Extremely Large Oscillations of Cantilevers Subject to Motion Constraints

The nonlinear extremely large-amplitude oscillation of a cantilever subject to motion constraints is examined for the first time. In order to be able to model the large-amplitude oscillations accurately, the equation governing the cantilever centerline rotation is derived. This allows for analyzing motions of very large amplitude even when tip angle is larger than pi/2. The Euler-Bernoulli beam theory is employed along with the centerline inextensibility assumption, which results in nonlinear inertial terms in the equation of motion. The motion constraint is modeled as a spring with a large stiffness coefficient. The presence of a gap between the motion constraint and the cantilever causes major difficulties in modeling and numerical simulations, and results in a non-smooth resonance response. The final form of the equation of motion is discretized via the Galerkin technique, while keeping the trigonometric functions intact to ensure accurate results even at large-amplitude oscillations. Numerical simulations are conducted via a continuation technique, examining the effect of various system parameters. It is shown that the presence of the motion constraints widens the resonance frequency band effectively which is particularly important for energy harvesting applications.