Forced vibrations of a cantilever beam

The theoretical and experimental solutions for vibrations of a vertical-oriented, prismatic, thin cantilever beam are studied. The beam orientation is 'downwards', i.e. the clamped end is above the free end, and it is subjected to a transverse movement at a selected frequency. Both the behaviour of the device driver and the beam's weak-damping resonance response are compared for the case of an elastic beam made from PVC plastic excited over a frequency range from 1 to 30 Hz. The current analysis predicts the presence of 'pseudo-nodes' in the normal modes of oscillation. It is important to note that our results were obtained using very simple equipment, present in the teaching laboratory. (paper)