Free vibration behavior of tapered beam columns

In continuation of their earlier work on free vibration behavior of uniform beams in the presence of an axial load, the writers of this note evaluate the vibration characteristics of tapered beam-columns. The Rayleigh-Ritz method is employed to obtain the critical loads and frequency parameters for various values of the slenderness ratio and taper parameter. The effect of the axial load on the frequency parameter is exemplified through a set of numerical results