39.

Vibration Analysis of Curved Composite Beams using Hierarchical

FEM
Rajamohan Ganesan and Wasim Arshad
Concordia Centre for Composites
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
E-mail: ganesan@encs.concordia.ca
Abstract
Curved beams made of polymer-matrix fiber-reinforced composite materials are
increasingly being used in mechanical, aerospace, automotive, and civil engineering applications.
The conventional finite element formulation has limitations in performing the dynamic analysis of
curved composite beams. The requirement of finer mesh leads to discontinuities of stress and strain
distributions at element interfaces. The recently developed hierarchical finite element formulation
provides us with the advantages of using fewer elements and obtaining better accuracy in the
calculation of dynamic response. In the present work, the hierarchical finite element formulation for
uniform-thickness curved beams made of composite material is developed. The approximating cubic
polynomial functions for both tangential and radial displacements are modified by adding suitable
trigonometric functions. To generate the finite element model, different combinations of hierarchical
terms are used. The stiffness and mass matrices of curved composite beams are determined using
these combinations, the reduced composite shell theory and the weak (variational) formulation. The
combination of hierarchical terms that gives the most accurate and fast converging results is
determined. The free vibration analysis of curved beams made of cross-ply
[ ]
s 8
90 / 0
laminate, angle-
ply
[ ]
s 8
45 t
laminate, and quasi-isotropic
[ ]
s 4
45 / 45 / 90 / 0 +
laminate is performed. The relative
performances of these curved laminates are assessed.
Keywords: Vibration, hierarchical finite element, laminated composites
6. INTRODUCTION
Curved beam structures made of polymer-matrix composite materials are often encountered in practice.
Examples of applications of curved beams can be found in fuselage rings, reinforcement rings for
cylindrical and conical shells and arches. In the present work, beams curved and bent only in the plane of
curvature so that no torsion is involved are considered.
There are various procedures that exist for the refinement of the finite element solutions. Broadly these fall
into two categories: The first, and the most common, involves refining the mesh while keeping the degree
of the elements fixed. This is termed as h-method. The second method, called p-method, involves keeping
the mesh size constant and letting the degree of the approximating polynomial to tend to infinity.
Hierarchical Finite Element Method (HFEM) belongs to the category of p-method. Hierarchical functions
were initially introduced by Zienkiewicz et al. [1] with the objective of introduction of p-graded meshes in
an a priori chosen manner. Polynomial functions are more common in the finite element analysis. The
HFEM has been applied to linear analysis of plates [2]. Ganesan and Nigam [3] applied the hierarchical
finite element formulation for the analysis of thick and thin composite beams. They also studied the
dynamic response of variable-thickness composite beams using HFEM.
The HFEM provides us with critical advantages of using fewer elements and obtaining better accuracy in
the calculation of displacements, stresses and buckling loads of metallic and composite curved beams.
Ganesan and Arshad [4] applied hierarchical FEM for the static analysis of curved composite beams. In the
present study, the free vibration analysis of curved composite beams using HFEM is conducted.
7. HIERARCHICAL CURVED COMPOSITE BEAM FINITE ELEMENT
The cubic-cubic circularly curved element has been used for the present work and is described by the
following displacement functions for tangential (v) and radial (w) displacements.
3
4
2
3 2 1
) ( s a s a s a a s v + + +
(1a)
3
4
2
3 2 1
) ( s c s c s c c s w + + +
(1b)
where s is the tangential distance variable measured from nodal point 1 as shown in Figure 1. The element
has constant radius of curvature R and subtending angle . Length L is equal to R . The angular variable
and distance variable s that is equal to R are measured from nodal point 1. The element possesses four
physical degrees of freedom at each nodal point: a tangential displacement v, a derivative of tangential
displacement (v/s) or v
s
, a radial displacement w, and a derivative of radial displacement (w/s) or w
s
, or
slope .
Figure 1: Eight Degrees-of-Freedom Circular Beam Element
In the hierarchical formulation, the approximating cubic polynomial functions (Equations (1a) and (1b)) for
both tangential (v) and radial (w) displacements are modified by adding trigonometric functions. The
tangential displacement (v) and radial displacement (w) are expressed as:
( ) [ ]

+
+ + + +
N
r
r r
s a s a s a s a a s v
1
4
3
4
2
3 2 1
sin
(2)
( ) [ ]

