Nonlinear Dynamics

Nonlinear Structural Mechanics
Walter Lacarbonara
Nonlinear Structural
Mechanics
Theory, Dynamical Phenomena and Modeling
123
Walter Lacarbonara
Sapienza University of Rome
Rome, Italy
ISBN 978-1-4419-1275-6 ISBN 978-1-4419-1276-3 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-1276-3
Springer New York Heidelberg Dordrecht London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012939118
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To
Giulia and Diego
Preface
This book endeavors to present a unified treatment of the foundational elements

of nonlinear structural mechanics and dynamics, the modern modeling and com-
putational aspects, and the prominent nonlinear structural phenomena, unfolded by
careful experiments and computations.
Scientific and technological advances in the field of material and manufacturing
processes and the development of formidable computational power allow structures
and mechanical systems to be designed closer and closer to the limit of their
structural capacity. Structures are consequently very slender and flexible, and thus
they respond nonlinearly to typical disturbances. The nonlinearities become an
essential aspect of the structural behaviors under both static and dynamic excitation.
In spite of the emerging need for a multidisciplinary approach to the design
of structural systems, nonlinear dynamics and nonlinear structural mechanics are
becoming somewhat independent fields. Theories and methods have reached a high
level of maturity in both cases. However, a sophisticated use of the tools and
theories that enable the investigation of nonlinear dynamic phenomena in systems
and structures does not justify the lack of nonlinear physics in the structural models
which, if not properly addressed, can only poorly, or misleadingly, describe the
mechanical performance of the systems.
The separation between these fields has been reflected to date in the lack of text-
books and monographs that encompass, within the same comprehensive framework,
all leading aspects of nonlinear structural mechanics and dynamics which range
from the formulation and modeling to computational strategies and interpretation of
nonlinear phenomena [23, 332, 339, 450]. Among these books, I consider Nonlinear
Oscillations [332], a masterpiece of nonlinear dynamics and Nonlinear Problems of
Elasticity [23], a masterpiece of nonlinear mechanics. Moreover, the few existing
books with this flavor are often hardly accessible to graduate students and engineers
because of the high level of mathematical structure. The motivation for this book is
to create a common framework “nonlinear mechanics-nonlinear dynamics” which
can be easily accessible to graduate students, researchers, and engineers.
The proposed unified approach enables high-fidelity investigations of the dy-
namic response of nonlinear systems and structures in traditional engineering
vii
viii Preface
fields such as civil, aerospace, mechanical, ocean engineering, as well as in

emerging fields such as bioengineering and nano/microengineering. In the latter,
the nonlinearities can play an even more significant role.
The theoretical and computational tools that allow the formulation, solution,
and interpretation of nonlinear structural behaviors are presented in a systematic
fashion, so as to gradually attain an increasing level of complexity, under the
prevailing assumptions on the geometry of deformation, the constitutive aspects,
and the loading scenarios. Specific problems—such as, to name but a few, the
nonlinear response of suspension bridges or arch bridges, the nonlinear response
of long strings and cables such as those used in tethered satellite systems, the flutter
and post-flutter response of aircraft wings, the nonlinear elastic deformation of
prestressed laminated composite plates—are extensively discussed in terms of their
formulation and solution.
The book is largely based on the lecture notes for the course Nonlinear Analysis
of Structures that I teach at Sapienza University of Rome in the Civil and Aerospace
Engineering Master programs. A broad discussion was initiated a few years ago
regarding the need to offer such a class to graduate students due to major changes
that were and are still occurring in design practices and philosophy, changes that
clearly require innovative approaches to investigate advanced structures. The key
considerations can be summarized as follows.
In recent years, theoretical and computational advances in the formulation and
solution of problems of nonlinear structural mechanics have led to significant
enhancements in the design codes. Up to recent times, the design of civil and
industrial structures has been mostly based on linear theories, and consequently
several generations of engineers have only been trained in linear structural theories.
One of the key properties of linear theories is the principle of superposition by which
any problem can be broken down into a set of simpler/elementary problems whose
solutions are available or can be easily found. Thus the solution to the original
problem is expressed as a superposition of the solutions of the elementary problems.
This scientific context has invariably influenced the intuitive aspects of the
structural and mechanical design. In the last decades, theoretical breakthroughs,
higher deployable computational power, and the great experience gained from the
analysis of major structural failures have allowed nonlinear analyses to officially
enter the design practices through new design codes. The codes have completely
transitioned from the so-called method of admissible stresses (largely based on
linear theory), to those based on limit states, which are framed within the context of
limit analysis.
More recently, design codes, such as the performance-based American codes
or the Eurocodes in Europe, have opened the possibility of performing step-by-
step analyses up to the failure states of a structure, thus conferring remarkable
importance to the role of nonlinear analyses and of the underlying nonlinear
models. The seeds of this process were, for example, sown in the last decades
in the specific area of earthquake engineering. For example, in the Vision 2000
report by the Structural Engineers Association of California [417], it was stated:
Performance-based engineering methodology encompasses the full range of
Preface ix
engineering activities necessary to create structures with predictable seismic

performance within established levels of risk.
The importance of nonlinear constitutive behaviors does not relate to traditional
materials alone—steel, aluminum or reinforced concrete—but also to broad classes
of innovative materials such as shape-memory alloys, high-damping rubbers or
fiber-reinforced materials and, more recently, nanostructured materials. Moreover,
the formidable strength exhibited by the newly engineered materials, associated with
their higher flexibility, and the more pronounced slenderness of modern lightweight
structures require stability analyses, often including dynamic stability analyses
arising from nonconservative fluid–structure interactions or from gyroscopic forces
such as the Coriolis forces in rotating structures.
One of the open problems in structural engineering is that of constructing in
a reliable and efficient fashion the nonlinear equilibrium paths when varying one
or more control parameters associated with the loading conditions and/or design
parameters. This issue leads in turn to at least two sets of problems; on the one hand,
the need for refined nonlinear structural models, both in their geometric and consti-
tutive aspects; on the other hand, the need for refined computational techniques to
path-follow the response when the structures are exposed to various loading scenar-
ios. At the same time, there is a parallel need for highly efficient computational
architectures that allow sensitivity analyses with respect to control parameters,
including uncertainties, and to make these analyses reasonable and affordable.
I would not give full justice to the current state of affairs in nonlinear structural
mechanics if I did not mention the overwhelming wealth of physical phenomena
in nonlinear structural mechanics and dynamics that have yet to be unfolded, inter-
preted, and framed within paradigmatic conceptual frameworks. Suitable nonlinear
structural models become important, not only for mere calculations and strength
justification but also for the comprehension of the basic physical mechanisms
underlying certain structural behaviors in the nonlinear regime. All these efforts are
directed toward the long-term objective of gradually facilitating the emergence of a
nonlinear design culture forging the engineering practice so as to aim at the design
of super-performing structures by leveraging the nonlinear behavior of materials and
structural components and systems incorporating integrated multifunctionality.
Let us consider, as an illustrative example, an elastic beam, straight or curved.
The beam load-carrying mechanisms are well known within the linear regime; at
the same time, the effects of the boundary conditions on the elasto-static or elasto-
dynamic response can be grasped with relative ease. This is no longer true in the
nonlinear regime, where the role of the internal kinematic constraints which depends
on the slenderness and the role of the constitutive laws or that of the boundary
conditions are not well clarified and are certainly less intuitive, except in limited and
simplified contexts. These considerations become more stringent when increasingly
complex structures are assembled through coupling different elastic elements, such
as in suspension or arch bridges, in aircraft wings or fuselages, and are enhanced by
passive or active control and structural health monitoring systems.
Although it is true that the finest structural modeling is based on nonlinear
continuum mechanics, it is also true that the calculation of the response within
three-dimensional theory [23, 295] is computationally prohibitive in many cases,
x Preface
especially in those cases where the requirement for performance is high, and there
are significant fluid–structure or soil–structure interaction issues. Likewise, the
polar continuum nonlinear theories, especially those for beams, plates, and shells,
developed from the pioneering work of the Cosserat brothers [121], through seminal
contributions by nonlinear elasticists such as Truesdell [437], Antman [20, 23], and
Simo [404], to cite but a few, are sufficiently complex on both mathematical and
computational grounds. Therefore, there is also a need for simplified versions of
these fine theories, while maintaining an acceptable predictive capability from an
engineering point of view, so as to make the analyses computationally affordable and
controllable. With these ideas in the background, I have conceived the organization
of this book into eleven chapters with the titles listed below.
Chapter 1: Concepts, methods, and paradigms
Chapter 2: Stability and bifurcation of structures
Chapter 3: The elastic cable: from formulation to computation
Chapter 4: Nonlinear mechanics of three-dimensional solids
Chapter 5: The nonlinear theory of compact beams in space
Chapter 6: Elastic instabilities of slender structures
Chapter 7: The nonlinear theory of curved beams and flexurally stiff cables
Chapter 8: The nonlinear theory of plates
Chapter 9: The nonlinear theory of cable-supported structures
Chapter 10: The nonlinear theory of arch-supported structures
Chapter 11: Discretization methods
In Chap. 1, introductory concepts such as those of geometric and material
nonlinearities are presented through simple yet illuminating examples. Most of the
basic concepts, such as the geometric stiffness, the role of nonlinear constitutive
laws, the linearization about a natural or a generic prestressed configuration, are
elucidated. It is clearly pointed out that real structural problems seldom exhibit
a nonlinearity of one type uncoupled from the nonlinearity of the other type. A
rigorous presentation of the concepts and theories at the foundation of nonlinear
structural analyses should encompass both nonlinearities at the same time.
However, some problems of formidable technical interest—such as the onset of
the limit state due to loss of elastic stability and the initial postcritical regime—
are prominently governed, under suitable conditions, by geometric nonlinearities
while the material behavior is well described by linear elasticity. With this in mind,
geometric nonlinearities, which can be grasped more easily, are first discussed in this
chapter. Chapter 1 also illustrates the principal path-following methods of nonlinear
mechanics and dynamics [126,335] to help understand the computational algorithms
by which the equilibrium paths in the nonlinear regime can be constructed. At the
same time, these schemes are applied to a rich collection of simple yet paradigmatic
structures to unfold important properties of the responses in the nonlinear static and
dynamic regime.
Chapter 2 presents an overview of stability and bifurcation theory discussing the
methods aimed at determining the critical conditions or limit states regarding the
elastic static and dynamic stability, as well as the postcritical structural responses
beyond the limit state [59]. This is done in the context of one- and multi-degree-of-
Preface xi
freedom paradigmatic structures. Eulerian and non-Eulerian (e.g., the snap-through

phenomenon occurring in shallow arches and more general shallow structures)
losses of stability are illustrated at length. The flutter problem of lifting airfoils
(wings, bridges, suspended structures) occurring at a Hopf bifurcation is treated
comprehensively.
In Chap. 3, the derivation of the nonlinear problem of elastic cables, treated
as a one-dimensional continuum [206, 207, 250], is explained. The cable problem
combines a striking simplicity of its nonlinear formulation with an eminently com-
plex structural behavior. The cable problem is employed as a powerful illustrative
problem which allows to introduce the chief steps of a full nonlinear formulation
of the governing equations, as well as the leading steps of a consequent nonlinear
structural analysis through computational approaches that enable the parameterized
unfolding of the structural response to loads of varying magnitude. Two applications
feature the study of the galloping instability of iced cables subject to steady winds
and the full nonlinear formulation of the tethered satellite system employed in space
applications. The cable problem also provides the motivation for studying nonlinear
structural distributed-parameter systems such as beams, arches, and rings within the
more general context of the three-dimensional theory.
Three-dimensional theory of solids, in its geometrical, balance, and constitutive
aspects, is the subject of Chap. 4. This chapter may, however, be deferred to a
later more comprehensive reading without making the rest of the material hard to
understand.
Chapter 5 presents the geometrically exact formulation of beams [23] undergoing
planar [246] and spatial motions. Most of the aspects of the dynamical formulation
are illustrated paying attention to both the classical form of the equations of motion
and the weak form that is the basis of all discretization strategies. The linearization
as well as the perturbed versions of these theories or ad hoc approximate theories are
discussed. Fundamental nonlinear behaviors of beams undergoing planar motions
are unfolded both theoretically and experimentally.
Chapter 6 treats the static and dynamic loss of stability of slender beams. In
particular, the Eulerian buckling problem is discussed for closed-section (uniform
and nonuniform) beams subject to conservative unstabilizing loads. The loss of
stability of the straight equilibrium configuration of slender thin-walled, open-
section beams into twisted/bent buckled configurations is addressed both in general
terms and through examples. Dynamic instabilities called parametric resonances are
studied both theoretically and experimentally in slender beams subject to parametric
excitations such as pulsating end thrusts causing large-amplitude oscillations. The
perturbation method used to unfold this dynamic instability is generalized to
arbitrary one-dimensional distributed-parameter conservative systems with linear
damping. The chapter presents a fully nonlinear model of wings subject to steady
airflows causing the Hopf bifurcation called flutter.
Chapter 7 presents the general theory of curved beams (arches) and rings. Within
this general framework, the case of planar motions is discussed in terms of the
fundamental nonlinear behaviors of curved elements which depend on the shallow
or nonshallow character of the curved configurations. The special problem of deeply
xii Preface
buckled beams is discussed in the more general context of prestressed beams. The
chapter closes with the discussion of the theory of cables which also offer flexural
resistance to external loads.
The formulation of geometrically exact theories of thin elastic plates is presented
in Chap. 8. Both elastic isotropic single-layer and multilayer composite laminated
plates are treated. Extensive experimental results for thin isotropic metallic plates
and carbon/epoxy multilayer plates are shown thus confirming the high fidelity of
the presented nonlinear theories in the nonlinear range.
The focus of Chaps. 9 and 10 is on nonlinear one-dimensional theories of bridges
with major interest in suspension and arch bridges which have a formidable role
in structural engineering. Specific loading scenarios are addressed, such as the
aeroelastic forces induced by winds. In particular, the problem of aerodynamic
stability is discussed with emphasis on the calculations of aeroelastic limit states
such as the torsional divergence or the coupled flexural–torsional flutter condition.
The major semi-analytical spatial discretization methods, including the method
of weighted residuals (such as the Faedo–Galerkin method) and some versions of
variational methods [78, 126, 216, 488], are described in Chap. 11. In particular, the
link between the weak form of the equations of motion or the Principle of Virtual
Power and the considered discretization approaches is highlighted.
Throughout the book a significant number of examples and problems are
illustrated to make the theory and methods more accessible also in terms of their
finest details.
Corrections or comments sent to [email protected] are most wel-
come. Corrections will be placed in due course on my web page: http://w3.disg.
uniroma1.it/lacarbonara.
I am grateful to my students for their enthusiasm. Andrea Arena has helped
develop most of the applications on bridges, wings, cables, and beams, Hadi Arvin
for rotating beams and proof reading most of the book, Michele Pasquali, Biagio
Carboni, and Michela Taló. I am grateful to my esteemed colleagues Fabrizio
Vestroni, Giuseppe Rega, Ali H. Nayfeh, Achille Paolone, Stuart Antman, Hiroshi
Yabuno, Bala Balachandran, Rouf Ibrahim, Giovanni Formica, Raffaele Casciaro,
Ferdinando Auricchio, Harry Dankowicz, Matthew Cartmell, Tamas Kalmar-Nagy,
and Pier Marzocca for comments and discussions. I thank Charles Steele for
the delightful hosting at Stanford University during my sabbatical leave. I thank
Sapienza University of Rome for continued support and the Italian Ministry of
Education, University and Scientific Research for its recent support. I thank three
special persons, the Engineering Editors at Springer: Elaine Tham for mastering the
incipit of the book project, Mary Lanzerotti for imparting great momentum to the
book, and Michael Luby for steering the completion of the book. Moreover, I thank
Lauren Danahy and Merry Stuber, Editorial Assistants at Springer, for their very
gentle and professional support. They have strived to make the process as smooth
as possible. Last but not least, I thank Giulia for proof reading most of the book, for
drawing some of the figures, and for her graceful encouragement.
Rome, Italy Walter Lacarbonara

Contents
1 Concepts, Methods, and Paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.1 Introduction .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Static Analysis: Geometric and Material Nonlinearities . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Path-Following Methods .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.1 Step-by-Step Analysis: Sequential Path-Following .. . . . . . 12
1.3.2 Pseudo-Arclength Path-Following Techniques .. . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.4 Dynamic Analysis: Periodic Motions . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.4.1 State-Space Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.5 Path-Following Based on the Poincaré Map . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.6 Examples of Path-Following of Equilibrium States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.6.1 The von Mises Truss Structure .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1.6.2 Equilibrium Paths of Microelectromechanical
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.7 Examples of Path-Following of Limit Cycles
and Periodic Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
1.7.1 Nonlinearly Viscoelastic Structures Subject
to Harmonic Excitations.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
1.7.2 Shape-Memory Oscillators Under Harmonic
Excitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
1.7.3 Flutter Control of an Airfoil. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2 Stability and Bifurcation of Structures.. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2.1 Stability of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2.2 Stability of Equilibrium States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.2.1 Static and Dynamic Bifurcations of Equilibrium
States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
2.2.2 Local Bifurcations of Equilibrium States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
2.3 Stability of Limit Cycles and Periodic Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
2.4 Stability of Conservative and Nonconservative Systems
and Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
xiii
xiv Contents
2.5 Static Bifurcations of Conservative Structures... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

2.5.1 Example of Supercritical Pitchfork Bifurcation .. . . . . . . . . . 101
2.5.2 Example of Subcritical Pitchfork Bifurcation .. . . . . . . . . . . . 109
2.5.3 Example of Transcritical Bifurcation ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
2.5.4 Example of Fold Bifurcation and the Snap-Through
Phenomenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
2.6 The Buckling Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
2.7 Dynamic Bifurcations: Flutter of Lifting Airfoils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
2.8 Flutter of Wings: Reduced-Order Models .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
2.9 Dynamic Instabilities Due to Parametric Resonances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
2.10 Parametric Resonances of Conservative Systems with Linear
Damping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
2.10.1 Multi-pendulum Systems and the Autoparametric
Transfer of Energy .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
2.10.2 Parametric Resonance of Spherical and Cylindrical
Shells Under Pulsating Pressures . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
3 The Elastic Cable: From Formulation to Computation .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
3.1 Introduction .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
3.2 The Simplest One-Dimensional String/Cable Model .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
3.2.1 The Prestressed Equilibrium . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
3.2.2 The Incremental Problem: Total Versus Updated
Lagrangian Formulation .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
3.2.3 Kinematics of the Incremental Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
3.2.4 Equations of Motion .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
3.2.5 Weak Form of the Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
3.2.6 Linearization about the Prestressed Equilibrium .. . . . . . . . . 178
3.3 Static Analysis: First-Order Sequential Continuation
in Force Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
3.3.1 The Galerkin Method for the Incremental Problem .. . . . . . 183
3.4 The Tethered Satellite System: A Space Application
for Super-Long Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
4 Nonlinear Mechanics of Three-Dimensional Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
4.1 Elements of the Theory of Deformation . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
4.2 Elements of the Stress Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
4.3 The Cauchy Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
4.4 The Equations of Motion in Material Description .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
4.5 Integral Formulations Toward Computations: The Weak Form .. . . 244
4.6 The Principles of Virtual Work and Virtual Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
4.7 The Constitutive Equations in Solid Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
4.7.1 Elastic Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Contents xv
5 The Nonlinear Theory of Beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

