End-to-end analysis of vibration of time-varying mass systems

  • Kai WANG ,
  • Ao CHENG ,
  • Tingting CHEN ,
  • Jiaxi ZHOU ,
  • Zhuang LI ,
  • Shengtao ZHANG ,
  • Li CHENG
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  • 1.College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
    2.School of Mechanical and Intelligent Manufacturing, Central South University of Forestry & Technology, Changsha 410004, China
    3.College of Mechanical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, Hunan Province, China
    4.Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Li CHENG, E-mail: li.cheng@polyu.edu.hk

Received date: 2026-02-25

  Revised date: 2026-05-18

  Online published: 2026-07-31

Supported by

Project supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2024YFB3408701), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 12272129 and 12472010), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province of China (Nos. 2024JJ4004 and 2024JJ3003), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China

Copyright

© Shanghai University 2026

Abstract

Vibration systems with time-varying mass are prevalent in engineering practice, exemplified by rockets with fuel depletion, vehicles with changing mass, and systems with cable-hoisted payloads. However, progress has been constrained by the lack of an end-to-end approach capable of integrating modeling, closed-form analysis, numerically stable calculations, and isolation design. Focusing on a typical system involving rocket fuel combustion with linear mass depletion, we first derive the equations of motion from the momentum theorem. A parameter transformation, constructed via the method of undetermined coefficients, converts the time-varying differential equation into a standard Bessel equation, yielding a closed-form analytical solution. To achieve reliable numerical solutions, a strategy combining variable upper-limit integration with grid-search-optimized lower bounds is deployed to replace indefinite integrals, thereby overcoming non-integrable products of Bessel functions. Benchmark comparisons with harmonic excitations show excellent agreement, validating the formulation and solution scheme. Building on the closed-form response, an end-to-end vibration isolation workflow is established via transmissibility and isolation failure-time-threshold (FTT) metrics, allowing for the selection of stiffness based on the instantaneous frequency ratio throughout the mass variation process. The resulting framework provides a general analytical tool for linear differential equations with time-varying mass and a practical pathway for vibration isolation design in mass-varying structures, with special relevance to aerospace applications.

Cite this article

Kai WANG , Ao CHENG , Tingting CHEN , Jiaxi ZHOU , Zhuang LI , Shengtao ZHANG , Li CHENG . End-to-end analysis of vibration of time-varying mass systems[J]. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 2026 , 47(8) : 1723 -1746 . DOI: 10.1007/s10483-026-3414-8

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