Crack detection and vibration behavior of cracked beams

P.N. Saavedra
*
, L.A. Cuiti~ no
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Concepci on, Casilla 160-C, Concepci on, Chile
Received 27 November 2000; accepted 15 May 2001
Abstract
A theoretical and experimental dynamic behavior of dierent multi-beams systems containing a transverse crack is
presented. The additional exibility that the crack generates in its vicinity is evaluated using the strain energy density
function given by the linear fracture mechanic theory. Based on this exibility, a new cracked nite element stiness
matrix is deduced, which can be used subsequently in the FEM analysis of crack systems. The proposed element is used
to evaluate the dynamic response of a cracked freefree beam and a U-frame when a harmonic force is applied. The
resulting parametrically excited system is non-linear and the equations of motion are solved using the Hilbert, Hughes
and Taylor integration method implemented using a Matlab software platform. Some useful conclusions for diagnosing
cracked beams systems are proposed. 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Crack; Crack detection; Cracked beam; Dynamic response; Finite element; Stiness
1. Introduction
The presence of a transverse crack in beams brings
with it a potential risk of destruction or collapse of this
type of elements, which forms fundamental parts of
critical structures. This produces high costs of produc-
tion and maintenance. Nowadays, the procedures that
are often used for crack detection are those which are
called direct procedures, such as ultrasonic, X-rays, etc.
However, these methods have proved to be inoperative
and unsuitable in some particular cases, since they re-
quire minutely detailed periodic inspections, which are
very costly. In order to avoid these costs, during the last
decades, people have searched for a more ecient pro-
cedure in crack detection through vibration analysis;
whether by FFT analysis or by the time domain re-
sponse of the system, and also by studying the changes
on natural frequencies and modes of shape that the
crack introduces.
In the analytical study of this problem, a crack model
provides the basic element by which to overcome this
issue. There have been dierent attempts to quantify
local eect introduced by the crack. Fine-mesh nite
element techniques have been used to compute local
exibility by dierent investigators. Dirr and Schmal-
horst [1], and Imam et al. [9] used a three-dimension
nite element model with an elastic behavior material.
Ostachowicz and Krawczuk [2] used a triangular nite
elements model and introduced elasto-plastic properties.
Go and Lin [8] indicated that direct application of the
nite element method to model stress variation of a
crack tip requires an extremely ne grid and a great
amount of computing memory, since this approach
converges very slowly. When dealing with this kind of
problem, several super elements, instead of a standard
element, have been developed to make a more ecient
calculation [10]. When using these super elements, better
results are obtained only if they contain a singularity
term of the correct order [8].
However, most researchers agree with the application
of the linear fracture mechanics theory, in order to
evaluate the local exibility introduced by the crack,
neglecting the eects that may be incorporated into the
mass and damping matrices. In addition, it is assumed
that the crack only aects the region adjacent to it, in
accordance with the Saint Venant principle.
Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 14511459
www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruc
*
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: psaavedr@udec.cl (P.N. Saavedra).
0045-7949/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0045- 7949( 01) 00049- 9
There are two procedures, proposed in the technical
literature, to introduce the local exibility generated by
the crack section into the system. The rst procedure
considers the construction of a stiness matrix exclu-
sively for the crack section, in a similar way as an
equivalent spring. This procedure is carried out by
computing the inverse of the crack exibility matrix,
although for small cracks the additional exibility is
very small and the corresponding coecient stiness
matrix are extremely large and, therefore, this might
lead to numerical problems during the solution. The
second procedure considers the construction of a crack
nite element stiness matrix, which is later assembled
with the other non-cracked elements of the system. The
last procedure is more useful, as it avoids the numeric
uncertainty in the stiness calculation, for the sim-
ple reason that it simplies the application to complex
structures where the nite element techniques comes
naturally.
In the case of cracked beams, the crack breathing law
is quite simple, since there are only two states for the
stiness matrix: when the crack is open and when it is
closed. With this behavior, the stiness variation is as-
sumed as a step function, according to the instantaneous
bending moment that is applied to the cracked section,
as Qian et al. [3] and Sundermeyer and Weaver [4] ex-
pose. Sundermeyer and Weaver [4] analyzes a simply
supported, cracked beam, modelled by two beams seg-
ments joined by a spring that represents the cracked
section. Each segment is treated as a continuous ele-
ment, which obeys the dierential partial equation of
EulerBernoulli. On the other hand, Tsai and Wang [5]
uses the Timoshenko's theory in order to model the
beam sections.
With respect to crack detection and location, most of
the methods proposed are based on the study of the
eigenvector and eigenfrequency, since it is evident that
the presence of the crack produces changes on these
dynamic properties. Qian et al. [3] formulate a method
of crack location in cantilever beams, based on the
change that this failure produces in the natural fre-
quencies and modes of shape of the system. However,
it must be taken into account that these variations
could be a consequence of another change of the sys-
tem properties, such as a change in the boundary con-
ditions.
In this work, an improved nite element model for a
cracked beam is developed. It is used in a nite element
formulation to study the dynamic behavior of a free-free
beam and a U-frame, which are aected by the presence
of a crack. The theoretical results are compared to ex-
perimental and previously published results. It is the
intention of this work to synthesize the eects of a crack
on the dynamic response of a structure and to assist in
the development of a more exact model, in order to
identify a crack.
2. Crack model description
In the presents analysis, a transverse crack of rect-
angular cross-section is considered (Fig. 1), which is
subjected to the following internal forces: axial forces
P1; shear forces P2, P3; torsional moment P4 and bend-
ing moments P5 and P6, see Fig. 2.
The presence of a crack in a structural member
generates a local variation of the exibility, since a stress
concentration takes place in the crack tip when placed
under loads. This additional exibility introduced by the
crack can be calculated using the linear fracture me-
chanic theory.
In addition, the crack produces a local additional
displacement u
i
between the right and left sections of the
crack, in a similar way as an equivalent spring. These
displacements u
i
in the i direction, under the action of
the force P
i
are given, according to Castigliano's theo-
rem, by the following expression,
u
i
=
o
op
i
_
a
0
I(a) da (1)
where I(a) is the release strain energy density function.
Fig. 1. Cracked section geometry.
Fig. 2. Internal forces coordinate system.
1452 P.N. Saavedra, L.A. Cuiti~no / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 14511459
I(a) =
1
E
/

