FLEXURAL INSTABILITIES IN AXIALLY MOVING BANDS

Flexural instabilities in moving bands under harmonic tension fluctuat ion are investigated. The discretized equations of flexural motion rep resent a periodically perturbed linear gyroscopic system. Explicit con ditions for the onset of instability are established employing the met hod of averaging. The effects due to damping, mean band speed, and the band compliance on the band stability are discussed. The present anal ysis is adequate in the design of moving bands where it is necessary t o avoid critical speed ranges.