INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING

Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 58:19071936 (DOI: 10.1002/nme.837)

Free vibration analysis of arches using curved beam elements

Jong-Shyong Wu; and Lieh-Kwang Chiang
Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering; National Cheng-Kung University;
Tainan 701; Taiwan

SUMMARY
The natural frequencies and mode shapes for the radial (in-plane) bending vibrations of the uniform
circular arches were investigated by means of the
nite arch (curved beam) elements. Instead of the
complicated explicit shape functions of the arch element given by the existing literature, the simple
implicit shape functions associated with the tangential, radial (or normal) and rotational displacements
of the arch element were derived and presented in matrix form. Based on the relationship between
the nodal forces and the nodal displacements of a two-node six-degree-of-freedom arch element, the
elemental stiness matrix was derived, and based on the equation of kinetic energy and the implicit shape
functions of an arch element the elemental consistent mass matrix with rotary inertia eect considered
was obtained. Assembly of the foregoing elemental property matrices yields the overall stiness and
mass matrices of the complete curved beam. The standard techniques were used to determine the natural
frequencies and mode shapes for the curved beam with various boundary conditions and subtended
angles. In addition to the typical circular arches with constant curvatures, a hybrid beam constructed by
using an arch segment connected with a straight beam segment at each of its two ends was also studied.
For simplicity, a lumped mass model for the arch element was also presented. All numerical results
were compared with the existing literature or those obtained from the
nite element method based on
the conventional straight beam element and good agreements were achieved. Copyright ? 2003 John
Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEY WORDS:

arch (curved beam) element; straight beam element; stiness matrix; consistent mass
matrix; lumped mass matrix

1. INTRODUCTION
As shown in Reference [1], while the application of
nite elements to the at structures
such as beams and plates is well established, the solution for the curved structures, such
as arches, rings and shells, is not yet completely understood. This situation has not changed
much and so a lot of researchers are still interested in this area of study. Since this
Correspondence

to: Jong-Shyong Wu, Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, National
Cheng-Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
E-mail: jswu@mail.ncku.edu.tw
Contract=grant sponsor: National Science Council; contract=grant number: NSC89-2611-E-006-049

Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Received 28 November 2001

Revised 22 November 2002
Accepted 3 February 2003

1908

J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

paper focuses on the in-plane vibrations of the arches, most of the information regarding
the out-of-plane behaviour of the curved beams has been neglected here. Among the existing
reports, most of them aim at the derivations of displacement functions (or shape functions)
and stiness matrices of the arch (curved beam) elements [28]. Although these reports are
very useful for the static analysis of the arches, the mass matrix of the arch element is also
required for the dynamic analysis of arches. However, the information in this aspect is rare.
To the authors knowledge, References [1] and [913] are the few papers most concerned
with this.
In References [1] and [9], the eect of rotary inertia was neglected and the stiness matrix
and consistent mass matrix of the arch element in explicit forms were derived based on the
two functions for the tangential and radial displacements. In Reference [10], by considering
the eects of rotary inertia and warping torsion and neglecting the eect of shear deformation,
both the stiness and mass matrices of the thin-walled (spatial) curved beam element were
derived from the energy variation theory. In Reference [11], the explicit shape functions
of Reference [8] were used to derive the stiness matrix and consistent mass matrix of the
arch element by using the energy variation theory and the unit-displacement method, respectively. In the current paper, the eect of rotary inertia was considered and the stiness matrix
and consistent mass matrix of the arch element in implicit forms were derived based on the
three functions given by Reference [3] for the tangential displacement, the radial displacement
and the rotational angle. Where the stiness matrix of the arch element was obtained from
the forcedisplacement relations given by Reference [3] and the mass matrix was directly
derived from the equation of kinetic energy for the arch element. Besides, in References
[9, 10, 12, 13] all the displacement functions are in terms of the circumferential (circular)
co-ordinate z, but in this paper all the displacement functions are in terms of the angular
co-ordinate
given in Reference [3] and was widely used by many researchers [68, 11].
It is noted that if X denotes a physical parameter (such as force or displacement) then the
dimension of @X=@
is the same as that of X , but this is not true for the dimensions of @X=@z
and X . Comparing with the 18 tedious explicit shape functions reported in the latest literature [8], the shape functions presented in this paper are in implicit matrix form [10] and
have the advantages of easy derivation, easy computer programming and ease of getting rid
of mistakes.
In addition to the consistent mass matrix, a lumped mass model for the arch element
was presented. Excellent agreements between the natural frequencies obtained from the consistent arch mass matrix, the lumped arch mass matrix, the straight beam element model
and the existing literature [11] verify the availability of the presented approaches. In order to incorporate with the arch element to perform the free vibration analysis of a hybrid
beam composed of an arch segment and two straight beam segments, the modi
ed property matrices for the straight beam element were also derived and use of the arch elements
together with the straight beam elements to the free vibration analysis of the hybrid beam
was tried.
For the dynamic characteristics of a curved beam, in addition to the foregoing in-plane
vibration, the out-of-plane vibration is also an important problem in practical application.
Therefore, several researchers have devoted themselves to the study of the last problem. References [1214] were found to be the three pertinent papers. In References [12] and [13],
the dynamic responses of a horizontally curved I-girder bridge due to a two-axled
four-wheeled vehicle were studied using the
nite element method, where the three
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FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

1909

major structural components, the roadway slab, the I-girders and the diaphragms, were discretized by using the annular plate elements, the thin-walled curved beam elements and the
straight prismatic beam elements, respectively. In Reference [14], the dynamic responses of a
horizontally curved beam subject to a moving load were solved with the classical analytical
method. The centrifugal force due to curvilinear motion of the moving load was considered in
the last three references. In Reference [15], the analytical solutions of the eigenvalue equation
for the buckling of the thin-walled curved members have been solved, however, extension
of the formulation to include the element mass matrix is required for the dynamic analysis of the thin-walled curved members. In Reference [16], for simplicity and generality of
the presented theory, the similar idea of constructing the implicit shape functions has also
been proposed and developed in the context of meshfree method for the analyses of the
elastostatic, buckling, free vibration and forced vibration characteristics of the thin straight
beam.
Since, in this paper, the derivation of stiness matrix for the arch element is to refer
to Reference [3] and the displacement functions of Reference [3] look like those of Reference [13], a comparison between References [3] and [13] and the current paper was made.
The main
ndings are: (i) The procedure for the derivation of stiness matrix in Reference
[3] is similar to that of Reference [13]. (ii) The in-plane motion and out-of-plane motion
of the three-dimensional (3D) curved beam are coupled in Reference [3], but uncoupled in
Reference [13]. (iii) The warping eect is neglected in Reference [3] and is considered in
Reference [13]. (iv) The displacement functions of Reference [3] are in terms of 12 unknown
constants and those of Reference [13] are in terms of 100 unknown constants. (v) Reference
[3] adopted the angular co-ordinate
and Reference [13] adopted the circumferential (circular) co-ordinate z. (vi) Reference [3] derived only the stiness matrix of a 3D curved beam
element and Reference [13] derived both the stiness matrix and consistent mass matrix of a
3D curved beam element. Since the displacement functions of Reference [3] are much simpler
than those of Reference [13], this paper used the former to derive both the stiness matrix
and consistent mass matrix of an in-plane curved beam element. The consistent mass matrix
of this paper was derived from the equation of kinetic energy, which is dierent from that
of Reference [13] derived from the principle of virtual work. In addition to the consistent
mass matrix, the current paper tried to use the lumped mass matrix to solve the problem
and achieved satisfactory results, but this is not true for Reference [13]. Where the lumped
mass matrix was not derived from the energy method.

