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A New Element for Dynamic Analysis of Non-

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Iranian Journal of Structural Engineering
2014 1(1) 63-68
RESEARCH PAPER

I r a n i a n J o u r n a l of
Structural Engineering

A New Element for Dynamic Analysis of Non-Prismatic Semi-

Rigid Frames
R. Attarnejad, A. Pirmoz*
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Received: 23 July 2014 Accepted: 12 September 2014

Abstract: Implementation of the mechanical characteristics of the flexible connections for more exact analysis and
reliable design of structures needs development of new and more robust approaches. Such models
become more complex when the mechanical properties of the structural members such as the geometric
or mechanical characteristics are variable within their length. Herein, a new element formulation is
proposed for analysis of semi-rigid members with non-prismatic members. This new element,
formulated based on the concepts of Basic Displacement Functions, provides an exact solution for a non-
prismatic semi-rigid frame.

Keywords: Semi-rigid frames; Non-prismatic beams; Basic displacement functions; Vibration analysis

1. Introduction
The recent inspiration of the practice toward an accurate analysis and design of members with flexible connections
has been motivated the researchers to develop new approaches with a higher accuracy. Kawashima and Fujimoto
[1] studied the dynamic response of semi-rigid frames considering stiffness and damping of the semi-rigid joints.
They concluded that the dynamic response of the studied frames is a function of the mechanical characteristics of its
connections. Chui and Chan [2] studied the vibration and deflection response of a three story semi-rigid frame. The
obtained results showed that the connection characteristics have a less contribution on the dynamic and deflection
response of the braced frame than the unbraced one. Sophianopoulos [3] studied the effect of joint flexibility on the
free vibration of steel frames. For the studied L-shaped frame, the results showed that as the connection stiffness
increases, a sudden transition to a higher mode occurs. Other works on the transient response of semi-rigid frames
for dynamic loadings showed a relatively higher impact of the semi-rigid connections on the frames’ response [4, 5].
Implementation of the non-prismatic structural members in the gable frames or complex structures such as
aircrafts, turbine blades and space vehicles necessitates their exact solution which can be achieved through either
formulating new elements or enhancing the existing approximate elements [6]. Chambers et al. [7] derived stiffness
matrix for 2D frame elements with radius flange reductions. Kim and Engelhardt [8] developed a new non-prismatic
element for elastic modeling of frames with reduced beam section (RBS) members. Ece et al. [9] analyzed the free
vibration response of beams with exponentially varying width and constant height. Attarnejad [10, 11] presented a
formulation for exact analysis of non-prismatic beams. In this method, special functions, Basic Displacement
Functions (BDFs), are developed, from which exact shape functions are obtained. This method, successfully
implemented for dynamic analysis of non-prismatic beams with rigid or simple ends [12-16], possesses a higher
accuracy and little computational effort with respect to the current analytical methods. This paper focuses on the
implementation of BDFs in the dynamic analysis of semi-rigid frames with non-prismatic members.

2. Basic Definitions
2D Euler-Bernoulli beam element with linear rotational springs at its both ends is considered, herein. According to

* Corresponding author,
Ph.D. Candidate, E-mail address: a.pirmoz@ut.ac.ir
R. Attarnejad, A. Pirmoz IJSE 2014 1(1) 63-68

the number of degree-of-freedom (DOF) of the end nodes and the illustration of Fig. 1, corresponding BDFs are
introduced as:
bv1: vertical displacement of the left node due to a unit load at distance x when the beam is clamped at the right node
as illustrated in Fig. 1(a);
bθ1: angle of rotation of the left node due to a unit load at distance x when the beam is clamped at the right node as
illustrated in Fig. 1(b);
bv2: vertical displacement of the right node due to a unit load at distance x when the beam is clamped at the left node
as illustrated in Fig. 1(c);
bθ2: angle of rotation of the right node due to a unit load at distance x when the beam is clamped at the left node as
illustrated in Fig. 1(d);
bu1: axial displacement of the left node due to a unit load at distance x when the beam is clamped at the right node as
illustrated in Fig. 1(e);
bu2: axial displacement of the right node due to a unit load at distance x when the beam is clamped at the left node as
illustrated in Fig. 1(f);
The BDFs are formulated using the unit load theorem as:

s ( s  x)
bv1 x   
L
ds (1)
x EI s 

 ( s  x)
b1 x   
L
ds (2)
x EI s 

bv 2 x   
x L  s ( x  s)ds (3)
0 EI s 

( s  x)
b 2 x   
x
ds (4)
0 EI s 

Fig. 1. Definitions of BDFs

Based on the definition of BDFs, the nodal flexibility matrices for the nodes of the elements become:

 bv1 (0) b 1 (0) 

