Beyond the massless approximation: The rotation of a heavy tourniquet with a load on one end

Abstract

Using dynamical approach, we consider the strain distribution in the rotating heavy tourniquet with a load on one end for the case of its small deformations (small angular velocities of the rotation). It appears that the tension force is maximum at the endpoint, where the tourniquet connects to the vertical axis of rotation, and decreases quadratically along the tourniquet length. We conclude that if the tourniquet mass m is not negligible against the load mass M, its effect may be expressed by adding to the mass M the fraction $1/3$ of the mass m.

Keywords:
Rotating heavy tourniquet; small deformations; tension force