2. DISPLACEMENT FUNCTIONS AND SHAPE FUNCTIONS

For the arch element shown in Figure 1, if the x-axis is the symmetric axis for the cross-section
of the arch and the eect of shear deformation is ignored then the displacement functions for
the radial displacement ux , the circumferential displacement u
and the rotational angle y are
given by [3]
ux = G1 + G2 cos
+ G3 sin
+ G4
sin
+ G6
cos

(1a)

u
= G1 C
+G2 sin
G3 cos
+G4 (sin

cos
)+ G5 +G6 (cos
+
sin
)

(1b)

Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

z
y

y

y 2

u
1
2

u 1

ux
ux 1

y1

u 2
ux2

Figure 1. The de
nition for the in-plane element displacements, ux , u
and y , for an arch element and
the associated reference local and global co-ordinate systems, xyz and xyz.

y

= G1

C
R



+ G4

2
R



sin
+ G5

1
R



+ G6

2
R

cos

(1c)

where
C = 1 + (Iy =AR2 )

(2)

In Equation (1), G1 G6 are the integration constants determined by the boundary conditions
of the arch element, while in Equation (2), A is the cross-sectional area, R is the average
radius of curvature of the arch element and Iy is the moment of inertia of the area A about
the y-axis given by [3]

x2
dA
(3)
Iy =
A 1 (x=R)
Since the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the arches and a hybrid beam will
also be calculated with the conventional straight beam elements (in addition to the arch
elements) in this paper, both the local reference co-ordinate system, xyz, and the global reference co-ordinate system, xyz, required for the straight beam elements are introduced in
Figure 1.
Writing Equation (1) in matrix form gives
{u} = [H ]{G }
Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

(4)
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FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

where
{u} = { ux u

[H ] = C

C


R

y}

(5a)

cos

sin

sin

sin

cos

sin

cos

2
sin

R

1
R

cos

cos
+
sin

2
cos

R

(5b)

{ G } = { G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 }

(5c)

In Equations (4) and (5), the symbols [] and {} represent the rectangular (or square) matrix
and the column vector, respectively.
Applying to Equation (4) the boundary conditions for the arch element shown in Figure 1,
one obtains
{} = [B]{G }

where
{} =

C
1

C

1
R
[B] =

C
2

2

ux1 u
1

y1

(6)

ux2 u
2

(7)

y2

cos
1

sin
1

1 sin
1

sin
1

cos
1

sin
1
1 cos
1

cos
2

sin
2

2
sin
1
R

2 sin
2

1
R
0

sin
2

cos
2

sin
2
2 cos
2

2
sin
2
R

1
R

1 cos
1

cos
1 +
1 sin
1

cos
1

2 cos
2

cos
2 +
2 sin
2

2
cos
2
R

(8)

From Equation (6) one obtains

{G } = [B]1 {}

(9)

The substitution of Equation (9) into Equation (4) yields

{u} = [N ]{}

(10)

where [N ] is a matrix of the shape functions de
ned by

N11 (
) N12 (
) N16 (
)

[N (
)] = [H ][B]1 = N21 (
) N22 (
) N26 (
)

N31 (
) N32 (
) N36 (
)

Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

(11)

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J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

In theory, one may obtain a 6 6 square matrix for [B]1 with all coecients being
in explicit forms. However, to avoid manipulating the complicated matrix multiplication
and listing the tedious lengthy mathematical expressions in the subsequent derivations, the
implicit form of [B]1 will be used for the formulation of this paper and so will be the
related stiness and mass matrices of the arch element. Once the angular co-ordinates of
1 and node

2 for the arch element,
1 and
2 , are given, one may obtain the valnode

ues of matrix [B] and its inverse [B]1 from Equation (8). To insert the values of [H ]
and [B]1 into Equation (11) the values of the shape function matrix [N (
)] will have
to be determined. It is evident that the implicit shape functions given by Equation (11)
are much simpler than the explicit exact shape functions given in Tables IIII of Reference [8], particularly for the computer programming. Based on the numerical example
in Reference [8], the 18 curves for the shape functions Nmn (m = 13; n = 16) were obtained from Equation (11) and compared with the corresponding ones obtained from the
explicit exact shape functions given in Tables IIII of Reference [8] and excellent agreements were achieved. However, it has been found that the coecient C4(1) for the shape
(1)
and that C4(2) for Nvv(2) in Table I of Reference [8] are wrong and the correct
function Nvu
expressions are
C4(1) =

1
2
A
2
 s0 + D
A

s0 s +
c0 s
2D2
2
D1

(a)

C4(2) =

2
1
A
2
 c0 +
(1 c)c0 + (D
D

c)A

s0 + c0
2D2
D1
2

(b)

The above two expressions were provided by the second author of Reference [8] through
correspondence. It is noted that all the symbols appearing in Equations (a) and (b) are completely the same as those in Reference [8] except that the right superscripts (1) and (2) for
the coecients C4 are newly added for convenience here. In theory, the
nite element method
is an approximate method, thus the exact shape functions reported in Reference [8] only
mean that they enable the behaviour of the arch to be calculated exactly for any mesh density (i.e. any number of arch elements) and they are also called natural shape functions
[1, 2, 9].
3. STIFFNESS MATRIX FOR ARCH ELEMENT
Instead of the energy variation theory [1, 2, 611], this paper employs the forcedisplacement
relations to derive the stiness matrix of the arch element. From Reference [3] one obtains
the following forcedisplacement relations:
Fx = F

(12a)

F
=

My
EA

(u
ux )
R
R

(12b)

My =

EIy
(ux + ux

)
R2

(12c)

Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

Table I. The central displacements, ux , u
and y , for an arch with clampedclamped (case nos. 1,
2 and 3) and hingedhinged (case nos. 4, 5 and 6) supports due to the concentrated central loads:
Fx = 1 kN, F
= 1 kN and My = 1 kNm.
Present paper
Case
no.

