Computers & Structures. Vol. 14, No.

5-6,
Printed in Great Britain.

pp.357-360.

c@45-7949/9/81/110357-4#&?.ln3/0
@ I981 Pergamon Press Ltd.

1981

LARGEDEFLECTIONSOFCANTILEVERBEAMS
OFNONLINEARMATERIALS
GILBERTL~wr.9 and FRANK
Michigan Technological

University,

~ONASA~

Houghton, MI 49931, U.S.A.

(Received I8 August 1980; in revised form 12 January 1981)

Abstract-This
paper deals with the large deflections (finite) of thin cantilever beams of nonlinear materials,
subjected to a concentrated load at the free end. The stress-strain relationships of the materials are represented by
the Ludwick relation. Because of the large detections, geometrical nonlinearity arises and, therefore, the analysis is
formulated according to the nonlinear bending theory. Consequently, the exact expression of the curvature is used in
the moment-curvature relationship. The resulting second-order nonlinear differential equation is solved numerically
using fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. For comparison purposes, the differential equation is solved for linear
material and the results are compared to the exact solution which uses elliptic integrals. Deflections and rotations
along the central axis of beams of nonlinear materials are obtained. The numerical algorithm was performed on the
UNIVAC
I 110.

width of rectangular cross section, in.

coefficient of material property; Youngs modulus of elasticity for linear elastic materials, psi
Youngs modulus of elasticity, psi
height of rectangular cross section, in.
moment of inertia. in4
ab~h~+t~

= Er for linear elastic materials

=2+(1 t2nlP
P
length of the beam along the central axis, in.
bending moment, lb-in.
coefficient of material property
point load acting at the free end of the beam, Ibs
arc length along the central axis of the beam measured
from the origin
horizontal and vertical coordinates, respectively
dummy variables
stress, psi
strain in/in
slope of the central axis at s
slope of the central axis at the free end
horizontal and vertical displacements at the free end,
respectively, in.

deformation of a uniform cantilever of rectangular cross

section with a vertical point load at the free end, where
the material of the beam has a stress-strain law of the
Ramberg-Osgood type. Lo and Gupta [5] examined the
bending problem of a nonlinear rectangular beam with
large deflections where linear elastic behavior is considered for sections of the beam that deformed elastically,
and a logarithmic function of strain is used for regions
stressed beyond the elastic limit. The logarithmic function
was approximated by a semilogarithmic relation which is
only applicable for special cases.
In this paper, the problem of finite deflections of
cantilever beams of nonlinear elastic materials and subjected to a concentrated load at the free end is considered.
This problem involves both material and geometrical
nonlinearities. To test the validity of the method of
solution used in this study the results are compared with
previously published results for thin beams of linear
elastic materials. Deflections and rotations of nonlinear
cantilever beams are presented in a ~bulated form.
PROBLEMSTATEMENT

INTRODUCTION

The subject of the large deflections of thin beams is one of

great historic interest and has received renewed attention
during the past two decades. Thin beams, being flexible,
exhibit large deflections and slopes when subjected to
loads. Therefore, due to these large deformations,
geometrical nonlinearity arises while strains remain small.
As a result, problems involving large deflections of beams
must be formulated according to the nonlinear bending
theory. In the past, applications of the nonlinear bending
theory to thin beams have been con&red to linear elastic
materials. Solutions to much of the previous work can be
found in the book by Frisch-Fay fll. Barten 121 and
Bisshopp and Drucker 131provided a solution for the
large deflection of cantilever beams of linear elastic
material subjected to a concentrated load at the free end.
However, solutions to problems of large deflections of
thin beams of nonlinear materials have been limited.
Prathap and Varadan [4] examined the inelastic large

tAssistant Professor, Department

puter Sciences.
SAssociate Professor, Department
CAS Vol. 14, No. 563

of Mathematical

Thin cantilever beam of rectangular cross section subjected to a concentrated load, P, at the free end as shown
in Fig. 1 is considered for this study. A point m(x, y) on
the deflected central axis of the beam is identi~ed by the
x and y coordinates, the arc length s, and the angle of
rotation $. The vertical and the horizontal displacements
and the angle of rotation at the free end are denoted by
S,, S,,,and (Go,respectively. The beam is constructed of a
nonlinear material where the experimental stress-strain
curve is represented by the Ludwick relation [6], i.e.

and Com-

of Civil Engineering.

