In-plane free vibration analysis of combined ring-beam structural systems by wave propagation

This paper presents a systematic, wave propagation approach for the free vibration analysis of networks consisting of slender, straight and curved beam elements and complete rings. The analysis is based on a ray tracing method and a procedure to predict the natural frequencies and mode shapes of complex ring/beam networks is demonstrated. In the wave approach, the elements are coupled using reflection and transmission coefficients, and these are derived for discontinuities encountered in a MEMS rate sensor consisting of a ring supported on an array of folded beams. These are combined, taking into account wave propagation and decay, to provide a concise and efficient method for studying the free vibration problem. A simplification of the analysis that exploits cyclic symmetry in the structure is also presented. The effects of decaying near-field wave components are included in the formulation, ensuring that the solutions are exact. To illustrate the effectiveness of the approach, several numerical examples are presented. The predictions made using the proposed approach are shown to be in excellent agreement with a conventional FE analysis.