Supporting and
loading conditions

Central
displacements

Reference [8]

SB element
(n = 20)

CB element
(n = 4)

Fx = 1 kN

F = 1 kN

ux (m)
u
(m)
y (rad)

0:2205
0:0000
0:0000

0:22048
0:0000
0:0000

0:21969
0:0000
0:0000

ux (m)
u
(m)
y (rad)

0:0000
0:1136
0:3683

0:0000
0:11289
0:3642

0:0000
0:11176
0:35918

ux (m)
u
(m)
y (rad)

0:0000
0:0921
1:0375

0:0000
0:0910
1:0373

0:0000
0:08393
1:0357

ux (m)
u
(m)
y (rad)

0:2546
0:0000
0:0000

0:2536
0:0000
0:0000

0:2516
0:0000
0:0000

ux (m)
u
(m)
y (rad)

0:0000
0:2770
0:8122

0:0000
0:27346
0:80496

0:0000
0:2687
0:79559

ux (m)
u
(m)
y (rad)

0:0000
0:2030
1:3383

0:0000
0:2012
1:3396

0:0000
0:1988
1:3390

M y = 1 kN

Fx = 1 kN

F = 1 kN

M y = 1 kN

Note: The actual magnitudes of ux , u
and

are the listed values times 106 .

where the primes denote the derivatives with respect to the angular co-ordinate
, and since

is a non-dimensional parameter, the dimension of X
or X

is the same as that of X (X = F
,
u
or ux ). From Equations (1) and (12) and the following relationship for the equilibrium of
Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 58:19071936

1914

J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

Table II. (a) The lowest
ve natural frequencies of the simply supported (uxi = 0; i = 1; 2) curved beam,
!i (i = 15) (rad=s), with rotary inertia neglected.
Present paper
By SB elements
Mode
no. i
1
2
3
4
5

By CB elements

Exact
solutions [9]

20 elements

40 elements

2 elements

4 elements

6 elements

0.349
1.571
3.612
6.470
10.144

0.472
1.733
3.790
6.652
10.325

0.472
1.733
3.789
6.652
10.324

0.349
1.572
3.725
8.212
14.307

0.349
1.572
3.615
6.474
10.274

0.349
1.572
3.613
6.474
10.162

(b) The lowest three natural-frequency ratios, !i0e =!ide , for the arch with shear deformation neglected obtained
from Reference [11] and present paper.
Natural-frequency ratios , !i0e =!ide
Thickness
ratios, a=R
0.250
0.100
0.050
0.025
0.010

Methods

!10e =!1de

!20e =!2de

!30e =!3de

Reference [11]
Present
Reference [11]
Present
Reference [11]
Present
Reference [11]
Present
Reference [11]
Present

1.1716
1.1845
1.0329
1.0357
1.0089
1.0098
1.0021
1.0029
1.0003
1.0005

1.0291
1.0360
1.0417
1.0477
1.0143
1.0189
1.0036
1.0073
1.0006
1.0020

1.1397
1.1508
1.0130
1.0257
1.0208
1.0344
1.0055
1.0162
1.0008
1.0056

!ide is the i-th natural frequency with all eects (including axial compressibility, rotatory inertia and shear
deformation) considered as given by Table IV of Reference [11].
0e
!i is the i-th natural frequency with shear deformation neglected as given by Table VI of Reference [11].

Table III. The lowest
ve natural frequencies of a clampedclamped 180 circular
arch, !i (i = 15) (rad=s).
CB elements
SB elements
Mode
no.

Lumped mass

Consistent mass

20 elements

40 elements

20 elements

40 elements

20 elements

40 elements

1236.276

1234.918

1234.939

2664.279

2663.102

2662.990

4952.152

4950.186

4949.452

6718.584

6716.738

6715.114

8805.505

1234.933
(0:000%)
2662.957
(0:001%)
4949.230
(0:004%)
6714.779
(0:005%)
8794.968
(0:006%)

1234.953

1233.466
(0:119%)
2658.408
(0:172%)
4940.879
(0:173%)
6706.799
(0:124%)
8785.752
(0:111%)

8799.000

8795.531

Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

2662.838
4948.450
6713.089
8791.400

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FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

1915

{ Fx1 F
1 My1 } = { Fx2 F
2 My2 }

(13)

{F } = [D]{G }

(14)

nodal forces

one obtains

where
{F } = { Fx1 F
1 My1 Fx2 F
2 My2 }

1
EIy

[D] = 2
R

2
2
sin
1 0 cos
1
R
R
2
2
cos
1 0 sin
1
R
R
2 cos
1 0 2 sin
1

2
2
sin
2 0
cos
2
R
R
2
2
sin
2
cos
2 0
R
R
2 cos
2 0 2 sin
2

(15)

(16)

Introducing the values of [G] de
ned by Equation (9) into Equation (14) leads to
{F } = [D][B]1 {} = [K]{}

(17)

[K] = [D][B]1

(18)

where

which is the stiness matrix of the arch element in implicit form. Although the in-plane forces
(and moments) for an arch element, given by Equation (12), are not functions of the rotational
angle y , they are actually closely related with y because the element displacements, ux and
u
, are de
ned by the six integration constants, G1 G6 , and these constants are functions of
y as one may see from Equations (1) and (9).
4. MASS MATRIX FOR ARCH ELEMENT
The kinetic energy of the arch element is given by [9]

1
2
[A(u x2 + u
2 ) + Iy y2 ]R d

T=
2
1

(19)

where the overdots denote the derivatives with respect to time t,  is the mass density of
the arch material and Iy is the moment of inertia of the cross-sectional area de
ned by
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J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

Equation (3). It is noted that the third term on the right-hand side of Equation (19), Iy y2 ,
represents the rotary inertia, which is not considered in References [1] and [9].
For harmonic free vibrations, one has
{u} = {u }ei!t

(20)

where
{u } is the amplitude of {u}, ! is the natural frequency of the arch, t is time and
i = 1.
Substituting Equations (4) and (20) into Equation (19) yields
T = 12 !2 {}T [M ]{}

(21)

where [M ] is the consistent mass matrix of the arch element given by




2

[M ] = R([B]1 )T

[H ]T [][H ] d
[B]1

(22)