+
+ + + +
N
r
r r
s c s c s c s c c s w
1
4
3
4
2
3 2 1
sin
(3)
where
L
r
r


, r = 1, 2, 3N, and a
i
and c
i
are coefficients to be determined.
The polynomial terms in the assumed displacement field are used to define the element nodal degrees of
freedom and the trigonometric terms are used to provide additional degrees-of-freedom that are not
physical to the interior of the element. The above equation can be written in the matrix form as
( ) [ ] [ ] v s g a
(4)
( ) [ ] [ ] w s g c
(5)
where
[ ] { }
2 3
1, , , , sin
r
g s s s s 1
]
(6)
{ }
1 2 3 4 4
, , , ,
T
r
a a a a a a
+
1
]
(7)
{ }
1 2 3 4 4
, , , ,
T
r
c c c c c c
+
1
]
(8)
where
{ }
4 + r
a
contains terms such as
8 7 , 6 5
, , a a a a
and so on. In a similar manner
[ ] { } s
r
sin
and
{ }
4 + r
c
are defined.
Upon evaluating
and w v v
s
, , ,
at node 1 (i.e. at s = 0) and at node 2 (at s = L) and evaluating the
hierarchical terms, e.g. when r = 2, the interpolation functions are obtained as follows.
2 3
1
1 3 2 N +
(9)
( )
2 3
2
2 N L +
(10)
2 3
3
3 2 N
(11)
( )
2 3
4
N L +
(12)
where

R
R
L
s
(13)
and the trigonometric hierarchical shape functions are
( )
2
4
) 1 ( 2
r
r
r r r
N + +
+

( )
r
r
r
) 1 ( +
(14)
where
L
r
r


, r = 1, 2, 3, ..N
The displacement field for the element, in terms of the nodal degrees of freedom and the hierarchical
degrees of freedom, can now be written as

+ +
+ + + +
N
r
r v r s s
v N v N v N v N v N v
1
4 4 2 4 2 3 1 2 1 1
(15)
for tangential displacement (v) and similarly

+ +
+ + + +
N
r
r w r
w N N w N N w N w
1
4 4 2 4 2 3 1 2 1 1

(16)
for radial displacement (w).
To generate the finite element model using the HFEM, different combinations of hierarchical terms were
tried to get the most accurate results. The best combination is figured out which gives the most converged
and accurate results for different laminate configurations and boundary conditions. These combinations
involve one to four hierarchical terms for each of the tangential (v) and radial (w) displacements. First for
symmetric combinations of hierarchical terms, same number of hierarchical terms are used with tangential
(v) and radial (w) displacement functions e.g.
3 3 2 2 1 1
, , w v w v w v
and
4 4
w v
, where
1 1
w v
means
that one hierarchical term is used with tangential displacement function (v) and one with radial
displacement function (w). A similar representation applies for
3 3 2 2
, w v w v
and
4 4
w v
.
The non-symmetric combinations of hierarchical terms were applied in the following way.
(i)
n
w v
0
where n = 1, 2, 3, 4
which means that tangential displacement function (v) is provided with no hierarchical term and radial
displacement function (w) is provided with 1, 2, 3, and 4 hierarchical terms successively. If a group uses 1
hierarchical term with tangential displacement function (v) then only 0, 2, 3 and 4 hierarchical terms will be
used with radial displacement function (w) for all the non-symmetric combinations. The use of 1
hierarchical term is intentionally avoided to make it non-symmetric. However, it has already been
considered for the case of symmetric combinations.
Similarly, the following cases are considered.
(ii)
n
w v
1
where n = 0, 2, 3, 4 ( n = 1 intentionally
avoided for non-symmetric combination)
(iii)
n
w v
2
where n = 0, 1, 3, 4 ( n = 2 intentionally
avoided for non-symmetric combination)
(iv)
n
w v
3
where n = 0, 1, 2, 4 ( n = 3 intentionally
avoided for non-symmetric combination)
(v)
n
w v
4
where n = 0, 1, 2, 3 ( n = 4 intentionally
avoided for non-symmetric combination)
3. STIFFNESS AND MASS MATRICES
Consider a cylindrical plate of constant radius R as illustrated in Figure 2. The thickness and in-plane
dimensions are denoted by h, and a and b respectively. The displacements in the x, s, and z directions are
denoted by u, v, and w, respectively.