5.1 The Theory of Beams Undergoing Planar Motion .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
5.1.1 Weak Form of the Equations of Planar Motion . . . . . . . . . . . 309
5.1.2 Ad hoc Mechanical Models of Unshearable Beams. . . . . . . 310
5.1.3 Analytical Solutions, Comparisons with Existing
Theories and Experimental Results . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
5.2 The Theory of Beams in Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
5.2.1 Equations of Motion .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
5.3 Weak Form of the Equations of Motion .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
5.4 The Theory of Rotating Beams in Space . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
6 Elastic Instabilities of Slender Structures. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
6.1 The Buckling Problem of Compact Beams . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
6.1.1 Buckling of Elastic Beams . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
6.1.2 Buckling Loads and Mode Shapes of Beams
and Framed Structures.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
6.1.3 Buckling and Postbuckling of Tapered Elastic
Beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
6.2 Flexural–Torsional Buckling of Open Thin-Walled Beams . . . . . . . . 389
6.3 The Equations for Flexural–Torsional Buckling .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
6.3.1 Types of Flexural–Torsional Buckling for Open-Section
Thin-Walled Beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
6.4 Parametric Resonance of Beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
6.5 Parametric Resonances of Conservative Systems with Linear
Damping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
6.6 Nonlinear Model for Flutter and Post-flutter of Wings .. . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
7 The Nonlinear Theory of Curved Beams and Flexurally
Stiff Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
7.1 The Planar Theory of Curved Beams. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
7.2 Shallow Versus Nonshallow Curved Beams . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
7.3 The Theory of Curved Beams in Space . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
7.4 The Problem of Prestressed Beams. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
7.5 Stability of Arches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
7.6 Deeply Buckled Beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
7.7 Parametric Resonance of Buckled Beams Subject
to a Pulsating End Thrust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471
7.8 Parametric Resonance of Rings Subject to Pulsating Pressures. . . . 473
7.9 The Theory of Flexurally Stiff Cables. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
8 The Nonlinear Theory of Plates .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
8.1 Introduction .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
8.2 Elastic Plates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
xvi Contents
8.3 The Theory of Deformation of Thin Plates . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

8.4 Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
8.5 Component Form of the Equations of Motion . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520
8.6 Constitutive Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522
8.7 The Weak Form of the Equations of Motion
and the Principle of Virtual Power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
8.8 Linearly Isotropic Single-Layer Plates . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
8.8.1 Ad hoc Plate Theories: The Föppl–von
Kármán Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
8.8.2 Nonlinear Equilibrium Response of Elastic Isotropic
Plates: Theory Versus Experiment .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
8.9 Anisotropic and Orthotropic Single-Layer Plates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
8.10 Multilayer Plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
8.10.1 Nonlinear Equilibrium Response of Multilayer
Laminated Plates: Theory Versus Experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
8.11 Linear Vibrations of Single- and Multilayer Prestressed Plates . . . . 561
8.12 Buckling of Single- and Multilayer Plates . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
8.13 The Rayleigh–Ritz Method for Vibration and Buckling . . . . . . . . . . . 570
8.14 Generalized Higher-Order Theory with Normal
and Transverse Shear Strains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579
8.15 Buckling of Thick Multilayer Plates . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
9 The Nonlinear Theory of Cable-Supported Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
9.1 Cable-Supported Bridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
9.2 From the Deflection Theory to Nonlinear Theories
of Suspension Bridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
9.2.1 The Theory of Suspension Bridges Deforming
in Three-Dimensional Space . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
9.3 The Theory of Suspension Bridges Undergoing Planar Motion . . . 612
9.3.1 Prestressed Equilibrium Under Dead Loads.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
9.3.2 Dynamic Problem Due to Live Loads .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
9.3.3 The Revisited Deflection Theory . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
9.4 Planar Equilibrium Response of Suspension Bridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622
9.4.1 Planar Dynamic Response of Suspension Bridges .. . . . . . . 625
9.5 Equilibrium Paths in Three-Dimensional Space .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
9.6 Aeroelastic Analysis of Suspension Bridges . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633
9.6.1 Torsional Divergence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640
9.6.2 Flutter Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648
9.6.3 Linear Equations for Flutter .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
9.7 Elements of Cable-Stayed Structures.. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658
9.8 Cable-Stayed Bridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
9.9 Guyed Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676
Contents xvii
10 The Nonlinear Theory of Arch-Supported Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681

10.1 Arch-Supported Bridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
10.2 The Nonlinear Theory of Arch Bridges Deforming
in Three-Dimensional Space .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
10.3 The Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688
10.4 The Theory of Arch Bridges Undergoing Planar Motion . . . . . . . . . . 696
10.4.1 Nonlinear Planar Response of Arch Bridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
10.5 A Case Study: Ponte della Musica . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 705
10.5.1 Elastic Stability Analysis .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707
10.5.2 Flutter Analysis of Ponte della Musica .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709
11 Discretization Methods.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717
11.1 Discretization of Distributed-Parameter Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717
11.2 The Method of Weighted Residuals . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718
11.3 The Method of Weighted Residuals and the Principle
of Virtual Work .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723
11.4 The Method of Weighted Residuals for Dynamic Problems . . . . . . . 730
11.5 The Galerkin Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733
11.6 The Ritz Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735
11.6.1 The Ritz Method for Dynamic Problems .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 738
11.7 A Nonlinear Finite Element Formulation
for Continuation Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741
Solutions. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751
References .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 779
Index . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799
Chapter 1
Concepts, Methods, and Paradigms
1.1 Introduction
The broad field of Structural Mechanics and Dynamics, traditionally taught in

courses such as Mechanics of Deformable Bodies, Engineering Mechanics, Struc-
tural Dynamics or Linear Vibrations, is based on linear theory, also known as
first-order theory. Linear theory is based on the following ansatz:
1. The displacement gradients/strains are infinitesimal.
2. The displacements are infinitesimal with respect to a characteristic length of the
body.
3. The balance of internal and external forces is prescribed in the undeformed
configuration.
4. The material behavior is described by linearly elastic or viscoelastic constitutive
laws.
5. The boundary conditions, geometric and/or mechanical, are linear in the gener-
alized displacements and/or in the stress resultants.
If one or more of the above-mentioned hypotheses break down, the first-order
theory is no longer applicable because it would deliver erroneous quantitative
and qualitative predictions. For example, if the displacements and/or rotations are
not infinitesimal—in the sense of statement (2)—notwithstanding the presence of
infinitesimal strains, the equilibrium of forces must be enforced in the deformed
configuration (also known as the current or actual configuration) to overcome
serious errors as is the case for beams subject to compressive forces.
This holds more stringently when both the displacements/rotations and the
strains are not infinitesimal. The related mechanical problems are referred to as
geometrically nonlinear problems or problems with geometric nonlinearities. In this
context, stability problems are studied with the aim of determining both the critical
conditions/limit states regarding the elastic stability as well as the postcritical
behaviors beyond the limit states.
W. Lacarbonara, Nonlinear Structural Mechanics: Theory, Dynamical 1

Phenomena and Modeling, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-1276-3 1,
2 1 Concepts, Methods, and Paradigms
Structural members may, however, suffer from other limit states such as elasto-
plastic failure due to the prominent elasto-plastic constitutive characteristic behavior
exhibited by ductile materials such as those belonging to the family of steel
alloys. By increasing the load magnitude, these members undergo a progressive
degradation of stiffness, which is initially localized within a limited region, but
extends subsequently so as to affect the global behavior. In other materials, the
response may be nonlinearly elastic or nonlinearly viscoelastic when the strains are
not infinitesimal. These problems are referred to as physically nonlinear problems
or problems with material nonlinearities.
Real engineering structures seldom exhibit a nonlinearity of one type uncoupled
from the nonlinearity of the other type. A rigorous presentation of the concepts
and theories of nonlinear structural mechanics should consistently comprise a
unified treatment of both nonlinearities. At the same time, nonlinear structural
analyses should account for both geometric and material nonlinearities since it
is often not known a priori in which ranges of displacement magnitudes and
strains different nonlinearities are exhibited. However, to our advantage, problems
of formidable technical interest—such as the onset of the limit state due to the loss of
elastic stability and its immediate postcritical regime—are governed, under suitable
conditions, by geometric nonlinearities while the material behavior is reasonably
well described by linearly elastic or viscoelastic constitutive laws. Thus the initial
emphasis on geometric nonlinearities is justified, also in consideration of the fact
that the geometric aspects of a structural problem fall in the range of a more direct
physical understanding.
Nonlinearities can be weak or strong, smooth or non-smooth. Geometric and
material nonlinearities (such as those exhibited by elastic or viscoelastic materials)
are smooth weak nonlinearities. On the other hand, systems undergoing impacts and
friction exhibit discontinuities in the governing vector fields and are thus said to be
non-smooth systems. The associated nonlinearities are strong.
Light is shed onto these notions with a rather simple yet illuminating example
(i.e., the pendulum problem) which also serves the purpose of introducing the
concepts and definitions that will be used throughout the book. This chapter first
addresses the prominent aspects of nonlinear static analysis both on phenomenologi-
cal and computational bases. A specific focus is placed on path-following techniques
capable of delivering a fine succession of solution points (such as equilibrium
states or periodic solutions, both stable and unstable) upon variation of a selected
parameter of interest. Various examples are presented in the closing sections.
Subsequent to static analysis, the theoretical, computational, and phenomenological
aspects of dynamic analysis are addressed with emphasis on continuation of periodic
solutions shown in the context of some engineering applications. The applications
are typical examples of weakly nonlinear systems.
Notation. Gibbs notation is adopted for vectors and tensors following the choice
of other books in Continuum Mechanics [23, 295]. Vectors, which are elements
of Euclidean 3-space E3 , and vector-valued functions are denoted by lowercase,
italic, boldface symbols. The dot product and cross product of (vectors) u and v
1.1 Introduction 3
are denoted by u v and u v, respectively. The (Euclidean) length of vector u is

represented by juj; more general norms of vectors of IRn are denoted by jj jj.
The value of tensor A at vector u is described by A u (in place of the more usual
Au). On the other hand, the tensor product between vectors u and v is denoted by
uv instead of u˝v. The result of the application of the dyad uv on vector w can thus
be expressed in a more straightforward fashion as .uv/ w D u.v w/. Orthonormal
bases will be used as a rule to exploit their orthogonality and normality properties.
For example, if fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g denotes an orthonormal basis, orthonormality entails
e i e j D ıij where ıij is the Kronecker delta.
Second-order tensors such as A are expressed in an orthonormal basis as a
linear combination of the nine dyads e i e j , hence A D Aij e i e j where, here and
henceforth, repeated indices indicate that summation over their range of variation
is to be considered. The value of tensor A at vector u thus becomes A u D
Aij .e i e j / uk e k D Aij uk e i .e j e k / D Aij uk ıj k e i D Aij uj e i : If the nine
components of tensor A are arranged in the 33 matrix A D ŒAij and the
components of u are listed in the column vector u D Œu1 ; u2 ; u3 | ; then the algebraic
representation of vector A u is the result of the product of matrix A with u,
denoted, for consistency with Gibbs notation, by A u or by Au. The notation v|
denotes the transpose of vector v. The dot product between vectors A u and v
is given by v .A u/. In algebraic form, this dot product is expressed by v| Au
which is, however, often denoted by v A u, for conciseness. The notation A |
represents the transpose of tensor A. The symmetric and skew-symmetric parts of
tensor A are, respectively, defined as sym.A/ WD 12 .A C A | / and skw.A/ WD
|
2 .A A /.
1
The (Gâteaux)ˇ differential of the function u 7! f.u/ at v in the direction h is

d f.v C sh/ˇˇ . When it is linear in h, this differential is denoted by @f .v/ h
ds sD0 @u
or fu .v/ h. Sometimes the function u 7! f.u/ is denoted by f./. The partial
derivative of a function f with respect to the scalar argument s is denoted by either
fs or @s f (occasionally by f 0 ). The operator @s is assumed to apply only to the term
immediately following it. Notation like @s for a total derivative (i.e., a derivative of
a composite function) will always be used. The time derivative of a function v is
denoted either by @t v or vP (according to Newton’s notation for time derivatives).
In some places, there may be a switch in notation, in the above stated sense, without
an explicit warning.
The leitmotiv of this book is to justify in a self-contained fashion the presented
nonlinear theories and models within the context of three-dimensional continuum
mechanics. In some cases, the justification process can be intense. For this reason,
I have chosen to reduce the font size and spacing in some of these in-depth outlooks
which are invariably marked by a square (). Problems and examples are presented
in the same compact style. The reader who is not interested in the details of the full
three-dimensional theory may skip these sections and may defer his/her reading to
a later time.
1.2 Static Analysis: Geometric and Material Nonlinearities
The first mechanical example is the simple pendulum shown in Fig. 1.1 subject to a
horizontal force H: The pendulum problem is a paradigm in mechanics and is often
employed as an archetypal nonlinear system for theoretical [22] and experimental
investigations as well as a paradigm for educational purposes [287].
Suppose first that the pendulum of length l and mass m lies on a frictionless
horizontal plane. In this state, there is no internal resisting moment that can oppose
the external moment caused by the horizontal force. This is a trivial example of
nonexistence of equilibrium states for the pendulum.1
Next the plane is rotated by 90 ı so that the pendulum freely hangs from its
pivot point O under the action of gravity whose acceleration is denoted by g. The
pendulum may now sustain a horizontal force. Without the horizontal force, the
downward configuration is an equilibrium (or rest) state which is not, however, a
stress-free state. The pendulum arm is subject to an internal axial force N o WD
mg (referred to as tension), equal to the pendulum weight. This internal force does
not cause appreciable length variations if the pendulum is sufficiently rigid. The
downward equilibrium is referred to as a prestressed configuration of the pendulum.
This configuration seems a convenient reference configuration for the description of
the mechanical problem arising from the application of incremental forces. Let this
configuration be denoted by B as in Fig. 1.2.
Under sufficiently small horizontal forces H; the pendulum is subject to an
infinitesimal rotation so that the ensuing trajectory of mass m can be approximated
by the straight line perpendicular to B. The resulting equilibrium state, denoted
O
H
g
l
mg
Fig. 1.1 The simple pendulum subject to an incremental horizontal force and lying, in its stress-
free state, on a frictionless horizontal plane which is subsequently rotated into a vertical plane
1
For such a problem, the equilibrium is impossible and the kinematic problem is indeterminate.
The only admissible equilibrium is attained when the pendulum is collinear with the horizontal
force H .
1.2 Static Analysis: Geometric and Material Nonlinearities 5
g O O O
l
H
H
mg
mg mg
Fig. 1.2 The simple pendulum subject to a horizontal force: reference configuration B; first-order
displaced configuration B0 ; and actual configuration BM
r r r
O O O
g
l
H
H H mg
mg mg
Fig. 1.3 Free-body diagrams of the simple pendulum with the external forces .mg; H / and
reactive force r: reference configuration B; first-order displaced configuration B0 ; and actual
configuration BM
by B 0 , is the first-order displaced configuration. On the other hand, for larger H

(i.e., H mg), the pendulum mass traces a circumferential trajectory and settles
into the actual or current configuration, denoted by BM and described by the finite
rotation angle .
Let the equilibrium be imposed in the reference configuration B by requiring the
resultant moment of the forces with respect to O to vanish; that is, H l DW M D 0.
The equilibrium, as expected, is impossible since the problem is underconstrained.
A different way of examining the equilibrium is to consider the free-body diagram
in Fig. 1.3. The resultant external force obtained by summing up the weight mg
with the horizontal force H and the reactive force r at the pivot point must be a
system of equal and opposite forces having the same line of action collinear with
the pendulum axis. This can never be achieved in the reference configuration.
However, the pendulum is expected to settle into equilibrium. Next, let the equi-
librium be investigated in the first-order displaced configuration B 0 : The moment
balance in this case leads to mgl C M D 0 from which
.mgl/ D M: (1.1)
The stabilizing moment M G WD .mgl/ ; induced by the gravity force, confers to the
pendulum the so-called geometric stiffness, hence, it is referred to as the geometric
restoring moment or geometric stiffness term. Let k G WD mgl > 0 be the geometric
stiffness constant.
On the other hand, the imposition of the moment balance in the actual configu-
ration BM yields
k G sin D M cos : (1.2)
The left-hand side is the geometric restoring moment which increases nonlinearly
with the rotation angle according to sin I the right-hand side is the nonlinear
external moment which decreases with the rotation angle until it vanishes when
D ˙=2: The moment balance equation may be rewritten dividing both members
by cos ¤ 0 (if ¤ n=2) yielding
k G tan D M: (1.3)
The curve depicting variation of with M is called the equilibrium path of the
pendulum under the given horizontal force. It is the locus of the solutions .; M /
of the equilibrium equation; each point of the equilibrium path represents an
equilibrium state of the pendulum.
In typical engineering graphical representations, it is customary to show the
generalized force (here the external moment) along the ordinate axis and the
generalized displacement (here the rotation) along the abscissa axis so as to read
off the tangent stiffness of an arbitrary configuration through the tangent to the
equilibrium path at the selected configuration.2
The pendulum equilibrium path .; M.// is shown in Fig. 1.4. The angu-
lar coefficient of the tangent to the equilibrium path at the origin D 0 is
the tangent geometric stiffness k G at the origin. The linearization3 about D 0
of (1.2), or (1.3), leads in a straightforward fashion to (1.1) on account of the fact
2
Note that the equilibrium path is independent of the pendulum length since the latter appears both
in M D H l and in k G D mgl: A way of expressing the mechanical problem in nondimensional
form would resort to a rescaling of the external force H as H=mg. This would result in a unitary
nondimensional geometric tangent stiffness, k G D 1:
3
A more rigorous linearization procedure can be pursued by letting denote a variable quantifying
the deviations from the reference configuration B (a distance, in some sense, between the current
configuration BM and the reference configuration B). To this end, D ./ and .0/ D 0: Therefore,
can be expanded in a Taylor series of as
Fig. 1.4 Equilibrium path of M

