The highly flexible cantilever beam can undergo obvious initial deformation due to gravity

which in turn affects the geometric stiffness of the beam and jointly dominates the large deformation response of the structure under the combined action of other external loads. To determine the influence of the self-weight on static large deformation characteristics

the theoretical model of cantilever beams is given considering self-weight and tip load

and the numerical simulation model of highly flexible beams is established based on the nonlinear finite element method. The self-weight of the beam is regarded as a uniformly distributed load with constant direction

and the large deformation behaviors under different self-weights are analyzed. On this basis

a large deformation static experiment with or without gravity effect is carried out for a highly flexible beam model

and the numerical simulation results are compared with the experimental results

and the error is within the allowable range of the engineering. The comprehensive finite element analysis and experimental research results show that the influence of the initial deformation caused by gravity on the large deformation of highly flexible beam under external loads cannot be ignored

and it should be fully considered in engineering design

the finite element simulation results of large deformation considering gravity have satisfactory accuracy and can be used for practical engineering analysis.