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Correspondence to: Haitao Ma, State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building Science, Department of Civil
Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China.
E-mail: maht@scut.edu.cn
Contract/grant sponsor: South China University of Technology
Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
588 H. MA
proposed algorithm for natural frequency analysis is that no special numerical method is required,
and as a result it is simple to integrate this algorithm into conventional nite element analysis
programs.
In this paper, the study reported in [12] is extended to the analysis of bending beam and a new
element for frame structures is formulated by including the axial, torsional and transverse bending
components. We start by summarizing the governing equation for transverse vibration of thin
elastic beams. Based on general solutions to the homogeneous governing equation, new element
shape functions are constructed for a predened vibration frequency. Then element stiffness matrix,
mass matrix and dynamic stiffness matrix are formulated. Combining the new formulation with
the one for axial vibration in [12], the new element for frame structures is derived. Illustrative
examples are presented to show the effectiveness of the new element and algorithms from [12].
Finally, concluding remarks are made.
2. ELEMENT FORMULATION
2.1. Governing equation
The motion of transverse vibration of an elastic beam can be described by the following equation
(see, e.g. [13]):
*
2
*x
2
_
E(x)I (x)
*
2
W(x, t )
*x
2
_
+(x)A(x)
*
2
W(x, t )
*t
2
=Q(x, t ) (1)
where x is the coordinate of an arbitrary point, t is the time, E(x) and (x) are material modulus
and mass density, respectively, I (x) is the second moment of inertia, A(x) is the area of cross
section, W(x, t ) is the transverse displacement and Q(x, t ) is the distributed force in the transverse
direction (Figure 1).
Considering a uniform bar and denoting
E(x) E =Constant
I (x) I =Constant
A(x) A=Constant
(x) =Constant
we may write Equation (1) as follows:
EI
*
4
W(x, t )
*x
4
+A
*
2
W(x, t )
*t
2
=Q(x, t ) (2)
Limiting the loading to be harmonic and letting
Q(x, t )=q(x)cos(t +) (3)
where is the loading frequency, is the phase angle, and q(x) is the magnitude of the distributed
load, the displacement can be expressed assumed to be in the following form:
W(x, t )=w(x)cos(t +) (4)
Figure 1. Transverse vibration of a beam.
Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Biomed. Engng. 2010; 26:587596
DOI: 10.1002/cnm
EXACT SOLUTION OF VIBRATION PROBLEMS OF FRAME STRUCTURES 589
Substituting Equations (3) and (4) into Equation (2) yields the following governing equation for
the steady-state harmonic response:
EI
d
4
w(x)
dx
4
A
2
w(x)=q(x) (5)
Note that both the variables q(x) and w(x) are now functions of coordinate only, and the equation
is time-independent except for the presence of frequency .
2.2. General solutions to the homogeneous governing equation
For undamped free vibration, Equation (5) can be written as
d
4
w(x)
dx
4
4
w(x)=0 (6)
where is a parameter dened as
=
4
_
2
A
EI
(7)
The general solutions to Equation (6) can be expressed as
w(x) = ax
3
+bx
2
+cx
2
+d, =0
w(x) = a sinx +bcosx +csinhx +d coshx, >0
(8)
where a, b, c and d are arbitrary constants. When =0 (i.e. static case or dynamic case with
massless beam), the general solution is a cubic function of the coordinate; otherwise, it is a
combination of harmonic and hyperbolic functions of the coordinate.
2.3. Shape functions satisfying homogeneous governing equation
The cubic shape functions for conventional thin-beam element satisfy the governing equation for
static analysis when =0 and should be kept. Therefore, is assumed to be greater than zero
in the following discussion. We choose to describe the displacement within an element using
the expression for the general solutions given in Equation (8b). Let the transverse deection be
expressed as
w=
i =1,2
(N
0i
(x)w
i
+N
1i
(x)
i
)
where i (i =1, 2) denotes element node, w
i
and
i
nodal deection and rotation, respectively, and
N
0i
and N
1i
are shape functions for nodal deection and rotation, respectively.
