Akshay Bura, / Civil Engineering Dept, BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus

DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF BEAMS BY USING

THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
Akshay Bura [2014H143016H]
Department of Civil Engineering, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus,
Email: bura.akshay@gmail.com

1) Free and Forced Vibration:

When a disturbing force is applied only once to give a
mass on initial displacement, it is known as free vibration.
On the other hand, when the exciting force is applied
periodically during the motion of structure, it is called as
forced vibrations.

Abstract: Beams, that is, structures that carry loads that

are mainly in transverse direction producing flexural stresses
and lateral displacements are an integral part of any structural
system. The scope of present work is to study the dynamic
behavior of beam structures by the finite element method
(FEM). Initially the static characteristics for a beam segment
are developed through FEM; and then introduce the dynamic
effects produced by inertial forces. The lumped mass method
and consistent mass method have been discussed. But for this
study the distributed mass is assigned to point masses will be
utilized to take into account the inertial effect in structure.
FEM formulations with stiffness method will be used to
analyze the beam. The objective is to find the natural
frequency of free vibration of simply supported beams by FEM
and compare it with exact solutions for validation. A Matlab
Code is also developed for the same method..

2) Damped and Undamped System:

In the absence of dissipative forces acting on a vibrating
mass, the amplitude of vibration is constant, and the motion
is said to be undamped system. In real systems, dissipative
forces, such as friction, are present and retard the motion.
Consequently, the mechanical energy of the system
diminishes in time, and the motion is said to be damped.
3) Single-degree of Freedom System and Multi-degree of
Freedom System:
A degree of freedom is defined as the independent
coordinate with which we define the displaced shape of the
structure. A system with a single coordinate function is said
to be a single-degree-of freedom system (SDOF). When a
continuum system is discretized for idealization, many
degrees of freedom are introduced in the system. Such a
system is called multi-degree of freedom system (MDOF).

Keywords: Dynamic analysis; Finite element method; Free

Vibration analysis; Consistent Mass Matrix; Euler-Bernoulli
Beam

I.

INTRODUCTION

Classical analyses of structures subjected to static

loading are based on the assumption that the loads and the
resulting stresses are independent of time. However, in the
case of a suddenly applied constant load, not only higher
displacements and stresses, but also transient vibration, will
be generated within the structure. As a result, some fatigue
life could be consumed during the vibrational motion.
Therefore, it is important that the dynamic analysis must be
taken into account. Beam-type structures are widely used in
many branches of modern civil, mechanical and aerospace
engineering. Most of the engineering structures are
subjected to time and space varying loads. Moving loads
have considerable effects on the dynamic behavior of the
engineering structures. Hence studying its behavior can be
utilized in design of such structures.
There are various types of classes of dynamic structures
based on the characteristics of the problem. Vibrations occur
when only two kinds of forces are acting on it:
(a) An elastic restoring force within the system and
(b) Gravitational or other constant forces that cause no
displacement from the equilibrium position of the system.
Following are some of the terms based on which the
characteristics of problem are defined.

Akshay Bura, / Civil Engineering Dept, BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus

The scope of this study is restricted to free undamped
vibration of simply supported Euler-Bernoulli Beams. The
general equation of motion for governing the linear dynamic
response of a system of finite elements is given by
following equation.
[M] + [C] + [K]u = [R]
[M]: Mass matrix
[C]: Damping matrix
[K]: Stiffness matrix
[R]: Force matrix (Forced Vibration)

: Accelerations
: Velocity
u : Displacements
For undamped free vibration, the equation becomes
[M] + [K]u = 0
II.

STATICS OF EULER-BERNOULLI BEAM

The stiffness matrix [K]of a beam segment can be

derived by assuming a cubic polynomial for the
displacement function using FEM.

III.

DYNAMICS OF EULER-BERNOULLI BEAM

The dynamic effects produced by the inertial forces

can be approximated by two methods, namely,
A. Lumped Mass method:
In this method, the distributed mass is assigned to
point masses i.e. at the nodes of the element. The
assemblage of mass matrix for entire structure is
done by adding the contribution of lumped masses
at the nodal coordinates defined as translations.

Akshay Bura, / Civil Engineering Dept, BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus

The figure below shows lumped masses for various
cases of a beam.
= mass per unit length

IV.