Fig. 1. Deflected form of a cantilever beam.

3.57

358

G.LEWIS
and F. MONASA

where (T and e represent the stress and strain, respectively, and the constants B and n represent material
properties. This relation applies primarily to metals
which work harden.
Experimental data of annealed commercially pure
copper [7], and N.P.8 aluminum alloy 181show that the
stress-strain relationships can be represented, respectively, as follows:

and

u = 66500 e.463

(2a)

o = 66100 lo.*O9

(2b)

where D is the stress in psi. The above representation of

the stress-strain curve is a purely empirical curve-fitting
technique. It is assumed that the weight of the beam is
negligible, strains remain small, and the axis of the beam
is inextensible.

The analysis of beam deflections is based on the

Bernoulli-Euler bending moment-curvature relation. In
the elementary bending theory the expression of the
curvature is linearized by neglecting the square of the
slope in comparison with unity. This approximation is
valid only for beams where the deflections are small
compared with the length of the beam. However, thin
beams, being flexible, deform under the action of loads in
a configuration with large deflections, curvatures, and
slones. Therefore. the exact exnression for the curvature, d$/ds, of the central axis of the deflected beam
must be considered in the moment-curvature relation.
Using the general stress-strain relation of eqn (1). the
moment-curvature relationship for a rectangular cross
section can be written as follows:

ds=

2+ (1 t 2n)"M"
nbh2+1p

(3)

where M is the bending moment, and b and h are the

width and depth of the cross section, respectively. Figure
1 shows that the bending moment M at any point m(x, y)
along the central axis of the beam is

M = P(L-x- 6,).

d*y/dx
dll,
Y(X)
ds = [l t (dy/dx)*]* = [ 1 t y*(x)]*
Therefore, from eqn (6)
(L-x-&)
K

(7)

Equation (7) is a second order non-linear differential

equation for the vertical deflection, y.
To solve eqn (7), let u = y, then
u = (1 t u2)32(L - x - &)
4,
*

03)

After rearranging eqn (8) and integrating, one obtains

MOMENT-CURVATURE
RELATIONSHIPS

d$

METHODOFSOLUTION

In rectangular coordinates the curvature is expressed

as:

(4)

du
$ (L - x - S,,) dx.
I (1 t U*))*= I
Therefore,
u
m=--

I (L-x-S,)+tC
(ntl)
K

The condition y (0) = 0, implies that

c = J_ (L - &I)+
K, (ntl)
Thus,

*=K,

I (L - &Jn+ -(L-x-&)+=f(x)
(n + 1)

and
y(x) = u(x) =

f(x)
X41 -f(x))

(9)

Integrating eqn (9)and setting the constant of integration equal to zero (y(O)= 0), results in the following:

Substituting the expression of M from eqn (4)

into eqn
(3), the curvature becomes
drC, 2+(1 t2n)"(P(L-x-S,,))"
n"b",,2"+,g"
9
ds=

(9
In eqn (IO) z is used as a dummy variable. Because of
the initially unknown displacement, &, of the free end of
the cantilever beam, it is not possible to solve Eqn (10)
directly for the vertical deflection, y. However, the vertical and horizontal displacements can be obtained by
using both eqn (10) and the equation for arc length,

and, letting

,,"b"h*"+lfj"
K,,=

,+I(1 t 2n)P

then

L=
(6)

For a linear elastic material, K. is equal to the flexural

rigidity, EZ,divided by the load, P.

I
0

L--6)#

d/(1 t y"(t))
dt.