F11   dbv1 db 1  (5-a)
 x 0 x 0 
 dx dx 

 bv 2 ( L) b 2 ( L) 
F22   dbv 2 db 2  (5-b)
 x L x L 
 dx dx 

From these nodal flexibility matrices, the nodal stiffness matrices, the inverted form of the flexibility matrices, are
obtained.

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A New Element for Dynamic Analysis of Non-Prismatic … IJSE 2014 1(1) 63-68

3. Shape Functions
For a general beam subjected to an external loading (Fig. 2), equivalent nodal forces are given as:

F   q( x )N T dx (6)
L

However, based on the concept of BDFs, equivalent nodal forces are:

F    q( x )dx (7)
L

Comparing (6) with (7), one can obtain shape functions as follows:

N  BT  (8)

in which:
K 0   F111 0  (9)
   11  
 0 K 22   0 F221 

T  bv1 b 1 bv 2 b 2  (10)

T  bv1 b1 bv2 b2  (11)

  (12)
M    A( x )T dx 
L 

  (13)
K    EI ( x )T dx 
L 

If necessary, the nodal flexibility, stiffness and mass values corresponding to the axial degree of freedom for the
beam could be calculated in a similar way and added to Eqs. (12) and (13).

4. Assembling the Flexible End Connections

Based on the Finite Element (FE) formulation, the equilibrium equation between the nodal displacements, d, and
nodal force, f, vectors are defined by the element stiffness matrix, K, as bellow:

f  K. d (14)

d  u1 v1 1 u2 v2  2  (15)

T

f  N1 Q1 M1 N 2 M 2  (16)

T
Q2

The stiffness matrix of a nodal element (Fig. 2), ignoring the shear and axial displacements, couples its nodal
moment and displacement vectors in the form of Eq. (17):

M i   ri  ri  i 
 M     r   (i=1,2) (17)
 i  i ri  i 

Fig. 2. Beam element with flexible joints at the both ends

65
R. Attarnejad, A. Pirmoz IJSE 2014 1(1) 63-68

Eq. (18) defines the equilibrium equation of the system shown in Fig. 2 as follows:

 M 1   r1  r1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1 
 M    r r  D D36 0 D32 D35 D31 D34  1 
 1  1 1 33

M 2   0 D63 r2  D66  r2 D62 D65 D61 D64   2 

     (18)
 2 
M 0 0  r2 r2 0 0 0 0   2 
   
 Q1   0 D23 D26 0 D22 D25 D21 D24   v1 

 Q2   0 D53 D56 0 D52 D55 D51 D54  v2 
    
 N1   0 D13 D16 0 D12 D15 D11 D14  u1 

N   0 D44  u2 
 2  D43 D46 0 D42 D45 D41

where, Dij, denote the elements of the stiffness matrix of a non-prismatic beam obtained by Eq. (13). Assuming that
the nodal forces (loads) are applied on the external loads, we have:

M1  M 2  0 (19)

 (r1  D33 )1  D36 2  r11  [ D32 D35 D31 D34 ] u (20)

D631  (r2  D66 ) 2  r2 2  [ D62 D65 D61 D64 ] u

u  v1 v2 u1 u2 
T
(21)

(r1  D33 ) D36  1  r1 0  1   D32 D35 D31 D34 
    (22)
 D (r2  D66 )  2   0 r2   2   D62 D61 D64 
u
 63 D65

(r  D33 ) D36  1 (r  D66 )  D36 

(23)
A 1   A1   2
 D63 (r2  D66 )    D63 (r1  D33 )

  (r1  D33 )(r2  D66 )  D63D36 (24)