1

with

[] =
0

Iy

(23)

To determine the consistent mass matrix of an arch element, [M ], using Equation (22), it is
required to calculate the following integration:


[H ] =

2

[H ]T [][H ] d

(24)

1

and all the other numerical calculations are performed by the computer. The results for the
integration de
ned by Equation (24) are shown in Appendix A. Since [H ] is a 6 6 symmetrical square matrix, one requires only to calculate the 21 coecients of the matrix. This
is also much simpler than the 108 constants for the 18 shape functions shown in Tables
IIII of Reference [8].
For the purpose of comparison and simplicity, a lumped mass matrix for the arch element
is also presented in this paper:
[M ] = pm1 m1 J1 m2 m2 J2 y

(25)

with

Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

m1 = m2 = 12 AR

(26a)

J1 = J2 = 12 Iy R

(26b)

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FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

The symbol py in Equation (25) denotes a diagonal matrix and the notation  ( =
2
1 ) in
Equation (26) denotes the subtended angle of the arch element (see Figure 1).

5. STIFFNESS AND MASS MATRICES FOR A STRAIGHT-BEAM ELEMENT

For a hybrid beam composed of arch segments and straight-beam segments, one may perform
the free or forced vibration analysis using a combination of arch elements and straight-beam
elements. In such a case, attention must be paid to the compatibility of deformations at the
joints where the arch (curved-beam) elements and straight-beam elements are connected. In
general, the stiness and mass matrices for a straight-beam element were derived based on
the local co-ordinate system, xyz, with the x-axis coincident with the longitudinal axis of
the beam element, as shown in Figure 2(a) [17]. However, in order to incorporate with the
property matrices of the arch element derived in the previous subsections, one must change
the local co-ordinate system for the straight-beam element to that with the z-axis coincident
with the longitudinal axis of the straight-beam element and with the x-axis coincident with
the radial direction of the arch element, as shown in Figure 2(b). In addition to exchanging the co-ordinate axes between the two local co-ordinate systems shown in Figures 2(a)
and (b), the order of numbering for the nodal displacements must also be changed from
the order for (u1 ; u2 ; u3 ; : : : ; u6 ) as shown in Figure 2(a) to the order for (ux1 ; u
1 ; y1 ; : : : ; y2 )
as shown in Figure 2(b). The transformation of the nodal displacements, ux1 ; u
1 ; y1 ; : : : and
y2 , with respect to the local co-ordinate system, xyz, will yield the nodal displacements,
u 1 ; u 2 ; u 3 ; : : : and u 6 , with respect to the global co-ordinate system, xyz, as shown in Figure
3. By considering all the above-mentioned factors, the modi
ed stiness and mass matrices for a straight-beam element used to incorporate with the arch element derived in this

u3

u6

u1

x
u4

l
u5

u2

z
(a)

y1

y 2

u1

u x1

z
u 2

u x2

x
(b)

Figure 2. The local co-ordinate system, xyz, for the in-plane straight-beam elements: (a) x-axis is along
the beam length; and (b) z-axis is along the beam length.
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J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

z
u5

u2

z
u4

u 1

u6 =
y 2

u3 =
y1

u 2

ux2

u1

u x1

Figure 3. The relationship between the nodal displacements for the curved-beam (arch) element
(ux1 ; u
1 ; y1 ; : : : ; y2 ) and the straight-beam element (u 1 ; u 2 ; u 3 ; : : : ; u 6 ).

paper are

12EIy =3

0
EA=

6EIy =2
0
4EIy =

[K] =

12EIy =3
0
6EIy =2

0
EA=
0

6EIy =2

2EIy =

Symmetric

12EIy =3
0

EA=

6EIy =2

4EIy =

6Iy
13
35 + 5A2

11
Iy

210 + 10A
[M ] = A
9
6Iy

70 5A2

13
Iy
+

420 10A

(27)

1
3

Symmetric
2

2Iy

+
105 15A
Iy
13
0

420 10A
1
0
6
2
Iy

140 30A
0

Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

6Iy
13
+
35 5A2
0

1
3

2Iy
Iy
2
11
0
+

210 10A
105 15A

(28)

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FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

1919

These two expressions were obtained from the stiness and mass matrices of the straightbeam element given by Reference [17] by changing the orders and signs of the associated
coecients in the rows and columns of the element matrices, where is the length of the
straight-beam element.

6. DISPLACEMENTS FROM CURVED-BEAM AND STRAIGHT-BEAM ELEMENTS

The relationship between the nodal displacements for the curved-beam (CB) element, ux1 ; u
1 ,
 1 ; u 2 ; u 3 ; : : : and u 6 , are shown
y1 ; : : : and y2 , and those for the straight-beam (SB) element, u
in Figure 3, where the CB (arch) element is represented by the solid lines and the SB element
by the dashed lines. Since all the stiness and mass matrices of the SB elements must be
transformed to the ones with respect to the global co-ordinate system, xyz, and then are
assembled to establish the overall stiness and mass matrices of the whole structure, the
computer outputs for either the modal displacements obtained from the free vibration analysis
or the actual displacements obtained from the forced vibration analysis are with respect to the
global co-ordinate systems, xyz, when the problem is solved with the SB elements. This is
the reason why the nodal displacements with respect to the global (xyz) co-ordinate system,
u i (i = 16), instead of those with respect to the local (xyz) co-ordinate system, ui (i = 16),
were shown in Figure 3. It is evident that all the directions of the nodal displacements for
the CB element are dierent from those for the SB element except the rotational angles
u 3 =

y1

(29a)

u 6 =

y2

(29b)

Therefore, the following expressions should be used to transform the displacement components
obtained from the CB elements, uxi and u
i (i = 1; 2), into the vertical ones (in the z-direction),
dzi (i = 1; 2), if comparisons between the arch elements and the SB elements are based on
the vertical displacements:
dz1
 = ux1 cos  + u
1 sin 

(for node

1)

(30a)

dz2
 = ux2 cos  u
2 sin 

(for node

2)

(30b)

where  and  are the angles between the radii passing through nodes

2 and the
1 and

vertical z-axis, respectively, as shown in Figure 3. The positive values of dz1
 and dz2
 indicate
the vertical displacements in the upward (+z ) direction.
Similarly, if the comparisons are based on the radial displacements, then one should use the
following relations to transform the nodal displacements of the SB element, u i (i = 1; 2; 4; 5),
into the radial ones:
dr1 = u 1 sin  u 2 cos 

(for node

1)

(31a)

dr2 = u 4 sin  u 5 cos 

(for node

2)