NATURAL FREQUENCY OF THE BEAM

The elemental matrices can be assembled in the usual

manner. The internal force vectors will cancel each
other, except at the nodes where essential boundary
conditions are prescribed. However, the rows and
column corresponding to essential boundary conditions
may be eliminated from the global matrices. In view of
this, the global finite element equations are obtained as,
[M]{} + [K]{U} = 0

--------------------

(1)

where [K] : Global Stiffness matrix

[M]: Global Mass matrix
In free vibrations, the structure undergoes harmonic motion.
Hence, {U} = {a}sinwt & {} = -w2sinwt-----------------(2)
Where {a} is the vector containing the amplitudes and is
the circular frequency. Putting the equation (2) in equation
(1), the following eigen value problem for free vibration is
obtained:
( [K] -- w2 [M]) {a} = 0
Therefore, det[ [K] -- w2 [M]] = 0

Hence for three noded cantilever beam, the mass matrix

would produce diagonal matrix such as [M] = [m1 0 m2 0]

From the above equation(also known as characteristic

equation), the natural frequencies and mode shapes are
found out. The lowest frequency is the natural or
fundamental frequency of the beam.

B. Consistent Mass Matrix by FEM:

In this method, the distributed mass is assigned to
the point masses including the rotational effects.

A. Example of two noded Simply supported beam

with uniform mass.

Let A= c/s area ; E= Modulus of Elasticity; I = M.I of beam

rho = density of material ; m= uniform mass/length
Mass Matrix [M] is given by

Akshay Bura, / Civil Engineering Dept, BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus

156 22L
rho A L
420

54

13L

22L 4L2

13L 3L

54

156 22L

13L

Stiffness
matrix[K]
is given by

The frequency and mode shapes obtained from above

equations from FEM can be verified by the exact solution of
the governing differential equation of flexural vibration of
uniform beams.
From FBD of below given figure,

13L 3L2 22L 4L2

12 6L 12 6L

2
2
E I 6L 4L 6L 2L

2
3
L 12 6L 2L 6L

2
2
6L 2L 6L 4L

As displacements in 1 and 3 coordinates are zero, removing

those rows and columns and writing the characteristic
equation, we get,

4 3 4 2 X2 0

3 4 2 4 X4
0

4
2 rho A L

420EI

and

where =
The eigensolution of the problem gave two values of , viz:
0.286 and 6.00
The lowest natural frequency obtained was
=10.76(EI/mL4)1/2
A. Simply Supported Beam:
The solution of the above equation for free
vibration of simply supported beam is obtained through
separation of variables. It is the product of the function of
position (x) and function of time f(t).

Matlab code was developed [Appendix A] to obtain the

frequencies and the mode shapes from the above eigen
value problem. For a simply supported 2 noded beam with
uniform mass, the natural frequency obtained was

y(x,t) = sin (n(pi)x/L) [Ancos t + Bsin t]

=10.76(EI/mL4)1/2

and = n22 (EI/mL4)1/2 and n22 = Cn

V.

COMPARISON WITH EXACT SOLUTION

For simply supported beam with n=1, Cn

= 2

Akshay Bura, / Civil Engineering Dept, BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus

Appendix A
MATLAB CODE for Simply Supported beam
% dynamics of beam by finite element
method
function beam_dynamics_6()
clc;
nj=2;
ne=1;
neq=2*nj;
K=zeros(neq,neq);
M=zeros(neq,neq);
% give nodi and nodj of each member
nodi=1;
The natural frequency obtained from FEM analysis was
nodj=2;
10.74 whileFigure
that showing
of exact FBD
solution
was 9.86.
the vibration
of uniform
beamHence
with flexural
%give the values of e,a,i angle and
results give satisfactory results. It should also be noted that
lengths of members
FEM being approximate method, the accuracy depends on
e=210e9;
the number of elements taken for the beam. If we increase
a=[1,1];
the no of nodes in the FEM analysis i.e in the MATLAB
mi=[1,1];
code, the natural frequency attains closer values to exact
l=[5,5];
solution values.
VI.