a simple pendulum subject to
an incremental horizontal
force H
H
mg
kG kG
-p/2 0 p/2
mg
that tan D C O. 3 /. The tangent stiffness associated with an arbitrary inter-
N can be effectively
N caused by HN and described by angle ,
mediate configuration B;
calculated applying a small incremental force H that causes a small incremental
angle denoted by : The moment equation, in the updated configuration described
by the angle N C ; is
k G tan.N C / D HN l C H l:
X1 ˇ X1 ˇ
1 dj ˇˇ j dj ˇˇ
./ D j
D ; with WD :
j Š d j ˇD0 d j ˇD0
j j
j D1 j D1
jŠ
The nonlinear function tan governing the equilibrium path of the pendulum subject to the
horizontal force H can be expanded in a Taylor series as
tan ./ D tan..0// C .sec2 .0//1 C O. 3 / D 1 C O. 3 /:
Then the moment balance given by (1.3) with the incorporation of the above linearization gives
k G 1 C O. 3 / D M:
This equation suggests that the equilibrium state in B0 (first-order displaced configuration) is
assured if and only if
M
D O./:
kG
The result implies H=mg1 which means that H must be (much) smaller than mg to be
consistent with the assumption of an infinitesimal angle variation. As soon as H becomes larger
than mg; the linearized equilibrium breaks down and higher-order terms are necessary to describe
the equilibrium arising from the finite changes of configuration.
kE
M
H k =kE +kG
mg k
kG
-p/2 p/2
Fig. 1.5 Equilibrium paths of a simple pendulum subject to the horizontal force H , with (thin
solid line) and without the linearly elastic torsional spring (thick solid line)
The expansion of the moment equation about D N yields
N C .k G sec2 /
k G tan./ N D HN l C H l:
Since BN is an equilibrium configuration, the equilibrium equation k G tan N D HN l

is satisfied. Therefore, the incremental linearized equilibrium equation and the
associated tangent stiffness are
kN G D H l; N
kN G WD k G sec2 : (1.4)
Equation (1.4) and Fig. 1.4 show that the tangent stiffness increases with the angle
up to infinity due to the fact that the lever arm of the geometric restoring moment
increases nonlinearly as sin increases and attains a maximum at D ˙=2
while the lever arm of the horizontal force vanishes causing the force to become
unbounded.
Linear versus nonlinear elastic stiffness. The equilibrium equation is modified
by the attachment of an elastic torsional spring to the pendulum arm as in Fig. 1.5.
The material behavior of the device is defined through its constitutive law which
relates the restoring elastic couple to the generalized deformation parameter, here
the angle : The constitutive law can be expressed as M E D MO ./: For a linearly
elastic spring, the constitutive law is linear, MO D k E , where k E is the elastic
stiffness. Equilibrium in the undeformed configuration B is possible due to the
presence of the elastic restoring couple k E . Forcing the resultant moment with
respect to O to vanish yields
k E D M:
In the first-order displaced configuration B 0 ; besides the elastic restoring moment

M E ; the geometric restoring moment also contributes to the equilibrium:
.k E C k G / D M: (1.5)
Note that the overall stiffness in (1.5) is a direct summation of the elastic stiffness
k E and the geometric stiffness k G D mgl:
By considering the equilibrium in the current configuration B, M the resultant
balance of moments delivers
k E sec C k G tan D M; (1.6)
where the external moment is moved to the right-hand side. The differences in the
equilibrium paths of the simple pendulum without the elastic torsional spring and
with the linearly elastic spring are shown in Fig. 1.5 which highlights the higher
stiffness of the pendulum endowed with the elastic torsional spring (thin solid line).
When the constitutive law is nonlinear—e.g., nonlinearly elastic (rubber-like
materials, or steel-alloy materials below the yielding limit) or elasto-plastic or visco-
elasto-plastic—it is said that a material (or physical) nonlinearity is dealt with.
If the linear torsional spring of the preceding example is replaced by a nonlinearly
elastic spring, the constitutive law MO ./ becomes nonlinear in and must obey a
few physical restrictions, such as the positive-definiteness of the tangent stiffness at
the origin, MO j D0 > 0, where the subscript denotes differentiation with respect
to . Moreover, certain elastic states may be penalized such as a =2-rotation of the
pendulum for which the unbounded growth of the restoring moment is prescribed
through lim MO ./ D 1:
!=2
For a nonlinearly elastic torsional spring, the moment equation of the forces and
couples in BM with respect to O gives
MO ./ C k G sin D M cos : (1.7)
By assuming the constitutive function to be continuously differentiable and

symmetric (i.e., an odd function of ; MO ./DMO ./), its expansion in a Taylor
series yields MO ./ D k E C k 3 3 C O. 5 /:
The spring is said to be hardening if k 3 > 0 or softening if k 3 < 0: The ensuing
constitutive laws are pictured in Fig. 1.6a while the corresponding equilibrium paths
are shown in Fig. 1.6b. The pendulum with the hardening (softening) spring is stiffer
(softer) than the pendulum with the linearly elastic spring, represented here by
the thin solid line. Thus the linearly elastic constitutive law represents a threshold
behavior between qualitatively different nonlinear constitutive functions.
Positive versus negative geometric stiffness. The pendulum hanging downward
has the virtue of exhibiting a geometric stiffness that is always positive. Consider an
upside-down massless pendulum with an attached linearly elastic torsional spring,
subject to a downward vertical (compressive) force P o and to a horizontal force H
a k3 =0 b M
k3 >0 k3 >0
k3 <0
k3<0
-p/2 p/2
Fig. 1.6 (a) Linearly elastic (k3 D 0), nonlinearly elastic hardening (k3 > 0) and softening (k3 <
0) constitutive functions. (b) Equilibrium paths of a simple pendulum subject to the horizontal
force H . The thinnest solid lines represent the linearly elastic spring
Fig. 1.7 The upside-down

pendulum with a linearly Po
elastic torsional spring,
subject to the compressive
force P o and to the horizontal H
force H
O
kE
(see Fig. 1.7). Let the clockwise rotations be positive. The vertical configuration B
is an equilibrium state when H D 0. The moment equation with respect to O of the
forces and couples in the reference state is k E H l D 0. The stiffness is purely
elastic. However, the moment equation with respect to O of the forces and couples
in the first-order displaced configuration yields
.k E P o l/ D H l:
The overall stiffness is k WD k E C k G with k G WD P o l < 0 which implies that

the geometric stiffness is negative. This gives rise to the possibility that the absolute
value of the geometric stiffness equals the elastic stiffness thus making the total
stiffness vanish. This state is clearly a limit/critical state, whereby a loss of elastic
1.3 Path-Following Methods 11
stability occurs. If the pendulum undergoes finite rotations, the moment balance
imposed in the current configuration BM yields
k E sec P o l tan D H l;
which indicates that the geometric stiffness varies nonlinearly along the equilibrium
path.
1.3 Path-Following Methods
In the context of nonlinear problems for elastic or inelastic structures, a key

step toward the analysis of various aspects of the response—such as the elastic
stability, the postcritical states, the nonlinear dynamic response, its stability and
bifurcation—concerns the computation of the equilibrium paths when one or more
load multipliers are varied within the ranges of physical interest. In a variety of
problems, engineers are often faced with the challenge of studying the evolution
of the equilibrium states (i.e., construction of equilibrium paths) when some
parameters of interest, such as the load multiplier, the wind speed etc., are varied.
In general, these parameters are referred to as control parameters. The techniques
that allow this type of computation are generally known as path-following or
continuation methods [13, 14, 335]. Informative examples and an introductory
tutorial to continuation methods can be found in [218].
The simplest path-following technique is the sequential continuation (also
known as the zeroth-order continuation). It consists of step-by-step analyses in
force control (or in other parameters) whereby the load range is discretized in a
number of load steps. At each step, the response/solution is obtained by employing
the Newton–Raphson method (or secant method) through a convergent sequence of
linearized incremental problems where the solution found at the previous load step is
taken as the initial guess. However, sequential path-following techniques (in force or
displacement control) break down at turning points where the stiffness becomes sin-
gular or infinite, as in the exemplary equilibrium paths of Fig. 1.8a,b. To circumvent
these difficulties, generalized (higher-order) path-following techniques have been
devised to path-follow the solutions of a nonlinear structural/mechanical problem
upon variation of a control parameter.
The problem of path-following is strictly connected to discretization of
distributed-parameter systems and to solving large systems of nonlinear equations
generated by the discretization process. The latter can be based on the Faedo–
Galerkin method, the finite element or finite difference methods or any other viable
method. In the 1970s this problem was posed in the context of the elastic stability
of plate and shell structures. In particular, shallow shell structures exhibit nonlinear
precritical load paths and undergo a snap-through instability at the so-called called
limit points.
a b
l l
lL
lL
vL v vL v
Fig. 1.8 Two paradigmatic mechanisms for the loss of stability: (a) snap-through, (b) snap-back
Two broad classes of solution methods were available. One consisted of computer
adaptations of the perturbation method originally developed by Koiter in 1945
[224, 225]. Examples of this approach, in terms of suggested or actual program
implementations, are given by [183, 430] or, more recently, by [264].
The other approach is related to methods that aim to solve the equations step-
by-step. Works of this kind, to cite only a few, are [18, 83, 455, 456]. A great
body of works was devoted to devising computational procedures that exhibited
the capability of (a) calculating the critical points (i.e., limit or bifurcation points)
and (b) tracing parts of the path or paths (branches) connecting these points. Several
works attempted to meet these requirements [63,118,133,343]. The most important
contribution was due to Ricks in 1979 [383]. He proposed an incremental method
which featured Newton’s method and a special parameter controlling the progress
of the computations along the equilibrium paths. The novelty lay in the choice of the
arclength along the equilibrium path as a path-following parameter. This parameter
was introduced by means of an auxiliary equation which was added to the set of
equations governing the equilibrium of the structure. An important advantage was
that the domain of application of the method increased considerably in comparison
with that of more conventional methods. Ricks’ method triggered the development
of most of the computational continuation strategies that currently belong to the
group of path-following methods. A clear exposition of these methods can be found
in [335, 400].
In the next sections, the fundamental aspects of a path-following technique are
illustrated. For the sake of simplicity, the static case is treated first.
1.3.1 Step-by-Step Analysis: Sequential Path-Following
The sequential path-following is a simple computational strategy consisting of a

discretization of the control parameter into a grid of values within a given range.
The Newton–Raphson iterative scheme for solving nonlinear systems of equations

is employed at each updated value of the control parameter by taking the solution
corresponding to the control parameter of the previous step as the initial guess
in the iterations. Hence, this type of path-following scheme is nothing more than
straightforward sequential applications of the Newton–Raphson method. It is worth
revisiting the leading aspects of the procedure here.
The Newton–Raphson method is widely used to solve systems of nonlinear
equations. Consider a single nonlinear equation to start with. Let q denote the
unknown variable and let
f .q/ D 0; q 2 IR (1.8)
be the nonlinear equation. Let qN be one of the solutions of (1.8) which, according to
the Newton–Raphson method, can be sought through a sequence of approximations
q .k/ converging to q:N The sequence is found through linearization of f .q/: If q .k/
denotes an approximation to the solution, it does not satisfy exactly (1.8). Therefore,
by substituting q .k/ into (1.8), there is a remainder or residual which is expressed as
r .k/ WD f .q .k/ /:
Then, the solution is sought to be corrected by q .kC1/ so that the next approxima-
tion of the solution is
q .kC1/ D q .k/ C q (k+1) :
By assuming f 2 C 2 ŒI.q/
N (i.e., the function is continuous together with its first
N denotes a neighborhood of qN IR; and that
and second derivatives), where I.q/
J WD df =dq ¤ 0; 8 q 2 I.q/;N a Taylor expansion of (1.8) yields
df .k/ (k+1)
f .q (k+1) / D f .q .k/ / C .q /.q q .k/ / C O.jq (k+1) j2 /:
dq
By putting r .kC1/ D 0 and by discarding higher-order terms in it, the following

sequence is obtained:
1
q .kC1/ D q .k/ J .k/ r .k/ ; (1.9)
where
J .k/ WD fq .q .k/ /:
The subscript q indicates differentiation with respect to q. The sequence (1.9)
converges to the root qN under the conditions stated in the following theorem.
Theorem 1.1. Let qN be a solution of (1.8). Let f 2 C 2 .I /, where I denotes a
neighborhood of q:N Assume that J.q/ D fq .q/ ¤ 0; 8 q 2 I: Then, there exists a
neighborhood AN I.q/ N the sequence (1.9)
N such that, for any initial guess q (0) 2 A;
converges to qN and the convergence is quadratic.
The generalization of the Newton–Raphson method for systems of nonlinear

equations is straightforward. Let q D .q1 ; q2 ; : : : ; qn / 2 IRn denote the n-tuple
of unknowns and let
f.q/ D 0; q 2 IRn (1.10)
be the application f W IRn ! IRn : If qN represents one of the solutions of (1.10)

and q.k/ is the kth approximation to it, the substitution of q.k/ into (1.10) yields the
following residual vector:
r.k/ WD f.q.k/ /:
Then, the solution is sought to be corrected by q.kC1/ so that the next approxima-
tion is
q(k+1) D q.k/ C q(k+1) :
With the assumption that fi be C 2 in a neighborhood of qN denoted by I.q/;
N and that
N a Taylor expansion
the Frétchet derivative of f; J WD fq ; be invertible 8 q 2 I.q/;
of (1.10) yields
f.q(k+1) / D f.q.k/ / C fq .q.k/ / .q(k+1) q.k/ / C O.jjq(k+1) jj2 /:
By letting J.k/ indicate the Jacobian of f at q.k/
J.k/ WD fq .q.k/ /;
the following sequence is obtained

1 .k/
q(k+1) D q.k/ J.k/ r : (1.11)
Theorem 1.2. Let qN be a solution of (1.10). Let fi 2 C 2 .I /, where I denotes a

neighborhood of q:N Assume that the Jacobian of f, denoted by J.q/; be nonsingular
8 q 2 I: Then, there exists a neighborhood AN I.q/
N such that, for any initial guess
N the sequence (1.11) converges to q:
q(0) 2 A; N
In some cases, numerical difficulties can be encountered in the inversion of the
Jacobian J.k/ when approaching a singularity condition. Instead of inverting J.k/ ;
the next approximation can be found solving directly the following system of linear
equations by some other solution technique that avoids the inversion of the Jacobian:
J.q.k/ / .q(k+1) q.k/ / D f.q.k/ /:
The illustration of the sequential path-following scheme is illuminated by a me-

chanical interpretation of the mathematical computations and quantities invoked by
the procedure. The system under investigation is either a finite-degree-of-freedom
(dof) structure or a distributed-parameter system which has been previously dis-

cretized. The set of governing equations is cast in the form
f.q; / D o; q 2 IRn ; 2 IR (1.12)
where is the load multiplier and q is the n 1 vector of generalized (Lagrangian)

coordinates. Assume f W IRn IR! IRn to be continuously differentiable. The set
.q; / describes one of the equilibrium paths when (or some other control
parameter) is varied starting off from an initial equilibrium solution .qo ; o / for
which f.qo ; o / D o: Assume the tangent stiffness at .qo ; o / to be nonsingular:
det K.qo ; o / ¤ 0; K.qo ; o / WD fq .qo ; o /:
According to the Implicit Function Theorem, there exists a neighborhood of .qo ; o /

such that there is a unique solution for any belonging to the said neighborhood.
By considering a straightforward step-by-step analysis in force control, the
selected load range is discretized through N L load steps according to a discretization
grid; one example of such a discretization is Œo ; 1 ; : : : ; NL with
i D i 1 C i ; o D 0; i D 1; : : : ; NL :
At the i th step, the load multiplier is incremented by i so that the load of the
current step becomes i D i 1 C i : Consequently, the structure or system
undergoes a change of configuration from BMi 1 attained at i 1 to the updated
configuration BMi under i .
The solution of the previous load step, represented by qi 1 ; is employed as the
initial guess for the first iterative solution step in the Newton–Raphson procedure
[373]; namely, q(0)i D qi 1 : By denoting the iteration number of the root-finding
procedure by the superscript j , the corrected solution at the j th iteration is
i D qi C qi ; j D 1; : : : ; NR ;
q(j) (j-1) (j)
(1.13)
where NR is the total number of iterations. Substituting (1.13) into (1.12) yields
2
i ; i / D f.qi ; i / C fq .qi ; i / qi C O.jjqi jj /:
f.q(j) (j-1) (j-1) (j) (j)
(1.14)
Let
K(j-1)
i WD fq .q(j-1)
i ; i / and r(j-1)
i WD f.q(j-1)
i ; i / (1.15)
be the tangent stiffness matrix of the i th load step at the .j 1/th iteration and the
vector of residual forces associated with the corresponding load step and iteration,
respectively. By forcing (1.14) to zero and by neglecting higher-order terms, (1.14)
becomes
i .qi qi / D ri :
K(j-1) (j) (j-1) (j-1)
(1.16)
f(q, l i )
f(q (0), l i )= r i(0)

i
q
q i-1= q (0)
i
Dq (2)
i
Dq (1)
i
Fig. 1.9 Convergence of the Newton–Raphson method at the i th load step of the sequential
continuation scheme
Therefore, the updated solution at the j th iteration is

