Free vibration of horizontally curved thin-walled beams with rectangular hollow sections considering two compatible displacement fields

Abstract

A finite element is presented for vibration analyses of horizontally curved thin-walled rectangular hollow beams. Eight cross-section deformation modes are employed to describe the mid-surface contour displacement field with the modal superposition method. Focused on the in-plane moment equilibrium condition and the displacement continuity condition, two compatible displacement fields are constructed to calculate the strain energy and the kinetic energy of the beam, respectively. With the application of Hamilton’s principle the dynamic governing equations are formulated, and then approximated for the finite element implementation. Finally, numerical examples are illustrated to verify the validity of the present theory.