Figure 2: Nomenclature for Curved Laminated Plate
The strain-displacement relations for general thin shells are [5]:
2
2 0
x
w
z
x
u
x

(17)
2
2 0 0
) / 1 ( s
w
R z
z
s
v
R
z
R
w
s
v
s

+ +

(18)
s x
w
R
z
z
s
u
s
v
R
z
sx

+
2 0 0
) 2 ( ) 1 (
(19)
where
0
u
and
0
v
are the axial and tangential displacements of the mid plane, respectively.
Since the plate is shallow ( R > > h ), z/R is small compared to unity. Thus,
1 ) / 1 ( + R z
(20)
Therefore, Equations (17-19) can be written in the form
x
x
x
z +
0
(21)
s
s
s
z +
0
(22)
sx
sx
sx
z +
0
(23)
The ply constitutive relations are as follows

1
1
1
]
1

1
1
1
]
1

1
1
1
]
1

sx
x
s
k k k
k k k
k k k
k
sx
k
x
k
s
Q Q Q
Q Q Q
Q Q Q

) (
66
) (
26
) (
16
) (
26
) (
22
) (
21
) (
16
) (
12
) (
11
) (
) (
) (
(24)
where
ij
Q
are the reduced stiffnesses for the plane stress case.
The force and moment resultants are defined as follows.
dz N N N
k
sx
k
s
h
h
k
x sx s x
) , , ( ) , , (
) ( ) (
2 /
2 /
) (

(25)
dz z M M M
k
sx
k
s
h
h
k
x sx s x
) , , ( ) , , (
) ( ) (
2 /
2 /
) (

(26)
Combining Equations (21-23) and substituting the results into Equations (25) and (26) and performing the
integrations, the laminate constitutive relations are obtained
as

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
]
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
]
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
]
1

sx
x
s
sx
x
s
sx
x
s
sx
x
s
D D D B B B
D D D B B B
D D D B B B
B B B A A A
B B B A A A
B B B A A A
M
M
M
N
N
N

0
0
0
66 26 16 66 26 16
26 22 12 26 22 12
16 12 11 16 12 11
66 26 16 66 26 16
26 22 12 26 22 12
16 12 11 16 12 11
(27)
where
ij ij
B A ,
and
ij
D
are the stiffnesses defined as

2 /
2 /
2 ) (
) , , 1 ( ) , , (
h
h
k
ij ij ij ij
dz z z Q D B A

(28)
The strain energy, U, for curved plate in terms of an x ,s ,z coordinate system while taking into account the
basic assumption of laminated plate theory i.e.,
0
sz xz z

, is given by the relationship.

+ +
xs x
k
s x
k
s
k
Q Q Q U
) (
16
) (
12
2 ) (
11
2 2 (
2
1


dz ds dx Q Q Q
xs
k
x
k
xs s
k
) 2
2 ) (
66
2 ) (
22
) (
26
+ + +
(29)
For a 1-D problem all the terms associated with x direction are neglected. Substituting the kinematic
relations, Equations (21-23), into Equation (29) and integrating with respect to z, the following equation is
obtained.
2
2
2
1 1
1 1
2 2
1 1
0
2
2
1

,
_

+
,
_

'

+
1
1
]
1

,
_

+
,
_

s
w
D
s
v
w
R
A
R
w
s
v
A U
L s
s
}ds
s
w
s
v
R
D
s
v
R
D
1
]
1

,
_

,
_

,
_

+
2
2
11
2
2
11
2
(30)
The kinetic energy for the hierarchical curved beam element with two symmetric hierarchical terms with
respect to tangential (v) and radial (w) displacement functions is
2
0
[ ( )]
2
L
vv
A
T v s dx

&
(31)
2
0
[ ( )]
2
L
ww
A
T w s dx

&
(32)
where
2 4 2 3 1 2 1 1
) (
s s
v N v N v N v N s v + + +

6 6 5 5 v v
v N v N + +
(33)
2 4 2 3 1 2 1 1
) (

N w N N w N s w + + +


6 6 5 5 w w
w N w N + +
(34)
The strain energy expression (30) can be divided into three expressions as
ww vw vv
U U U U + +
(35)
The energy expressions U
vv,
U
vw,
and U
ww
are associated with axial, axial-flexural coupling, and flexural
behaviors, respectively. Substituting the tangential (v) and radial (w) displacement functions with two
hierarchical terms, into the energy expressions and then performing partial differentiations of the strain
energy with respect to each of the eight degrees of freedom, the 1212 stiffness matrix equations for the
element are obtained.

