΔA, using Eq.(2), one can obtain the local stiffness at the crack location
corresponding to each Aj , where Aj = A1 + (j − 1) ΔA (j = 1, 2, 3, · · · , N ). Therefore, the natural
frequencies and mode shapes of the beam corresponding to each Aj can be obtained. In order to obtain
the time required that the given point on the beam moves from Aj−1 to Aj , i.e. Δtj , we apply the
conservation of mechanical energy principle, which leads to
L0 L
EI 2 2
A2j [φ1 (x, Aj )] dx + [φ2 (x, Aj )] dx + a1 θj5 + a2 θj4 + a3 θj3 + a4 θj2 + a5 θj + a6
2 0 L0
L0 L L0 L
m
+ A2j φ21 (x, Aj )dx φ22 (x, Aj )dx + A2j−1 φ21 (x, Aj−1 )dx + φ22 (x, Aj−1 )dx
2Δt2j 0 L0 0 L0
L0 L
−2Aj−1 Aj φ1 (x, Aj )φ1 (x, Aj−1 )dx + φ2 (x, Aj )φ2 (x, Aj−1 )dx − E1 = 0 (20)
0 L0

By solving Eq.(20), one obtains Δtj . By using the procedure to calculate Δtj ’s (j = 1, 2, 3, · · · , N ),
one can obtain the period of oscillation of the cracked beam at its first mode as
N
 −1
τ =2 Δtj (21)
j=1


j
Using this procedure one can also obtain time tj = Δti−1 corresponding to Aj (j = 2, 3, · · · , N ),
i=2
for one half of the cycle. In this research, N is taken as 15000. In conservative systems, the motion
repeats itself in each period. Therefore, the free response of the cracked beam can be obtained by
plotting the variation of Aj (A1 to Amax = AN ) against time t.

V. EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS OF
THE LOCAL STIFFNESS AT THE CRACK LOCATION
In this research, a servo hydraulic universal dynamic test machine (Zwick/Roell Amsler HA250)
is used for initiating and propagating the fatigue crack on steel beams. Then, in order to obtain the
local stiffness of the beams at the crack location, they are subjected to bending moments at the crack
location. Then, the local difference between the slopes of lines normal to the two faces of the crack
corresponding to the applied bending moment is obtained by measuring the angle between laser light
rays originated from the two sides of the crack. Figure 2 shows typical test results. In this figure, the
variation of the bending moment, Ms , against local slope difference at the crack location, θ, is illustrated
for a steel beam with a cross-sectional area of 3.9 × 6.4 mm2 and crack depth ratio of α = a/h = 0.36.
 Vol. 24, No. 2 Mousa Rezae et al.: New Approach to Free Vibration Analysis of Beam · 191 ·

Fig. 2. The variation of bending moment against the local slope difference at the crack location for a steel cracked beam
with a cross-sectional area of 3.9 × 6.4 mm2 and a crack depth ratio of α = 0.36 obtained through the experimental tests
(•) and the curve fitted to the experimental test points (the solid line).

The slope of the Ms -θ curve at any θ shows the local stiffness of the beam at the crack location[14, 15]
i.e.,
dMs
k= (22)
dθ
By examining Fig.2 with close attention, it is observed that the curve Ms -θ consists of two straight
lines with two different slopes which are connected to each other smoothly by a transition curve. The
line on the left side of the transition curve corresponds to the fully open case of the crack which has
a slope of ko = 1954.2 N·m/rad. The slope of the line on the right side which corresponds to the fully
closed case of the crack is kc = 2.85ko . On the other hand, the local stiffness at the location of a fully
open crack is given by[16]
EI 1
ko = (23)
6π (1 − ν 2 ) h J(a/h)
where J(a/h) is the dimensionless local compliance function which is given by
a  a 2  a 3  a 4  a 5  a 6
J = 0.6272 − 0.4533 + 4.5948 − 9.9736 + 20.2948
h h h h h h
 a 7  a 8  a 9  a 10
−33.0351 + 47.1063 − 40.7556 + 19.6 (24)
h h h h
Using Eq.(23) ko for the mentioned beam is obtained ko = 2061.8 N·m/rad, which differs 5.2% from
the experiment.

VI. THE EFFECTS OF CRACK PARAMETERS

ON THE VIBRATIONAL BEHAVIOR OF THE BEAM
By employing the analytical model described in §IV, a quantitative evaluation of the crack parameter
effects on the vibrational behavior of the cracked beam is investigated. Consider the cracked beam
discussed in the former section (ko = 2061.8 N·m/rad, kc = 2.85ko and α = 0.36) with a length of 15
cm and a crack located ratio of β = Lc /L = 0.977. By applying the proposed method, the deflection
of the free end of the cracked beam at its first mode corresponding to the fully closed and fully open
cases of the crack are Ac = −2.8 mm and Ao = 2.9 mm, respectively. As mentioned before, since the
local stiffness at the breathing crack location varies with respect to A, the mode shape and the natural
frequency of the beam will be amplitude-dependent and therefore time-dependent. The variation of the
natural frequency against the vibration amplitude and time is shown in Figs.3(a) and 3(b), respectively.
This range of the natural frequency change depends on the crack parameters. An increase in the crack
depth and/or approaching the crack location to the clamped end of the beam results in an increase in
the range of natural frequency changes.
One of the distinctive features of the vibration of a nonlinear system is the appearance of the
superharmonics in the frequency spectrum of the vibration response, and an increase in the magnitude
of the superharmonic peak in the frequency spectrum illustrates that nonlinearities of the system are
 · 192 · ACTA MECHANICA SOLIDA SINICA 2011

Fig. 3. The range of the natural frequency changes of the cracked beam with the crack parameters of α = 0.36 and
β = 0.977.

