Optimal design of beams with minimum compliance

An optimization problem of non-linear elastic or viscous beams is discussed. To the beam an additional support is introduced whose location must be selected so as to minimize the compliance of the beam. The problem is solved with the aid of optimal control theory. Both rigid and flexible supports are considered. Some new optimization conditions, which are valid for arbitral compliance criterions, are deduced. A few illustrating examples are given.     

Buckling of Elastic Beam Under Unilateral Constraint

ABSTRACT

A criterion is proposed to calculate the critical load of a continuous beam under unilateral constraint. The beam is assumed to be built in at the ends and to rest on equally spaced elastic supports, that have equal stiffness. The problem is solved by determining the length of the half-wave of the buckled shape, the number of supports involved, and their position with respect to the end of the half-wave. The analysis model thus defined is determined in relation to the geometry of the beam and to the ratio between the stiffness of the supports and the shearing stiffness of the generic span. It is shown that there exists a limiting value of this ratio, below which the critical load is unaffected by the presence of unilateral constraints. The results obtained are shown in a nondi-mensional diagram that is of practical value. Two examples are presented to illustrate applicability of the procedure proposed.     

Large deformation and stability of an extensible elastica with an unknown length

A beam resting on spatially fixed supports may slide relatively to these as soon as external forces are applied. Consequently, the length of the portion of the reference configuration, which is currently located between the supports, depends on the loading and therefore is not known in advance. In the present paper, the problem of a slender beam under a uniformly distributed force is investigated, which is clamped at one side but may slide through another clamping device in axial direction at the opposite side. In combination with a suitable coordinate transformation by which the numerical treatment is simplified, a finite element approach is utilized to determine the equilibrium shape for the maximum critical load that can be imposed on the beam. In the course of this, the influence of the extensibility of the beam axis is studied. A theory based on Reissner’s geometrically exact relations for the plane deformation of beams is adapted such that it allows constitutive relations on stress–strain level to be integrated consistently. In addition to the classical equations of the extensible elastica, a constitutive model derived from the St. Venant–Kirchhoff material of non-linear continuum mechanics is studied. The results obtained in this survey are finally compared to those from the linear beam theory, which turns out to be incapable of describing the problem under consideration in a satisfactory manner.     

Dynamics of axially accelerating beams with multiple supports

This study represents the transverse vibrations of an axially accelerating Euler–Bernoulli beam resting on multiple simple supports. This is one of the examples of a system experiencing Coriolis acceleration component that renders such systems gyroscopic. A small harmonic variation with a constant mean value for the axial velocity is assumed in the problem. The immovable supports introduce nonlinear terms to the equations of motion due to stretching of neutral axis. The method of multiple scales is directly applied to the equations of motion obtained for the general case. Natural frequency equations are presented for multiple support case. Principal parametric resonances and combination resonances are discussed. Solvability conditions are presented for different cases. Stability analysis is conducted for the solutions; approximate stable and unstable regions are identified. Some numerical examples are presented to show the effects of axial speed, number of supports, and their locations.     

Deformation of Euler-Bernoulli Beams by Means of Modified Green's Function: Application of Fredholm Alternative Theorem

This article deals with the determination of the static displacement function of an Euler-Bernoulli beam with two guided supports. To this end, the Green's function method is employed and exact solution is obtained. The Green's function of the problem is constructed, using pertinent boundary conditions of the problem. Nevertheless, the problem does not admit a Green's function due to a mathematical contradiction. In order to eliminate the trouble, the Fredholm Alternative Theorem is utilized and the Green's function is modified. In this case, application of this theorem adds a particular term to the Green's function which gives rise to an arbitrary constant in the Green's function. Moreover, it is shown that the problem may have no solution or an infinite number of solutions. Besides, the necessary condition for having any solution is investigated. This requirement, which states a significant rule in the mechanics of solids, is the static equilibrium of vertical forces acting on the beam. Some examples are presented and results are thoroughly discussed.     

Linear Contact Between Plates and Unilateral Elastic Supports*

Abstract

The problem of frictionless linear contact between elastic line supports (beam or Winkler-type) and an elastic plate that is loaded laterally is considered. Contact is called linear if there is no initial gap or no initial pre-force on the potential contact surface. The shear deformation of the plate is taken into account. The contact problem is discretized at points on the potential contact surface. Numerical results are calculated with an optimization algorithm that is based on the force method. The effects of the thickness and Poisson's ratio of the plate and the elastic constants of the line supports are considered. Two loading cases are dealt with: a point load in the middle of the plate and a uniform load over the plate. The plate is rectangular, with side ratios 1 and 2.     

Structural modeling of beams on elastic foundations with elasticity couplings

A new simplified structural model and its governing equations for beams on elastic foundations with elastic coupling are proposed. This modeling system is simple but appropriate for the initial structural design of large-scale submerged floating-beam structures moored by tension legs spaced at uniform interval along the beam. The model is actually for beam on discrete elastic supports rather than on continuous elastic foundations. Therefore, the governing equations are based on finite difference calculus and solutions for beams on discrete elastic supports with elasticity coupling are also proposed. To clarify the applicability limit of the proposed model, the equivalence between a beam on discrete elastic supports and that on continuous elastic foundation is investigated by comparisons of characteristic solutions.     

