Vibration of a Truncated Wedge

THE modes of vibration of a truncated wedge (i.e. a cantilever of rectangular plan form and linear thickness distribution, encastrd at the thicker end) have been investigated. Each mode of vibration is considered independently and solutions are obtained for the differential equations of motion, whence follow expressions for the natural frequencies of vibration. The particular case of the knife‐edged wedge is treated in some detail. The effects of damping and of rotatory inertia in flexural vibration are ignored and the solution for torsional vibration is valid only in those cases where the cross‐sections are relatively thin in comparison with the width. The results are of some practical utility in estimating the vibration frequencies of screw propeller blades.