Introducing the shape function matrix N as
N=[N
01
(x) N
11
(x) N
02
(x) N
12
(x)] (9)
and the nodal displacement vector d as
d=
w
1
1
w
2
(10)
the transverse deection eld can be expressed as
w=Nd (11)
Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Biomed. Engng. 2010; 26:587596
DOI: 10.1002/cnm
590 H. MA
Let the shape functions be a linear combination of the homogeneous solutions
N
T
=CV (12)
where C is a constant coefcient matrix
C=
c
11
c
12
c
13
c
14
c
21
c
22
c
23
c
24
c
31
c
32
c
33
c
34
c
41
c
42
c
43
c
44
(13)
and V is a vector with the four harmonic and hyperbolic functions in the homogeneous solutions
as its components:
V=
V
1
(x)
V
2
(x)
V
3
(x)
V
4
(x)
sinx
cosx
sinhx
coshx
(14)
Using the conditions that the shape functions must satisfy at the two ends and letting the length
of the element be l, we have
N|
x=0
N
|
x=0
N|
x=l
N
|
x=l
1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0
0 0 1 0
0 0 0 1
(15)
Substituting the expression of shape function matrix into the above expression, we can get the
following equation:
CP=I
4
(16)
where I
4
is an identity matrix of order 4 and matrix P is dened as
P=[V|
x=0
V
|
x=0
V|
x=l
V
|
x=l
] =
0 s c
1 0 c s
0 sh ch
1 0 ch sh
(17)
in which
s = sinl
c = cosl
sh = sinhl
ch = coshl
(18)
Thus, C=P
1
and the inversion of matrix P yields
C=
1
a
(19)
Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Biomed. Engng. 2010; 26:587596
DOI: 10.1002/cnm
EXACT SOLUTION OF VIBRATION PROBLEMS OF FRAME STRUCTURES 591
where
a =2(cch1)=2(cosl coshl 1) (20)
Generally speaking, once values of and l are given, the shape function coefcient matrix C can
be formed and shape functions constructed. However, when the parameter a is exactly or nearly
zero, matrix P is singular or nearly singular and matrix C cannot be accurately calculated. In this
case, the solution can still proceed after the element length (l) is modied by a small fraction.
The curvature at any point within the element can be expressed as
=
d
2
w
dx
2
=N
d=(CV
)
T
d=(V
)
T
C
T
d (21)
where V
1
(x)
V
2
(x)
V
3
(x)
V
4
(x)
=
2
sinx
cosx
sinhx
coshx
(22)
2.4. Element stiffness and mass matrices
By following the standard nite element procedure, the element stiffness matrix can now be
expressed as
K
e
=
_
l
0
(N
)
T
EI N
dx =
_
l
0
CV
EI (V
)
T
C
T
dx =(EI )CHC
T
(23)
where H is the following integration:
H=
_
l
0
V
(V
)
T
dx =
_
l
0
1
(x)
V
2
(x)
V
3
(x)
V
4
(x)
{V
1
(x) V
2
(x) V
2
(x) V
4
(x)}dx (24)
Noting that
1
(x)
V
2
(x)
V
2
(x)
V
2
(x)
=
2
V
1
(x)
V
2
(x)
V
3
(x)
V
4
(x)
(25)
matrix H can be expressed as
H=
4
S
11
S
12
S
13
S
14
S
21
S
22
S
23
S
24
S
31
S
32
S
33
S
34
S
41
S
42
S
43
S
44
(26)
in which S
i j
(i, j =1, 4) are entries in matrix S, which is dened as
S=
_
l
0
VV
T
dx (27)
Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Biomed. Engng. 2010; 26:587596
DOI: 10.1002/cnm
592 H. MA
Substituting Equation (14) into the above equation and integrating all the elements in the matrix
give the following expression:
S=
1
2
l s c s
2