Fig. 4. The spectrum of the free response of the cracked beam with a crack location ratio of β = 0.366 and the crack
depth ratio of α = 0.36).

intensified. In order to compare the results obtained by the proposed method, with those obtained
from the experimental modal analysis, the frequency spectrum of the beam with a given crack depth
and location is shown in Fig.4. In order to acquire the free response of the beam experimentally, a
vibration test set-up consisting an accelerometer (4508B&K) and a signal analyzer (3107 B&K) is used.
Comparison between Figs.4(a) and 4(b) indicates that the frequencies obtained from the proposed
method are in agreement with those of experimental results. Also, in these figures, the first peak shows
that the fundamental frequency of the beam is 32.97 Hz. Also, the presence of the side peak is the
superharmonic of the fundamental frequency at about 66 Hz, which reveals the nonlinear behavior of
the system.
In order to examine the accuracy of the results obtained by the proposed method, some more tests
are performed on the cracked cantilever beam (Fig.1). The crack with a depth ratio of α = 0.36 is
located at a distance Lc = 14.65 cm from the free end. The free response of the beam is obtained
experimentally for various crack location ratios of β, and the response spectra corresponding to each
crack location ratios are obtained. Then, the frequency ratios of the beam which are obtained through
the tests are plotted against the crack location ratio. The experimental results in Fig.5 are marked by
small circles (the hollow circles). The results show that for a given crack depth, by approaching the
location of the crack to the clamped end, the frequency ratio decreases.
Considering the breathing crack model and by applying the proposed method to obtain the free
response of the considered cracked beam, the variation of the frequency ratio against the crack location
ratio, is plotted in Fig.5 as a solid curve. Besides, for the purpose of comparing the results obtained
from the proposed method which uses the nonlinear model of the crack (breathing crack model) with
those obtained from the linear model (open crack model) the variation of the frequency ratio against
the crack location ratio through a method based on the open crack model is also plotted in Fig.5 as
a dashed curve. By examining this figure, one concludes that the results obtained from the proposed
method which is based on the nonlinear model (the solid curve) agree well with the experimental results
 Vol. 24, No. 2 Mousa Rezae et al.: New Approach to Free Vibration Analysis of Beam · 193 ·

(the hollow circles). In addition, Fig. 5 shows that for a given crack depth ratio, the frequency reduction
in the open crack model is more than that of the breathing one. This result has been previously proved
for cracked beams[14] .

Fig. 5. Variation of the fundamental frequency ratio of the cracked cantilever beam against the crack location ratio for
the crack depth ratio of α = 0.36 obtained from the proposed method based on breathing crack model (the solid curve),
open crack model (the dash curve) and the experimental results (the hollow circles).

VII. CONCLUSIONS
In this research, a new approach to free vibration analysis of a cantilever beam with a breathing
crack is introduced, where the breathing crack is modeled as a nonlinear spring. The experimental test
results show that the local stiffness of the beam at the crack location varies continuously between the
two extreme values of ko and kc due to the opening and closure of the crack. Furthermore, in spite of
the assumption which is previously made by some researchers[13, 14, 17, 18], experimental results reveal
that the local stiffness near the crack is not equal to that of the intact beam.
It is worth mentioning that to avoid nonlinearity, many researchers assumed that the crack remains
always open during the system vibration. Based on this assumption, the fundamental frequency does
not vary during the vibration. Some other researchers have used the bilinear frequency in their studies
in order to take into account the effect of the crack closure during the vibration. However, the distinct
feature of the proposed method is that it uses a realistic model for the crack by considering the continuous
variation of the local stiffness at the crack location during the system vibration, which results in an
amplitude-dependent and therefore, time-dependent natural frequency and mode shape function.
One of the features of a nonlinear system is the appearance of the superharmonics of its fundamental
frequency in the vibration response. The response spectra of the beams with breathing cracks obtained
through the proposed method contain superharmonics. Also, these superharmonics exist in the spectra
obtained experimentally. Therefore, the existence of these superharmonics implies the nonlinear dynamic
behavior of the beam with a breathing crack. Moreover, based on the proposed method the extreme
deflections of the cracked beam around its static equilibrium position through one cycle corresponding
to the opening and closing cases of the crack are not equal. These features can not be recognized using
linear models at all.
Finally, by comparing the curve representing the variation of the fundamental frequency ratio of the
cracked beam against the location ratio for a given crack depth ratio obtained by the proposed method
with those obtained based on the linear model and the experiment (Fig.5), it is observed that there is
a good agreement between the proposed method and the experiment.

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