The effect of gravity on a slender loop structure

Abstract

The deformation and vibration of vertical, highly flexible loops are investigated primarily from an experimental perspective. Both upright and hanging loops are considered with a small clamped length. The effects of self-weight on the loop static deformation and lowest frequency for in-plane symmetric vibrations are determined. Good agreement is attained between some theoretical results (based on an inextensible elastica model) and the experimental data. An interesting phenomenon of adjacent, co-existing solutions is also described.