Stability of a deploying/extruding beam in dense fluid

The equations of motion of a flexible slender cantilevered beam with uniform circular cross-section, extending axially in a horizontal plane at a known rate while immersed in an incompressible fluid are derived. An axial added mass coefficient is implemented in these equations in order to better approximate the mass of fluid which stays attached to the oscillating beam while moving in the axial direction. Realistic initial conditions are given to the system and numerical solutions are obtained. The dynamical behaviour of the system is observed for cases of constant extension rate and for a trapezoidal deployment rate profile. In the case of low constant extension rates, the system displays a phase of oscillation with increasing amplitude and decreasing frequency until the motion is strongly damped and later becomes statically unstable. For faster deployment rates, the beam has a short flutter phase at the beginning of the deployment, followed by a brief phase of damped oscillation until it exhibits static divergence. For fast enough deployment rates, the system is unstable from the beginning and never stabilizes. The effect the axial added mass coefficient has on the system is studied and it is found that it plays two roles in the stability of the system. The trapezoidal deployment rate profile is studied because it is deemed more representative of real-life applications. For long deployment times, the system behaves in a very similar manner to one with low constant extension rate, except that it does not become statically unstable. For shorter deployment times, the maximum amplitude of the tip displacement is usually attained after the beam has stopped extruding. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.