(j-1) 1
i D qi ŒKi
q(j) r(j-1)
(j-1)
i ; (1.17)
1
where ŒK(j-1)
i denotes the inverse stiffness matrix called the flexibility matrix.
The iterations are arrested when a suitable norm of the residual forces, denoted
by jjrjj; becomes smaller than a prescribed tolerance "r ; jjr(j)i jj < "r : A schematic
representation of the convergence of the Newton–Raphson method is presented in
Fig. 1.9.
Instead of the Newton–Raphson method, the secant method (see Fig. 1.10) may
have the advantage of requiring lower computational efforts. In this case, the tangent
stiffness at the initially guessed solution does not change with the iterations, that is,
K(j-1)
i D K(0)
i , 8 j . Consequently,
i .qi qi / D f.qi ; i /; 8 j D 1; : : : ; NR :
(j) (j-1) (j-1)
K(0)
1.3.2 Pseudo-Arclength Path-Following Techniques
The main limitation of the sequential path-following method (in force control) is that
it breaks down when the stiffness matrix becomes singular, a circumstance signaled
by the coalescence to zero of one of the eigenvalues of Ki(j-1) in (1.15).
f(q, λ i )
f(q (0)
i
, λ i )= r i(0)
q (2) q (1) q i-1=q (0)

i
i i
Fig. 1.10 Convergence of the secant method at the i th load step of the sequential path-following
scheme
The stall situation that occurs at the limit points (where the stiffness becomes
singular or infinite) is overcome by a suitable parametrization of the equilibrium
path through a convenient intrinsic parameter. The arclength s along the path is a
natural parameter [383]. When the chosen parameter is not the arclength along the
path, it is referred to as the pseudo-arclength. Accordingly, both the solution q and
the load multiplier (or some other control parameters) are taken to be functions of
s; q D q.s/ and D .s/: The number of unknowns is increased by one, namely to
n C 1. Henceforth, the arclength parameter s is chosen rather than a generic pseudo-
arclength parameter because the arclength s facilitates a geometrical interpretation
of the algorithm. Since the equilibrium solution q.s/ attained at .s/ corresponding
to s has to satisfy (1.12), it is
f.q.s/; .s// D o: (1.18)
When the solution point .q.s/; .s// moves along the equilibrium path from s to
s + WD s C s; then the new solution point .q.s + /; .s + // must again satisfy (1.12),
that is,

f.q.s + /; .s + // D fq .q; / qs C f .q; /s s C O.s 2 / D o; (1.19)
where the subscript s denotes differentiation with respect to s: By neglecting higher-

order terms, (1.19) can be cast in matrix form as the product of the .n C 1/ .n C 1/
|
matrix Œfq ; f with a D Œqs ; s | ; that is,
Œfq ; f a D o: (1.20)
a
l(s)
l0 s
q0 q(s) q
Fig. 1.11 Path-following method: the arclength s and the unit tangent vector a at s
Vector a denotes the vector tangent to the equilibrium path (see Fig. 1.11) made of
unit length by enforcing a a D 1 which gives
qs qs C 2s D 1: (1.21)
Matrix fq is assumed to be nonsingular together with f ¤ o: Therefore, (1.20)

can be rewritten as
fq .q; / qs D f .q; /s : (1.22)
Since qs is proportional to s , the unknown vector qs is expressed as qs D s z by
which (1.22) becomes
fq .q; / z D f .q; /; (1.23)
while the normalization condition (1.21), solved for s ; gives
1
s D ˙ p : (1.24)
zzC1
Thus the unit tangent vector can be rewritten as a D s Œz| ; 1| : With the computed
unit tangent vector a at s, the new equilibrium solution at s C s can be determined
accordingly. The initial guess for the updated solution at s + , denoted by .q(1) ; (1) /,
can be obtained by the tangent predictor as
q(1) D q.s/ C qs s; (1) D .s/ C s s: (1.25)
The updated equilibrium solution .q.s + /; .s + // is sought as the intersection

between the line normal to the unit tangent vector a passing through .q(1) ; (1) /
and the solution curve (i.e., the equilibrium path). Let b denote the vector normal
a(s)Δs (q(1) , λ(1) )

λ(s)=:λ o s
b
λ(s+Δs)
λ(s)=:λ
q(s)=:q o q(s+Δs) q
Fig. 1.12 Path-following method: the tangent vector a at s and the normal direction b at s +
to the tangent vector a through .q(1) ; (1) / (see Fig. 1.12). This means that .q; / is
sought as the solution of the nonlinear equation f.q; / D o subject to the following
constraint equation (orthogonality condition): b a D 0: By definition, vector b is
cast in the form
q q(1)
b WD ; (1.26)
(1)
where .q; / is the unknown solution point at s + while .q(1) ; (1) / is given by (1.25).
For ease of notation, let qo WD q.s/ and o WD .s/ denote the solution point at
s: The solution point .q; / at s + has to satisfy the orthogonality condition b a D 0
which is reduced to
g.q; / D .q qo / qos C . o /os s D 0: (1.27)
Based on the known solution point .qo ; o /; given the arclength increment s
(which can be made adaptive), the solution of the augmented system is sought as
f.q; / D o;
g.q; / D 0: (1.28)
At the j th iteration, substituting q(j) D q(j-1) C q(j) and (j) D (j-1) C (j)
into (1.28) and Taylor expanding (1.28) about .q(j-1) ; (j-1) / yield the incremental
linearized equations in the form
q q C f D f ;
(j-1)
f(j-1) (j) (j) (j-1)
(1.29)
qos q(j) C os (j) D g (j-1) ; (1.30)
where the notation ./(j-1) indicates that the scalar and matrix-valued functions are
evaluated at .q(j-1) ; (j-1) /: The identities
gq D qos | and g D os
are employed in (1.30). These equations are conveniently rewritten in matrix form as
J.q(j-1) ; (j-1) / x(j) D r(j-1) ; (1.31)
where the augmented unknown vector and the augmented residual vector are given,
respectively, by

q(j) f(j-1)
x WD
(j)
and r (j-1)
WD ;
(j) g (j-1)
while the augmented .n C 1/ .n C 1/ Jacobian matrix is

" #
(j-1)
f(j-1)
q f
J(j-1)
WD : (1.32)
qos | os
The Jacobian J is generally nonsingular. Thus, the solution can be determined as
x(j) D ŒJ(j-1) 1 r(j-1) : (1.33)
The iterations are continued until jjr(j) jj<"r .

Since the stiffness matrix K(j-1) WDf(j-1)q is almost everywhere nonsingular, a
bordering algorithm may be employed as follows:
q q D f
f(j-1) f(j-1)
:
(j) (j-1) (j)
(1.34)
By virtue of the principle of superposition, the incremental vector q(j) is expressed

as a linear combination of two vectors according to q(j) D z1 C (j) z2 , where z1
and z2 are found by solving the following linear equations:
q z1 D f ; q z2 D f :
(j-1)
f(j-1) (j-1)
f(j-1) (1.35)
If the tangent stiffness matrix K(j-1) does not happen to become singular at any of the
iterative steps, the unknown vectors can be determined as
z1 D ŒK(j-1) 1 f(j-1) ; z2 D ŒK(j-1) 1 f(j-1)

: (1.36)
The incremental load multiplier (j) is obtained through the .n C 1/th equation,
given by (1.30) which, by substitution of q(j) D z1 C (j) z2 , yields the load
increment as
(j) D qos z1 C g (j-1) = qos z2 C os : (1.37)
1.4 Dynamic Analysis: Periodic Motions 21
1.4 Dynamic Analysis: Periodic Motions
A nonlinear system can be excited through a variety of mechanisms which arise

from the different ways the energy of an external mechanical/electromechanical
source (e.g., actuator, exciter, electrostatics, etc.) or of the environment (e.g., wind,
fluid current, temperature gradients, etc.) is injected into the system. In particular,
the main excitation mechanisms can be grouped as:
(a) Direct excitations, whenever the forces or base excitations are not coupled with
the motion no matter what coordinates are chosen (e.g., the forces are applied
directly on the masses as in Fig. 1.13a).
(b) Parametric excitations, whenever the forces or base excitations are coupled with
the motion for some specific choices of the coordinates (e.g., the pendulum
subject to a vertical acceleration if the rotation angle is chosen as the Lagrangian
coordinate in Fig. 1.13b).
(c) Self-excited mechanisms such as those arising in fluid-structure interaction
problems.
It turns out that in cases (a) and (b), the equations of motion appear as
nonautonomous systems of partial (or ordinary) differential equations whereby the
time coordinate appears explicitly in the governing equations. On the other hand, for
case (c) as well as for unforced conditions, the governing equations are autonomous
whereby time does not appear explicitly.
Periodically forced (nonautonomous) nonlinear systems may exhibit periodic
responses, under suitable conditions. A significant task in nonlinear structural
dynamics is that of predicting the periodic response to particularly harmful forcing
conditions such as periodic excitations possessing frequencies in the neighborhood
of the natural frequencies of the structure. From an engineering design point of
view, in particular, it is important to investigate how the periodic dynamic response
changes upon variation of some of the forcing parameters, often uncertain as the
excitation frequency or amplitude for harmonic excitations or other parameters that
a b
g M(t)
mg mg
Fig. 1.13 Examples of (a) direct and (b) parametric forcing on a simple pendulum
may affect the structural dynamic response in a significant way. The frequency-
response function is one such example. To this end, there are path-following
strategies that allow to trace the branches of periodic solutions of nonautonomous
(as well as autonomous) systems under variations of one or more control parameters.
Similarly, systems subject to self-excited mechanisms may exhibit periodic
oscillations within ranges of the control parameter that regulates the self-excitation
(e.g., the flow velocity for aircraft wings or for suspension bridges exposed to
winds). These periodic oscillations are also called limit cycle oscillations and are
concisely referred to as LCOs. For autonomous systems, the objective is to trace the
branch of LCOs under variation of the control parameter (e.g., the air speed). The
dedicated algorithms compute concurrently the LCOs and their periods.
1.4.1 State-Space Formulation
The equations of motion of general multi-dof systems under forcing conditions (a)
and (b) can be cast in state-space form as follows:
xP D f.x; t/ (1.38)
where x is the n 1 state vector which describes the state of the system and includes
the generalized coordinates q; the associated velocities q, P a set of internal variables
(e.g., the variables which govern the hysteretic parts of the restoring forces, the
temperature, etc.); fW IRn IR!IRn denotes the generally nondifferentiable vector
field. The space IRn in which x evolves is called state space. The augmented space
.x; t/ 2 IRn IR; spanned by the state vector x and time t, is called augmented state
space. A state space is said to be a phase space when one-half of the states are
generalized displacements and the other one-half are generalized velocities.
A trajectory in the augmented space .x; t/ 2 IRn IR that satisfies (1.38) is said to
be an integral curve. On the other hand, the projection of an integral curve through
.xo ; to / onto the state space IRn is called an orbit through the state xo at time t D to :
Example 1.3. For a pendulum subject to a time-varying couple M.t/, applied, for
example, through a direct drive rotary motor, the equation of motion is
R C mlg sin .t/ D M.t/:

ml 2 .t/ (1.39)
This is an example of direct forcing. On the other hand, if the pendulum is subject
R
to a prescribed vertical acceleration of its pivot, y.t/, the equation of motion is
R C mlŒg C y.t/
ml 2 .t/ R sin .t/ D 0: (1.40)
This is an example of parametric forcing.

Fig. 1.14 Self-excited

system: flow past a
viscoelastically supported
cylinder
The state-space form of the equations of motion for cases (a) and (b), by letting
x1 D and x2 D ,P is
xP 1 D x2 ;
g M.t/
xP 2 D sin x1 C (1.41)
l ml 2
and
xP 1 D x2 ;
1
xP 2 D Œg C y.t/
R sin x1 : (1.42)
l
Example 1.4. Bluff cylinders exposed to a subsonic flow experience vortex-induced

vibrations (VIV) at Reynolds numbers between 2 102 and 2 105 [209]. Examples
of structures undergoing this phenomenon range from suspension bridges, masts,
towers, tensioned legs, and risers to tube bundle heat exchangers for nuclear reactors
and underwater cables. Various experimental works have studied flow-induced
vibrations of elastically mounted cylinders which have revealed a complex fluid–
structure interaction characterized by a region of flow velocities where the vortex-
shedding frequency and the cylinder response frequency are locked at a value
near the cylinder natural frequency. This phenomenon is called resonance lock-in.
Several models have been postulated in the attempt to describe the experimental
observations. The most successful of these models is that of Hartlen and Currie
[190] by which the oscillating lift force on the cylinder was assumed to satisfy
the Rayleigh equation. When this equation is coupled with the equation of motion
for a spring-mounted cylinder and the empirical constants appearing in the model
are appropriately chosen, the observed behavior is qualitatively well reproduced.
Consider a one-dof elastically supported rigid cylinder, constrained to oscillate
transversely to a stationary and uniform flow of free-stream velocity U e 1 (see
Fig. 1.14). The dimensional in-plane cross-flow displacement of the structure (i.e.,
collinear with e 2 ), denoted by q, is described by the linear oscillator subject to the

force 12 LU 2 DCL .q; P t/ according to
1
mqR C r qP C kq D P t/
LU 2 DCL .q; (1.43)
2
where m D ms C mf is the sum of the mass of the structure ms and the fluid-added
mass mf which models inviscid inertial effects [71]; r is the damping coefficient
that accounts for structural damping and fluid-added damping; is the fluid density;
D is the cylinder diameter and L is its length; CL is the lift coefficient.
The fluctuating lift coefficient CL is modeled by a nonlinear oscillator satisfying
the following Rayleigh equation called a wake oscillator:
CR L C !s .CP L2 1/CP L C !s2 CL D F .q=D/
P (1.44)
where !s WD 2St U=D is the vortex-shedding frequency, St is the Strouhal number.

P
F .q=D/ models the effects of the cylinder motion on the near wake. The wake
oscillator exhibits a self-sustained oscillation of finite amplitude, namely a limit
cycle in the phase portrait [332].
In other models, a nonlinear viscous term in the form !s .CL2 1/CP L is
considered. The resulting equation is referred to as the van der Pol equation. (One
of the original works of van der Pol is [444]). In other cases, to better reproduce the
experimental results, a combination of the van der Pol and Rayleigh equations has
been proposed [408]. Fundamental results on reduced-order models of the lift and
drag forces of cylinders were obtained in [10, 11, 298–300] by using synergetically
computational fluid dynamics simulations (CFD) and the method of multiple scales
[332].
By letting x1 D q and x3 D CL ; the state-space form of the above self-excited
system becomes
xP 1 D x2 ; (1.45)

r k 1 U 2 DL
xP 2 D x2 x1 C x3 ; (1.46)
m m 2 m
xP 3 D x4 ; (1.47)
xP 4 D !s .x42 1/x4 !s2 x3 C F .x2 =D/: (1.48)
State-control-space formulation. The pendulum of Example 1.3 may be subject

to harmonic excitations. In this case, the couple or the base excitation are sinusoidal
functions of time, M.t/ D C cos ˝t or y.t/ D Y cos ˝t. Therefore, the
vector fields, f D Œx2 ; g= l sin x1 C C =.ml 2 / cos ˝t| and f D Œx2 ; 1= l.g
˝ 2 Y cos ˝t/ sin x1 | ; respectively, depend on the excitation amplitude and fre-
quency. These parameters can be collected in a vector c called the vector of the
control parameters which, for the sake of generality, can be assumed to be m 1.
Thus, the state-space equations of motion are rewritten as
xP D f.x; tI c/ (1.49)
where fW IRn IRIRm !IRn : The space .x; t; c/ 2IRn IRIRm is said to be the state-
control space.
For autonomous systems, there is no explicit dependence on time t in the vector
field; hence,
xP D f.xI c/: (1.50)
For both autonomous and nonautonomous systems, an orbit is said to be periodic

of period T if T is the minimum time interval after which the system returns to its
original state (in state space); that is,
x.t C T / D x.t/; 8 t 2 IR: (1.51)
This is called the periodicity condition.4 Autonomous systems are addressed first,
nonautonomous systems are discussed next.
Autonomous systems. For these systems, if x.t/ is a solution of (1.50), then
x.t C / is also a solution of (1.50), 8 2 IR: Thus, it is possible to start measuring
the period T at any point x.to / where to is an arbitrary initial time which can be set
to zero. The imposition of this arbitrary choice is said to be the phase condition. A
possible phase condition is the prescription of one of the components of the initial
state point x.0/:
g.x.0/; c/ WD xk .0/ xko D 0
where xko is the prescribed value in the range of xk .t/. Another possible phase
condition amounts to making one of the components of the vector field vanish at
the initial point,
g.x.0/; c/ WD xP j .0/ D fj .x.0/; c/ D 0:
Therefore, solutions of an autonomous system representing limit cycles satisfy the
governing equation (1.50) together with the periodicity condition (1.51) which is
rewritten as x.0/ D x.T /: The system is closed by the phase condition. In summary,
limit cycles are solutions of the following augmented two-point boundary-value
problem:

xP f.x; c/
D (1.52)
TP 0
subject to the boundary conditions representing the periodicity and phase conditions

x.0/ x.T / o
D : (1.53)
g.x.0/; c/ 0
4
Besides time periodicity, there are important classes of problems exhibiting space periodicity. For
example, in one-dimensional periodic structures x.s C / D x.s/, 8s in the range of the domain,
where s denotes the space coordinate and is the spatial period called wavelength.
The boundary-value problem consists of .n C 1/ first-order ordinary differential

equations in the .n C 1/ unknowns .x.t/; T / subject to the .n C 1/ conditions given
by (1.53).
It is convenient to rescale time through the unknown period T according to
t DW T
: The augmented two-point boundary-value problem thus becomes

x0 T f.x; c/
D (1.54)
T0 0
subject to the boundary conditions

x.0/ x.1/ o
D (1.55)
g.x.0/; c/ 0
where the prime indicates differentiation with respect to the nondimensional time
:
The period T can be considered as the .n C 1/th fictitious state of the system by
letting xnC1 D T .
A variety of numerical tools for solving two-point boundary-value problems can
be employed among which is the shooting method and its many variants [400].
In particular, if one of the control parameters is chosen to be varied (e.g., the kth
parameter ck so that D ck ), path-following schemes can be employed to trace the
branches of limit cycles upon variation of .
Example 1.5. Consider a pendulum hanging downward in the direction of gravity.
The equation of motion is
R C mlg sin .t/ D 0:

ml 2 .t/ (1.56)
Let x3 D T where T is the period of the orbit. After rescaling time, the augmented
two-point boundary-value problem becomes
g
x10 D x3 x2 ; x20 D x3 sin x1 ; x30 D 0; (1.57)
l
subject to
x1 .0/ x1 .1/ D 0; x2 .0/ x2 .1/ D 0; x2 .0/ D 0: (1.58)
The chosen phase condition enforces x10 .0/ D f1 .x.0// D 0 which corresponds
to setting the initial angular velocity to zero. Alternatively, the initial angle of the
pendulum could be set to x1o by enforcing x1 .0/ x1o D 0:
Some remarks on the stability of periodic motions. Trajectories or orbits of a
given dynamical system are solutions of (1.49) or (1.50) with the initial condition
x.0/ DW z: These trajectories/orbits can be expressed as
'.tI z; c/: (1.59)