s chcsh s shcch+1
s
2
l +s c s sh+cch1 s ch+csh
s chcsh s sh+cch1 sh chl sh
2
s shcch+1 s ch+csh sh
2
sh ch+l
(28)
The element mass matrix can be expressed as
M
e
()=
_
l
0
AN
T
Ndx
Substituting the expression of shape functions and then making use of Equation (27), we have
M
e
()=
_
l
0
ACVV
T
C
T
dx =(A)CSC
T
(29)
2.5. Discussions
First let us compare the new shape functions with the conventional shape functions for the conven-
tional 2-node thin-beam element, which can be expressed as
N
01
(x) = 13
_
x
l
_
2
+2
_
x
l
_
3
N
11
(x) = l
_
_
x
l
_
2
_
x
l
_
2
+
_
x
l
_
3
_
N
02
(x) = 3
_
x
l
_
2
2
_
x
l
_
3
N
12
(x) = l
_
_
x
l
_
2
+
_
x
l
_
3
_
(30)
In the extreme case of 0, we have 0. Let =l and when 0, matrix C can be
approximated as
C=
3
4
15
3
6
2+
4
15
_
1
2
6
4
90
_
_
1
2
6
4
90
_
2
2
3
+
2
315
_
_
1
2
6
+
4
90
_
2
_
2
3
4
315
_
2
4
60
_
1+
4
360
_
2+
4
60
_
1+
4
360
_
_
1+
4
360
_
2
3
_
1+
4
8400
_
_
1+
4
360
_
2
3
_
1+
4
840
_
+O(
4
)
(31)
Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Biomed. Engng. 2010; 26:587596
DOI: 10.1002/cnm
EXACT SOLUTION OF VIBRATION PROBLEMS OF FRAME STRUCTURES 593
As for vector V, let y =x (0xl) and when 0, we have y 0. In this case, vector V can
be approximated as
V=
sin y
cos y
sinh y
cosh y
y
_
1
y
2
6
+
y
4
120
y
6
5040
_
1
y
2
2
+
y
4
24
y
6
720
y
_
1+
y
2
6
+
y
4
120
+
y
6
5040
_
1+
y
2
2
+
y
4
24
+
y
6
720
+O(y
8
) (32)
Based on Equations (31) and (32), the following expression for shape functions can be derived:
lim
0
N
T
= lim
0
1
3
3y
2
+2y
3
(
3
y 2
2
y
2
+y
3
)/
3y
2
2y
3
(
2
y
2
+y
3
)/
13
_
x
l
_
2
+2
_
x
l
_
3
l
_
x
l
2
_
x
l
_
2
+
_
x
l
_
3
_
3
_
x
l
_
2
2
_
x
l
_
3
l
_
_
x
l
_
2
+
_
x
l
_
3
_
(33)
Thus, it is shown that the new shape functions given in Equation (12) approach the conventional
shape functions given in Equation (30), i.e.
lim
0
N
pi
(x)= lim
0
N
pi
=
N
pi
( p=0, 1, i =1, 2) (34)
indicating that the conventional shape functions are good approximations of the new shape functions
when l 1. It is obvious that the differences between the new and the conventional shape functions
vanish when =0 and become signicant when l increases. In other words, when is a xed
non-zero value, the difference is smaller for shorter elements; and when the element length l is
xed, the difference is smaller for lower frequency (or equivalently smaller value).
Now turn to the element stiffness and mass matrices. As the new shape functions approach the
conventional ones when approaches zero, it can be shown that the element matrices given in
Equations (23) and (29) will also approach those for the conventional beam element.
When the element in under harmonic motion, its contribution to the dynamic equilibrium can
be expressed as
f =K
d
()u (35)
where f is the element node force vector, u is the displacement vector and K
d
() is the dynamic
stiffness matrix dened as
K
d
()=K
e
()
2
M
e
() (36)
which can be derived by substituting expressions for element stiffness and mass matrices into the
above equation.
