Dynamic analysis of a deployable/retractable damped cantilever beam

Deployable/retractable damped cantilever beams are a class of time-varying parametric structures which have attracted considerable research interest due to their many potential applications in the intelligent robot field and aerospace. In the present work, the dynamic characteristics of a deployable/retractable damped cantilever beam are investigated experimentally and theoretically. The time-varying damping, as a function of the beam length, is obtained by both the enveloped fitting method and the period decrement method. Furthermore, the governing equation of the deployable/retractable damped cantilever beam is derived by introducing the time-varying damping parameter, and the corresponding closed-form solution and vibration principles are investigated based on the averaged method. The theoretical predictions for transient dynamic responses are in good agreement with the experimental results. The dynamic mechanism analysis on time-varying damping offers flexible technology in mechanical and aerospace fields.