(31b)

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1920

J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

The positive values of dr1 and dr2 indicate the radial displacements pointing to the curvature
centre o of the arch (i.e. to the +uxi (i = 1; 2) directions).
In this paper, all the mode shapes were plotted based on the vertical modal displacements.
Hence Equations (30a) and (30b) were used for the transformations.
7. FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS USING CB, SB AND CBSB ELEMENTS
After the element stiness matrix [K] and the element mass matrix [M ] (or [M ]) are determined, one may assemble all the elemental property matrices to establish the equation of
motion for free vibration of the complete system
{u} = 0
[M ]{u} + [K]

(32)

where {u} and {u} denote the overall nodal displacement vector and overall nodal acceleration
vector, respectively. Solving the corresponding eigenvalue equation
!2 [M ]){u } = 0
([K]

(33)

will yield the natural frequencies !i (i = 1; 2; : : :) and the associated mode shapes {u }i of
the complete system.
For a circular arch, it is well known that one may solve the problem with the monotype of
CB (arch) element or SB element. However, for a hybrid beam composed of arch segments
and straight beam segments, one may solve the problem with the hybrid (CBSB) elements
in addition to the monotype of elements. This is one of the solutions that this paper tries
to seek.
8. NUMERICAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
To con
rm the reliability of the approaches presented, the shape functions, the stiness matrix
and the natural frequencies obtained in this paper were compared with the existing literature.
After that, the free vibration analysis of a 180 circular arch and a hybrid beam was performed.
Unless particularly stated, all the numerical values in this paper were obtained based on the
consistent mass matrix with eect of rotary inertia considered.
8.1. Validation of shape functions
For convenience, we set
{ 1 2 3 4 5 6 } = { ux1 u
1

y1

ux2 u
2

y2 }

(34)

It is evident that if 1 = 1 and i = 0 (i = 16; i = 1), then from Equations (10) and (11) one
obtains

Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ux (
) = N11 (
)

(35a)

u
(
) = N21 (
)

(35b)

y (
) = N31 (
)

(35c)

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FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

1921

Similarly, if 2 = 1 and i = 0 (i = 16; i = 2), then one has

ux (
) = N12 (
)

(36a)

u
(
) = N22 (
)

(36b)

y (
) = N32 (
)

(36c)

Finally, if 6 = 1 and i = 0 (i = 16; i = 6), then one has

ux (
) = N16 (
)

(37a)

u
(
) = N26 (
)

(37b)

y (
) = N36 (
)

(37c)

Based on Equations (35)(37) and the other similar relations, one obtains the 18 displacement
(or shape) function curves as shown in Figures 4(a)(f), where the curves with attachments
( ux ; N u
;
y ) were obtained in this paper based on Equations (5b), (8),
(10) and (11), while the curves without attachments (ux ; u
; y ) were obtained
from a computer program developed by the authors based on the mathematical expressions
for the shape functions shown in Tables IIII of Reference [8]. It is noted that the corrected
expressions (a) and (b) as shown in Section 2 of this paper, were used. The abscissa for each
of Figures 4(a)(f) denotes the angular co-ordinate
(radians) and the ordinate represents
the radial displacement ux (metres), circumferential displacement u
(metres) or rotational
angle y (radians). The excellent agreement between the curves obtained from this paper and
the corresponding ones based on Reference [8] veri
es the correctness of the derived shape
functions de
ned by Equation (11). The given data for the arch studied in this subsection are
[8]: radius R = 4 m, total subtended angle  = 120 , radial thickness of cross-section a = 0:6 m,
axial thickness of cross-section b = 0:4 m, Youngs modulus E = 3 1010 N= m2 , Poissons
ratio  = 0:17, mass density  = 2:53 103 kg= m3 , membrane factor e = 0:00684 and shear
factor d = 0.
8.2. Validation of sti
ness matrix
For the arch discussed in the last subsection, if its two ends are
xed (see case nos. 1, 2
and 3 in Table I) and its centre is subjected to a downward vertical force Fx = 1 kN (case 1),
a rightward horizontal force F
= 1 kN (case 2) or a clockwise moment about the horizontal
y-axis My = 1 kNm (case 3), then the radial displacements ux (m), the circumferential displacements u
(m) and the rotational angles y (rad) at the centre of the arch are shown in
columns 46 of Table I. The values of ux , u
and y listed in column 4 were obtained from
Reference [8], and those listed in columns 5 and 6 were the results of this paper calculated
on the basis of the SB element and the CB element, respectively. It is evident that either the
results based on the SB element or those based on the CB element are very close to those
of Reference [8]. However, the total number of
nite elements used for the SB element is
n = 20 and that for the CB element is n = 4. This is because the results based on the SB
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1922

J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

Displacements, ux(m),u (m), y(rad)

1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5
u ( )= N ()

-1.0

u ( )= N ( )
u ( )= N ()

-1.5

u ( )=N ( )

-0.5

-0.3

(Node 1)

2. 5

Displacements, ux(m),u(m), y(rad)

Present

( )=N ( )

-2.0

(a)

Ref.[8]

( )= N ( )

2. 0
1. 5

0.0

0.3

0.5
(Node 2)

Angular coordinates, (rad)

u ( )= N ()
u ( )= N ( )
( )= N ( )

Re f.[8]

u ( )= N ()
u ( )=N ( )
( )=N ( )

Present

1. 0
0. 5
0. 0
-0 .5
-1 .0

(b)

-0.5
(Node 1)

-0.3

0.0

0.3

0.5
(Node 2)

Angular coordinates, (rad)

Displacements, ux(m),u(m), y(rad)

1. 5

1.0

u ( )= N ()
u ( )= N ()
( )= N ( )

Re f.[8]

u ( )= N ()
u ( )=N ( )
( )=N ( )

Present

0.5

0.0

-0 .5
-0 .5

(c)

-0 .3

(Node 1)

0 .0

0 .3

Angular coordinates, (rad)

0.5

(Node 2)

Figure 4. The displacement (or shape) function curves obtained from the present paper ( ux ;
N u
;
y ) and those based on Reference [8] ( ux ; u
; y ) for
i = 0 (i = 16) but: (a) 1 = 1; (b) 2 = 1; (c) 3 = 1; (d) 4 = 1; (e) 5 = 1; and (f) 6 = 1.