2.6. New beam element
The governing equation for the torsional vibration of a beam is similar to that for the axial vibration;
therefore, exact stiffness and mass matrices for torsion can be easily formulated as in [12].
With the available formulations for axial, torsional and bending vibration, a new beam element
can be developed by combining deformation in axial, torsional and two transverse directions.
Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Biomed. Engng. 2010; 26:587596
DOI: 10.1002/cnm
594 H. MA
Further, the iterative algorithm proposed for natural frequency analysis and that for the harmonic
response analysis can be used together with this new element. The algorithms are described in
detail in [12] and will not be presented here. In the following section, numerical results will be
presented using the new element and the iterative algorithm to calculate natural frequencies of
frame structures.
3. EXAMPLES
3.1. Natural frequency analysis of cantilever beam
Consider the simply supported beam shown in Figure 2. The natural frequencies of transverse
vibration of the beam are [13]
n
=
n
2
2
L
2
_
EI
A
, n =1, 2, 3, . . . (37)
The beam is modelled with two elements of equal length (0.5) and the mesh has four degrees
of freedom (DOFs). Start with initial frequency
0
=0; the rst natural frequency converges to
the exact solution in four iterations. Using the result for
2
at the fourth iteration as the initial
value, the solution proceeds for the second mode shape and converges to the exact solution in four
iterations. The solution history is summarized in Table I.
Using the proposed algorithm, the FEM solutions with two elements are identical to the analytical
solutions with nine signicant digits. In contrast to this, a much more rened mesh is needed
to get a solution of similar accuracy when the conventional element is used. Solutions with
different numbers of conventional elements of equal length are summarized in Table II. It can
be seen that with the mesh consisting of 256 elements of equal length, the results converge to
the exact solutions. Note that with the new algorithm, eigenvalue problem with four DOFs is
solved 8 times and with the conventional beam element, eigenvalue problems with hundreds of
DOFs must be solved to get results of similar accuracy for the rst two modes. As the number
of numerical operations in eigenvalue solution is proportional to the number of DOFS cubed, the
saving in computational cost achieved with the new algorithm is considerable and can be much
more signicant for larger models.
Figure 2. A simply supported beam.
Table I. Solution history for simply supported beam with two elementsnew element.
Iteration
0
1
2
Difference (%) Note
1 0.00000000 9.90855871 43.8178046 Start iteration for
1
2 9.90855871 9.86960686 43.3150902 3.93E01
3 9.86960686 9.86960440 43.3189325 2.49E05
4 9.86960440 9.86960440 43.3189328 0.00E+00
1
converged
5 43.3189328 19.8757435 39.6716615 8.42E+00 Start iteration for
2
6 39.6716615 17.2607382 39.4788647 4.86E01
7 39.4788647 17.1344262 39.4784176 1.13E03
8 39.4784176 17.1338772 39.4784176 0.00E+00
2
converged
Exact 9.86960440 39.4784176
Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Biomed. Engng. 2010; 26:587596
DOI: 10.1002/cnm
EXACT SOLUTION OF VIBRATION PROBLEMS OF FRAME STRUCTURES 595
Table II. Solutions with different meshes for simply
supported beamconventional element.
Mode
2
2 9.90855871 43.8178046
4 9.87216716 (3.673E01) 39.6342348 (9.548E+00)
8 9.86976668 (2.432E02) 39.4886687 (3.673E01)
16 9.86961458 (1.541E03) 39.4790667 (2.432E02)
32 9.86960504 (9.666E05) 39.4784583 (1.541E03)
64 9.86960444 (6.079E06) 39.4784202 (9.651E05)
128 9.86960440 (4.053E07) 39.4784178 (6.079E06)
256 9.86960430 (1.013E06) 39.4784176 (5.066E07)