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Date October 29, 2000 Memo Number STI69:001029
Subject CSI Tip of the Week: Structural Beam Elements CSI Tip of the Week: Structural Beam Elements CSI Tip of the Week: Structural Beam Elements CSI Tip of the Week: Structural Beam Elements
Keywords Structural: BEAM


1. 1. 1. 1. Introduction: Introduction: Introduction: Introduction:
Due to the number of beam elements available in ANSYS, it may be difficult to distinguish
between the various formulations/features. This memo will cover some background information on
beam elements in hopes of aiding the user in proper element selection.
Some comparisons to ANSYS shell elements will be made, so please refer to CSIs Tip of the
Week, issue #8 Structural Shell Elements, for further information.

2. 2. 2. 2. Background Discussion: Background Discussion: Background Discussion: Background Discussion:
Beams are geometrically 1-D but spatially 2-D or 3-D elements used to approximate structures
which are longer in one dimension than they are in the other two dimensions. In other words, for
thin, column-like structures, if the dimensions of the cross-section are smaller than the length of the
beam, then BEAM elements can be used. (This is similar to shell elements that are thinner in one
direction than they are in the other two) Generally speaking, the cross-sectional dimensions should
be less than 1/20 or 1/30 of the length of the member, where the distance between supports of the
physical system defines the length of the member. The beam elements themselves can be of any
mesh size and does not dictate the applicability of beam theory; instead, as noted above, the physical
dimensions and characteristics should determine whether beam elements can be used.

There are basically two types of beam theory: Timoshenko (shear-deformable) and Euler-
Bernoulli theory. All of the older beam elements are based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory; these
include:
1

2D/3D elastic BEAM3/4
2D plastic BEAM23
2D/3D offset tapered, unsymmetric BEAM54/44
3D thin-walled, plastic BEAM24
The basic features and restrictions of Euler-Bernoulli beams are as follows:
Uses Hermitian polynomials for shape functions, so has cubic response in bending
Bending moment can vary linearly
Transverse shear is not taken into account
Unrestrained section warping is assumed (no warping under torsion)
Elastic behavior only is assumed or limited nonlinear material capabilities (BEAM23/24)
Very limited pre- and post-processing capabilities (except for BEAM44)

There are two beam elements introduced at ANSYS 5.5: 3D 2-node BEAM188 and 3D 3-node
BEAM189.
2
These are based on Timoshenko theory, which includes the following assumptions:
Exhibits linear (188) or quadratic (189) response under bending
Transverse shear stress is constant through thickness (first-order shear-deformable beams)
Unrestrained or restrained warping can be modeled at ANSYS 5.6
Rich set of complex constitutive models available (plasticity and creep)
Finite strain applications
Enhanced pre- and post-processing capabilities
BEAM188/189 are part of the 18x family of elements which are being developed as a next
generation of nonlinear elements. These set of elements are continually being enhanced at every
new revision of ANSYS, including version 5.7 which supports many more nonlinear material models.


1
Also included but not listed here are the PIPE family of elements which assume a circular cross-section rather than a
rectangular cross-section as BEAM4 does.
2
Although the author refers to BEAM188 and BEAM189 and 2-node and 3-node elements, respectively, an additional
orientation node is present, so, technically speaking, they are 3-node and 4-node elements.




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3. 3. 3. 3. Enhanced Pre Enhanced Pre Enhanced Pre Enhanced Pre- -- - and Post and Post and Post and Post- -- -Processing for BEAM44/188/189: Processing for BEAM44/188/189: Processing for BEAM44/188/189: Processing for BEAM44/188/189:
For the older ANSYS beam elements, the cross-sectional properties must be input via REAL
constants. This usually involves calculating the area, area moment of inertia, torsional moment of
inertia, and shear deflection constants by hand.
However, at ANSYS 5.5, the BeamTool and SECxxxx family of commands have been introduced
for BEAM44/188/189. These introduce the concept of a section property as an additional element
attribute. The shape of the cross-section is defined (I-beam L-channel, etc.), and the cross-sectional
properties are automatically calculated by ANSYS.
Above is a screenshot of the BeamTool (right) and the calculated cross-section properties (left).
There are many pre-defined beam cross-sections which can be selected from the Sub-type menu. A
user-defined cross-section may also be input.
3
The offset (where the nodes are located) can be the
centroid or shear center (as calculated by ANSYS) or even a user-defined offset. This is useful when
modeling beam elements as stiffeners for shell elements.
4