(11)

Because of the transcendental nature of eqn (lo), one

must resort to numerical integration procedures to
evaluate the displacements 8, and S,,, and the angle of
rotation tJoat the free end of the cantilever beam.

Large

NUMERICALMETHOD

By using numerical integration, eqns (10) and (11) can

be solved for the deflections along the central axis of the
cantilever beam. However, care must be taken in choosing an appropriate value for Sh in order that the quantity
under the square root sign in eqn (10) always remains
positive. Because of this complication, we prefer to solve
eqn (7) directly, using a fourth-order Runge-Kutta
method. The procedure is as follows: (1) Assume a small
load, P, and zero (or some other educated guess)
horizontal displacement, S,, at the free end; (2) Use
Runge-Kutta to solve eqn (7). This yields the vertical
deflection along the central axis of the beam, and eqn
(11) gives a new value of &; (3) Iterate on eqns (7) and
(11) until the value of &, does not change by more than a
given tolerance from one iteration step to the next, at
which a solution for the deflection of the beam is said to
be reached. To obtain the displacement for higher loads,
the computed displacement 8,, for the previous load is
used with a slightly increased load, and steps (l)-(3) are
repeated until a solution is achieved. This procedure may
by used for any desired load.
During the creation of the above algorithm there arose
several difficulties, which had to be resolved. The problem with eqn (10) has already been mentioned. The fact
that & is unknown while solving eqn (7) seemed to cause
the most problems. Since 6, is just the y value at the end
of the beam (x = L - &Jr it is natural to evaluate S, by
calculating y(L - S,,) using Runge-Kutta. However, since
S,, is not known, we do not even known how to break
down the interval into subintervals of the correct size.
Since Sh is estimated (not exact), then invariably the
numerical integration of eqn (7) did not end at exactly
x = L - S,,. Thus, a correction in the S,, S,, and $,, values
had to be made. This is done by using the equation for
arc length:

s=

x v(l t y*(t))dt
ID

(12)

and Simpsons Rule to calculate the total length of the

deflected beam. The difference between the exact value
of the length and this calculated value gives a way of
determining the corrections required for S,, S,, and I&.
Table 1. End deflectionsand end rotation vs &+I&)

5l

Another problem that occurred involved slow convergence or divergence of the algorithm. If two successive calculated estimates of 8,, bound the exact value
(determined by the fact that high (low) estimate for S,, at
one step leads to a decrease (increase) in & at the next
step), then a certain weighted average of them was used
as a new estimate of S,,. This weighted average was
found to improve performance and, in certain cases, it
created convergence for an otherwise divergent
scheme.
It is interesting to note that if the algorithm is convergent, then it is self-correcting. The S,, value calculated
for one load (even though not exact) is used as input for
the next higher load, and the S,, value for this higher load
can be calculated to any desired degree of accuracy.
The above numerical algorithm was performed on the
UNIVAC 1110.
DISCUSSIONOF RESULTS

For the case that n = 1, the material is linear elastic,

and the integral in eqn (10) reduces to an elliptic integral.
Elliptic integrals of the first and second kind have been
used in [9] to obtain the vertical and horizontal displacements and the angle of rotation at the free end of a
cantilever beam of linear elastic material subjected to a
concentrated load at the free end.
To test the accuracy of our algorithm, we have used
eqns (7) and (11) and the above-mentioned numerical
method, with n = 1, to find the displacements 8, and Sh
and the angle $, at the free end of a cantilever beam with
concentrated load at the free end. These results are in
agreement with the ones obtained from the exact solution using elliptic integrals [9]. The maximum discrepancy between the exact solution and the numerical
algorithm is 0.099%.
In Table 1 the nondimensional ratios of 1,&/?r/2,8,/L.
and &/Z_.are given for two nonlinear materials, respectively. It is shown that for the same values of Z,+/K, the
above nondimensional ratios decrease as the exponent of
the strain in eqn (1) decreases. It is also observed that for
the same values of L+/K,, the vertical and horizontal
deflections and the slopes along the central axis of the
beam are the same for anv h/L ratio. Therefore. deflections
and slopes are not dependent on the h/L values.
for beams of annealed copper and aluminum alloy