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FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

Displacements, ux(m),u (m), y(rad)

2. 0

u ()= N ()

u ()= N ()

Present

u ()= N ()
()= N ()

1. 0

0. 5

0. 0

-0.5
-0.5
(Node 1)

(d)

Displacements, ux(m),u (m), y(rad)

Ref. [8]

u ()= N ()
()= N ()

1. 5

-0.3

0 .0

0.3

Angular coordinates, (rad)

2.0

0.5
(Node 2)

u ()= N ()
u ()= N ()

Ref.[8]

()= N ()

1.5

u ( )=N ()
u ()= N ()

1.0

Present

()= N ()

0.5
0.0
-0 .5
-1 .0
-0. 5
(Node 1)

(e)

-0 .3

0.0

0.3

Angular coordinates, (rad)

0.5
(Node 2)

Displacements, ux(m),u (m), y(rad)

1.0
u ()=N ()
u ()=N ()

Ref.[8]

()=N ()

u ()=N ()

0.5

u ()=N ()

Present

()=N ()

0.0

-0.5
-0.5

(f)

-0.3

(Node 1)

0.0

0.3

Angular coordinates, (rad)

0.5
(Node 2)

Figure 4. Continued.

Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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1924

J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

element will be more closer to those of Reference [8] when the total number of elements
increases, but the results based on the CB element are very close to those of Reference [8]
once n4 and increase in the total number of the elements, n, hardly aects the results. This
may be the reason why the shape function curves of this paper are almost coincident with
the exact shape function curves of Reference [8] as shown in Figure 4. Of course, this will
be one of the advantages that the CB element is superior to the SB element. The situation
for case nos. 4, 5 and 6 are the same as case nos. 1, 2 and 3, the only dierence is that the
support condition is hingedhinged instead of clampedclamped. It is seen that the results of
this paper are also in good agreement with those of Reference [8] for the hingedhinged arch.
8.3. Validation of natural frequencies
The information regarding the free vibration analysis of arches is rare. References [1] and
[911] have been found to be most concerned with the free vibration analyses of arches. The
dimensions and the material constants for the present example are [9]: radius of curvature
R = 30 in, radial thickness of rib a = 1:289 102 in, axial thickness of rib b = 1:008 in, crosssectional area A = 0:013 in2 , total subtended angle of the complete arch  = 1 rad = 57:3 , total
(arc) length L = R = 30 in, Youngs modulus E = 107 lb= in2 , mass density of arch material
 = 0:1 lb= in3 .
By neglecting the eect of rotary inertia, the lowest
ve natural frequencies !i (i = 15)
(rad=s) of the arch are shown in Table II(a) for the simply supported conditions (with radial
displacements ux1 = ux2 = 0). The natural frequencies listed in column 2 of Table II(a) are the
exact solutions calculated from the frequency equation listed in the appendix of Reference
[9] and those listed in columns 37 are the
nite element solutions of this paper. Among the
latter, those in columns 3 and 4 are obtained using the SB element and those in columns
5, 6 and 7 using the CB element. It is seen that all the natural frequencies obtained from
the CB element rapidly converge to the corresponding exact ones when the total number of
elements increases from n = 2 to 6, but this in not true for the SB element even if n = 40.
From Table II(a) one also sees that the natural frequencies obtained from the
nite element
methods (either based on SB or CB) are slightly larger than the exact solutions and converge
monotonically to the exact ones from above. This trend of
nite element solutions agrees with
that of Reference [9].
Based on the following dimensions and material constants for the arch given by Reference
[11], the lowest three natural-frequency ratios of the arch, !i0e =!ide (i = 1 to 3), obtained from
this paper (with total number of
nite elements, n = 6) were compared with the corresponding
ones obtained from Reference [11] as shown in Table II(b): radius of curvature, R = 1 m;
total subtended angle of the complete arch,  = 2=3 rad ; Youngs modulus, E = 1 N= m2 ; Maas
density,  = 1 kg= m3 ; axial thickness b and radial thickness a of cross-section, b = a = 0:25 to
0:01 m (varied). In Table II(b), the symbol !ide denotes the i-th natural frequency of the arch
by considering all the eects (including the axial compressibility, rotatory inertia and shear
deformation) given by Table IV of Reference [11], while the symbol !i0e denotes the i-th
natural frequency of the arch by neglecting the eect of shear deformation (and considering the
eects of axial compressibility and rotatory inertia only) obtained from Table VI of Reference
[11] and the present paper. It is seen that good agreement between the lowest three naturalfrequency ratios, !i0e =!ide (i = 1 to 3), in the range of thickness ratios, a=R = 0:250.01, was
achieved.
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FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

Table IV. The lowest six natural frequencies of the hingedhinged hybrid
beam, !i (i = 1 6) (rad=s), with points P and Q free and pinned.
Mode no.
(a) Points P and Q free
1
2
3
4
5
6

SB SB method

SB CB method

719.032
2115.542
3945.599
5473.203
6802.270
8291.487

694.338
1893.940
3178.100
5602.417
7595.179
8778.209

(b) Points P and Q pinned (ux = u
= 0)

1
2602.559
2
5059.209
3
8015.363
4
8850.068
5
10552.128
6
11849.540

2605.285
5068.224
8008.646
8860.030
10557.905
11852.224

For a uniform arch, both the element stiness matrix and element mass matrix (either
consistent or lumped) are invariant if the subtended angle of the arch element,  ( =
2
1 ),
is a constant as one may see from the output of the computer program. In addition, because
the formulations for the arches are based on the polar co-ordinate system, transformation of
each element property matrix (from local co-ordinate system into global one) is not required
before assembling for the CB method. This is another advantage that the CB element is
superior to the SB element for the dynamic analysis of circular arches.
8.4. Free vibration analysis of a curved beam
The arch with radius of curvature R = 30

and total subtended angle of the complete arch
 = 1 rad = 57:3 , illustrated in the last subsection, may be impractical because of its small
size. Thus a more realistic clampedclamped 180 circular arch is studied in this subsection: radius of curvature R = 0:5 m, radial thickness of rib a = 0:06 m, axial thickness of
rib b = 0:04 m, cross-sectional area A = 0:0024 m2 , total subtended angle of the complete arch
 =  radians = 180 , total (arc) length L = R = 1:5708m, Youngs modulus E = 121010 N= m2 ,
mass density of arch material  = 7:2 103 kg= m3 .
From Table II one
nds that the accuracy of the CB element is much better than that of the
SB element. Thus the natural frequencies obtained from the CB element with consistent mass
matrix as shown in the
nal column of Table III will be selected as the Reference frequencies
of comparisons. From Table III it is seen that, for the CB element, the lowest
ve natural
frequencies obtained from the lumped-mass model are very close to the consistent-mass model
with maximum percentage dierence less than 0.006%. The lowest
ve natural frequencies
obtained based on the SB element are also very close to those based on the CB element with
maximum percentage dierence less than 0.173%. Therefore, the lumped-mass model for the
CB element is a simple and accurate model for the dynamic analysis of the arches. Of course,
the conventional SB element is also available for the dynamic analysis of the arches if the
suitable size of beam element is used.
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J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

