Vibration Analysis Of Elastic Structures Research Articles

Free vibration analysis of elastic structures submerged in an infinite or semi-infinite fluid domain by means of a coupled FE–BE solver

The vibration behavior of thin elastic structures can be noticeably influenced by the surrounding water, which represents a kind of heavy fluid. Since the feedback of the acoustic pressure onto the structure cannot be neglected in this case, a strong coupled scheme between the structural and fluid domains is usually required. In this work, a coupled finite element and boundary element (FE–BE) solver is developed for the free vibration analysis of structures submerged in an infinite fluid domain or a semi-infinite fluid domain with a free water surface. The structure is modeled by the finite element method (FEM). The compressibility of the fluid is taken into account, and hence the Helmholtz equation serves as the governing equation of the fluid domain. The boundary element method (BEM) is employed to model the fluid domain, and a boundary integral formulation with a half-space fundamental solution is used to satisfy the Dirichlet boundary condition on the free water surface exactly. The resulting nonlinear eigenvalue problem (NEVP) is converted into a small linear one by using a contour integral method. Adequate modifications are suggested to improve the efficiency of the contour integral method and avoid missing the eigenfrequencies of interest. The Burton–Miller method is used to filter out the fictitious eigenfrequencies of the boundary integral formulations. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the accuracy and applicability of the developed eigensolver, and also show that the fluid-loading effect strongly depends on both the water depth and the mode shapes.

Three Dimensional Vibration Analysis of a Class of Traction-Free Solid Elastic Bodies with an Eccentric Cavity

A three-dimensional elasticity-based continuum model is developed for describing the free vibrational characteristics of an important class of isotropic, homogeneous, and completely free structural bodies (i.e., finite cylinders, solid spheres, and rectangular parallelepipeds) containing an arbitrarily located simple inhomogeneity in form of a spherical or cylindrical defect. The solution method uses Ritz minimization procedure with triplicate series of orthogonal Chebyshev polynomials as the trial functions to approximate the displacement components in the associated elastic domains, and eventually arrive at the governing eigenvalue equations. An extensive review of the literature spanning over the past three decades is also given herein regarding the free vibration analysis of elastic structures using Ritz approach. Accuracy of the implemented approach is established through proper convergence studies, while the validity of results is demonstrated with the aid of a commercial FEM software, and whenever possible, by comparison with other published data. Numerical results are provided and discussed for the first few clusters of eigen-frequencies corresponding to various mode categories in a wide range of cavity eccentricities. Also, the corresponding 3D mode shapes are graphically illustrated for selected eccentricities. The numerical results disclose the vital influence of inner cavity eccentricity on the vibrational characteristics of the voided elastic structures. In particular, the activation of degenerate frequency splitting and incidence of internal/external mode crossings are confirmed and discussed. Most of the results reported herein are believed to be new to the existing literature and may serve as benchmark data for future developments in computational techniques.

Three dimensional vibration analysis of a class of traction-free solid elastic bodies with an eccentric cavity

A three-dimensional elasticity-based continuum model is developed for describing the free vibrational characteristics of an important class of isotropic, homogeneous, and completely free structural bodies (i.e., finite cylinders, solid spheres, and rectangular parallelepipeds) containing an arbitrarily located simple inhomogeneity in form of a spherical or cylindrical defect. The solution method uses Ritz minimization procedure with triplicate series of orthogonal Chebyshev polynomials as the trial functions to approximate the displacement components in the associated elastic domains, and eventually arrive at the governing eigenvalue equations. An extensive review of the literature spanning over the past three decades is also given herein regarding the free vibration analysis of elastic structures using Ritz approach. Accuracy of the implemented approach is established through proper convergence studies, while the validity of results is demonstrated with the aid of a commercial FEM software, and whenever possible, by comparison with other published data. Numerical results are provided and discussed for the first few clusters of eigen-frequencies corresponding to various mode categories in a wide range of cavity eccentricities. Also, the corresponding 3D mode shapes are graphically illustrated for selected eccentricities. The numerical results disclose the vital influence of inner cavity eccentricity on the vibrational characteristics of the voided elastic structures. In particular, the activation of degenerate frequency splitting and incidence of internal/external mode crossings are confirmed and discussed. Most of the results reported herein are believed to be new to the existing literature and may serve as benchmark data for future developments in computational techniques.

On use of the Dirac delta function in the vibration analysis of elastic structures

The Dirac delta function has often been employed to represent the amplitude of concentrated harmonic forces in the analysis of vibration of elastic structures such as beams and plates. It is known that this function, as represented by a truncated Fourier series, does not provide a true representation of a concentrated force, nevertheless, it is frequently employed and good convergence is usually, though not always, encountered in solutions thereby obtained. In this paper, the nature of the function is discussed and for illustrative purposes it is used to obtain series solutions for some selected beam and plate free vibration problems. In some cases problems are chosen for which exact solutions are already obtainable by analytical means. This permits powerful checks to be made on rates of convergence experienced when the series solutions are investigated. Rates of convergence are discussed in detail and it is explained why convergence is to be expected when analyzing certain families of problems when employing this function and a lack of convergence is to be expected in others.