Finite strip analysis of continuous structures

M. S. CHEUNGA N D WENCHANG
LI
Deparrmenr of Civil Engineering, Universiv of Ormwa, Ottawa, Ont., Cnnnda KIN 9B4
Received March 20, 1987
Revised manuscript accepted December 7, 1987
The eigenfunctionsof a continuous beam are found numerically. The folded plate type of finite strip with intermediatesupports
is formulated by combining such an eigenfunction in the longitudinal direction with an appropriate finite element shape function
in the transverse direction. The numerical examples given in this paper, such as the continuous beam and plate, demonstrate the
advantages of this method: simplicity, accuracy, and convenience.
Key words: finite strip, continuous structure, eigenfunction, folded plate, plate bending.
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Les fonctions propres d'une poutre continue sont ClaborCes a l'aide de calculs numCriques. Un ClCment fini de type structure
prismatique avec supports intermediaires est Ctabli en combinant une fonction propre dans le sens longitudinal a une fonction de
forme de 1'CICment fini approprike dans le sens transversal. Les exemples numkriques contenus dans cet article illustrant les
avantages de cette mCthode, soit sa simplicitC, sa precision et sa commoditt.
Mots cle's : ClCment fini, structure continue, fonction propre, structure prismatique, cintrage de la t61e.
[Traduit par la revue]
Can. J. Civ. Eng. 15,424-429 (1988)

Introduction A simplified method of deriving the vibration equation of a

For analysis of a structure with constant depth in the
longitudinal direction, the finite strip method has proven to be
the most efficient method. It uses beam eigenfunction series in
the longitudinal direction, thus reducing the number of dimen-
sions of the analysis by at least one (Cheung 1968, 197 1). So
For personal use only.
continuous beam is presented. The numerical solutions of this
equation are discussed in detail, particularly with respect to
ensuring that all of the modes are covered. Advice on choosing
the number of integration points in the longitudinal direction is
also offered, based upon experience.

far, this method has been extensively applied to static and
dynamic analyses of folded plate structures, box-girder bridges,
3-dimensional prisms (Cheung and Chan 1978), thick plates,
etc.. Combined with the flexibility method, the finite strip
method can also be used to analyze the continuous plate and
bridges with intermediate columns (Cheung et al. 1970) or
continuous line supports (Ghali and Tadros 1972). However, in
this case the convergence of the basic beam function series is
much slower than in the simply supported case. Therefore, it is
necessary to find a new type of shape functions in order to
accelerate the convergence in the finite strip analysis of
continuous structures. This function must be orthogonal,
continuous, and differentiable respect to the longitudinal
coordinate.
Several different continuous functions were evaluated in
terms of their suitability, simplicity, and rate of convergence.
Continuous beam vibration function was selected to represent
the shape function in the longitudinal direction of a strip,
because this function meets all the requirements stated above
and, in addition, it can effectively represent all types of loading
patterns such as point load and uniformly distributed load, etc.,
with minimum number of series terms. Also, the beam vibration
functions can be conveniently programmed on electronic
computers.
1;this paper, the free vibration equation of a continuous beam
is solved numerically, and then its eigenfunctions are directly
used as the shape functions in the longitudinal direction for finite
strip analysis of structures with intermediate line supports. In
this way the analyses are simplified and become more conven-
ient, accurate, and efficient. In addition, the convergence of this
modified strip is improved significantly in comparison with the
conventional "flexibility approach."
NOTE: Written discussion of this paper is welcomed and will be
received by the Editor until September 30, 1988 (address inside front
cover).
The numerical examples of the continuous beam and plate
demonstrate the convenience, accuracy, and efficiency of the
method.
Derivation and solution of eigen equation
The eigenfunctions, YIn(y), obtained from the general solu-
tion of the governing differential equation of a continuous
beam, are applied directly as the finite strip shape functions in
the longitudinal direction. These functions constitute a com-
plete orthogonal series, which is a necessary condition for
convergence to the exact solution when successively increasing
the number of terms. Since the functions are orthogonal, the
following integrations over the whole beam vanish:
This orthogonality property greatly enhanced the efficiency of
the method. In this paper only the continuous beam with simply-
supported ends is discussed (Fig. 1).
The beam vibration differential equation (Gorman 1975;
Timoshenko and Young 1974) is
[I] d4y/dy4 = p4Y
where p4 = p 2 ~ y / ~ EI ~ gis, flexural rigidity, A is the cross-
sectional area, y is the weight of material of the beam per unit
volume, g is the gravitational acceleration, and p is the
frequency of vibration of the beam (rad/s).
Because all of the spans of the continuous beam vibrate at the
same frequency p , it follows that p is the same for all spans.
The general solution of this equation for any one span can then
be expressed as
[2] Y(y) = C1 sin p y + C2 cos p y + Cg sinh p y
+ C4 cash p y
in which C1 . .. C4 are constants which should be determined in
each particular case from the end conditions of each span.
 CHEUNG AND LI

FIG. 1. Continuous beam with n spans.