研究带有附加质量和弹性支承的弹性体动态特性的新方法

本文把梁的振动问题表示成第二类Fredholm型积分方程的特征值问题,然后用一种新的方法探讨了附加质量、弹性支承和截面形状变化对梁的动态特性的影响.     

Modal analysis of cracked continuous Timoshenko beam made of functionally graded material

Abstract

The article addresses development of the Transfer Matrix Method (TMM) for free vibration of cracked continuous Timoshenko beam made of Functionally Graded Material (FGM). The governing equations of free vibration are established for the beam based on the power law of material grading, actual position of neutral plane and double spring model of crack. There is conducted frequency equation of the beam with intermediate rigid supports using the TMM after the transverse displacements at rigid supports have been disregarded. Therefore, the frequency equation is simplified and becomes more useful to compute natural frequencies of continuous FGM Timoshenko beam with a number of cracks. The obtained numerical results show the essential effect of cracks, material properties and also number of spans on natural frequencies of the beam.     

Transverse vibrations of prestressed continuous beams on rigid supports under the action of moving bodies

The main objective of the paper is to investigate the dynamic response of the prestressed beams on rigid supports to moving concentrated loads. The governing equation of the transverse vibration of a prestressed continuous beam under the ununiformly distributed load is analytically formulated, taking into account the effect of the prestressing. The forced transverse vibration of the beam under the action of a large number of moving bodies has been investigated by using the method of substructures. In addition, the reaction forces at every rigid supports can be determined from the obtained differential equations. A comparison between the numerical results for the prestressed and the non-prestressed beam is presented to show the influence of the prestressing and the moving velocity of the bodies on the dynamic response of the beam. The calculating results are also examined and validated by experimental measurements at a large ferroconcrete bridge in Vietnam.     

Transition wave in a supported heavy beam

We consider a heavy, uniform, elastic beam rested on periodically distributed supports as a simplified model of a bridge. The supports are subjected to a partial destruction propagating as a failure wave along the beam. Three related models are examined and compared: (a) a uniform elastic beam on a distributed elastic foundation, (b) an elastic beam in which the mass is concentrated at a discrete set of points corresponding to the discrete set of the elastic supports and (c) a uniform elastic beam on a set of discrete elastic supports. Stiffness of the support is assumed to drop when the stress reaches a critical value. In the formulation, it is also assumed that, at the moment of the support damage, the value of the ‘added mass’, which reflects the dynamic response of the support, is dropped too. Strong similarities in the behavior of the continuous and discrete-continuous models are detected. Three speed regimes, subsonic, intersonic and supersonic, where the failure wave is or is not accompanied by elastic waves excited by the moving jump in the support stiffness, are considered and related characteristic speeds are determined. With respect to these continuous and discrete-continuous models, the conditions are found for the failure wave to exist, to propagate uniformly or to accelerate. It is also found that such beam-related transition wave can propagate steadily only at the intersonic speeds. It is remarkable that the steady-state speed appears to decrease as the jump of the stiffness increases.     

Analytical bending solutions of elastica with one end held while the other end portion slides on a friction support

Summary Treated herein is an elastica under a point load. One end of the elastica is fully restrained against translation, and elastically restrained against rotation, while the other end portion is allowed to slide over a friction support. The considered elastica problem belongs to the class of large-deflection beam problems with variable deformed arc-lengths between the supports. To solve the governing nonlinear differential equation together with the boundary conditions, the elliptic integral method has been used. The method yields closed-form solutions that are expressed in a set of transcendental equations in terms of elliptic integrals. Using an iterative scheme, pertinent bending results are computed for different values of coefficient of friction, elastic rotational spring constant and loading position, so that their effects may be examined. Also, these accurate solutions provide useful reference sources for checking the convergence, accuracy and validity of results obtained from numerical methods and software for large deflection beam analysis. It is interesting to note that this class of elastica problem may have two equilibrium states; a stable one and an unstable one. Received 5 August 1996; accepted for publication 14 February 1997     

Vibration and stability of an axially moving beam immersed in fluid

Vibration and stability are investigated for an axially moving beam in fluid and constrained by simple supports with torsion springs. The equations of motion of the beam with uniform circular cross-section, moving axially in a horizontal plane at a known rate while immersed in an incompressible fluid are derived first. An “axial added mass coefficient” and an initial tension are implemented in these equations. Based on the Differential Quadrature Method (DQM), a solution for natural frequency is obtained and numerical results are presented. The effects of axially moving speed, axial added mass coefficient, and several other system parameters on the dynamics and instability of the beam are discussed. Particularly, natural frequency in terms of the moving speed is presented for fixed–fixed, hinged–hinged and hybrid supports with torsion spring. It is shown that when the moving speed exceeds a certain value, the beam becomes subject to buckling-type instability. The variations of the lowest critical moving speed with several key parameters are also investigated.     