K
IJ
_ _
2
_

K
IIJ
_ _
2
m

K
IIIJ
_ _
2
_
(2)
where E
/
= E=(1 m
2
) for plane strain, E is the Young's
modulus, m = 1=(1 m), m is the Poisson ratio and K
ij
are the stress intensity factors. It is important to em-
phasize that to apply the lineal fracture mechanics the-
ory, it is necessary to consider a plane strain state, in
which it is assumed that the tip plastic zone is small
compared to the crack dimensions. Since in our ana-
lyses, the presented cracked section stresses are not large
enough as to develop an important plastic zone, see
Appendix A.
Finally, the additional exibility introduced due to
the crack is obtained by combining relation (1) and the
denition of the compliance:
C
ij
=
ou
i
oP
j
=
o
2
oP
j
oP
i
_
a
0
I(a) da (3)
The stress intensity factors necessary to evaluate the
exibility coecients C
ij
are obtained from the litera-
ture, Krawczuk [6], Dimarogonas and Paipetis [15], see
Appendix B.
3. Cracked beam nite element
In order to model the eects that the crack introduce
to a structure, a stiness matrix of a cracked beam ele-
ment is built. The purpose of this is to use a nite ele-
ment program in the static, stability or dynamic
analyses, of dierent cracked multi-beams systems.
The crack is located a distance a from the left end of
the element, and the displacement of both transverse
section of the crack are determinate by the vector u
L
and
u
R
, where L and R refer to the left and right sections
respectively, see Fig. 3. The relation of the relative dis-
placement between both sections is:
u
R
u
L
= C
1
P
R
(4)
where C
1
is the additional exibility matrix that the
crack introduces, and P
R
is the force vector that acts in
the right section of the crack. In addition, the displace-
ment of node B can be expressed in terms of the load
applied in B and of the displacement in R.
u
B
= C
0
b
P
B
A u
R
= u
R
= A
1
(u
B
C
0
b
P
B
) (5)
Matrix A is obtained from the relative displacements of
point R in rapport of node B:
A =
1 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 b
0 0 1 0 b 0
0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 1
_

