Flexural-torsional Vibrations of Beams by BEM

Abstract

In this paper a boundary element method is developed for the general flexural-torsional vibrations of Euler–Bernoulli beams of arbitrarily shaped constant cross-section. The beam is subjected to arbitrarily transverse and/or torsional distributed or concentrated loading, while its edges are restrained by the most general linear boundary conditions. The resulting initial boundary value problem, described by three coupled partial differential equations, is solved using the analog equation method, a BEM based method. Besides the effectiveness and accuracy of the developed method, a significant advantage is that the displacements as well as the stress resultants are computed at any cross-section of the beam using the respective integral representations as mathematical formulae. The general character of the proposed method is verified from the fact that all basic equations are formulated with respect to an arbitrary coordinate system, which is not restricted to the principal one. Both free and forced vibrations are examined. Several beams are analysed to illustrate the method and demonstrate its efficiency and wherever possible its accuracy. The range of applicability of the thin-tube theory is also investigated through examples with great practical interest.