~*
Vertical modal displacements, {u-z }1

1.0

0.5

SB
CB (Lumped mass)
CB (Consistent mass)
Static form

0.0
-1. 0

~*
Vertical modal displacements, {u-z }2

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

(a)

1.0

0.5

SB
CB (Lumped mass)
CB (Consistent mass)
Static form

0.0
-1. 0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

(b)

Figure 5. The lowest
ve mode shapes for the clampedclamped 180 circular arch obtained from the
SB element, , the CB element with lumped-mass model, N and the CB element with
consistent-mass model,
: (a) 1st mode; (b) 2nd mode; (c) 3rd mode; (d) 4th mode; and (e) 5th
mode. The thick dashed lines ( ) represent the static con
gurations of the circular arch.

The lowest
ve mode shapes for the clampedclamped 180 circular arch are shown in
Figures 5(a)(e), where the abscissa of each
gure denotes the non-dimensional co-ordinates
= (
0:5)=0:5 and the ordinate denotes the vertical modal displacements {uz }i with respect to the static con
guration of the circular arch shown by the thick dashed line ( ),
the mode shapes obtained from the SB element are represented by the curves ,
while those from the CB element with lumped-mass model and with consistent-mass model
are denoted by N and
. It is seen that the mode shapes obtained from all
techniques are very close to each other, particularly those based on the CB element with the
lumped-mass and the consistent-mass models.
From Figures 5(a) and (b) one sees that, for the
rst and second mode shapes of the
clampedclamped 180 circular arch, their crests are near the position at 1=4 (or 3=4) of the
Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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1927

~*
Vertical modal displacements, {u -z }3

FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

1.0

0.5

SB
CB (Lumped mass)
CB (Consistent mass)
Static form

0.0
-1.0

~*
Vertical modal displacements, {u -z }4

0.5

0.5

1.0

SB
CB (Lumped mass)
CB (Consistent mass)
Static form

0.0
-1.0

~*
Vertical modal displacements, {u -z } 5

0.0

1.0

(d)

-0.5
0.0
0.5
Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

1.0

1.0

0.5

SB
CB (Lumped mass)
CB (Consistent mass)
Static form

0.0
-1.0

(e)

-0.5

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

(c)

-0.5
0.0
0.5
Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

1.0

Figure 5. Continued.
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J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

a=6 cm

b=4 cm
(B-B section)

B
P

R=0.5m

O
90

120 o

90 o

o
x max

x max

Figure 6. The dimensions for the hybrid beam studied in this paper.

arch length and their nodes are near the middle of the arch. Therefore, when the circular
arch is subjected to a load moving circumferentially, the maximum response will occur at
the position near 1=4 of the arch length. This is dierent from a clampedclamped straight
beam subjected to a moving load, where the maximum response will occur at the middle of
the straight beam.
8.5. Free vibration analysis of a hybrid beam
The hybrid beam studied in this subsection is shown in Figure 6. It is constructed by using
a 120 curved-beam segment connected with a straight-beam segment at each of its two
ends. The two straight-beam segments are identical and along the tangential directions of
the curved-beam segment at the two connecting points, P and Q, respectively. This assures
the continuity of the hybrid beam at the connecting joints (P and Q). The dimensions for
the hybrid beam are shown in Figure 6 and the material properties are: Youngs modulus
E = 12 1010 N= m2 , mass density  = 7:2 103 kg= m3 .
The free vibration analysis of the hybrid beam was performed with two methods: the
SBSB method and the SBCB method, where the SBSB method is a conventional
nite
element method with all beam elements (either straight or curved) being modelled by the
straight-beam (SB) elements. However, in the SBCB method, the curved part of the hybrid
beam is modelled by the curved-beam elements and the straight part of the hybrid beam is
modelled by the straight-beam elements. Because the co-ordinate system for the curved-beam
elements is dierent from that for the straight-beam elements, attention must be paid to the
derivations of the stiness matrix and mass matrix for the straight-beam element as shown
in Equations (27) and (28), respectively. In addition, all the element property matrices, for
either the curved-beam element or the straight-beam element, must be transformed into the
ones in terms of the common global co-ordinates before they are assembled.
When the hybrid beam is hingedhinged at the two ends (uxi = u
i = 0, i = A; D), the lowest six natural frequencies obtained from the above-mentioned two methods are shown in
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FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

Table V. The lowest six natural frequencies of the clampedclamped hybrid

beam, !i (i = 1 6) (rad=s), with points P and Q free and pinned.
Mode no.

SB SB method

SB CB method

1220.042
2818.803
5042.719
6066.225
7701.025
8871.101

1190.223
2699.943
3757.678
6190.528
8169.528
10698.151

(b) Points P and Q pinned (ux = u
= 0)

1
2713.308
2
5172.868
3
8248.240
4
9835.386
5
14014.843
6
14347.456

2716.127
5181.705
8244.368
9851.782
14024.328
14316.507

(a) Points P and Q free

1
2
3
4
5
6

Table IV(a) for the case with points P and Q unconstrained and in Table IV(b) for points P
and Q pinned. The numbers of
nite elements for the left straight-beam segment (AP), middle
curved-beam segment (PQ) and right straight-beam segment (QD) are 10, 20 and 10, respectively. In other words, the total number of
nite elements for the whole hybrid beam is 40.
Theoretically, the SBSB method is available for most of the structures. Thus it is reasonable
to use its results as the reference natural frequencies of comparisons. From Table IV(a) one
sees that the natural frequencies obtained from the two methods diverge from each other to
some degree, but this is not true for Table IV(b). The last phenomenon may be due to the
fact that the existence of the two pins at the two conjunctions, P and Q, signi
cantly reduces
the interference of the translational displacements between the curved-beam segment and the
straight-beam segments for Table IV(b).
When the hybrid beam is in the clampedclamped supporting conditions, the lowest six
natural frequencies obtained from the two methods are shown in Table V(a) for points
P and Q free and in Table V(b) for P and Q pinned. It is evident that the above conclusions drawn from the hingedhinged hybrid beam are also available for Tables V(a)
and (b).
The lowest
ve mode shapes for the hingedhinged hybrid beam with points P and Q
pinned are shown in Figures 7(a)(e), where the abscissa of each
gure denotes the nondimensional co-ordinates = (
0:5)=0:5 and the ordinate denotes the vertical modal displacements {uz }i with respect to the static con
guration of the hybrid beam shown by the
thick dashed line ( ), the mode shapes obtained from the SBSB method are represented by the curves , while those obtained from the SBCB method are denoted by