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE SCOPE

% give density of the material

rho=25;
% number of constraint degrees of
freedom
nbou=2;
% the numbers of constrained degrees of
freedom
nb=[1 3];

A. Future Scope:
The dynamic analysis can be extended to
indeterminate structures such as fixed
beams and also to plane frames.
The same Matlab Code can be tweaked to
incorporate shear deformations and rotary
inertia which occur in Timoshenko beams

% form 4 x 4 element stiffness and mass

matrix and assemble wilson method
for n=1:ne
i=nodi(n);
j=nodj(n);
k=PlaneFrameElementStiffness(e,mi(n),l(n
));
m=PlaneFrameElementMass(rho,a(n),l(n));
K=PlaneFrameAssemble(K,k,i,j);
M=PlaneFrameAssemble(M,m,i,j);
end
% apply boundary conditions using wilson
method
for i=1:nbou
ii=nb(i);
for j=1:neq
K(ii,j)=0.0;
K(j,ii)=0.0;
M(ii,j)=0.0;
M(j,ii)=0.0;
end
end

Acknowledgment
The author gratefully acknowledges the contributions of
Prof.P N Rao for his guidance throughout the project.

References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]

[6]
[7]

Chopra, Anil K. Dynamics of Structures: Theory and applications to

earthquake engineering, Pearson Edu., 4th edition, 2012.
R.W. Clough and J. Penzien, Dynamics of Structures, Second
edition, McGraw Hill International edition, 1993.
M. Mukhopadhyay, Structural Dynamics: Vibrations & Systems
Anes Student Edition,2010.
Mario Paz, Structural Dynamics - Theory and Computation, Van
Nostrand, 1985.
Ma'az Siddig Ibrahim and Abdel Rahman Elzubair Mohamed,
Analysis of Shear Wall Structures using the Moment Transformation
Method, Journal of Science and Technology - Engineering and
Computer Sciences, Vol. 14, No. 3, June 2013.
H.-S. Kim, D.-G. Lee ,Analysis of shear wall with openings using
super elements, Engineering Structures 25 (2003).
Uday S. Dixit, Finite Element Methods In Engineering, Department
of Mechanical Engg, Guwahati.

Akshay Bura, / Civil Engineering Dept, BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus

K( ~any(K,2), : ) = [];
K( :, ~any(K,1) ) = [];

%rows
%columns

M( ~any(M,2), : ) = [];
M( :, ~any(M,1) ) = [];

%rows
%columns

%n=[0.5,0,0,0,0,0;0,.5,0,0,0,0;0,0,0,0,0
,0;0,0,0,.5,0,0;0,0,0,0,.5,0;0,0,0,0,0,0
];
y=((rho*A*l)/420)*n;
function y = PlaneFrameAssemble(K,k,i,j)
%PlaneFrameAssemble This function
assembles the element stiffness
% matrix k of the plane frame element
with nodes
% i and j into the global stiffness
matrix K.

% Solve general eigenvalue problem

[X , Omega2 ]= eig (K , M );
% diag ( A ) extracts the elements of
the
% [ A ] matrix along the diagonal
Omega = diag ( sqrt ( Omega2 ));
%
%
X
%
%
X

% This function returns the global

stiffness
% matrix K after the element stiffness
matrix
% k is assembled.
lm(1)=2*i-1;
lm(2)=2*i;
lm(3)=2*j-1;
lm(4)=2*j;
for l=1:4
ii=lm(l);
for n=1:4
jj=lm(n);
K(ii,jj)=K(ii,jj)+k(l,n);
end
end
y = K;

Scale column 1 of the [ X ] matrix by

the row 1 , column 1 X value
(: ,1)= X (: ,1)/ X (1 ,1);
Scale column 2 of the [ X ] matrix by
the row 1 , column 2 X value
(: ,2)= X (: ,2)/ X (1 ,2);

Omega
X
function y =
PlaneFrameElementStiffness(e,mi,l)
%PlaneFrameElementStiffness This
function returns the element
% stiffness matrix for a plane frame
% element with modulus of elasticity E,
% cross-sectional area A, moment of
% inertia I, length L, and angle
% theta (in degrees).
% The size of the element stiffness
% matrix is 4 x 4.
y = (e*mi/(l^3))*[12,6*l,12,6*l;6*l,4*(l^2),-6*l,2*(l^2);-12,6*l,12,-6*l;6*l,2*(l^2),-6*l,4*(l^2)];
function y =
PlaneFrameElementMass(rho,A,l)
%PlaneFrameElementMass This function
returns the mass
% matrix for a plane frame
% element with mass density rho,
% cross-sectional area A, length L, and
% angle theta (in degrees).
% The size of the element stiffness
% matrix is 4 x 4.
% for consistent mass use the following
%mass matrix of frame element consistent
matrix
n=[156,22*l,54,-13*l;22*l,4*(l^2),13*l,3*(l^2);54,13*l,156,-22*l;-13*l,3*(l^2),-22*l,4*(l^2)];
% lumped mass