'

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
]
1

'

6
5
2
2
1
1
6
5
2
2
1
1
6 6 6 6
6 6 6 6
2
1
2
2
1
1
2
1
2
2
1
1
] [ ] [
] [ ] [
w
w
v
v
s
s
ww wv
vw vv
w
w
v
v
w
w
w
w
v
v
v
v
v
v
k k
k k
F
F
M
Y
M
Y
F
F
X
X
X
X

(36)
where
1
X
,
2
X
,
v
F
1
,
v
F
2
,
w
F
1
,
w
F
2
are the counterpart generalized forces associated with the degrees of
freedom
1 s
v
,
2 s
v
,
5 v
v
,
6 v
v
,
5 w
w
, and
6 w
w
respectively. The coefficients in the 66 sub-matrices are
obtained as
ds N N
R
A k
j i
L
vv
ij

,
_

0
2
11
1

(37)
ds N N N N
R
A
k k
j i j i
L
wv vw
ji ij

,
_

0
11
(38)
ds N N
R
N N
A k
L
j i
j i
ww
ij

,
_

+
0
2
11

(39)
The equations of motion are obtained by the use of the Lagranges equation as follows:
vi
i i
d T U
F
dt v v
_
+


,
&
(40)
wi
i i
d T U
F
dt w w
_
+


,
&
(41)
where
i
v
and
i
w
represent the ith degree of freedom, and
vv ww
T T T +
.
Substituting the displacement functions (33) and (34) into the kinetic energy expressions (31) and (32) and
then performing the differentiations as indicated in Equations (40) and (41), one can obtain the mass matrix
as

1
1
1
]
1

] [ ] [
] [ ] [
] [
6 6 6 6
6 6 6 6
ww
vv
m Matrix Null
Matrix Null m
m
(42)
The coefficients in the 66 sub-matrices of mass matrix are given by:

L
j i wwij vvij
ds s N s N A m m
0
) ( ) (
(43)
4. ANALYSIS OF CURVED COMPOSITE BEAM USING RITZ METHOD
In this section approximate solution based on Ritz method is developed. The approximate solution is given
by single summation series:
( ) ( )

M
m
m m
s S A s w
1
0
(44)
( ) ( )

N
n
n n
s S B s v
1
0
(45)
The functions
( ) s S
m
and
( ) s S
n
are chosen so as to satisfy the boundary conditions. The coefficients
m
A
and
n
B
are determined using the stationary conditions.
m
ww
m
A
T
A
U

~ ~
(46)
n
vv
n
B
T
B
U

~ ~
(47) In Equations (46-47)
U
~
is
strain energy, and
ww
T
~
and
vv
T
~
are kinetic energies associated with radial and tangential displacements
respectively, obtained by substituting the approximate expressions for the deflections into Equations (31-
32).
5. FIXED-FREE CURVED BEAM EXAMPLE
A uniform thickness composite curved beam with fixed-free boundary condition as shown in Figure 3 is
considered. It is made of NCT-301 Graphite-Epoxy composite material. The material properties of the
NCT-301 material are given as:
, 99 . 7 , 43 . 129
2 1
GPa E GPa E
GPa G 28 . 4 , 021 . 0
12 21

The geometric properties of the beam are: length L =
2 / 381 2 / R
; individual ply thickness (
k
e
) =
0.125 mm. There are 32 plies in the laminate.

Figure 3: Fixed-Free Curved Composite Beam
Three different laminate configurations are chosen to see the effect of fiber orientations on the values of
natural frequencies for the fixed-free beam. Natural frequencies are calculated for the following types of
laminates that are, angle-ply
[ ]
s 8
45 t
laminate, cross-ply
[ ]
8
0/ 90
s
laminate and quasi-isotropic
[ ]
s 4
45 / 45 / 90 / 0 +
laminate. Table 1 summarizes the values of the 1
st
natural frequency. It took about 8
terms for the Ritz solution to converge to a single value. Angle-ply laminate
[ ]
s 8
45 t
gives the lowest
natural frequency (3.596 Hz) value among all the three laminate configurations. Cross-ply laminate
[ ]
8
0 / 90
s
gives the highest value of natural frequency while quasi-isotropic laminate gives a natural
frequency value in between that of the other two laminates.
Table 1: 1
st
Natural Frequency (Hz) values Calculated using Ritz Method for Fixed-Free Curved Composite
Beam made of
[ ]
s 8
45 t
,
[ ]
8
0/ 90
s
, and
[ ]
s 4
45 / 45 / 90 / 0 +
Laminates
[ ]
s 8
45 t [ ]
8
0/ 90
s
[ ]
s 4
45 / 45 / 90 / 0 +
1 38460 66126 52292
2 179.12 308.55 244.14
3 7.46 13.863 11.217
4 3.626 6.747 5.461
5 3.611 6.722 5.442
6 3.597 6.696 5.421
7 3.596 6.693 5.418
8 3.592 6.686 5.412
The curved beam example problem is solved by using hierarchical finite element method and the results
will be compared with the solutions obtained using the Ritz method.
The approximate Ritz solution for angle-ply laminate
[ ]
s 8
45 t
is matched using only 4-elements mesh for 4
symmetric hierarchical terms. It was observed that the results keep on improving as we increase the number
of hierarchical terms with tangential displacement function. The results for the group of combination (
4 n
v w
) for angle-ply laminate
[ ]
s 8
45 t
are shown in Table 2. The combination (
4 3
v w
) gives the best
convergence among all the 24 combinations tried for angle-ply laminate. It took just 4-elements mesh to
reach the approximate Ritz solution compared to 9-elements mesh for the combination (
1 0
w v
).
Table 2: 1
st
Natural Frequency Calculated by using Non-Symmetric Trigonometric Hierarchical Terms (
4 n
v w
) for
[ ]
s 8
45 t
Fixed-Free Laminate
Number
of
Elements
Number
of D.O.F.
1
st
Natural
Frequency
(Hz)
Number
of D.O.F.
1
st
Natural
Frequency
(Hz)
Number
of
D.O.F.
1
st
Natural
Frequency
(Hz)
Numbe
r
of
D.O.F.
1
st
Natural
Frequency
(Hz)