Fig. 1.15 Poincaré section

˘ with a periodic orbit
through qQ and a perturbed
orbit originating from qQ C ıq P
The stability of a given periodic solution xQ .t/ of period T is investigated considering

the trajectory represented by '.tI zQ ; c/ that starts off at zQ D xQ .0/: The periodicity
condition entails '.T I zQ ; c/ D zQ : To investigate the stability of xQ , the initial
conditions (initial state) are perturbed by a small vector ız and the ensuing perturbed
trajectory '.tI zQ C ız; c/ is examined. The collective behavior of these trajectories,
when the perturbation ız is given arbitrarily in all possible state directions, dictates
the stability of the periodic solution. The deviation of the perturbed trajectory from
the reference trajectory can be calculated as
ı'.t/ WD '.tI zQ C ız; c/ '.tI zQ ; c/: (1.60)
The Taylor expansion of (1.60) after one period reads
ı'.T / WD '.T I zQ C ız; c/ '.T I zQ ; c/ D 'z .T I zQ ; c/ ız C O.jjızjj2 /: (1.61)
Consequently, the matrix in (1.61)
C.T I zQ ; c/ WD 'z .T I zQ ; c/ (1.62)
determines whether the perturbation decays or grows in state space. The matrix C,
called the monodromy matrix, possesses n eigenvalues of which one is always equal
to +1 and its associated eigenvector is xP .0/ D f.x.0/; c/: The stability of a periodic
solution can thus be shown to be regulated by the eigenvalues of the monodromy
matrix which turns out to be the Jacobian of a special discrete map called the
Poincaré map or return map, which is illustrated in the next section.
The Poincaré map. A (one-sided) Poincaré section through a point qQ in state space
is a hypersurface ˘ of dimension .n 1/ (see Fig. 1.15) exhibiting the property that
all trajectories crossing ˘ in the neighborhood of qQ are such that (a) they intersect
˘ transversally and (b) they cross ˘ in the same direction. By letting nQ denote a
unit vector normal to the Poincaré section ˘ at q, Q the transversality condition is

Q c/ nQ > 0:
enforced by f.q;
A trajectory that crosses ˘ at qQ and comes back to intersect ˘ at the same point
after an interval of time T is a periodic orbit of period T . The periodicity condition
simply reads
Q c/ D q:
'.T I q; Q
If a different point p on ˘ is chosen and again the associated trajectory crosses ˘
at p after a time interval equal to Tp , the periodicity of this orbit is expressed by
'.Tp I p; c/ D p.
The Poincaré map is the map that delivers, for a given point p on ˘; an image
point that is the result of the next intersection with ˘ of the trajectory originating
from p. That is,
m.p; c/ WD '.Tp I p; c/: (1.63)
A periodic solution can be sought as the fixed point of the Poincaré map according to
m.p; c/ p D o: (1.64)
The stability of a periodic solution can be studied through the Poincaré map. Let
the fixed point qQ on ˘ be representative of the periodic solution xQ .t/: A perturbation
ıq is introduced5 so that the deviation after one period of the resulting perturbed
orbit from the reference periodic orbit is
ı'.T / D m.qQ C ıq; c/ m.q;

Q c/ D mp .q;
Q c/ ıq C O.jjıqjj2 /: (1.65)
As a consequence of (1.61) and (1.62), the Jacobian of the map can be recognized
to coincide with the Jacobian of ',
Q c/ D 'p .T I q;
mp .q; Q c/ (1.66)
where 'p is the Jacobian of ' with respect to all state directions but for the direction
Q The right-hand side of (1.66) is thus the .n 1/ .n 1/
tangent to the orbit at q.
(reduced) monodromy matrix C. Q The eigenvalues of C,Q called the characteristic or
Floquet multipliers, dictate the stability of the periodic orbit. After k periods, the
deviation, to within first-order terms, becomes
Q ıq
ı'.kT / D C
k
(1.67)
Q indicates the application of the monodromy matrix on itself k times.

where C
k
Q admits .n 1/ linearly independent eigenvectors wj

Assume that the matrix C
5
The perturbation ıq spans all state space directions but for the direction tangent to the orbit at qQ .
1.5 Path-Following Based on the Poincaré Map 29
X
n1
with eigenvalues j so that the perturbation can be expressed as ıq D b j wj :
j D1
According to (1.67), the deviation after k periods is
X
n1
ı'.kT / D bj jk wj :
j D1
Consequently, ı'.kT / ! o as k ! 1 if and only if jj j < 1; 8 j D 1; : : : ; n 1:

Under the stated conditions, the consequence is that the perturbation dies out with
time.
The periodic orbit is stable if all .n 1/ eigenvalues of CQ have modulus less
Q has at least one eigenvalue
than 1. Conversely, the periodic orbit is unstable if C
with modulus greater than 1.
1.5 Path-Following Based on the Poincaré Map
The path-following schemes described in Sect. 1.3 can be modified to trace the
periodic solutions when one of the control parameters is varied. Consider the con-
struction of one-parameter families of periodic solutions when only one parameter
is varied, say, ck D : The pseudo-arclength method is one of the most common
path-following procedures in actual implementations (cf. Sect. 1.3.2).
For nonautonomous systems, the periodic solutions can be sought as the fixed
points of a suitable Poincaré map of the dynamical system [335]. The crucial aspect
is the computation of the Jacobian of the Poincaré map, which can be pursued
by employing, for example, a finite difference approach. The method based on
the Poincaré map allows nondifferentiable vector fields to be addressed. There are
significant classes of problems for which the vector field is nondifferentiable (e.g.,
due to discontinuities in the stiffness), thus preventing the use of computational
techniques based on the Jacobian of the vector field which is, in general, not defined
everywhere. This occurs, for example, in systems possessing material nonlinearities
with hysteresis, in deformable structures with breathing cracks, in vibro-impact
systems.
When the system is forced by a periodic excitation of period T; for fixed ; the
Poincaré map based on the return time6 T .n/ D nT is defined as follows:
m.n/ .p; / WD '.T .n/ I p; /: (1.68)
6
This generalizes the search of periodic solutions also within the family of solutions whose period
is an integer multiple of the excitation period.
Periodic solutions can be sought as the zeros of the function
f.n/ .p; / WD m.n/ .p; / p: (1.69)
The Jacobian of m.n/ and its Gateaux differential with respect to , calculated at
Q are
q;
.n/
m.n/ Q / and m .q;
p .q; Q /: (1.70)
These matrices may be computed numerically via a finite difference scheme.
For example, by a central finite difference approximation, the j th column of the
Jacobian matrix is calculated as
m.n/ .qQ C ı1 ej ; / m.n/ .qQ ı1 ej ; /

(1.71)
2ı1
where ej is the jth column of the n n identity matrix and ı1 is a small number
denoting the finite difference.7 Similarly,
.n/ Q C ı2 / m.n/ .q;

m.n/ .q; Q ı2 /
Q /
m .q; : (1.72)
2ı2
The pseudo-arclength scheme described in Sect. 1.3.2 can be applied to the

nonlinear system of equations f.n/ .p; / D o: In particular, the arclength s along
the path (i.e., branch of periodic solutions) can be used as a natural continuation
parameter. To proceed to the neighboring solution on the path at s + ; one can
exploit the Newton–Raphson method based on a tangent predictor and the additional
constraint condition that forces the solution search in the direction normal to the
tangent. The iterations are continued until a convergence criterion is satisfied.
The remarkable result of such an approach is that the procedure furnishes, as a
by-product, the monodromy matrix C Q expressed by (1.70)1 evaluated at the periodic
solution.
1.6 Examples of Path-Following of Equilibrium States
The path-following methods presented in Sect. 1.3 are applied to a family of single-
dof systems that have the virtue of exhibiting equilibrium paths with paradigmatic
losses of stability. They are also of significant engineering interest that spans from
structural engineering to microelectromechanical engineering applications.
7
An enhancement of the computational efficiency and accuracy could be achieved by using distinct
finite differences in the various directions of the state space and adapting them so as to make the
latter smaller or larger in the directions where the variations are significant or mild, respectively.
1.6 Examples of Path-Following of Equilibrium States 31
k2
k1 q
k1
P
q0
a a
Fig. 1.16 The von Mises structure with a grounded linear spring
1.6.1 The von Mises Truss Structure
The von Mises truss structure is made of two equal elastic truss bars which are
mutually hinged and make the same angle q o with the horizontal line (see Fig. 1.16).
This single-dof system is a paradigm for initially curved structures such as arches
and shells.
Let the truss structure be subject to a downward load P at the hinge where the
truss bars converge (keystone). For the derivation of the equation of motion, the
reader is referred to Problem 1.6 of this chapter. The original structure is modified
by linking the keystone to a grounded linear spring of constant k2 . The vertical
displacement is vQ D aŒtan q o tan.q o q/: The trusses equivalent spring constant
is k1 (see Fig. 1.16). The equilibrium equation is
k2 aŒtan q o tan.q o q/ C 2k1 aŒsec q o sin.q o q/ tan.q o q/ P D 0 (1.73)
where q is the (clockwise) angle by which the trusses are rotated with respect to the
stress-free state. The nondimensional form of (1.73) is
˛Œtan q o tan.q o q/ C 2Œsec q o sin.q o q/ tan.q o q/ D 0 (1.74)
where ˛ WD k2 =k1 is the ratio between the spring constants, WD P =.k1 a/ is the
nondimensional load (i.e., load multiplier), and v WD v=a Q is the nondimensional
displacement of the keystone.
Since the load multiplier appears linearly in this problem, the equilibrium paths
can be obtained by simply letting q vary in a given range thus calculating the
corresponding : Moreover, the tangent stiffness can be computed in a straight-
forward fashion as d=dq: This kind of simple problem has the virtue of serving as
convenient benchmark problem for testing the convergence of the illustrated path-
following methods. This justifies their use to compute the equilibrium paths shown
in Figs. 1.17 and 1.18 for different values of ˛:
+
L A
0
B - q
L
Fig. 1.17 Equilibrium path of the von Mises structure with q o D =4
2
1.5
k2=k1 = 1
1
λ
0.5
+
L
0
- k2=k1 = 0
L
-0.5
0 π/8 π/4 3 π/8 π/2 5 π/8
q
Fig. 1.18 Equilibrium paths of the von Mises structure with q o D =4 for various ˛ WD k2 =k1
(i.e., ˛ D .0; 0:2; 0:4; 0:6; 0:8; 1:0/) obtained by path-following. The dashed lines indicate
unstable equilibrium states
In the absence of the additional linear spring at the keystone or for low values
of the stiffness ratio, a limit point, denoted by L+ in Fig. 1.17, is reached and
is signaled by vanishing of the stiffness. The structure suffers a snap-through
instability that causes a sudden jump of the trusses, indicated by the arrow, to a
far-away equilibrium state denoted by A. During the snapping-through phase, the
trusses go through the horizontal unstable equilibrium q D q o : If the downward
load is decreased from A; the structure encounters a second limit point at L where
the trusses suffer a reverse snapping to an upward configuration (q < 0, thus the
rotation is counter-clockwise). The part of the equilibrium path between the two
limit points L+ and L is the set of unstable equilibrium states (indicated by the
dashed lines) where the trusses are compressed to a level that the negative geometric
stiffness overcomes the elastic stiffness. On the other hand, Fig. 1.18 shows that
when the added spring is equal to (or greater than) the stiffness of the trusses, the
limit points are destroyed and the equilibrium paths become globally stable. This is
an illuminating example of what is called static bifurcation control.
1.6.2 Equilibrium Paths of Microelectromechanical Systems
A microbeam subject to an electrostatic force field is a typical example of a mi-

croelectromechanical system (MEMS). The technology based on MEMS is rapidly
evolving. For instance, the automotive industry utilizes MEMS pressure sensors
to measure engine oil pressure, vacuum pressure, and stored air bag pressure.
MEMS technology reduces the physical size and weight of sensors and actuators,
making them appealing in many applications where the use of conventional sensors
and actuators is impractical. Significant efforts have been directed towards the
development of improved MEMS design tools and superior fabrication processes.
As part of these efforts, great attention is placed on the engineering of MEMS
devices that exhibit desirable nonlinearities so as to enhance the performance
characteristics by orders of magnitude: micro-oscillator mass sensors, switching
controllers, radio-frequency microresonators, cantilever-based biosensors are but a
few of many examples.
The electrostatically actuated elastic microbeam is at a distance go from a rigid
plate, both the beam and the plate are made of electrically conductive materials,
while vacuum occupies the gap between them. The application of a voltage
difference between the beam and the fixed plate gives rise to an electrostatic force
field which deforms the beam elastically. The microbeam can be designed, for
example, to be a mechanical limit switch. The transition into pull-in (one of the two
states of the switch) occurs through a fold bifurcation when the microbeam is driven
by a time-varying voltage. More recently, electrostatically actuated microbeams
which can impact a rigid stop are being investigated as ultrafast microswitches
exploiting the large transient growth rates that occur near a discontinuity-induced
bifurcation such as a grazing bifurcation [97, 462, 463].
The single-dof system in Fig. 1.19 exemplifies the flexural motions of the
microbeam in the first mode. The pseudo-arclength path-following procedure is
employed to investigate the nonlinear elastic equilibrium states by varying the
nondimensional voltage difference which is a natural load multiplier.
The conductive platenbeam is attached to a nonlinearly elastic spring. Let qQ
represent the displacement of the plate from its reference configuration (stress-
free for the spring). A voltage difference V is applied between the elastically
constrained plate and the parallel fixed plate which is at a distance g o in the reference
configuration. The voltage difference generates an electrostatic force field [57, 58]
whose resultant is given by

g 0:76
"o bV 2 h
g 0:76
FQ S D 1 C 0:204 C 0:6 l (1.75)
2g 2 b b h
Fig. 1.19 A single-dof l

system under an electrostatic
force field generated between
h
the parallel plates by a - - -- -- - -- - -- - - ----
voltage difference 0
g q V
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
where g.tQ/WDg o q. Q tQ/ is the current gap between the parallel plates; "o is the
dielectric constant in vacuum; .h; b; l/ are the thickness, width, and length of
the plate, respectively. The two terms in the square brackets of (1.75) exhibiting
fractional powers account for fringing field capacitance corrections due to the finite
width and thickness of the plate. The restoring force in the spring is given by the
following polynomial constitutive law: NO D k qQ C k3 qQ 3 where k is the linear
stiffness constant whereas k3 is the coefficient of the cubic restoring term.8
The balance of linear momentum yields the following nondimensional equation
of motion:
1
qR C q C ˛ q 3 1 C ˇ10:76 .0:204 C 0:6ˇ20:24 /.1 q/0:76 =.1 q/2 D 0 (1.76)
2
p
where the displacement has been scaled by g o and time by 1=! WD m=k where
! is the frequency of the unforced system, the overdot indicates differentiation with
respect to nondimensional time. The nondimensional parameters are: ˛Dk3 g o 2 =k,
ˇ1 WDg o =b, ˇ2 WDh=b, and WD"o blV 2 =.k g o 3 /.
The equilibrium states of the system for a given load multiplier are the solutions
R
of (1.76) putting qD0: The pseudo-arclength path-following scheme is based on
arclength parametrization by which qDq.s/ and D .s/. The parameter ,
proportional to the square of the voltage difference, plays the role of load multiplier.
Figure 1.20 shows the equilibrium paths when b D 0:25 106 m, l D 25 106 m,
h D 0:5 106 m, g o D 1 106 m, and "o D 8:85419 1012 A2 s4 kg1 m3 .
In a linearly elastic system for which ˛ D 0; due to the negative geometric stiffness
contribution induced by the electrostatic force field, the stiffness gradually degrades
up to the limit point L D .qL ; L / whereby the stiffness vanishes, thus the structure
loses its stability. Past the limit point, equilibrium is possible only by decreasing
the load multiplier; however, the equilibrium is unstable. Therefore, at the limit
point, since no adjacent stable equilibrium configurations exist, the structure suffers
8
The spring restoring force represents the linear and nonlinear terms arising in an axially
constrained microbeam from the flexural stiffness and the nonlinear load-carrying tension due to
axial stretching.
Fig. 1.20 Equilibrium paths 3.5

of the electrostatically L
actuated structure for 3
2
˛ D .0; 1; 2; 4; 6; 8; 10/ 10 α = 10
when ˇ1 D 2ˇ2 D 4 2.5
λ 2
1.5
0.5
α =0
0
0 0.2 0.4 q 0.6 0.8 1
a snap-through instability that results in a jump of the elastically supported plate

towards the fixed plate with which it collides. This instability is known as pull-in
instability.
When the plate is supported by a hardening nonlinearly elastic spring
(i.e., ˛ > 0), the system stiffness, past a relatively small linear range, increases due
to the hardening effect; past a certain threshold displacement and load multiplier,
which depend on ˛; the system experiences a softening effect, as a result of the
negative geometric stiffness delivered by the electrostatic force field, up to the
limit point L where the structure loses its stability and undergoes pull-in. The
load multiplier L at the limit point increases quite significantly with the nonlinear
elastic stiffness coefficient ˛: Thus, the nonlinear elastic stiffness acts to delay the
pull-in instability to higher levels of electrostatic force induced by higher levels of
voltage differences. This is another remarkable example of static bifurcation control
effected by the purposeful introduction of a nonlinear spring.
The sensitivity to imperfections in MEMS. The simplest way to account for
initial imperfections in a single-dof model of an electrostatically actuated structure
is to rigidly attach the conductive plate to the keystone of the von Mises truss
structure. The truss-fixed plate of mass m interacts electrostatically with a fixed
rigid plate that can be positioned on either side of the movable plate at a distance go
in the reference configuration.
The equilibrium paths of the MEMS configuration with the fixed conductive plate
above the truss do not exhibit any novelty with respect to the flat electrostatically
actuated structure simply supported by the elastic spring.
On the other hand, the MEMS system with the fixed plate below the truss
structure (see Fig. 1.21) has the potential to exhibit two types of elastic instability:
snap-through and pull-in. Let q represent the incremental angle (positive in the
clockwise direction) of the two truss bars from the stress-free reference configu-
ration, described by the initial angle q o with respect to the horizontal line. In the
current configuration, the plate is displaced in the downward direction (here taken
Q
as positive) by vDaŒtan q o tan.q o q/ which leads to the current gap gWDg
Q o
v:
Q
q v
k k
q0 V
a a
Fig. 1.21 The von Mises structure under an electrostatic force field and the role of imperfections
The length change of the truss bars (shortening) is aŒsec q o sec.q o q/ which
gives rise to the elastic truss force NQ D kaŒsec q o sec.q o q/: (This force is
compressive and is considered positive here contrary to standard conventions.)
The balance of linear momentum yields the nondimensional equation of
motion as
2
vR C Œsec q o sin.q o q/ tan.q o q/
d
1
1 C ˇ10:76 .0:204 C 0:6ˇ20:24 /.1 v/0:76 =.1 v/2 D 0 (1.77)
2
p
where v D Œtan q o tan.q o q/=d; v WD v=g Q o ; t WD ! tQ; ! WD k=m; d WD g o =a,
while .; ˇ1 ; ˇ2 / are the same parameters introduced in the previous section.
A family of equilibrium paths is constructed by varying the rise-to-span ratio (by
setting q o D.=4; =6; =12/ in the rise-to-span ratio given by ho =.2a/D 12 tan q o ,
where ho is the initial rise) while the ratio between the initial gap and the rise of the
structure is kept fixed (g o = ho D 4) so that d D 4 tan q o :
The equilibrium path in Fig. 1.22 is obtained for q o D=6: The configuration
attained when the two bars are collinear and horizontal (vD1=4) is an unstable (null-
load) self-equilibrated configuration with D 0: Similarly, vD1=2 is the mirror
configuration of the reference state, hence, the structure is in equilibrium with D 0:
When v < 1=2, the structure is compressed. When 1=4 < v < 1=2; the external
force must push upward to sustain the compression, hence, the electrostatic force
must be repulsive (i.e., < 0). On the other hand, when v > 1=2; the structure
is under tension, and equilibrium is attained with > 0: The equilibrium paths
exhibit three limit points two of which are characterized by > 0: Upon increasing
the load multiplier, at the lowest limit point L+ , the structure suffers a snap-through
to a downward stable configuration denoted by A: By further increasing the load
multiplier, the tensioned structure suffers the pull-in instability at the second limit
point denoted by P:
+ P
L
A
0 v
1/4 1/2 1
B -
L
Fig. 1.22 Equilibrium path of the imperfect von Mises structure, subject to an electrostatic
actuation, when ˇ1 D2ˇ2 D4 for q o D 6
0.04
0.02
+ P
L
λ
0
0 1/4 1/2 3/4 1 v
L
-
-0.02
Fig. 1.23 Equilibrium paths of the imperfect von Mises structure, subject to an electrostatic
actuation, when ˇ1 D2ˇ2 D4 for q o D. 4 ; 6 ; 12