The beam elements with cross-sections may
be shown graphically with /ESHAPE,1. For most
beam elements, a simple rectangular represen-
tation will be shown using the effective thickness-
es input via REAL constants. For BEAM188/189,
however, the actual cross-sections can be shown
on the right. In fact, BEAM188/189 has section
integration points where stresses are evaluated
after deflections are calculated. As a result,
besides deflections, accurate stresses on the
flanges of the I-beam, as shown on the right, can
be determined.


3
Please refer to the online help documentation for more details since, depending on the revision of ANSYS being used,
the user-defined cross-sections may have limitations compared with other versions.
4
Note that, as of ANSYS 5.7, none of the shell elements in ANSYS support a user-specified offset. The nodes of the shell
elements represent the midsurface, except for the composite SHELL91/99 which can be offset to the top or bottom
surfaces, respectively.




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4. 4. 4. 4. Transverse Shear (Thin/Thick Beams Transverse Shear (Thin/Thick Beams Transverse Shear (Thin/Thick Beams Transverse Shear (Thin/Thick Beams): ): ): ):
A mathematical discussion of Timoshenko and Euler-Bernoulli beam theories is beyond the scope
of the present discussion, but some basics will be covered. For a more detailed treatment of the
subject matter, the reader is referred to the references at the end of this memo.

Euler-Bernoulli beam theory is often covered in basic mechanics texts. Transverse shear is not
accounted for, although a flexibility factor (shear deflection constant) can be included as a REAL
constant in the ANSYS elements. This shear deflection constant changes the effective shear area in
calculations, such that the shear strain energy can be accounted for correctly. The reason why
transverse shear is not accounted for is because the beam in bending is assumed to behave in such a
way that the cross-section normal to the neutral axis remains normal to the neutral axis after
bending.
For thin beams, transverse shear is negligible, so this assumption is quite valid in those cases. As
a result, the elements which are based on Euler-Bernoulli theory e.g., BEAM3/4 are
appropriate for thin beams. For moderately thick beams, the shear deflection constant can be
included as a real constant for these classes of elements. [When comparing with shell element
formulations, Euler-Bernoulli beams are analogous to Kirchhoff plate theory.]

Timoshenko beam theory considers the effects of transverse shear. This is because the manner
in which the beam acts in bending is as follows: the cross-section initially normal to the neutral axis
remains plane but does not remain normal to the neutral axis. This is taken into account by
BEAM188/189. [Timoshenko beam theory is similar to Mindlin shell theory as both consider
transverse shear.]
Unlike the other ANSYS beams,
5
the shear constants need not be calculated separately since the
BeamTool (SECxxxx commands) calculates these based on the type of cross-section the user
chooses.
Timoshenko beam theory is good for thin to moderately-thick beams. If the physical members
are too thick/stubby, the first-order transverse shear approximation is no longer accurate for the
beam elements since the actual variation of transverse shear stress would not be constant anymore.
In this case, modeling the physical members with SOLID elements may be more appropriate, so a
non-constant transverse shear stress can be captured. As noted in the ANSYS online help, the
following guideline may be used:
30
2
>
EI
GAL

where
inertia of moment area
modulus elastic
member of length
area sectional - cross
modulus shear
=
=
=
=
=
I
E
L
A
G