v4-w0 hierarchical terms v4-w1 hierarchical terms v4-w2 hierarchical terms v4-w3 hierarchical terms
1 8 66.891 9 5.220 10 3.679 11 3.673
2 16 3.709 17 3.689 18 3.689 19 3.690
3 24 3.674 25 3.674 26 3.674 27 3.674
4 32 3.665 33 3.665 34 3.665 35 3.661
Approximate Solution by Ritz Method: 1
st
Natural Frequency = 3.592 Hz
Similar trends are observed for cross-ply
[ ]
8
0/ 90
s
laminate and quasi-isotropic
[ ]
s 4
45 / 45 / 90 / 0 +
laminate.
The best combination (
4 n
v w
) has been used for plotting the first three natural frequencies for the three
considered laminate configurations and the result is shown in Figure 4. As evident, cross-ply laminate gives
the highest values of the natural frequencies, followed by the quasi-isotropic and the angle-ply laminate
configurations in the case of fixed-free curved beam.
1 2 3
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
ModeNumber
N
a
t
u
r
a
l

F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Angle-ply[+45/-45]
8s
Cross-ply[0/90]
8s
Quasi-Isotropic[0/90/+45/-45]
4s
Figure 4: First Three Natural Frequencies obtained for Different Laminate Configurations for the Fixed-Free
Curved Composite Beam
8. CONCLUSION
In the present work, the hierarchical finite element formulation for the dynamic analysis of the curved
composite beams has been developed. It is shown that best results in terms of computational effort and
convergence rate for free vibration analysis of curved beam cannot be achieved by just increasing the
number of hierarchical terms but is achieved by applying the particular combination of hierarchical terms
which gives the best convergence rate and accuracy. From the free vibration analysis of the fixed-free
curved beam, it is observed that the cross-ply
[ ]
s 8
90 / 0
laminate has the highest fundamental natural
frequency value whereas angle-ply
[ ]
s 8
45 t
laminate has the lowest natural frequency value. This is because
the angle-ply laminate has the lowest stiffness along s direction. Quasi-isotropic
[ ]
s 4
45 / 45 / 90 / 0 +

laminate has its natural frequencies in between the values of the other two laminates. The results for fixed-
free boundary condition show that hierarchical terms used with tangential displacement function have more
effect on convergence rate than that of terms used with radial displacement function. The combination (
4 3
v w
) proved to be the best combination in terms of convergence rate and accuracy.
7. REFERENCES
[1] Zienkiewicz, O.C., Irons, B.M., Scott, F.C., and Campbell, J., (1971) Three
Dimensional Stress Analysis, University of Liege Press, Proc. IUTAM Symp. On High
Speed Computing of Elastic Structures, pp. 413-433.
[2] Han, W., and Petyt, M., (1996) Linear Vibration Analysis of Laminated Rectangular
Plates using the Hierarchical Finite Element Method I: Free Vibration Analysis,
Computers and Structures, Vol. 61, pp. 705-712.
[3] Ganesan, R., and Nigam, A., (2002) Vibration Analysis of Variable-Thickness
Composite Beams using Hierarchical Finite Elements, Seventeenth Annual Technical
Conference of American Society for Composites, West Lafayette.
[4] Ganesan, R., and Arshad, W., (2006) Hierarchical Finite Element Analysis of Curved Composite
Beams, American Society for Composites, 21
st
Annual Technical Conference, Dearborn, MI, USA.
[5] Whitney, J. M., (1987) Structural Analysis of Laminated Anisotropic Plates, Lancaster, PA.,
Technomic Publishing Company.