SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM

SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM

In this test the natural frequency of a simply supported beam will be determined and
compared with the analytical solution. The natural frequency of a system is the frequency
that characterises the response of the system in a free vibration condition. The problem
is validated in PLAXIS 2D.
Used version:

PLAXIS 2D - Dynamics Module - Version 2011

Input: In PLAXIS the structures cannot be used individually. A soil cluster is used to
create the geometry. Note that the properties of the material assigned to the soil do not
affect the results as the clusters will be deactivated in the calculation phase (Phase 1).
However assignment of a soil material to the clusters is required before generating the
mesh.
In order to obtain the natural frequency with PLAXIS, a distributed load of 1 kN/m is
statically applied on the beam (plate element), Figure 1, and after which the beam is
allowed to vibrate freely by releasing the load in a free vibration type of calculation. The
period T of the beam can be determined by measuring the time between two successive
oscillations.
q

Figure 1 Simply supported beam

A plate with the following characteristics is analysed:

EA = 1.2 106 kN

EI = 1000 kNm2

= 0.0

L = 10 m

q = pulse load

w = 0.98 kN/m/m

According to Eq. (1), the natural frequency and period are respectively:

n = 9.863 rad/s

and

Tn =

2
= 0.637 s
n

For the numerical procedure the Newmark alpha and Newmark beta parameters for the
time integration are defined as 0.3025 and 0.6 respectively. The default value of the
remaining parameters is valid.
Output: In Figure 2 the vertical displacements under the load are plotted. From this
curve a period of 0.637 s is measured, resulting in a frequency n = 9.863 rad/s.
Verification: A simply supported beam has a number of fundamental modes of
vibration. The natural frequency of the first mode of vibration excluding transversal shear
and rotational effects is given by the following expression.

r
n =

EI
mL4

and

m =

w
g

PLAXIS 2012 | Validation & Verification

(1)

VALIDATION & VERIFICATION

Figure 2 PLAXIS 2D solution

in which E = Young's modulus, I = Moment of inertia, m = Mass per unit of length, w =

weight per unit of length, g is the gravity acceleration (9.8 m/s2 ) and L = Length of the
beam.
The natural frequency of the beam calculated in PLAXIS 2D is n = 9.863 rad/s and
agrees well with the analytical solution obtained by Eq. (1): n = 9.863 rad/s.

Validation & Verification | PLAXIS 2012