5
BEAM44 does support the BeamTool (SECxxxx family of commands) functionality.




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5. 5. 5. 5. Torsion and Restrained Warping (Warping DOF): Torsion and Restrained Warping (Warping DOF): Torsion and Restrained Warping (Warping DOF): Torsion and Restrained Warping (Warping DOF):
Torsion is usually due to torsional moments or a shear force which does not act upon the shear
center of a beam. These loads twists the beam about its axis and may produce warping, where cross-
sections of the beam do not remain planar. Warping is important since it introduces axial
strains/stresses as well as affects the torsional resistance.
Except for solid circular sections, all beams warp under torsional loads. However, the
significance of warping is usually negligible for most solid or even closed cross-sections, but it is
most pronounced for open, thin-walled sections since these have very little torsional stiffness.
Moreover, the shear center and centroid often do not coincide for open sections, so any off-center
shear forces or pressures will result in torsional loads.
Only BEAM188/189 support unrestrained or restrained warping starting from ANSYS 5.6. All
other BEAM/PIPE elements in ANSYS assume unrestrained warping; i.e., warping is assumed to be
negligible. For BEAM188/189, KEYOPT(1) determines whether warping is considered by adding an
extra degree of freedom, WARP.
To understand this better, two input files ibeam_188.inp and ibeam_181.inp are provided
which demonstrate a lateral torsional buckling of an I-beam. The effects of unrestrained (default) or
restrained warping can be shown by running these input files. For the first input file,
ibeam_188.inp, BEAM188 is used. Restrained warping is assumed (keyopt,1,1,1) but this line can
be commented out to run with unrestrained warping. The results are compared with an I-beam
comprised of SHELL181 elements, which presents a more detailed model of the I-beam:
Table Table Table Table 1 11 1
Critical Load
BEAM188 (Unrestrained Warping) 387.3
BEAM188 (Restrained Warping) 569.6
SHELL181 564.1


As shown above, unrestrained warping (as is present with all ANSYS beam elements) greatly
underpredicts the buckling load. However, when warping is considered (restrained warping), the
critical lateral torsional buckling load is calculated accurately and is in agreement with the more
detailed shell model (SHELL181).

Please note that when using
BEAM188/189 with all seven
degrees of freedom, the WARP
DOF should NOT be the same at
beam intersections. When
connecting beams perpendicular
to each other, care should be
taken to ensure that the nodes are
coincident at the intersection, but
only translational and rotational
degrees of freedom are coupled
(CP) together. If not, the WARP
DOF (warping magnitude) will be
the same at that location for the
perpendicular beams, which will
result in physically inaccurate
behavior.
On the right is an example of
this where, at the intersection of
two sets of beams, the coincident
nodes are coupled in U and ROT
DOF only.







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6. 6. 6. 6. Geometric and Material Nonlinearities: Geometric and Material Nonlinearities: Geometric and Material Nonlinearities: Geometric and Material Nonlinearities:
The majority of the older beams (e.g., BEAM4) support large rotation only. These beams do not
allow for finite-strains, but they can be used in large deflection/rotation analyses. However, the new
BEAM188/189 support both large rotation and finite strain applications. In fact, with KEYOPT(2),
the cross-section can be assumed to be rigid or can be scaled as a function of axial stretch (to
preserve volume in finite strain cases).

While some of the older beams such as BEAM23/24 support plasticity and explicit creep, most of
the commonly-used beams such as BEAM4 are elastic only in nature (recall that these older elements
do not support finite-strain, either). The newer BEAM188/189 support implicit creep as well as
many new constitutive models for plasticity. At 5.7, these have been extended to include Hills
anisotropic plasticity and the Perzyna and Peirce viscoplasticity models. Although BEAM188/189 are
recommended in most nonlinear applications, please refer to the online help for more information
since not all constitutive models are supported by BEAM188/189, such as MELAS, or even element
birth-and-death.

7. 7. 7. 7. Dynamics and Mesh Density: Dynamics and Mesh Density: Dynamics and Mesh Density: Dynamics and Mesh Density:
In static and dynamic applications, mesh density is important to consider. Because the elements
based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory (e.g., BEAM4) exhibit a cubic response in bending, usually a
few elements along a member suffice for dynamic applications (and even 1 element along a member
may give satisfactory answers in static analyses).
On the other hand, BEAM188/189 use either linear or quadratic shape functions. Consequently,
more elements should be present along a member length when using these elements in order to
capture the dynamic response (mode shape) accurately. BEAM189, because of its quadratic shape
function, is strongly recommended for curved beams.