/
Figure 1.23 shows that lower imperfections cause the snap-through at L+ and the
pull-in at P to occur at lower load levels. This behavior makes these structures
sensitive to initial imperfections. The presence of a small initial deflection is
responsible for the appearance of an additional jump due to the snap-through
phenomenon. Since the snap-through is inherently dynamic, for sufficiently large
magnitudes of the perturbation (in actual experiments, the perturbation is related
to the size of the load increment), when the structure approaches the limit point
L+ , it may jump directly to the fixed plate undergoing an electrostatically singular
collision with it, thus bypassing the stable equilibrium branch between L and P:
+ θ
B g0
V(t) e2
v u
u
O e1 x
0
B
Fig. 1.24 The electrostatically actuated fixed-fixed microbeam
1.6.2.1 Continuous Microelectromechanical Structures
A simplified model of a flexible microbeam under an electrostatic force field is

presented. In Chap. 5, a geometrically exact version of the governing equations of
motion will be discussed. The microbeam and the conductive fixed plate are at a
distance g o in the reference configuration (see Fig. 1.24). The simplest nonlinear
version of the equations of motion, for uniform microbeams, is the following
integral-partial-differential equation [57, 58, 463]:
Z 1
˛
vt t C vxxxx vxx .vx /2 dx
2 0
1
1 C ˇ10:76 .0:204 C 0:6ˇ20:24 /.1 v/0:76 =.1 v/2 D 0 (1.78)
2
in which v is the transverse displacement scaled by the initial gap go , the coordinate
is scaled by the span l, and time by 1=!o D .%Al 4 =EJ /1=2 . The actual gap
between the beam section and the fixed plate is g.x; t/ WD go v.x; t/. The
following nondimensional parameters are thus introduced: ˇo WD g o = l, ˇ1 WD g o =b,
ˇ2 WD h=b, ˛ WD .EAl 2 =EJ /ˇo 2 ; WD V 2 "o bl=.EJ ˇo 3 /. The subscripts x and
t indicate differentiation with respect to the nondimensional space coordinate and
time t. For a rectangular cross section of width b and height h; the area is A D b h;
the moment of inertia J D 1=12 b h3 ; and ˛ D 12.ˇ1 =ˇ2 /2 : Consequently, the
independent parameters are .!o ; ˇo ; ˇ1 ; ˇ2 /:
The model of electrostatically actuated microbeam illustrated above can give
rise to the single-dof system of Sect. 1.6.2 if P one mode only is retained in
1
the discretization process by which v.x; t/ D j D1 qj .t/j .x/. For example,
the retention of the nth eigenfunction n only in the above modal expansion leads
through the Galerkin method to (1.76).
A richer model of electrostatically excited microresonators is that of piezoelectric
multilayer microbeams undergoing buckling and vibrations about the buckled states
[44, 273–275].
1.7 Examples of Path-Following of Limit Cycles and Periodic Solutions 39
1.7 Examples of Path-Following of Limit Cycles and Periodic

Solutions
In the following sections, various examples of single-dof structures subject to

harmonic excitations are presented. The path-following procedure of Sect. 1.5 is
employed to trace the periodic motions and study their stability and bifurcation. The
depicted scenarios exhibit a paradigmatic character since they are often encountered
in more complex periodically forced structures.
1.7.1 Nonlinearly Viscoelastic Structures Subject to Harmonic

Excitations
A nonlinearly viscoelastic single-dof structure is characterized by a restoring

force which is provided by a linear dashpot and a nonlinearly elastic spring in
parallel. This is a simple nonlinear version of the Kelvin–Voigt model of linear
viscoelasticity. Let q represent the displacement from the stress-free state. The
constitutive functions for the nonlinear spring
ˇ and the linear dashpot are N D N E .q/
Dˇ
D
and N .q/ P D N1 qP where N1 WD NqP qD0
D D
P
: Let the constitutive function for the
nonlinear spring be expanded in a Taylor series up to cubic order as follows:
1 1 ˇ
N E .q/ D N1o q C N2o q 2 C N3o q 3 with Nko WD @kq N E ˇqD0 :
2 3Š
The equation of motion
1 1
mqR C N1D qP C N1o q C N2o q 2 C N3o q 3 D f cos ˝t (1.79)
2 3Š
whose nondimensional form expressed as
qR C 2 qP C q C ˛2 q 2 C ˛3 q 3 D p cos ˝t (1.80)
in which the displacement is scaled by qo and time by 1=! D .m=N1o /1=2 . The
nondimensional parameters are:
1 o 1
˛2 WD N qo =N1o ; ˛3 WD N3o qo2 =N1o ; p WD f =.N1o qo /; D N1D !=.2N1o /:
2 2 3Š
Figure 1.25 shows a frequency-response curve of the structure described
by (1.80) with ˛2 D 0 and ˛3 > 0, obtained by considering the nondimensional
excitation frequency ˝ as control parameter in the path-following procedure. The
adopted norm or amplitude for the periodic motion, denoted by jjqjj; is the Fourier
component of the periodic response at the excitation frequency ˝:
By increasing the excitation frequency, the amplitude of motion grows up to point
S + where the periodic response becomes unstable (one of the Floquet multipliers
||q||
+
S
B
S
-
0
Ω
Fig. 1.25 Path-following of the periodic response of the nonlinearly viscoelastic single-dof
structure with ˛2 D 0 and ˛3 D 1: Solid (dashed) lines indicate stable (unstable) solutions
exits the unit circle on the real axis through C1). The loss of stability of the periodic
response at S + is known as saddle-node or fold bifurcation. This terminology is
due to the fact that, at this critical point, a stable periodic solution (node) and
an unstable periodic solution (saddle) coalesce. The reader is referred to Chap. 2
for more details on bifurcation theory. Since there are no adjacent stable periodic
solutions, the response of the structure suffers a jump to the low-amplitude periodic
response denoted by A on the non-resonant branch.
If the direction of the excitation frequency ˝ is reversed, the structure exhibits
stable periodic responses tracing the solution path up to point S where another
saddle-node bifurcation occurs that causes the response to jump to the stable
periodic response denoted by B on the upper branch. The presence of the two
saddle-node bifurcations .S + ; S / introduces hysteresis in the frequency-response
function due to the multistability frequency band ˝ 2 Œ˝S ; ˝S + where two stable
and one unstable periodic solutions coexist.
A family of frequency-response curves for various levels of load amplitude
are shown in Fig. 1.26. When the load multiplier is low, there are no saddle-node
bifurcations and the response is linear with the peak amplitude of the motion being
in close proximity to the natural frequency. By increasing the load multiplier, the
frequency-response curves tend to be bent to the right and exhibit a multi-valued
range with hysteresis. The bandwidth of the multi-valued frequency range increases
with the load multiplier. The bending of the frequency-response curves to the right
is the manifestation of the hardening nature of the constitutive function (˛3 > 0).
On the other hand, when ˛3 < 0; the constitutive function is sublinear and
exhibits a degrading stiffness. The constitutive function is representative of a
softening material. Thus the frequency-response curves are expected to be bent to
the left as confirmed in Fig. 1.27.
||q||
0.5
0
0.5 0.75 1 Ω 1.25 1.5
Fig. 1.26 Frequency-response curves of a nonlinearly viscoelastic single-dof structure

with ˛2 D 0; ˛3 D 1; and D 0:05. The load multiplier is p D .1; 5; 7:5; 10/ 102
||q||
0.5
0
0.25 0.5 0.75
Ω 1 1.25 1.5
Fig. 1.27 Frequency-response curves of a nonlinearly viscoelastic single-dof structure with

˛2 D 0; ˛3 D 1=3; and D 0:05. The load multiplier is p D .1; 5; 7:5/ 102
The constitutive functions of the considered systems share the common prop-
erty of symmetry under tensile and compressional deformation states, namely
NO .q/DNO .q/: An interesting example of a nonsymmetric constitutive function
is that represented by ˛2 ¤ 0 and ˛3 D 0: If ˛2 < 0; the constitutive function
is softening. Such a constitutive function has a formidable paradigmatic nature
since it gives rise to static and dynamic instabilities, encountered in a variety of
mechanical and physical systems [431] (e.g., capsize of vessels, escape of a particle,
.
q
S q
Fig. 1.28 Phase portrait of the single-dof structure when ˛2 D 1; ˛3 D 0; D 0; and p D 0
gravitational collapse of massive stars, etc.). The stored-energy function and the
total energy (i.e., the Hamiltonian function) of the system are
1 2 1 1 1 1
W D q ˛2 q 3 ; H D qP 2 C q 2 ˛2 q 3 : (1.81)
2 3 2 2 3
It is straightforward to obtain numerically the so-called phase portrait, a representa-
P of a family of trajectories, each possessing equal total
tion in the phase plane .q; q/
energy. Such a phase portrait is shown in Fig. 1.28.
Note that S .q; q/ P D .1; 0/ is an equilibrium state which turns out to be
unstable. The trajectory that passes through the unstable equilibrium is a special
trajectory referred to as homoclinic trajectory (or homoclinic orbit). If the system
is given suitable initial conditions on this trajectory, it may either follow part of the
trajectory that closes into itself at S , traversing the potential well, or it may diverge
to 1 with increasing velocity. The system may reach S from the downhill side of the
potential profile arriving from 1 with negative velocity. The unstable equilibrium
state S is called saddle equilibrium.
The phase portrait shows that the homoclinic trajectory is special in its function
of separating the phase plane (for this reason, the homoclinic trajectory is also
known as a separatrix) into two distinct regions. One region, outside the separatrix,
is such that the trajectories lead to unbounded motions. On the other hand, in
the closed region, whose contour is the separatrix, the trajectories are bounded
close orbits representing nonlinear periodic oscillations within the potential well.
Therefore, if such a system is given suitable initial conditions, the response may
grow unboundedly large. This instability is known as escape from a potential well
[431] or blow up [43] depending on whether the problem is studied within the
domain of nonlinear dynamics or that of nonlinear elasticity [24], respectively.
1.0
N
|| q|| P2 0 q
P1
0.5
S
-
0
0.25 0.5 0.75 1.0 1.25 1.5
Ω
˛2 D 1; ˛3 D 0; and D 0:05. The load multiplier is p D .1; 5; 8:5/ 102
The nonlinear dynamic response of systems possessing this kind of instability

can be quite complex with a richness of bifurcations exhibited by the fundamental
periodic response. This is exemplarily shown in Fig. 1.29. For low values of the load
multiplier, the frequency-response curve is simply bent to the left and exhibits a
multi-valued range between the two saddle-node bifurcations. However, at a higher
load multiplier, the fundamental periodic response, while tracing the upper resonant
branch of the frequency-response curve, suffers a loss of stability signaled by the
fact that one of the Floquet multipliers exits the unit circle through 1. The FFT
of the steady-state response past this bifurcation shows that the periodic response
possesses a period which is doubled with respect to the excitation period. This
bifurcation is known as period-doubling bifurcation.
The pseudo-arclength continuation scheme also allows the path of the period-
doubled response to be traced. Within a short frequency range, the stable period-
doubled response suffers, in turn, a period-doubling bifurcation that leads to a
response with a period which is four times the excitation period. A finite sequence
of period-doubling bifurcations, triggered by the first bifurcation, may eventually
lead to a chaotic (or nonperiodic) response or to an unbounded response [335, 431].
In some other cases, the sequence of period-doubling bifurcations can be complete
resulting in a response of infinite period, a chaotic response. This particular scenario
is known as the Feigenbaum scenario [326].
Highly flexible nonlinearly elastic structures. In this section, the dynamic prob-
lem of a nonlinearly elastic single-dof structure that can undergo finite tensile
or compressional strains is formulated. Let q represent a generalized strain or
displacement. In consonance with the definition of stretch (cf. Chaps. 4 and 5), the
state q D 1 is the stress-free state, q < 1 indicates compressional states, and q > 1
tensile states.
1.5
N
1 0 1 q
||q||
0.5
0
0.25 0.5 0.75 Ω 1 1.25 1.5

c1 D 2, c2 D 5=4; c3 D 1; and D 0:05. The load multiplier is p D .1; 5; 7:5; 20/ 102
The states q ! 0 and q ! 1 are physically unacceptable since they represent a

total compression of the material or a total extension. These states must be penalized
by requiring that the stored-energy function grows unboundedly large in these
limits. To this end, the following stored-energy function that possesses the desired
properties is introduced:
W D C1 q c1 C C2 q c2 C C3 q c3 ; .Cj ; cj / 2 IR (1.82)
with the coefficients defined
ˇ such that qD1 represents a natural state. Hence, it is
required that NO D Wq ˇqD1 D 0 and the expansion of the stored-energy function W
about qD1 matches that of linear elasticity, W D 12 .q 1/2 . This furnishes

1 1 1 c1 c2
.C1 ; C2 ; C3 / D ; ; : (1.83)
c1 c2 c1 C c3 c2 C c3 .c1 C c3 /.c2 C c3 /
The exponents cj are chosen so as to obtain a sublinear constitutive function; for
example, .c1 ; c2 ; c3 / D .2; 5=4; 1/: The computed frequency-response curves in
Fig. 1.30 are all bent to the right, denoting a hardening nonlinearity, due to the
prevailing large positive stiffness variations during the compressional phases of the
periodic motions.
1.7.2 Shape-Memory Oscillators Under Harmonic Excitations
The path-following procedure, discussed in Sect. 1.5, can be exploited as in [241]

to study the nonlinear thermodynamic response of single-dof devices endowed
with a pseudo-viscoelastic constitutive function which is typical of shape-memory
a ϑE b
q(t) N
Ms Mf
pcosΩt
ϑ (t)
m
As
Af
q
Fig. 1.31 (a) Scheme of the thermomechanical shape-memory oscillator and (b) representative
experimental response functions of a shape-memory wire under slow (solid lines) and fast (dotted
lines) loading rates
alloy (SMA) materials. As a consequence of the unique features of these materials,

SMAs lend themselves to innovative applications in different fields of engineering.
Recently proposed designs range from self-expanding micro-structures for the
treatment of body vessel occlusions to devices for the control of space structures
such as antennas and satellites [263].
Shape-memory materials. In the early 1960s at the U.S. Naval Ordinance Labo-
ratory, the shape memory effect was discovered in an equiatomic alloy of nickel
and titanium, which was named NiTiNOL (Nickel–Titanium Naval Ordinance
Laboratory). It was observed that highly deformed specimens of the alloy (with
a composition of 53–57 % nickel by weight), with residual strains of 8–15%,
regained their original shape after a thermal cycle. This effect became known as
the shape-memory effect, and the alloys exhibiting the effect were named SMAs.
These materials not only show the shape-memory property, but at sufficiently high
temperatures they also possess the property of pseudoelasticity, that is the recovery
of large deformations during mechanical loading/unloading cycles performed at
constant temperature.
The unique features of SMAs arise from a solid-state transition called the marten-
sitic thermoelastic transformation. Namely, the low-temperature phase is known as
martensite (with a highly twinned crystal structure) and the high-temperature phase
is called austenite (with a body-centered cubic structure). Distinct transitions take
place at the start and finish of martensite phase transformations (denoted by Ms and
Mf in Fig. 1.31b) and of the reverse transformations of austenite into martensite
(denoted by As and Af , respectively).
The field of constitutive modeling of polycrystalline shape-memory alloys
has been an area of vital research in the last decades. There are at least three
main approaches: micromechanics-based approaches, concepts based on statistical
thermodynamics, and phenomenological approaches.
Most of the micromechanics-based models for polycrystalline shape-memory
alloys are based on the introduction of multi-well free-energy functions, of a
nucleation criterion based on an energy barrier concept and of an interface kinetic
law, based on a thermal activation theory. By means of homogenization techniques