_
_

_
and C
0
b
is the compliance matrix of a non-cracked ele-
ment, of a length b. On the other hand, the displacement
u
L
can be expressed as a function of C
0
a
, which is the
exibility matrix of a non-cracked element, of length a.
u
L
= C
0
a
P
L
(6)
Substituting Eqs. (5) and (6) into Eq. (4) we obtain:
A
1
(u
B
C
0
b
P
B
) C
0
a
P
L
= C
1
P
R
(7)
where
P
R
= B P
B
P
L
= B P
B
from which the matrix B can be obtained from the
equilibrium conditions
B =
1 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 b 0 1 0
0 b 0 0 0 1
_

_
_

_
and substituting into Eq. (7), u
B
becomes:
u
B
= A (C
0
a
C
1
) B C
0
b
| P
B
or
u
B
= [B
T
(C
0
a
C
1
) B C
0
b
[ P
B
Therefore, the compliance matrix of a crack element has
the form:
C
c
= B
T
(C
0
a
C
1
) B C
0
b
(8)
If we analyze the previous expression, it has that for
a = l=2 the compliance yields:
C
c
= B
T
(C
1
) B C
0
l
(9)
where C
0
l
is the compliance matrix of a non-cracked
element of length l.
From Eq. (9) it is shown that the expression of a mid
cracked exibility matrix, published by other authors;
such as Papadopoulos and Dimarogonas [12], and Sekhar
and Prabhu [11] is dierent, since they propose it as: Fig. 3. Cantilever nite element.
P.N. Saavedra, L.A. Cuiti~no / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 14511459 1453
C
c
= C
1
C
0
l
(10)
However, if the above expression is analyzed con-
sidering two-dimensional case, that is considering only
directions 2 and 6, the transverse crack only introduces
exibility in direction 6, since the coecient C
66
is not
coupled with direction 2.
C
c
=
0 0
0 C
1
66
_ _

C
0
22
C
0
26
C
0
62
C
0
66
_ _
=
C
0
22
C
0
26
C
0
62
C
0
66
C
1
66
_ _
Therefore, if a direction 2 force is applied,
P = P
2
0 [ [
T
u = C
c
P = C
0
22
P
2
C
0
62
P
2
_
T
= C
0
l
P
the displacement vector does not suer any change, a
situation that is incorrect since the displacements are
certainly bigger when the crack is present.
To determine a cracked nite stiness matrix, as
shown in Fig. 4, it is carried out using the following
procedure. Considering the relative displacements of
node B in rapport of node A as:
P
B
= C
c
[ [
1
u
B=A
(11)
where, from the equilibrium conditions, the internal
forces in B can be expressed in terms of the internal
forces in A:
P
1
P
7
= 0 P
4
P
10
= 0
P
2
P
8
= 0 P
5
P
11
P
9
l = 0
P
3
P
9
= 0 P
6
P
12
P
8
l = 0
or, written in a matrix form:
P
1
P
2
. . . P
11
P
12

T
=

P
7
P
8
P
9
P
10
P
11
P
12

T
(12)
where

=
1 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 l 0 1 0
0 l 0 0 0 1
1 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 1
_

_
_

_
In addition, the relative displacements between both
nodes are:
u
7
= u
B=A1
u
1
u
10
= u
B=A4
u
4
u
8
= u
B=A2
u
2
u
6
l u
11
= u
B=A5
u
5
u
9
= u
B=A3
u
3
u
5
l u
12
= u
B=A6
u
6
Expressed in a matrix form:
u
B=A
=
1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 l 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 l 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
_

_
_

u
1
u
2
|
u
11
u
12
_

_
_

_
Comparing with the Eq. (12) we can notice that:
u
B=A
=

T
u
1
u
2
. . . u
11
u
12

T
(13)
Finally, to determinate the cracked element stiness
matrix, the following procedure its necessary,
P
1
P
2
. . . P
11
P
12

T
= K
c
u
1
u
2
. . . u
11
u
12

T
(14)
Substituting Eq. (12) into Eq. (14)

P
7
P
8
P
9
P
10
P
11
P
12

T
= K
c
u
1
u
2
. . . u
11
u
12

T
(15)
Then, substituting Eq. (11) into Eq. (15)

