This short note is concerned with computing the eigenvalues and eigenfuncti
ons of a continuous beam model with damping, using the separation of variab
les approach. The beam considered has different stiffness. damping and mass
properties in each of two parts. Pinned boundary conditions are assumed at
each end, although other boundary conditions may be applied at the ends qu
ite simply. Although applications are not considered in detail, one possibl
e example is a thin beam partly submerged in a fluid. The fluid would add c
onsiderable damping and mass to the beam structure, and possibly some stiff
ness. Yang and Zhang [1] calculated these added mass and damping coefficien
ts for parallel Rat plates. (C) 2001 Academic Press.