The modal characteristics of the transverse vibration of an axially moving roller chain coupled with lumped mass were analyzed.The chain system was modeled by using the multi-body dynamics theory and the governing equations were derived by means of Lagrange's equations.The effects of the parameters,such as the axially moving velocity of the chain,the tension force,the weight of lumped mass and its time-variable assign position in chain span,on the modal characteristics of transverse vibration for roller chain were investigated.The numerical examples were given.It is found that the natural frequencies and the corresponding mode shapes of the transverse vibration for roller chain coupled with lumped mass change significantly when the variations of above parameters are considered.With the movement of the chain strand,the natural frequencies present a fluctuating phenomenon,which is different from the uniform chain.The higher the order of mode is,the greater the fluctuating magnitude and frequency are.
