Structures loaded with a force acting along a fixed straight line, or the "Reut's column problem"

Abstract

An elastic double pendulum subject to a force acting along a fixed straight line, the so-called "Reut's column problem", is a structure exhibiting flutter and divergence instability, which was never realized in practice and thus debated whether to represent reality or mere speculation. It is shown, both theoretically and experimentally, how to obtain the Reut's loading by exploiting the contact with friction of a rigid blade against a freely-rotating cylindrical constraint, which moves axially at constant speed, an action recalling that of a bow's hair on a violin string. With this experimental set-up, flutter and divergence instabilities, as well as the detrimental effect of viscosity on critical loads, are documented indisputably, thus bringing an end to a long debate. This result opens a new research area, with perspective applications to mechanical actuators, high-precision cutting tools, or energy harvesting devices.

arXiv comment18 pages, 13 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Self-oscillation
• Paradoxes of dissipation-induced destabilization or who opened Whitney's umbrella?
• Flutter and divergence instability in the Pfluger column: experimental evidence of the Ziegler destabilization paradox
• The destabilizing effect of external damping: Singular flutter boundary for the Pfluger column with vanishing external dissipation
• Detecting singular weak-dissipation limit for flutter onset in reversible systems

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Flutter instability in solids and structures, with a view on biomechanics and metamaterials
• Non-holonomic constraints inducing flutter insability in structures under conservative loadings
• Flutter instability and Ziegler destabilization paradox for elastic rods subject to non-holonomic constraints