(C
c
)
1
u
B=A
= K u
1
u
2
. . . u
11
u
12

T
(16)
Fig. 4. Schematic of the cracked nite element.
1454 P.N. Saavedra, L.A. Cuiti~no / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 14511459
Finally, using Eq. (13)

(C
c
)
1

T
u
1
u
2
. . . u
11
u
12

T
= K
c
u
1
u
2
. . . u
11
u
12

T
(17)
Therefore, the cracked element stiness matrix yields:
K
c
=

(C
c
)
1

T
(18)
4. Dierential equation of motion
The equation of motion that governs the dynamic
behavior of these systems, under a harmonic exciting
force, is represented in expression (19), where M is the
mass matrix of the system and D is the equivalent vis-
cous damping matrix, K(h) is the stiness matrix, X is
the forcing frequency and x is the displacement vector. It
is assumed that the crack does not produce changes in
the mass and damping matrixes.
The stiness matrix varies with time due to the
opening and closing of the crack. It is assumed that the
stiness matrix change abruptly between the value K
a
,
when the crack is open, and the value K
b
, when the crack
is closed (breathing crack), according to a step function.
It is considered that the crack is open or closed ac-
cording to the sign of the relative rotation between node
i rotation regarding the node i 1, i.e. it is evaluated if
the stresses in the cracked section are of traction or
compression according to the bending moment that is
applied at this cross-section.
M x D_ x K(h)x = F sin(Xt) (19)
where
K(h) =
K
a
(h
i
h
i1
) > 0
K
b
(h
i
h
i1
) 60
_
The equations of motion are solved using the Hilbert,
Hughes and Taylor (HHT) integration method, since it
incorporate numeric damping, which avoid possible
numeric uncertainty as described by Cuiti~ no [7].
5. Vibration of a cracked freefree beam and a U-frame
structure
This section focuses on the extraction of the vibra-
tional behavior of a cracked freefree beam and a U-
frame structure, which is useful for crack identication.
The beam tested, Fig. 5, has an edge crack, of relative
depth a=H = 0:4, between nodes 7 and 8, and the sinu-
soidal force is applied to node 4. The beam dimensions
of the rectangular cross-section are 26 19 mm
2
, the
length of the beam is 0.9 m and it is made of mild steel.
Its equivalent viscous damping factor is 0.01. The am-
plitude of the harmonic force was 10 N.
For the theoretical study the freefree beam was
modeled with nine non-cracked beam nite elements and
one cracked beam element.
Fig. 6 shows the theoretical waveform and spectrum
of the steady-vibration in node 10 of the cracked beam
with freefree supports when the forcing frequency is X
=x
1
=2. Fig. 7 shows the amplitude vibration spectrum
measured in the same node. The spectrum has peaks at
the forcing frequency X and the harmonics 2X, 3X, 4X,
however the last two components are too small to show
up.
The presence of these peaks at integer multiples of
the forcing frequency shows a clear eect due to the
presence of the crack. A theoretical explanation of the
appearance of the even harmonics is given in Appen-
dix C.
In the acceleration waveform it is noted that it is
similar to a sine function, although the absolute upper
peak is dierent compared to the lower peak value, a
Fig. 5. Experimental testing of the freefree supported beam.
P.N. Saavedra, L.A. Cuiti~no / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 14511459 1455
characteristic that can be used as a symptom of the
presence of a crack.
Fig. 8 shows the cracked U-frame structure that was
analyzed. For the theoretical study the structure was
modeled with 13 non cracked nite elements and one
cracked beam element. The beams have a rectangular
cross-section and are made of mild steel. Its equivalent
viscous damping factor is 0.01. The crack, of relative
cracked depth a=H = 0:4, is located between the nodes 2
and 3, and the harmonic force is applied at node 5.
Fig. 9 shows the theoretical amplitude spectrum of
the steady vibration in node 10 of the frame in direction
Y, when the forcing frequency is X = x
1
=2. As seen in
the previous example, the spectrum has peaks at the
forcing frequency and its harmonics, especially the even
ones.
The principal symptom that the crack generates is
obtained when: (i) any natural frequency coincides with
an even harmonic of the forcing frequency, (ii) the