Another important note is that, for modal analyses with BEAM188/189, if the user wants to see
the results on the actual cross-sections with /ESHAPE,1, the element stress calculations must be
activated with MXPAND.
6
Also, OUTRES,MISC must be issued as well (save miscellaneous data) to
store this information.
BEAM188/189 have section integration points at each node, as mentioned earlier. This means
that for each node of BEAM188/189, many element calculations are performed after displacements
are solved for. For example, if each cross-section of a BEAM188 model has 20 cells where each cell
has 4 integration points, there are 80 integration points/section nodes where stresses, etc. are to be
calculated. This will result in a much larger results file. Also, for computers with slower disk I/O,
this may noticeably increase solution time as well. (The older beam elements do not have this
problem as they do not have section integration points)
To circumvent this, the user is strongly advised to use OUTRES commands, starting with
OUTRES,ALL,NONE to wipe out current specifications. OUTRES allows the user to save specific data
for specific groups of nodes/elements.
An alternative is to use the older BEAM elements in dynamic applications, if stresses at non-
rectangular cross-sections are not required. The older beam elements do not take longer for stress
calculations, so they are more efficient in this respect. To simplify the use of older beam elements,
the BeamTool can be used to set up a fictitious section note the values of the cross-sectional
properties reported by ANSYS when defining cross-sections. These values can then be directly input
as REAL constants for the older beam elements.




6
Even if only displacements are desired with /ESHAPE,1 element stress calculations must be activated with MXPAND.
These are actually not limited to stress calculations but all element calculations.




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8. 8. 8. 8. Conclusion: Conclusion: Conclusion: Conclusion:
This memo hoped to cover some of the basics of beam theory as well as the differences in the
older and newer (BEAM188/189) beam elements available in ANSYS.
For most applications, the use of BEAM188/189 is recommended because of easier pre-
processing, useful post-processing features, and much more sophisticated element technology
including finite strain, nonlinear constitutive models, restrained warping, and transverse shear
capabilities. At 5.7, these capabilities have been extended to include:
Composite beam definition
True combined axial and torsional state of stress for plasticity and creep (at 5.5 and 5.6,
axial/bending and shear effects were uncoupled, so sometimes, the actual stress might have
exceeded yield strength of the material, yet no yielding was reported with PRSSOL)
There are many other features such as pressure-load stiffness matrix, orientation
nodes/keypoints, listing section results, and the other KEYOPTs available with BEAM188/189 which
have not been discussed. The author will refer the reader to the online documentation for further
details on BEAM188/189, especially Chapter 15 Beam Analysis and Cross Sections in the ANSYS
5.6 Structural Analysis Guide and the appropriate sections in the Elements Manual.

Lastly, the author would like to point out a few Class3 Errors which may affect users running
models with beam elements:
Class3 2000-31 notes that if the BeamTool is used with BEAM44, the maximum distance of
the fibers to the centroid are not calculated properly.
Class3 2000-21 is related to using BEAM44/188/189 in a modal cyclic analysis
Class3 2000-25 deals with BEAM188/189 with kinematic hardening and plotting/listing
equivalent plastic strain
Please contact CSI for further details on any of the error reports as noted above.

9. 9. 9. 9. References: References: References: References:
Cook, R.D., Malkus, D.S., Plesha, M.E., Concepts and Applications of Finite Element
Analysis, 3
rd
ed, John Wiley and Sons, 1989
Bathe, K.J., Finite Element Procedures, Prentice Hall, 1996
ANSYS Theory Manual, Revision 5.6
ABAQUS Theory Manual, Revision 5.8
Young, W.C., Roarks Formulas for Stress & Strain, 6
th
ed., McGraw-Hill, 1989














__________________________
Sheldon Imaoka
Collaborative Solutions, Inc. (LA Office)
Engineering Consultant




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