1.

Torsional vibration of rod

Let us consider a rod with a circular cross section, as shown in Fig. 1, and an element of length
dx locates at a distance x from the origin O. The length of the rod is l, θ is the angle of twist, and
G is the shear modulus of the rod.

Fig. 1 (a) A rod with a torsional motion (b) Free body diagram of an element
The free body diagram of the element is shown in Fig. 1b. In this figure, τ and τ + (∂τ / ∂x )dx

( )
are the applied torques, J = ∫ r 2dm is the mass moment of inertia of the element about the axis

∂ 2θ
of rotation, and J is the inertia torque. By applying Newton’s second law, we have
∂t 2

∂ 2θ ∂τ
J 2
=τ + dx − τ (1)
∂t ∂x
that is
∂ 2θ ∂τ
J = dx (2)
∂t 2 ∂x
From the mechanics of material, we know that
∂θ τ
= (3)
∂x GI p

( )
where I p = ∫ r 2dA is the polar moment of inertia of the circular cross section. Based on (3), we

have
∂θ
τ = GI p (4)
∂x
We also know that the mass moment of inertia of the element

1
 J = ρdxI p (5)

where ρ is the mass per unit volume. Substituting (4-5) into (3), we have

∂ 2θ ∂ 2θ
ρdxI p = GI p dx (6)
∂t 2 ∂x 2
We can rewrite (6) as
∂ 2θ 1 ∂ 2θ
= (7)
∂x 2 c 2 ∂t 2

G
where c = .
ρ
Eq (7) is similar to the equation governing the transverse vibration of a string or the longitudinal
vibration of a rod, and can be solved by using the method of separation of variables.
The boundary conditions can be used to determine both natural frequencies and mode shapes.
For example, in Fig. 1, for the left free end, we have at x = 0, θ = 0 . For the right fixed end, we
∂θ
have x = l, τ = 0, based on (3), = 0 . The initial conditions can be used to determine the
∂x
transient vibration response.