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FIG. 2. The first span.

FIG. 4. Span i.
For personal use only.

FIG. 3. The last span

For the first span (Fig. 2), Yl(0) = Y;'(O) = 0, Y1(l1) = 0.

Equation [2] becomes
131 Yl(y) = Al(sin FYI - sinh FYI)
and hence
a l = sin kll/sinh k l l
For the last span n (Fig. 3), in order to simplify mathe- FIG. 5. Support i.
matical procedures, it is decided to use a new coordinate system,
y; = 1, - y,, to express the general solution of the beam dYi - FA~,~(COS
vibration equation for this span. -- kyi - ai cosh pyi)
dy
[4] Y,(y;) = A,(sin ky; - a, sinh ky;) - kAi,,(cos ky: - ai cosh ky:)
where
a, = sin kl,,/sinh p1,
d2Yj
-- - - k2Ai,l(sin kyi + ai sin kyi)
dy2
Each intermediate span i (Fig. 4) can be treated as a com- - k2 Ai,2(sin kyl + ai sinh k y a
bination of the above-mentioned two situations, i.e., For simplicity, the following notation is introduced:
[5] Yi = A;,l(sin ky; - a; sinh kyi) [8] SL; = cos k l i - ai cosh pl;
+
A;,,(sin FYI - ai sinh ky:) The compatibility conditions between span ( i - 1) and span i at
where the support i (Fig. 5, yi- = lip I , y,L = 0 , yi = 0, y j = li) are
1. The slope of adjacent spans must be equal. Therefore, by
a; = sin kli/sinh kli using [6] and [8], the following equation can be obtained:
and

2. The curvatures must also be continuous over the support i.

Evidently, the first and the last span of a continuous beam can be
considered as the particular case of an intermediate span, with
A1,2= 0 and A,,, = 0. Therefore, [5] can be used to express the
solution for all spans. The slope, dYi/dy, and curvature, d2Yi/
dy2, of a continuous beam can then be expressed as
From [7] and [5], the following equation can similarly be
obtained:
[lo] Ai-l.lsin kl;-, = AiV2sink l i
The values of IJ, and AiJ, (i = 1, ..., n, j = 1,2) have to
 426 CAN. J. CIV. ENG. VOL. 15, 1988

satisfy the compatibility conditions ([91 and [lo]) at all of the

intermediate supports. Besides, p. must also satisfy the end
conditions of the beam:

Equation [I 11 states that M , = 0 at both ends of the beam.

The A i j expresses only the mode shape, not its size; hence it
may be adopted, without loss of generality,

For a given p., A;, I and A;,, can be evaluated from the known
values A,- ,, I and A;- , 2 by using [9] and [lo]. Doing this span
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by span, finally, all the A,,, up to A,,,I and A n t 2 which

, are the
functions of p., can be calculated. If all the A,,, do not
simultaneously equal zero, and the value of p. makes

then p. and A,,, have satisfied both the compatibility conditions

and the end conditions. Therefore, these values give a valid
solution. In solving [9] and [lo], the different procedures must
be followed, depending on whether or not sin p.1, = 0 and sin
p.1;-, = 0.
1. If sin p.1; f 0 , from [9] and [lo],
[I41 Aif2= A;- sin p.1;- ,/sin p.1;
[I51 A;., = ( A ; - I , ~ S L ~-- ~A ; - I , ~ (-~ + Ai,2SL;)/
(1- a;)
For personal use only.