. Since the natural frequencies obtained from the two methods are very close to each
other, so are the corresponding mode shapes. The same conclusions may also be drawn from
Figures 8(a)(e) for the lowest
ve mode shapes of the clampedclamped hybrid beam with
points P and Q pinned.
Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 58:19071936

1930
Vertical modal displacements, {u~*
-z }1

J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

1.0

0.5

SB-SB
SB-CB
Static form

0.0
-1.0

Vertical modal displa cements, {u~*

-z }2

-0.5

0.5

1.0

1.0

0.5

SB-SB
SB-CB
Static form

0.0
-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

(b)

Vertical modal displacements, {u~*

-z }3

0.0

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

(a)

1.0

0.5

SB-SB
SB-CB
Static form

0.0
-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

(c)

Figure 7. The lowest
ve mode shapes for the hingedhinged hybrid beam obtained from the SB
SB method,
and the SB CB method,
: (a) 1st mode; (b) 2nd mode; (c)
3rd mode; (d) 4th mode; and (e) 5th mode. The thick dashed lines ( ) represent the static
con
gurations of the hybrid beam. Points P and Q are pinned.

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Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 58:19071936

1931

Vertical modal displacements, {u~*

-z }4

FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

1.0

0.5

SB-SB
SB-CB
Static form

0.0
-1.0

Vertical modal displacements, {u~*

-z }5

-0.5

0.5

1.0

1.0

0.5

SB-SB
SB-CB
Static form

0.0
-1.0

(e)

0.0

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

(d)

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

Figure 7. Continued.

9. CONCLUSIONS
1. Although the shape functions presented in this paper are much simpler than the existing
ones, numerical results show that their accuracy is very close to that of the existing ones.
2. For a uniform arch with constant curvature, both the element stiness matrix and element
mass matrix (either consistent or lumped) are invariant if the subtended angle of the arch
element is a constant. Furthermore, because the formulations are based on the polar coordinate system, transformation of each element matrix (from local co-ordinate system
into global one) is not required before assembling. These are the advantages that the
arch element is superior to the straight-beam element for the dynamic analysis of arches.
Besides, for the same mesh density the accuracy of the arch element presented in this
paper is much better than that of the conventional straight beam element.
3. For an arch element, the lumped mass matrix is much simpler than the consistent mass
matrix, but the accuracy between them is indistinguishable. Thus, replacing the complicated consistent mass matrix by the simple lumped mass matrix is also a good choice
for the dynamic analysis of arches.
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Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 58:19071936

1932
Vertical modal displacements, {u~*
-z }1

J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

1.0

0.5

SB-SB
SB-CB
Static form

0.0
-1.0

Vertical modal displacements, {u~*

-z }2

-0.5

0.5

1.0

1.0

0.5

SB-SB
SB-CB
Static form

0.0
-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

(b)

Vertical modal displacements, {u~*

-z }3

0.0

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

(a)

1.0

0.5

SB-SB
SB-CB
Static form

0.0
-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

(c)

Figure 8. The lowest
ve mode shapes for the clampedclamped hybrid beam obtained from the
SB SB method, and the SB CB method,
: (a) 1st mode; (b) 2nd mode;
(c) 3rd mode; (d) 4th mode; and (e) 5th mode. The thick dashed lines ( ) represent the
static con
gurations of the hybrid beam. Points P and Q are pinned.

Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 58:19071936

1933

Vertical modal displacements, {u~*

-z }4

FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

1.0

0.5

SB-SB
SB-CB
Static form

0.0
-1.0

Vertical modal displacements, {u~*

-z }5

-0.5

0.5

1.0

1.0

0.5

SB-SB
SB-CB
Static form

0.0
-1.0

(e)

0.0

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

(d)

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Non-dimensional coordinates, = (-0.5)/0.5

Figure 8. Continued.

4. For the hybrid beam illustrated in this paper, if the conjunctions between the curved
beam segment and the straight beam segments are pinned so that the interference of
translational displacements between the dierent beam segments is signi
cantly reduced,
then the natural frequencies and the associated mode shapes obtained from the SBSB
method are very close to those obtained from the SBCB method, where SB and CB
denote straight beam and curved beam, respectively.

APPENDIX A. COEFFICIENTS OF MATRIX [H ]

Integration according to Equation (24) will give the coecients of the matrix [H ], H ij (i; j =
16). Because of symmetry, only the coecients in the left lower triangle are shown below:




3 
2
Iy


2

H 11 = A
+ C A + 2
R
3

1
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1934

J.-S. WU AND L.-K. CHIANG

H 21 = A[(1 + C) sin
C
cos
]

21

H 22 = A[
]

21
H 31 = A[(1 + C) cos
C
sin
]

21
H 32 = 0
H 33 = A[
]

21


H 41 =

2CIy
A + 3AC + 2
R


2

(sin

cos
) AC
sin

2

1

A
H 42 = [
sin
cos
]

21
2
A
H 43 = [
2 sin2
]

21
2
 3



2
2Iy
A

+ A + 2 (
sin
cos
) A
sin2

H 44 =
3
R

1


H 51 =

C
2



Iy
A+ 2
R


2

2

1

H 52 = A[ cos
]

21
H 53 = A[ sin
]

21




2
2Iy

H 54 = 2A + 2 cos
A
sin

R

1


H 55 =

Iy
A+ 2
R

 
2



H 61 =

A + 3AC +

1

2CIy
R2


2

(cos
+
sin
) AC
2 cos

1

A
H 62 = [
2 + sin2
]

21
2
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FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHES

1935

A
H 63 = [
sin
cos
]

21
2







2
4Iy
1
cos 2

2

A
sin 2
+
+ A + 2 sin

H 64 =
2
2
R

1


H 65 =

2A +

2Iy
R2


2

sin
A
cos


1

 3




2
2Iy
A

+ A sin
(cos
+
sin
) +
(

+
sin


cos

)
H 66 =
3
R2

1

where
[f(
)]

21 = f(
2 ) f(
1 )
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper is part of the project under NSC89-2611-E-006-049, National Science Council, Republic
of China. The
nancial support of NSC is greatly acknowledged. The authors also thank very much
Professor J. Rakowski, author of References [8] and [11], for providing the correct expressions given
in Equations (a) and (b) of this paper.

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nite elements to circular
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Copyright ? 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 58:19071936