A cracked beam or plate transversely loaded by a stamp

In this paper the problem of an infinite elastic beam or a plate containing a crack is considered. The medium is loaded transversely through a stamp which may be rigid or elastic. The problem is a coupled crack-contact problem which cannot be solved by treating the crack and contact problems separately and by using a superposition technique. First the Green's functions for the general case are obtained. Then the integral equations for a cracked infinite strip loaded by a frictionless stamp are obtained. With the question of fracture in mind, the primary interest in the paper has been in calculating the stress intensity factors. The results are given for a rigid flat stamp with sharp edges and for an elastic curved stamp. The effect of friction at the supports on the stress intensity factors is also studied and a numerical example is given.     

Nonlinear vibration isolation of a viscoelastic beam

In this paper, the transmissibility of a viscoelastic beam supported by vertical springs is defined by proposing a new vertical elastic support boundary. By contrasting with the viscoelastic beam with rigid vertical supports and the rigid rod with vertical elastic support ends, the necessity of the transmissibility of an elastic structure with vertical elastic supports is proved. In order to approximately solve the steady-state responses of the nonlinear transverse vibration of the viscoelastic beam under periodic excitation, the harmonic balance method in conjunction with the pseudo arc-length method is adopted. The numerical results are calculated to confirm the approximate analytic results. The comparison between the rigid rod and the elastic beam shows that neglecting the bending vibration of the structures will underestimate the frequency range in which the elastic support produces an effective vibration isolation. On the other hand, the comparison between the rigid support and the spring support demonstrates that ignoring the elasticity of the support ends will create a false understanding of the force transmission of elastic structures. In general, this paper presents the necessity of studying the force transmission of elastic structures with elastic supports. Moreover, this paper will become the beginning of the study of the vibration isolation of the elastic structure.     

On the response spectrum of Euler–Bernoulli beams with a moving mass and horizontal support excitation

In this study, the response spectrum of a time-varying system such as a beam subjected to moving masses under a harmonic and earthquake support excitations is explored. The excitations are supposed to act on the horizontal directions of the beam axis. The inertial effect of the moving masses on the natural frequencies of the beam for different cases of loading is investigated and a critical value of a so called parameter “mass staying time” is presented to avoid dynamic instability of the system. Finally, some 3D response spectra for different supports excitations as well as the beam natural frequencies are depicted.     

Running and Standing Waves of Timoshenko Beam

Standing waves of a Timoshenko beamof finite length and their connectionwith running waves for an infinite beam are considered. It is shown that the principle of a “closed cycle” of a running wave is completely identical to the usual procedure of direct satisfaction from the side of the general solution for an infinite Timoshenko beam, to the boundary conditions of a beam of finite length. The question of the existence of a second frequency spectrum under arbitrary boundary conditions of a beam is discussed. A “relaxed approach” to the concept of the second frequency spectrum is proposed. The results of the theoretical analysis are confirmed by numerical calculations for the Timoshenko beam with elastic supports and elastic sealing of its end sections.     

弹性支承条件下车-桥体系的振动分析

本文研究弹性支承条件下车-桥体系的动力分析方法。给出了弹性支承桥梁和车体的振动方程并通过对具有弹性支座简支梁主振动的分析，得出了梁主振型的解析公式。分析计算了上海高架轨道交通典型区段具有弹性支座高架梁的主振型，并利用龙格-库塔法分析计算了车-桥体系在列车通过时的桥梁和车体的振动。计算结果表明，在上海高架轨道交通实际计算参数条件下，考虑支座弹性后桥梁和车体的振动与刚性支承梁的情况相比变化不明显。本文还计算分析了不同橡胶减震支座的刚度及考虑减震支座后系统阻尼比增大等因素对高架梁振动反应的影响，得出一些有益的结论。     

STATIC STUDY OF CANTILEVER BEAM STICTION UNDER ELECTROSTATIC FORCE INFLUENCE

I. INTRODUCTION For capacitor-like microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) structure[1??6], the voltage betweenthe structure and substrate causes attractive force. The sources of the voltage can be an arti?ciallymounted device[2 , 7??9] or the temporar…     

Vibration of a continuous beam with multiple elastic supports excited by a moving two-axle system with separation

This paper studies the dynamics of a two-axle system travelling along a continuous elastic beam resting on elastic supports modelled as linear springs. During its travel along the vibrating beam, the vibrating two-axle system may separate from the beam for certain time intervals when there is no interaction between the two-axle system and the beam. As a result, the dynamics of the whole system can be very different from the case when separation is ignored. The study is focused on conditions that facilitate the onset of separation between the moving and supporting structures and subsequent possible reattachment. Numerical results show that the occurrence of separation may be influenced to a large extent by the presence of intermediate elastic supports.