(accounting for geometric compatibility at the grain boundaries), the single-crystal
modeling can be transferred to polycrystalline SMAs, and by averaging over a
reference volume element, the macroscopic constitutive laws can be obtained.
With the second approach, the models are based on the introduction of a
Helmholtz free-energy function as the sum of a chemical energy variation associated
with the phase transition, a surface energy associated with the presence of an
interface between the martensite and the austenite, and a mechanical energy. The
advantage is that the microstructure of the material (such as habit planes, martensitic
variants, etc.) is incorporated, although the identification of micromechanical
parameters is a difficult task and the computational cost can be high.
On the other hand, phenomenological models only take into consideration
the macroscopic behavior of the material. The advantage is that the constitutive
parameters can usually be identified by classical experimental tests and the structure
of the constitutive equations is well suited to be implemented in finite element
programs. Most of the proposed models are limited to small strains [39–41]. The
full thermomechanical coupling as well as large strains were considered in [38, 41]
where a macroscopic free-energy function was introduced in terms of internal
variables which describe the phase transitions. A good review of the constitutive
modeling of shape-memory materials can be found in [64, 65].
1.7.2.1 Shape-Memory Thermomechanical Oscillators
The study of nonlinear dynamics of pseudo-viscoelastic devices is carried out

on lumped rheological models according to which the devices are regarded as
a proper arrangement of components (e.g., wires, bars, coiled springs), made of
shape-memory materials, connecting two points that can undergo a relative dis-
placement q (see Fig. 1.31a). The single-dof device comprises a mass m and the
nonlinear pseudo-viscoelastic rheological element, both embedded in a convective
environment at temperature # E : The mass is excited by a harmonic force, f cos ˝t:
The pseudo-viscoelastic rheological element is represented here by a parallel
arrangement of a pseudoelastic device (whose restoring force is N ) and a linear
viscous dashpot (whose damping ratio is ). During oscillations, the mass and the
dashpot remain at a constant environmental temperature # E while the temperature
# of the pseudoelastic device can be subject to changes.
Since the peculiar response of shape-memory materials is determined by the
austenite–martensite phase transformations, the fraction 2 Œ0; 1 of one of the
two phases (here martensite) is introduced as the internal variable that describes
the evolution of the phase transformations. When the device is in a fully austenitic
state denoted by A, it is D 0; when it is in a fully martensitic state, denoted by M ,
D 1. The outstanding feature of the phase transformation is that a length increase
is observed when increases (A ! M forward transformation) and vice versa.
This effect is inherent in the material microstructure and is taken into account in the
model by the material parameter ı defined as q. D1/ q. D0/ DW ı: Hence, ı > 0

represents the maximum transformation displacement.
By letting .q1 ; q2 ; q3 ; q4 / denote the nondimensional displacement, the velocity,
the internal variable , and the nondimensional temperature, respectively, the state-
space form of the equations of motion of the thermomechanical single-dof oscillator,
according to a modified version of the Ivshin–Pence constitutive model [241], are
qP1 D q2 ; (1.84)
qP2 D p cos ˝t .q1 sgn .q1 / q3 / 2q2 ; (1.85)
Z1 .q; sgn.qP3 //
qP3 D h q4 q4 E J sgn .q1 / q2 ; (1.86)
.q; sgn.qP3 //
1
qP4 D J sgn .q1 / Z1 .q; sgn.qP3 //Z2 .q/q2 h q4 q4 E (1.87)
.q; sgn.qP3 //
where q D .q1 ; q2 ; q3 ; q4 / and .q; sgn.qP3 // WD 1 Z1 .q; sgn.qP3 //Z2 .q/. The
dimensional displacement, time and temperature have been, respectively, rescaled
p
by the displacement qMs at the start of the forward transformation, by 1=! D m=K
(! is the natural frequency), and the reference temperature #r . The same notation for
dimensional and nondimensional variables is employed for ease of representation.
The nondimensional functions Z1 and Z2 in (1.86) and (1.87) are defined as
G.q; sgn.qP3 //
Z1 .q; sgn.qP3 // WD ;
1 C J G.q; sgn.qP3 // (1.88)
Z2 .q/ WD L ŒJ .qMs jq1 j q3 / C #o
where the hysteresis operator G is given in the following nondimensional form:

(
k1 .1 q3 / Œ1 C tanh.k1 ˘ C k2 /; if qP3 > 0;
G.q; sgn.qP3 // WD .bı#r /
k3 q3 Œ1 tanh.k3 ˘ C k4 /; if qP3 < 0:
(1.89)
The constants ki .i D 1; : : : ; 4/ are the constitutive parameters and ˘ (called
thermodynamic driving force) is expressed as
˘ D Kı .qMs jq1 j ıq3 / bı .#r q4 #0 / (1.90)
where K > 0 is the elastic stiffness; b > 0 is the slope in the temperature
transformation-force plane; #0 is the reference temperature of the device in the
fully austenitic state; .NMs ; NMf ; NAs ; NAf / are the forces at the start and finish of
the associated transformations at the reference temperature #r . The nondimensional
parameters are:
WD ı=qMs ; L WD b ı=c; h WD H=.c !/; J WD NMs =.b #r /
where c > 0 indicates the heat capacity and H is the heat exchange coefficient. The
dimensional excitation amplitude and frequency are scaled by NMs and !, respec-
tively. More meaningful nondimensional constitutive parameters are defined as:
c1 WD NMf =NMs ; c2 WD NAf =NAs ; c3 WD NAs =NMs :
The upper and lower pseudoelastic plateaus exhibit the same force variation only if
NMf NMs D NAs NAf which yields c2 D .1 C c3 c1 /=c3 .
Modified Ivshin–Pence shape-memory alloy model. The thermomechanical
SMA model described above is based on the following (dimensional) free-energy
function:

K #
W D Œq sgn .q/ ı 2 C c # #0 # ln C .# #0 / bı C ao bo #;
2 #0
where ao and bo are, respectively, the internal energy and entropy of the device in
the fully austenitic state at the reference temperature #0 .
The first law of thermodynamics is employed in the form WP D f qP #P P ;
where P
0 is the rate of energy dissipation and denotes the entropy. The
prescribed positivity of P is the Clausius–Duhem inequality. The first law of
thermodynamics and the Clausius–Duhem inequality give
@W @W
N D ; D , P D ˘ P
0; (1.91)
@q @#
where ˘ D @W =@ is the thermodynamic driving force conjugated to the rate of
phase transformation .P
Besides the constitutive prescription of W; a constitutive equation for P must be
provided. This is known as the transformation kinetic since it describes the evolution
of the phase transformations in the material. It is prescribed by means of a hysteresis
operator G in the form

P D G ˘; ; sgn. / P ˘P : (1.92)
On the other hand, the balance of entropy (i.e., second law of thermodynamics)
regulates the temperature variations according to # P D QP C P where the rate
of heat QP exchanged via convection between the oscillator and the environment
follows Newton’s heating law

QP D H # E # : (1.93)
Isothermal regime. A central finite difference scheme is used to compute the

Jacobian of the Poincaré map with ı1 D ı2 D 103 ; "1 D "2 D 106 ; and
t=T D 1=2048 where ıi denote the finite differences in the computation of
the Jacobian and the gradient of the map with respect to the control parameter;
"i are the prescribed tolerances for the convergence test. Finally, t=T indicates
12
N
8
0 q1
||q 1||
0
0.0 0.5 Ω 1.0 1.5
Fig. 1.32 Frequency-response curves under isothermal conditions when .c1 ; c3 / D .1:3; 0:9/;
D 0:05; and the excitation amplitudes are p D .0:1; 0:2; 0:4; 0:5; 0:6; 0:8/: Solid (dashed) lines
indicate stable (unstable) solutions. Reprinted with permission [241]
the time step normalized with respect to the excitation period T WD 2=˝ in the
time-marching scheme. Time integration is carried out employing a fourth-order
Runge–Kutta scheme.
The isothermal case arises when the shape-memory oscillator is subject to slow
loading rates (see Fig. 1.31b). The oscillator temperature does not change, hence
qP 4 D 0 entailing that the heat exchange rate with the environment is given by
QP D J Z1 Z2 sgn.q1 / q2 [241]. This, in turn, delivers the rate of the martensite
fraction as qP3 D J Z1 .q; sgn.qP3 //sgn .q1 / q2 : A family of frequency-response
curves obtained for various excitation levels is shown in Fig. 1.32 by setting the
constitutive parameters (for details about the constitutive parameters see [241])
as .c1 ; c3 / D .1:30; 0:90/ and D 0:05: In these figures, and henceforth, jjq1 jj
indicates the maximum value of the displacement attained over one excitation cycle
at steady state, continuous lines denote stable solutions, and dashed lines represent
unstable solutions. The frequency-response curves are, as expected, softening thus
implying a decrease of the peak oscillation amplitude with frequency. By increasing
the excitation amplitude from low values the multi-valued range becomes wider;
subsequently, above a certain excitation amplitude (about 0.5), the trend is reversed
indicating that the bending of the backbone curve decreases with the amplitude.
For a relatively high excitation amplitude, namely p D 0:8; the shape of the
frequency-response curve undergoes a major change. It is initially softening while
the upper part of the resonance curve is bent to the right resulting in a hardening
behavior. The change in bending of the backbone curve is achieved when the
maximum displacement overcomes the threshold displacement where the phase
transformation into martensite is completed, that is for q
qMf : Because the
phase transformation is completed, the device is in a fully martensitic state and
behaves, for further load increments, as a linear elastic device with the same orig-
inal elastic stiffness. The positive stiffness jump occurring at q D qMf causes a
hardening behavior. The number of fold bifurcations increases. The obtained
a b
12 4
5
N
10 p = 0.8
2 4 F E
p = 1.0
8 D
B
||q1|| 0 4 8 q1 12 3
p = 0.8
6 C
A
2
4
1
2
0 0
0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Ω Ω
Fig. 1.33 Frequency-response curves under isothermal conditions when .c1 ; c3 / D .1:05; 0:60/;
D 0:05; and the excitation amplitudes are (a) p D .0:1; 0:2; 0:4; 0:5; 0:6; 0:8/, (b) p D
.0:8; 1:0/: Solid (dashed) lines indicate stable (unstable) solutions. Reprinted with permission
[241]
frequency-response curves exhibit qualitative features similar to those of other

types of hysteretic oscillators such as the elasto-plastic, Masing, and Bouc–Wen
oscillators [240].
For shape-memory devices with nearly flat plateaus .c1 ; c3 / D .1:05; 0:60/;
the computed frequency-response curves are shown in Fig. 1.33a,b. In particular,
Fig. 1.33a portrays the frequency-response curves of the oscillator in primary
resonance while Fig. 1.33b shows the superharmonic resonances of order one-third,
one-fifth, one-seventh, and one-ninth when p D 1:0.
In the primary-resonance range, when p D 0:6 and p D 0:8; the frequency-
response curves turn from softening into hardening at high oscillation amplitudes.
For p D 0:8; the behavior of the Floquet multipliers jointly with numerical
simulations indicate that there is a region of frequencies where the fundamen-
tal response loses its stability by a symmetry-breaking bifurcation followed by
complete cascades of period-doubling bifurcations resulting in nonperiodic/chaotic
responses.
More interestingly, the same bifurcation pattern is found for the superharmonic
resonance of order one-third when p D 1:0 shown in Fig. 1.33b. The fundamental
periodic response undergoes symmetry-breaking bifurcations at A and B while the
ensuing nonsymmetric responses suffer the first period-doubling bifurcations at C
and D.
The numerically constructed bifurcation diagram in the unstable region between
A and B in Fig. 1.34 shows a full bubble structure culminating in chaos. Within this
complete bubble structure, two boundary crises occur with consequent enlargement
of the chaotic attractor, then fold bifurcations leading to period-five solutions are
also observed together with subsequent period-doubling cascades. A characteristic
chaotic response emerging out of the superharmonic resonance is illustrated in
Fig. 1.35.
Nonisothermal regime. In actual engineering applications (dissipating braces,
actuators, etc.), the loading rates may be fast enough to cause appreciable
-1
x 10
0
-2
-4
q1
-6
-8
-1
-10 x 10
1.74 1.784 1.828 1.872 1.916 1.96
Ω
Fig. 1.34 Bifurcation diagram in the superharmonic resonance range when .c1 ; c3 / D
.1:05; 0:60/; D 0:05; and p D 1:0: The ordinate axis shows the displacements obtained by
a Poincaré map based on a return time equal to the excitation period. Reprinted with permission
[241]
a 4.0 b 0.35
0.30
0.25
q1 0.0 1.0E+1
q3 0.20
1.0E+0 0.15
1.0E-1
1.0E-2 0.10
1.0E-3
1.0E-4 0.05
1.0E-5
-4.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
0.00
t t
c 1.5 d 1.2
1.0 0.8
0.5 0.4
q2 0.0 N 0.0
-0.5 -0.4
-1.0 -0.8
-1.5 -1.2
-
-4.0 --2.0 0 2.0 44.0 -4.0 -2.0 0 2.0 4.0
q1 q1
Fig. 1.35 Nonperiodic pseudo-viscoelastic response when .c1 ; c3 / D .1:05; 0:60/; D 0:05;
p D 1:0; and ˝ D 0:18473: (a) and (b) time histories of the displacement and the martensite
phase fraction; (c) phase portrait and (d) hysteresis loops of the pseudoelastic force. In part (a), the
FFT of the displacement is superimposed on the time history. Reprinted with permission [241]
a 12.0 b 3.0
+
10.0 H
2.5
8.0
q1 q4
6.0 2.0
4.0
- 1.5
2.0 H
0.0 1.0
0.0 0.4 0.8 Ω 1.2 1.6 2.0 0.00 0.40 0.80 Ω 1.20 1.60 2.00
Fig. 1.36 Frequency-response curves under nonisothermal conditions when .c1 ; c3 / D

.1:05; 0:60/; J D 0:315; h D 0:001; E D 1:0; and L D 0:124: Solid (dashed) lines indicate
stable (unstable) solutions. Reprinted with permission [241]
temperature variations (see Fig. 1.31b) thus giving rise to nonisothermal conditions.
Depending on the magnitude of the heat exchange coefficient h; adiabatic or
nonadiabatic conditions may occur.
Some representative results about the nonisothermal case are illustrated for
nearly adiabatic conditions. The obtained frequency-response curves for the dis-
placement and temperature are shown in Fig. 1.36. The thermodynamic coupling
strongly modifies the system response to harmonic excitations. The frequency-
response curves are certainly softening although the bending is significantly reduced
by the increased apparent stiffness due to the high heating of the device. Further-
more, the frequency-response functions do not exhibit upper resonant hardening
branches, and there are no saddle-node bifurcations in the overall frequency range.
Instead of saddle-node bifurcations, above a threshold excitation amplitude, the
periodic response loses its stability at an excitation frequency below the linear
natural frequency via a bifurcation, denoted by H ˙ ; known as Neimark–Sacher
or secondary Hopf bifurcation. The postcritical stable response that arises past the
Neimark–Sacher bifurcation is a two-period response. It is characterized by the
presence of the excitation period and an additional period caused by the secondary
Hopf bifurcation. Typically, these two periods are not commensurate. This is why
the two-period response is also known as a quasiperiodic response.
By following the paths of the Floquet multipliers, at H + ; a pair of complex
conjugate multipliers transversely intersect the unit circle. Past the bifurcation, the
two multipliers become real and move away from +1 in the positive real direction.
At some intermediate value of the frequency in the range between H + and H ;
the direction of the multipliers is reversed and, as they approach the unit circle,
they become complex conjugate. Hence, they reenter the unit circle by transversal
intersection at H . This is a reverse Neimark–Sacher bifurcation. Within the unsta-
ble region between the bifurcations H + and H where the fundamental periodic
solutions are unstable, the oscillator response born out of the Neimark–Sacher
bifurcation is a surprisingly interesting quasiperiodic attractor. The amplitude-
modulated response exhibits a very long modulation period which turns out to
be of the order of the characteristic time regulating the heat convection process
described by Newton’s law of cooling. Moreover, the distinguished character of
the response frequency content is that, around the excitation frequency and its odd
harmonics, a dense distribution of side bands is developed which makes the shape
of the amplitude modulation quite complex.
1.7.3 Flutter Control of an Airfoil
The study of the aeroelastic instability of an aircraft wing called flutter by which
the equilibrium loses its stability at a critical speed is often carried out on a two-dof
model of the wing. The resulting planar motion of the wing cross section treated
as a thin airfoil or a lifting surface [427–429] consists of LCOs described by the
plunge and pitch degrees of freedom denoted by hQ and ˛; respectively. At the
flutter critical condition, the equilibrium state of the wing under a steady airstream
becomes unstable through a bifurcation called Hopf bifurcation, past which the wing
exhibits LCOs of relatively high amplitude, containing several harmonics.
Modern fighter airplanes often carry many types and combinations of external
wing-mounted stores to satisfy multi-mission requirements. Such stores can reduce
the flutter speed and thereby degrade the operational and mission effectiveness of
combat airplanes. Due to the importance of flutter avoidance, considerable research
has been conducted in the last decades to develop and assess the capabilities
of various flutter control concepts [297]. One of the objectives of flutter control
methods is to shift the flutter condition to higher speeds and limit the amplitude of
the LCOs. This can be achieved through active flow control or passive strategies
among which one viable possibility is the exploitation of vibration absorbers (VAs)
[132, 165]. The VA design proposed in [262] consists of a small viscoelastic mass
placed at some point along the wing span toward the tip in the chord-wise direction.
A good initial guess for the design of the VA (the VA mass is prescribed through its
ratio to the wing total mass and it is of the order of 0.5–1 %) is to tune the absorber
frequency to the frequency of the flutter mode to be controlled. In the following, an
example of a nonlinear VA is illustrated.
The VA mass md is attached to the wing through a hysteretic device located at
a distance b in the chord-wise direction (b represents half the chord length). The
VA mass can undergo a displacement uQ normal to the chord-wise direction (see
Fig. 1.37). Therefore, the augmented system becomes a three-dof system.
Hysteretic VAs have been proposed theoretically and investigated experimentally
to mitigate structural vibrations in beams and footbridges [89, 90, 236, 448]. The
hysteretic device is represented by short wire ropes undergoing shear/flexural or
shear/flexural/extensional hysteretic cycles. The hysteresis is well identified by the
Bouc–Wen model [76, 459] including a hardening cubic stiffness term at higher
amplitudes [90]. Pioneering works on the nonlinear dynamic features of single-dof
systems with hysteretic constitutive laws include [87, 88, 98, 208, 240, 301] while
monographs on hysteresis models are, for example, [79, 451].
u md
e2,
V
α e1
E
C C C
A
ηb
e d
ab
b b
Fig. 1.37 Lifting surface with the reference frames. The system is augmented by the hysteretic
vibration absorber shown in the magnified view (left)
For the two-dof wing model proposed here (for an extended discussion, cf.
Sect. 2.8), let fe 1 ; e 2 g be a fixed basis with e 1 collinear with the chord-wise direction
in the natural configuration while fb1 ; b2 g are body-fixed unit vectors rotated in the
current configuration by ˛.t/ (see Fig. 1.37). The origin of the fixed frame is in the
elastic center C E (in the natural configuration) while the center of mass and the
aerodynamic center are denoted, respectively, by C and C A . The nondimensional
quantity a describes the eccentricity of the elastic center C E with respect to the
mid-chord point while e=b, d=b, and denote the eccentricities of the center of
mass C , of the aerodynamic center C A , and of the VA position with respect to C E ,
respectively.
The constitutive equation for the restoring force of the hysteretic absorber,
denoted by NO d , is written as a direct summation of a nonlinearly elastic part FO and a
hysteretic dissipative part HO according to NO d D HO C FO where FO D kd uQ Ck3d uQ 3 . The
coefficient kd 2 IRC is the linear stiffness while k3d is the coefficient of the cubic term
of the elastic restoring force when the hysteretic part of the force is neglected. The
dissipative part is in turn expressed as the summation of a linear viscous term cd uPQ and
a purely hysteretic term Z, HO D cd uPQ C Z, where the hysteretic part Z is described
by the following first-order differential equation of Bouc and Wen [76, 459]:
ZP D Œkz .Q C ˇQ sgn.uPQ /sgn.Z//jZjn uPQ (1.94)
Q 2 IR and n 2 IRC are
where kz is an additional linear stiffness while .Q ; ˇ/
constitutive coefficients regulating the nonlinear evolution of the stiffness in the
hysteretic force.
By neglecting other kinds of forces and considering only the linearized part of
the inertial and aerodynamic forces, the equations of motion become
R C ch hPQ C kh hQ
%AhRQ %Ae ˛R C md .hRQ C uRQ b ˛/
" #
˛P 1 hQP
D bsV 2 CLo ˛C a b ; (1.95)
V 2 V
%J E ˛R .%Ae C md b/hRQ md b uRQ C JdE ˛R C c˛ ˛P C k˛ ˛