2. If sin p.1, = 0 , p.1; = tnn (m = 1,2,.. .). From [5], it can

then be seen that cq = 0 and
FIG. 6. Schematic of Reguli-Falsi iteration pattern.
Y;= A;,l sin p.yi + sin py'
=
sin p.yi + Ai,2 sin(mn - byi)
= (A;, 1 5 A;,?) sin p.yi Starting with the point p . ~ p., is increased by a small increment
This means that the coefficients and are dependent 8p. in every step. At every trial point p., A,,,l(p.) is determined
variables. Hence, again without loss of generality, = 0 can from A l , l = 1 and A1,? = 0 by using [14], [15],
be assumed, so that etc. However, in some cases, if An.I changes its sign between
two trial points p.(O)= p. - 8p. (the previous trial point) and p.(')
[I61 Yi = Ainlsin p.y, = p. (the present trial point), the straight line is drawn between
,
It is noted, however, that the calculation of A,, still depends on the points (~.(O),A,,, and ( p . ( l ) , ~ ,I , ,(p.(ll)) as shown in
the value of sin p.li-, associated with the previous span i - 1, Fig. 6. The intersection of the straight line with the p. axis is at
and it must be considered separately for the two cases of sin p.(2)which is closer to the solution Il,than p.").
p.li--I = 0 and sin p.1;- f 0 . From p.('), the point (p.('),A,,, is located and the straight
1. I f ~ i n p . l ~=-O~, t h e n Y , - , = A ; - I . I s i n p . y ; - l , A ; - ~ . ~ = line is connected to ( p ( 0 ) , ~ , , , or (~.(I),A,,, l(p.(l))), de-
0 and [lo] becomes an "identity". Then, from the slope pending on at which point A,,,I has a different sign from
compatibility condition alone ([9]), we can obtain ~ ) ) .locates p.(3)on the p. axis, which is closer to the
~ , , , ~ ( p . (This
desired result than p.('). The process is repeated until
~ 9 1~ A , , , I ( ~ . ) ~ < ~ I
2. If sin p.1;- I f; 0, A,- must be zero; otherwise it does not
satisfy [lo]. Then,.from the slope compatibility condition alone The iteration formula (Lapidus 1962) is
([9]), we can obtain

However, in the case of the first interior support (between spans
+
1 and 2) if sin p.ll 0 but sin p.1' = 0 , it can result A,,, = 0 ( i =
2, ..., n,j = 1,2) from [12], [16], [18], etc. In this case,
,
although A,,, = 0 , p. is still not a solution of [I], because it
violates the curvature compatibility condition ([lo]) at the first
interior support.
In the case of the last span, if sin p.1,, = 0 , the curvature at the
end of the beam is automatically equal to zero. Therefore, in this
case, even though [13] is not satisfied, p. may still be a solution
of the [I].
The first-order Reguli-Falsi iteration (Lapidus 1962) is used
to solve p. and A,,, (Fig. 6).
Continuing to increase p. by 6p. for every step, eventually the
sufficient eigenvalues, p.,,,, and modes, A;(;!"),will be iden-
tified as many as required by the finite strip analysis.
When [14] is applied to determine from A;- both
sides of [lo] were divided by sin p.li, which might result in
missing the solution of sin p.1; = 0. Therefore, if during a
particular increment of p., sin p.1; changes its sign, then p. =
m.rr/l; must be used as the trial point to calculate A;,, and see if
this is one of the eigenvalues. However, in any other case, it
must not take any trial value of p. equal to rnnll, so as to avoid
situations such as sin p.1' = 0 whilst sin p.li f; 0 , which will
result in an erroneous value of A,, l(p.).
 CHEUNG AND LI

where X = x l b .
The strain-displacement relations are
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FIG. 7. Folded plate strip.

TABLE1. The proper number of seg-

ments and Gauss points, n, = p,,ll,,lj/a,
n,,, = number of segments in span i,
and n~,,,, = number of Gauss points in
each segment
For personal use only.

Substituting [21] into [22], [22] can then be rewritten in the

following form:

The stiffness matrix of the strip corresponding to the mth and

In the computer program, the following values were used:
and assume sin pli = 0 if lsin plil<lO-lO.
If the lengths of all the spans are not exactly the same, but
slightly different from each other, then p = mn/li is not a
solution, and the sign of An,,(p) changes drastically near p =
mn/li. In this case, smaller increments of S p must be used in
order to prevent the possibility of missing rnodes. For example,
if all of the spans have a magnitude of either l,, or lmi,, and if 0
< (1,,,- lmin)/l,, < 0.05, it requires great care not to miss
the solution near m.rr/l,,,. The recommended remedial mea-
sure is that if there has been m.rr/l,,, - p < S p , the increment
is reduced to S p r = m.rr(l/lmin- 1/1,,,)/4 and the next trial
value of p is changed into p. = m.rr/l,,, +6 k r / 2 . After the
eigenvalue near ma/l,,, is found, the original increment S p =
mn/301j,ax is resumed.
Formulation of folded plate strip
Each folded plate strip is subject to in-plane stresses and to
out-of-plane bending forces (Cheung 1976) (Fig. 7). The nodal
displacements and forces of the strip corresponding to the mth
series term are
The displacement field within a plate strip is
nth series terms is
Krr1r1 = SLSbB;lDBrl dx dy
In the .r direction, the integration can be implemented analyti-
cally; however, in the y direction the Gauss integration method
has to be used because of the complexity of the integration in the
stiffness matrix. Since JLYr:,Y:6y and JLYr:,'Yrl dy are not
equal to zero if m is not the same as n, the terms of the series are
coupled. In evaluating the stiffness matrix, the number of Gauss
integration points must be properly chosen in order to achieve
desired accuracy and efficiency. When necessary, every span
can be divided into several segments and in each segment 8 to 10
integration points can be used. The selection of segment size
and Gauss integration points are mainly dependent on the
highest-order harmonic, n, = p,,,li/n, to be evaluated in the
stiffness matrix. Based on our experience the best selection that
will achieve a reasonable balance between accuracy and
efficiency of the solution is given in Table 1.
Using the procedures commonly used in finite element or
finite strip methods (Cheung 1976), it is not difficult to obtain
the final solutions required, such as displacements and stresses
within the whole folded plate structure.
Numerical examples
Continuous beam
The beam shown in Fig. 8 was analyzed using only one
continuous strip. The deflection is symmetrical with respect to
the intermediate support, and hence only the symmetrical
modes were used as the shape functions in the longitudinal
 CAN. I. CIV. ENG. VOL. 15, 1988