1   r 0  1   D32 D35 D31 D34  

1  1 (25)
   A        u 
 2    0 r2   2   D62 D65 D61 D64  

 M1  r11  r11  M  r 0  1  r1 0  1  (26)

   1   1      
M 2  r2 2  r2 2 M 2   0 r2   2   0 r2   2 

 M1  r1 0  1  r1 0  1  r1 0  1   D32 D35 D31 D34   (27)
M    0 r      0 r  A   0 r      D u
D61 D64  
 2  2  2   2  2  2   62 D65

Similarly, the shear and axial components are arranged and the equilibrium equation between the force and
displacement vectors of the equivalent element is established as:

 M 1   Rr11 Rr12 Ra11 Ra12 Ra13 Ra14  1 

M   Rr Ra24   2 
 2   21 Rr22 Ra21 Ra22 Ra23
 Q1   YR11 YR12 Ya11 Ya12 Ya13 Ya14   v1  (28)
   
 Q2   YR21 YR22 Ya21 Ya22 Ya23 Ya24  v2 
 N1   XR11 XR12 Xa11 Xa12 Xa13 Xa14  u1 
    
 N 2   XR21 XR22 Xa21 Xa22 Xa23 Xa24  u2 

r1 0  r1 0  1 r1 0 

0 r   0 r  A 0 r  (29)
 2  2  2

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A New Element for Dynamic Analysis of Non-Prismatic … IJSE 2014 1(1) 63-68

r1 0  1  D32 D35 D31 D34 

(30)
0 r  A D D61 D64 
 2  62 D65

 D23 D26  1 r1 0 

(31)
D D56   0 r2 
A
 53

 D22 D25 D21 D24   D23 D26  1  D32 D35 D31 D34 
(32)
D 
D51 D54   D53 D56   D62 D61 D64 
A
 52 D55 D65

 D13 D16  1 r1 0 

(33)
D D46   0 r2 
A
 43

 D12 D15 D11 D14   D13 D16  1  D32 D35 D31 D34 
(34)
D 
D41 D44   D43 D46   D62 D61 D64 
A
 42 D45 D65

5. Example: Dynamic Analysis of A Gable Frame

Dynamic analysis of a gable frame, shown in Fig. 3, is performed in this example. The sectional properties of the non-
prismatic columns and beams are listed in Table 1.

Fig. 3. Geometric characteristics of the frame

Table 1. Sectional properties of the members (mm)

Section Flange width Flange thickness Web thickness Web height
1 250 12 10 1000
2 250 12 10 400
3 250 10 10 1000
4 250 10 10 500
5 250 10 10 680

This frame is analyzed by using the proposed element formulation and the traditional Hermitian formulation. The
results of the first five modes are listed in Table 2. In this table, Ne denotes the number of elements used in modeling
of the non-prismatic members.

67
 R. Attarnejad, A. Pirmoz IJSE 2014 1(1) 63-68

Table 2. Vibration frequency of the first five modes obtained by FEM and BDF
Ks=1000
FEM with Hermitian formulation
Mode Present work
Ne =20 Ne =10 Ne =4 Ne =2 Ne =1
1 19.78 19.79 19.84 20.02 20.65 19.78
2 27.99 28.10 28.83 31.28 39.68 27.96
3 76.35 76.37 76.51 76.98 78.52 76.65
4 176.38 176.43 176.82 178.32 184.47 177.42
5 321.06 321.12 321.58 324.39 350.35 334.96

It is clear from this table that the method gives exact solutions with only a single element for the system of a non-
prismatic member with end joints. However, FE yields exact solutions when a very fine meshing is used, which
means a more expensive computational method.

6. Conclusions

A new element formulation was introduced for analyzing of non-prismatic semi-rigid beams based on the concept of
BDFs. It was through assembling the non-prismatic beam and its end connections as a unit element and provides
exact solution for a non-prismatic semi-rigid beam. The implementation of the method was performed step-by-step
for analysis of a non-prismatic semi-rigid beam and was validated comparing its results with those of FEM, as two
examples. This comparison showed that, not only the proposed element formulation possesses a considerable
computational economy, but also it yields exact solution and is independent from the geometric properties of the
beam. The method can be extended to the nonlinear and dynamic analysis of semi-rigid frames, where its efficiency
is more sensible.

References

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