pondered participation of the associate mode is signi-
cant at the point where the measure is taken.
Fig. 6. Theoretical dynamic response of a freefree cracked
beam for Z
1
=2 = 62 Hz.
Fig. 7. Experimental dynamic response of a freefree cracked
beam for Z
1
=2 = 62 Hz.
Fig. 8. Cracked U-frame structure model.
Fig. 9. Theoretical dynamic response of cracked U-frame
structure for Z
4
=2 = 50 Hz.
1456 P.N. Saavedra, L.A. Cuiti~no / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 14511459
6. Conclusions
Using the lineal fracture mechanics theory a new
cracked element stiness matrix is developed in this
paper, which can be used in a standard nite element
program in order to analyse the static and dynamic
behaviour of dierent structures.
From the above theoretical analysis and experimental
measures, the main evidences of a cracked structure for
crack identication is as follows:
1. The crack causes noticeable changes in the fre-
quency spectrum of the steady-state vibration, adding
peaks at multiples or harmonics of the forcing frequency,
especially the even harmonics: 2X, 4X. The presence of
these harmonics is due to the non-linearities, that the
crack introduces into the equation of motion. It has to
be taken into account that if the magnitude of the force
is large, geometric non-linearities could also cause these
harmonics, and therefore a small sinusoidal force should
be applied to obtain an adequate spectrum.
2. For ecient detection of cracks in beams, the
forcing frequency should be approximately equal to
x
i
=2, where x
i
is the i natural frequency, which its as-
sociated mode generates high free vibration amplitudes
at the point where the accelerometer is located.
3. When the harmonics amplitude are signicant
compared to the forcing frequency component, it is
observed that the average of the acceleration shift down
or up from the zero value.
4. The most popular parameter used in the diagnos-
ing of a crack comprises the changes introduced to the
natural frequencies and/or to the modes of vibration.
However, the principal inconvenience of this method is
that the crack has small eects for moderate crack size,
and it is very dicult to determine the mode of shape of
an engineering structure.
Finally the model proposed here is believed to provide a
useful tool for the crack detection of a beam system.
Moreover, the criterion developed can be utilized to
model any practical engineering structure.
Appendix A
This section focuses on explaining when a plane
stress or plane strain state near the crack tip must be
considered. There is extensive confusion in this point,
which comes from attempting to resolve a three di-
mensional situation using two-dimensional viewpoints.
It is evident that in the interior of the crack a con-
dition of plane strain exists, but there will always be
plane stress at the surface, since the stresses perpendi-
cular to the outer surface are non-existents (r
3
= 0). The
stress r
3
gradually increase from zero to the plane strain
value in the interior. Consequently, the plastic zone
gradually decreases from the plane stress size to the
plane strain size, illustrated schematically in Fig. 10,
Broek [13].
A plane strain condition can be considered at the
boundary if the plastic zone is small compared to the
edge crack, but the stress state is predominantly one of
plane stress if the plastic zone is of the same order as the
edge crack. For this reason, the ratio of the plastic zone
size to the edge crack is an important factor for deter-
mining the state of stress.
On the other hand, linear elastic fracture mechanics
(LEFM) can be applied as long as the in-plane dimen-
sions are suciently large to conne the plastic zone to
the singularity-dominated zone. This condition is met
only when the plane strain state is dominant.
Therefore, the following size requirement must be
satised to ensure that the nominal behavior is linear
elastic, which was based on experimental observations,
by Anderson [14]:
a; B; (H a) P2:5
K
I
r
ys
_ _
2
where a is the crack depth, B is the size of the edge crack
and H is the size perpendicular the crack edge of the
cracked cross-section.
Appendix B
For the prismatic beam shown in Fig. 1, the stress
intensity factors are given as follows [6,15]:
K
I1
=
P
1
HB