TABLE
2. Deflection and longitudinal stress of continuous beam

1 0.01230 646.6 886.2 531.8 -304.5 -1339.

3 0.01228 667.3 833.1 546.5 -246.0 -1455.
5 0.01232 663.4 840.5 536.4 -235.0 -1480.
7 0.01232 659.5 840.7 541.7 -237.9 -1488.
10 0.01233 658.9 839.2 539.2 -240.9 -1493.

Beam theory 0.01250 660.0 840.0 540.0 -240.0 -1500.

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TABLE
3. Deflections and moments of continuous plate

Number of Number of
strips terms WA Wc MYB

1 3 -0.0612 0.2916 -0.0275

9 -0.0586 0.2918 -0.0350
15 -0.0585 0.2922 -0.0369
21 -0.0585 0.2922 -0.0375
For personal use only.

Exact -0.0583 0.2896 -0.0381

Multiplier w4/D

direction. The deflection at midspan and the longitudinal

stresses at several points along the bottom nodal line are given in
Table 2. It shows the excellent agreement between the finite
strip results and those obtained from closed-form solution.
Simply supported continuous plate (Timoshenko 1959)
A rectangular plate of width a and length 3 a , simply
supported along all of the edges and also along the intermediate
lines ss and tt, as shown in Fig. 9, forms a simply supported
continuous plate over three spans. The middle span is uniformly FIG. 8. Continuous beam.
loaded while the two side spans are unloaded. A series of
calculations for half a plate were carried out for different mcsh
sizes and using different numbers of terms. The results are If the same examples were analyzed by using traditional finite
shown in Table 3. It can be seen that w,, wc, and MK require strip/flexibility method, it would require at least 50 or more
only 3 terms and two strips in order to obtain reasonable series terms in order to achieve similar accuracy as obtained in
accurate results, while Myc, My* needs 9 and 15 terms, the above analyses. This represents a tremendous improvement
respectively, to yield the results with errors less than 5.0%. This of convergence of the finite strip method when dealing with
means that usually more series terms are required to compute the continuous structures. Because of this improvement, the finite
bending moment in the y direction. The results of bending strip method will become more attractive to engineers in
moment, M y , distribution along x = 0 is shown in Fig. 10. analyzing continuous structures.
From this example, it can be seen that in calculating
longitudinal bending moment the effect of the total number of Conclusions
terms on its accuracy of calculation is much greater than the It has been shown that the vibration eigenfunctions of a
effect of the number of strips. On the other hand, when continuous beam can be effectively used as the longitudinal
calculating M I , the effect of the number of strips would have shape functions to formulate continuous finite strips. The
greater influence than the number of series terms in the series. numerical procedures introduced for obtaining these eigenfunc-
 CHEUNG A N D LI
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FIG. 9. Continuous plate.
For personal use only.
FIG. 10. Variation of M,, along the line x = 0.
tions requires very little additional core storage and C P U time. It
can be easily implemented on personal computers such as IBM
XT and AT.
The numerical examples given above have shown that these
functions improve the accuracy and efficiency of finite strip
analysis of continuous structures significantly. This new type of
finite strip will be an efficient, accurate, and versatile tool for
analysis of continuous structure.
Acknowledgement
The financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engin-
eering Research Council of Canada is gratefully acknowledged.
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University of Calgary, Calgary, Aha.
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CHEUNG, M. S., CHEUNG, Y. K., and G H A L ~ A., 1970. Analysis of
slab and girder bridges by the finite strip method. Building Science,
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CHEUNG, Y. K. 1968. The finite strip method in the analysis of elastic
plates with two opposite simply supported ends. Proceedings,
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