Annealed Copper

1+1

N.P.8 Aluminum Alloy

0 = b%;o,o,CO.463
$Jo/42

359

deflections of cantilever beams of nonlinear materials

"

$)/L

$ofrr/2

" = 66100 co*209

6&)/L

6h/L

0.25

0.05009

0.05973

0.00203

0.02740

0.03669

0.00073

0.50

0.09864

0.11741

0.00766

0.05419

0.07251

0.00284

0.75

0.14443

0.17142

0.01685

0.07984

0.10672

0.00617

1.00

0.18675

0.22085

0.02814

0.10401

0.13884

0.01046

2.00

0.32039

0.37235

0.08241

0.18414

0.24407

0.03270

3.00

0.41049

0.46910

0.13468

0.24190

0.31822

0.05629

4.00

0.47437

0.53433

0.17925

0.28484

0.37211

0.07785

5.00

0.52222

0.58115

0.21668

0.31816

0.41308

0.09692

6.00

0.55967

0.61646

0: 24839

0.34501

0.44548

0.11374

7.00

0.58995

0.64414

0.27562

0.36725

0.47190

0.12868

8.00

0.61511

0.66652

0.29931

0.38613

0.49398

0.14204

9.00

0.63642

0.68503

0.32017

0.40246

0.51282

0.15409

10.00

0.65477

0.70065

0.33871

0.41677

0.52913

0.16504

G. LEWISand

360
CONCLUSIONS

In this study the finite vertical and horizontal

deflections and rotations along the central axis of cantilever beams of nonlinear elastic materials of the Ludwick type and subjected tb concentrated load at the free
end are obtained. The problem involved material and
geometrical nonlinearities and solution to such problems
can be obtained bv using numerical methods only.
Fourth-order Runge-Kutta method proved to be an
excellent technique to solve the resulting second-order
non-linear diEerentia1 equation in this problem. It is
shown that for the same values of L+/K,,, the nondimensional ratios of 1&/7r/2,&IL and &,/L decrease as
the exponent of ihe strain in the Ludwick relation
decreases. The computer program provides the solution
for the deflections and rotations along the central axis of
nonlinear cantilever beams constructed of materials
exhibiting a Ludwick stress-strain relationship.
Acknowledgemen&The authors would like to acknowledge the
assistance of Dr. Linda Ottenstein who helped with the computer
programming.

F.

MONASA
REFERENCES

1. R. Frisch-Fay,Flexible Bars, Butterworths,London (1%2).

2. H. J. Barten, On the deflectionof cantilever beam. Q. Appl.
Math. 2, 16&171 (1944)and ibid. 3, 275-276 (1945).(NOTE:
The second article corrects a mistake in the first one).
3. K. E. Bisshopp and D. C. Drucker, Large deflections of
cantilever bea& Q. Appl. Math. 3,2?2-275(1945).
4. G. Prathan. and T. K. Varadan. The inelastic laree deformation ofdeams. J. Appl. Mech.ASME 43, 689-660 (1976).
5. C. C. Lo and S. D. Gupta, Bending of a non-linear rectangular
beam in large deflection. I. Appl. Mech. ASME 45, 213-215
(1978).
6. Alfred M. Freudenthal, The Inelastic Behavior of Engineering
Materials and Sfructures, p. 203. Wiley, New York (1950).
7. A. A. Denton, Plane strain bending with work hardening. J.
Strain Anal. l(5), 196-203(1966).
8. M. B. Bassett and W. Johnson, The bending of plate using a
three-roll pyramid type plate bending machine. J. Strain Anal.
l(5), 39Ul4 (1%6).
9. S. P. Timoshenko and J. M. Gere, Mechanics of Materials, pp.
208-211.D. Van Nostrand, New York (1972).