pa
_
F
1
(a) K
II4
=
/
y
P
4
HB

pa
_
F
II
(a)
K
I5
=
12P
5
z
HB
3

pa
_
F
1
(a) K
II1
= K
II3
= K
II5
= K
II6
= 0
K
I6
=
6P
6
H
2
B

pa
_
F
2
(a) K
III3
=
b
y
P
3
HB

pa
_
F
III
(a)
K
I2
= K
I3
= K
I4
= 0 K
III4
=
/
z
P
4
HB

pa
_
F
III
(a)
K
II2
=
b
z
P
2
HB

pa
_
F
II
(a) K
III1
= K
III2
= K
III5
= K
III6
= 0
where /
y
, /
z
are the function describing the stress dis-
tribution during torsion of the rectangular cross-section.
Fig. 10. Three-dimensional plastic zone.
P.N. Saavedra, L.A. Cuiti~no / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 14511459 1457
The correction functions for a rectangular cross-sec-
tion are given as follows:
F
1
=

2
pa
tan
pa
2
_ _

0:752
_
2:02a
0:37 1
_
sin
pa
2
_ __
3
_
cos
pa
2
_ _ _
F
2
=

2
pa
tan
pa
2
_ _

0:923
_
0:199 1
_
sin
pa
2
_ __
4
_
cos
pa
2
_ _ _
F
II
= 1:30
_
0:65a 0:37a
2
0:28a
3

1 a
_
F
III
=

pa= sin(pa)
_
where z =
z
B
a =
a
H
a =
a
H
Combining Eq. (3) and the previous expressions, the
additional exibility that the crack introduced are ob-
tained by the following expressions. In these expressions
the shearing action is rejected in front of the bending
eects, since the length of the beam is very large com-
pared to its transverse dimensions.
C
11
=
2p
E
/
B
_
a
0
aF
2
1
(a) da
_
1=2
1=2
dz
C
55
=
288p
E
/
B
3
_
a
0
aF
2
1
(a) da
_
1=2
1=2
z
2
dz
C
66
=
77p
E
/
BH
2
_
a
0
aF
2
2
(a) da
_
1=2
1=2
dz
C
44
=
2p
E
/
B
2
H
_
a
0
a(m/
2
Z
F
2
III
(a)
_
/
2
y
F
2
II
(a) da)
_
1=2
1=2
dz
_
C
15
=
24p
E
/
BH
_
a
0
aF
1
(a)
2
da
_
1=2
1=2
z dz
C
56
=
144p
E
/
B
2
H
_
a
0
aF
1
(a)F
2
(a) da
_
1=2
1=2
z dz
C
16
=
12p
E
/
BH
_
a
0
aF
1
(a)F
2
(a) da
_
1=2
1=2
dz
C
22
= C
33
= C
24
= C
34
= 0
Therefore, the additional exibility matrix C
1
due to the
crack is then:
C
1
=
C
11
0 0 0 C
15
C
16
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 C
44
0 0
C
51
0 0 0 C
55
C
56
C
61
0 0 0 C
65
C
66
_

_
_

_
Appendix C
The presence of the even harmonics in the vibration
spectrum it is explained mathematically analyzing the
equation of motion as follows:
M x D_ xK(h)x = F sin(Xt)
The stiness varies with time, and it can be approxi-
mated by the following expression
K(t) = K DK
where DK is a step function, which can be written as a
Fourier serie. If we take into account only the rst three
terms of this serie:
DK = K
1
sinXt K
2
sin3Xt K
3
sin 5Xt
Then substituting the above expression into the equation
of motion, we have:
Mx D_ x (K DK)x = F sin Xt = Mx D_ x Kx
= F sin Xt DKx
= Mx D_ x Kx
= F sin Xt (K
1
sin Xt
K
2
sin3Xt K
3
sin 5Xt)x
considering as a rst approximation for x:
x = X
0
sin Xt
it is obtained:
Mx D_ x Kx = F sin Xt (K
1
sin Xt K
2
sin 3Xt
K
3
sin5Xt)X
0
sinXt
= Mx D_ x Kx
= F sin Xt (K
1
sin
2
Xt K
2
sinXt
sin3Xt K
3
sinXt sin5Xt)X
0
Finally, using the following trigonometric identity
sina sinb =
1
2
[cos(a b) cos(a b)[
The equation of motion yields,
1458 P.N. Saavedra, L.A. Cuiti~no / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 14511459
Mx D_ x Kx = F sinXt
X
0
2
[K
1
(K
1
K
2
)
sin 2Xt (K
2
K
3
) sin 4Xt
K
3
sin 6Xt[
From the above expression it is observed that the
frequencies of vibratory response of this cracked systems
are at the forcing frequency and its even harmonics, as it
is shown previously.
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