Vibration localization of simplified mistuned cyclic structures undertaking external harmonic force

Critical fatigue problems often occur in mistimed cyclic structures since their forced vibration responses are often much larger than those of perfectly tuned structures. Therefore, it is of great importance to predict the forced vibration responses of mistuned cyclic structures for their safe and reliable designs. In this paper, a simplified model for mistuned cyclic structures is chosen to investigate vibration localization phenomena. The effects of mistuning, stiffness coupling, and damping on the variations of maximum forced vibration responses of the model are examined through numerical study. It is found that strong vibration localization occurs under certain relations among mistuning, stiffness coupling, and damping. It is also found that the maximum forced vibration response asymptotically increases as the number of repeated subcomponents of the cyclic structure increases. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.