An integrating matrix formulation for buckling of rotating beams including the effects of concentrated masses

Abstract This paper extends the integrating matrix technique of computational mechanics to include the effects of concentrated masses. The stability of a flexible rotating beam with discrete masses is analysed to determine the critical rotational speeds for buckling in the inplane and out-of-plane directions. In this problem, the beam is subjected to compressive centrifugal forces arising from steady rotation about an axis which does not pass through the clamped end of the beam. To determine the eigenvalues from which stability is assessed, the differential equations of motion are solved numerically by combining the extended integrating matrix method with an eigenanalysis. Stability boundaries for a discrete mass representation of a uniform beam are shown to asymptotically approach the stability boundaries for the corresponding continuous mass beam as the number of concentrated masses is increased. An error in the literature is also noted for the discrete mass problem concerning the behavior of the critical rotational speed for inplane buckling as the radius of rotation of the clamped end of the beam is reduced.