Natural frequencies for bending vibrations of Timoshenko cracked beams

The natural frequencies for bending vibrations of Timoshenko cracked beams with simple boundary conditions have been obtained. The beam is modelled as two segments connected by two massless springs (one extensional and another one rotational). This model promotes discontinuities in both vertical displacement and rotation due to bending, which are proportional to shear force and bending moment transmitted by the cracked section, respectively. The differential equations for the free bending vibrations are established and then solved individually for each segment with the corresponding boundary conditions and the appropriated compatibility conditions at the cracked section. The problem is also solved by the perturbation method and both procedures are applied to the case of a simply supported cracked beam. The results show that the perturbation method provides simple expressions for the natural frequencies of cracked beams and it gives good results for shallow cracks.