" #
2 o 1 ˛P 1 hPQ
D b sV CL
2
Ca ˛C a b ; (1.96)
2 V 2 V
md .hRQ C uRQ b ˛/
R C cd uPQ C kd uQ C Z D 0; (1.97)
ZP D Œkz .Q C ˇQ sgn.uPQ /sgn.Z/jZ n juPQ ; (1.98)

where kh and k˛ are the linear spring constants for the plunge and pitch degrees of
freedom, %A is the wing mass, %J C is the polar mass moment of inertia with respect
to C , %J E WD %J C C %Ae 2 is the polar mass moment of inertia with respect to C E ,
%JdE WD md 2 b 2 is the mass moment of inertia of the absorber with respect to C E , s
is the wing span, and is the air density. The linearized constitutive equations for
the restoring wing force and couple are NO D ch hPQ C kh hQ and MO D c˛ ˛P C k˛ ˛.
To obtain the aerodynamic forces induced by a uniform airstream of velocity
V e 1 (with zero initial angle of attack), according to the theory of thin airfoils of
Glauert [179], the lift force and aerodynamic moment, reduced to the aerodynamic
center, are given by
f A e 2 D bsV 2 CL .˛ e /; CL .˛ e / D CLo ˛ e ;
(1.99)
1
c A D b 2 sV 2 CM .˛ e /; CM .˛ / D CL
e
C a C 2CM˛
2
where CM˛ D 0 for symmetric airfoils and the effective angle of attack is given by

˛P 1 hPQ
˛e D ˛ C a b : (1.100)
V 2 V
The nondimensional form of the equations of motion of the augmented aeroe-
lastic system is derived using the semichord length b to make the displacement
variables nondimensional. Hence, the plunge coordinate hQ is replaced by h WD h=b,
Q
the VA coordinate uQ by u WD uQ =b, the hysteretic variable Z is substituted by
z WD Z=Zo with p Zo WD kz b, and time is nondimensionalized by the characteristic
time 1=!˛ D %J E =k˛ (!˛ is the frequency of the pitch mode). The following
nondimensional form of the equations of motion is obtained:
.1 C /hR ." C /˛R C Ru C 2h !N h hP C !N h2 h
" #
˛P 1 hP
D ku U ˛ C
2
a ; (1.101)
U 2 U
.r 2 C 2 /˛R ." C /hR Ru C 2r 2 ˛ ˛P C r 2 ˛

" #
1 ˛P 1 hP
D ku U 2
Ca ˛C a ; (1.102)
2 U 2 U
hR C Ru ˛R C 2d !N d uP C !N d2 Œıu C .1 ı/z D 0; (1.103)
zP D Œ1 . C ˇ sgn.Pu/sgn.z//jzjn Pu (1.104)

wherein the dot indicates differentiation with respect to nondimensional time, the
nondimensional velocity is U WD V =.b!˛ / and the aerodynamic constant is given
by ku WD sb 2 CLo =%A. The other nondimensional parameters deserve more insight.
The most important nondimensional parameter for the design of a VA is WD
md =%A which represents the ratio between the VA mass and the wing total mass.
The mass ratio scales the control force exerted bypthe VA on the lifting surface.
Given the fact that the plunge p frequency is !h D kh =%A and the frequency of
the VA by itself is !d D .kd C kz /=md , the following frequency ratios arise
in the nondimensionalization: !N h WD !h =!˛ (ratio between the plunge and pitch
frequencies) and !N d WD !d =!˛ (ratio between the absorber frequency and that
of the pitch mode). The parameter ı WD kd =.kd C kz / is the ratio between the
nominal post-yielding stiffness of the absorber rheological element (in the sense
of the limit case n ! 1 when a sharp transition between elastic and post-elastic
behaviors can be observed) and the total stiffness kd C kz . The mass p and elastic
distribution properties of the lifting surface are summarized by r WD %J E =.%Ab 2 /
and " WD e=b. The nondimensional damping coefficients are: h WD ch =.2%A!h /,
˛ WD c˛ =.2%J E !˛ /, and d WD cd =.2md !d /. The nondimensional constitutive
parameters of the hysteretic force are WD Q b.Zo /n1 and ˇ WD ˇb.Z Q o/
n1
.
Thus there are five constitutive parameters for the absorber collected in the vector
l D .!N d ; ı; ˇ; ; n/. The free undamped frequencies of the wing without the VA are
obtained by putting .h; ˛; u/ D .U1 ; U2 ; 0/ exp.i !t/ (i is the imaginary unit) and
DU D0 in (1.101) and (1.102).
The aeroelastic hysteretic vibration absorber. The well-known Den Hartog
viscoelastic VA [132, 165] is effective for vibration control of a mechanical system
subject to a harmonic force due to the antiresonance phenomenon which cancels
completely the response when the system and the VA are undamped and the
frequency of the VA is exactly tuned to the frequency of the system driven to
resonance. The antiresonance phenomenon was exploited first by Frahm [165].
When the system is damped, there is no exact resonance cancellation while the
antiresonance (accompanied by a small non-zero amplitude) is still exhibited
provided that the VA frequency is properly tuned to the frequency of the damped
system.
The design of a hysteretic VA for flutter control seeks to determine eight
parameters: the mass ratio , the position of the VA along the wing chord-wise
direction expressed by , the VA frequency !N o (i.e., which arises from tuning of

the VA overall stiffness), the damping ratio d , and the other constitutive parameters
of the hysteretic VA force, namely, (ı, n, ˇ, ). The p frequency p of the VA when
the hysteretic dissipation is discarded is ! E WD kd =md D ı!d . While !d
represents the frequency of the VA at infinitesimal oscillation amplitudes, the
nonlinear stiffness variations of the hysteretic VA during its finite cycles are such
E
p frequency scales with ! whose nondimensional counterpart is
that its (nonlinear)
!N WD ! =!d D ı !N d .
E E
During flutter, the VA is expected to oscillate together with the wing with the
appropriate phase so as to introduce incremental positive damping. A rational design
of the VA consists of choosing as initial guess for the tuning condition that which
imposes ! E to equal the flutter frequency. This tuning condition serves as a good
initial guess in an optimization process which converges to the optimum tuning.
Once the flutter speed is calculated employing the Routh–Hurwitz criterion, the
frequency of the flutter mode (aeroelastic system without VA) can be computed
accordingly.
Of course, the mass ratio and the VA position, described by , have to
satisfy physical restrictions. The weight limitation on the wing is such that at most
D 1=100 (this is an upper bound for the VA mass) while D 12 a which
corresponds to placing the VA at three-quarters of the chord toward the trailing edge.
These restrictions represent limitations to the magnitude of the control force which
is greatly enhanced by higher mass ratios and by a position further away toward the
tip of the trailing edge where the torsional couple exerted by the VA on the wing
profile is larger. In relation to the VA damping ratio d , an optimum damping ratio
can increase the flutter speed by orders of magnitude, while the hysteretic part of
the force does not influence the onset of flutter. On the other hand, hysteresis plays
a fundamental role in increasing the decay rates of the transients.
The following parameters of a wing model are adopted [222]: D 1:225 kg
m3 , b D 0:135 m, s D 1 m2 , kh D 2844:4 N m, k˛ D .2:82 62:332˛ C
3709:71˛ 2/ Nm, ch D 27:43 N s/m, c˛ D 0:036 N s m, %A D 12:387 kg,
%J E D 0:065 kgm2 , CL o D 6:28. The corresponding nondimensional parameters
are: a D 0:4, !N h D 0:3875, " D 0:0467, r D 0:5366; h D 0:0731, ˛ D 0:0071,
ku D 0:0113; D 12 a D 0:9. With these parameters, the nondimensional flutter
speed of the system without VA is Uo D 2:46, while the flutter frequency of the
undamped aeroelastic system is !o D 0:9861.
The optimal parameters for the linear viscoelastic VA can be determined by a
numerical search calculating the flutter speed via the Routh–Hurwitz criterion on a
grid that discretizes the parameter plane (!N d ; d ) in a lattice. The numerical search
of the optimal parameters yields !N d D 0:72 and d D 0:36. With these optimal
parameters, the flutter speed goes up to 8.3, an increase of approximately 240 %.
The sensitivity of the flutter speed with respect to !N d and d can be appreciated by
computing the flutter speed at meaningful values detuned from the optimal values.
For example, if the VA (linear) frequency is tuned with the frequency of the flutter
mode, !N d D 1, and if the damping ratio is set to d D 0:1, the flutter speed is
determined to be 4.5 and the increase with respect to the case without VA is only
83 %. In contrast, if !N d D 0:87 and d D 0:1, the flutter speed goes up to 5.9, with
an increase of approximately 140 %.
Numerical investigations via integration of the equations of motion into the
effects of the visco-hysteretic VA (i.e., the parallel arrangement of a dashpot and
a Bouc–Wen element) have shown that the purely hysteretic part is unable to alter
the flutter boundary of the wing endowed with the purely viscoelastic VA. However,
it does increase by orders of magnitude the effective damping of the system in the
pre- and post-flutter range as seen in the fast decay rates.
The purely hysteretic VA (without viscous damping) is considered to show
interesting nonlinear features of the LCOs in the post-flutter regime. For U D
2:38 Uo , the LCO of Fig. 1.38 exhibits the fundamental flutter frequency and odd
harmonics. On the other hand, for U D 3:66 Uo , the LCO of Fig. 1.39 has several
side bands in the FFT which means that Neimark–Sacher bifurcations have occurred
thus causing the LCO to be modulated by multiple modulation frequencies.
The Bouc–Wen model of hysteresis. The restoring force of the classical Bouc–
Wen model is given by NO d D kd uQ C Z where Z is governed by (1.94). The tangent
Q n which yields
stiffness to the virgin loading curve is dNO d =dQu D kd C kz .Q C ˇ/Z
the stiffness tangent to the origin as k D kd C kz :
A suitable nondimensionalization is attained considering a characteristic dis-
placement (or length) uQ o and a characteristic hysteretic force Zo WD kz uQ o which
transforms (1.94) into
zP D Œ1 . C ˇ sgn.Pu/sgn.z//jzjn Pu (1.105)
where the nondimensional displacement u WD uQ =Quo and the nondimensional hys-
teretic force z WD Z=Zo have been introduced. The ensuing nondimensional consti-
tutive parameters are WD Q uQ o .Zo /n1 and ˇ WD ˇQ uQ o .Zo /n1 . A nominal yielding
force associated with this constitutive model can be obtained in the limit case
n ! 1 which gives NQ o D .kd C kz /Quo . Dividing the constitutive law NQ d by NQ o
gives the nondimensional constitutive law
Nd D ı u C .1 ı/z (1.106)
where ı WD kd =.kd C kz /. The parameter ı has the meaning of the ratio between the
nominal post-yielding stiffness kd (in the sense of the limit case n ! 1) and the
total stiffness k.
The constitutive parameters .ˇ; ; n/ govern the shape of the hysteretic part of
the restoring force. The tangent stiffness is
dz

D 1 C ˇ sign.Pu/ sign.z/ jzjn : (1.107)
du
It is possible to devise three different nonlinear behaviors during loading (Pu > 0):
(a) softening hysteresis (stiffness degrading) if C ˇ > 0, (b) quasilinear hysteresis
(constant stiffness) if C ˇ D 0, and (c) hardening hysteresis (stiffness increasing)
0.06 0.06
a b
0.04 0.04
0.02 0.02
α 0 α 0
-0.02 -0.02
-0.04 -0.04
-0.06 -0.06
0 200 400 600 4.80 4.81 4.82 4.83 4.84 4.85
t t x 104
0.02 0.06
c d
0.04
0.01
0.02
. .
α 0 α 0
-0.02
-0.01
-0.04
-0.02 -0.06
-0.03 -0.02 -0.01 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 -0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06
α α
-1
10 1
-2 e 10
-1 f
10
-3 -2
10 10
-3
-4 10
10
-4
||α|| 10
10
-5
||u||
-5
10
10-6
10-6
-7
10 10
-7
-8
10 10
-8
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
f f
0.3 0.3
g h
0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1
Nd 0 Nd 0
-0.1 -0.1
-0.2 -0.2
-0.3 -0.3
-0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3
u u
Fig. 1.38 (a)–(b) Time histories of the pitch angle ˛ and (c)–(d) phase diagrams .˛; ˛/ P in the
transient phase (tN 2 Œ0; 600) and at steady state (tN 2 Œ4:8 104 ; 5:0 104 ); (e) FFT of ˛ and (f) FFT
of u; (g) and (h) loops of the total VA restoring force Nd D ıu C .1 ı/z in the transient phase
and at steady state when ı D 0:2, D 1 D ˇ, n D 1, d D 0, and U D 2:38 Uo . Reprinted with
permission [262]
0.2 0.2
a b
0.1 0.1
0 0
-0.1 -0.1
-0.2 -0.2
0 200 400 600 40.0 40.2 40.4 t 40.6 40.8 41.0 3
t x 10
0.2 0.2
c d
0.1 0.1
0 0
-0.1 -0.1
-0.2 -0.2
-0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2
-1 α α
10 1
10
-2 e -1 f
10
-3 -2
10 10
-4 -3
10 10
-4
-5 10
10 -5
10
-6
10 -6
10
-7
10 -7
10
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
f f
0.8 0.8
g h
0.4 0.4
0 0
-0.4 -0.4
-0.8 -0.8
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
u u
Fig. 1.39 (a)–(b) Time histories of the pitch angle ˛ and (c)–(d) phase diagrams .˛; ˛/ P in the
transient phase (tN 2 Œ0; 600) and at steady state (tN 2 Œ4:0 104 ; 5:0 104 ); (e) FFT of ˛ and (f) FFT
of u; (g) and (h) loops of the total VA restoring force Nd D ıu C .1 ı/z in the transient phase
and at steady state when ı D 0:2, D 1 D ˇ, n D 1, d D 0, and U D 3:66 Uo . Reprinted with
permission [262]
if C ˇ < 0. A collection of hysteresis loops of softening and quasilinear type are

shown in Fig. 1.40.
A typical quantification of the global dissipation properties of the hysteretic force
is provided by the coefficient of equivalent viscous damping [459] given by eq WD
ED =.2u2o / on account of the fact that the total stiffness has been set to unity by
a b
1.4 6.0
0.7 3.0
Nd 0.0 0.0
-0.7 3.0
-1.4 6.0
-5.0 -2.5 0.0 2.5 5.0 -5.0 -2.5 0.0 2.5 5.0
u u
Fig. 1.40 Loops of the nondimensional total restoring force for (a) softening hysteresis ( D
0:5 D ˇ) and (b) quasilinear hysteresis (ˇ D 0:5 D ) described by the Bouc–Wen model
when ı D 0:1 and n D 1
the nondimensionalization; uo denotes the nondimensional loop amplitude, and ED

indicates the work performed by the hysteretic restoring force in one complete cycle
(i.e., dissipated energy).
In Fig. 1.41, variation of this coefficient with the displacement amplitude is
shown for softening and quasilinear hysteresis for various values of the loop
parameter n. When n ! 1 and u < 1; the system is elastic; hence, it does not
exhibit hysteretic dissipation whereas, for finite n; some amount of damping also
exists for u < 1: The trend is distinctly different for quasilinear hysteresis for which
the equivalent damping coefficient continues to grow monotonically since the area
enclosed by the loops, due to the absence of stiffness degradation, increases at a
higher rate than u2o :
Various materials and devices used for vibration damping exhibit hysteretic
properties under cyclic loading, among which are natural rubber shaped in cylinders,
and wire ropes subject to flexure or extension-flexure. The material response
functions of these elements can be well described by the Bouc–Wen model of
hysteresis. Nonlinear identification procedures can be effectively employed to
identify the constitutive parameters.
To account for more general constitutive behaviors such as hardening at higher
displacement amplitudes or nonsymmetry of the mechanical response, the elastic
part of the restoring force can be enriched by nonlinear terms including quadratic
and cubic terms as in
NO d D kd uQ C kQ2 uQ 2 C kQ3 uQ 3 C Z: (1.108)
The nondimensional restoring force thus becomes Nd D ı uCk2 u2 Ck3 u3 C.1ı/z:

a 0.15
n = 0.5
0.10 n = 1.0
n = 2.0
ζ n = 5.0
n = ∞
0.05
0.00
0 5 10 15 20
b 0.60
0.40
0.20 n = 0.5
n = 1.0
n = 2.0
n = 5.0
0.00
0 5 10 15 20
u
Fig. 1.41 Equivalent damping coefficient of (a) softening hysteresis ( D 0:5 D ˇ) and (b)
quasilinear hysteresis (ˇ D 0:5 D ) described by the Bouc–Wen model when ı D 0:1
In a recent series of works [89,90,448], a nonlinear hysteretic tuned mass damper

was devised and experimentally investigated. Several hysteretic devices were tested
during the design process. A shear displacement was applied to each device by
an MTS Universal testing machine and the ensuing restoring force was measured.
A transducer acquired the relative displacement in the device (see Fig. 1.42). The
displacement was assigned quasistatically using a sine function with a frequency set
to 0.025 Hz. Cylinders made of natural rubber (ORMANT srl, manufacturer) were
tested for various aspect ratios. Flexural wire rope dampers consist of a plurality
of steel wire ropes welded to two steel bars (see Fig. 1.42). One of the two bars is
fixed to a frame while the other bar can slide in the two directions or in the vertical
direction only keeping the orientation fixed (case A, this allows a change of distance
between the two bars; case B, this keeps a fixed distance between the bars). In the
former case, the wire ropes undergo pure flexure without tension whereas in the
second case, the wire ropes undergo both flexure and extension.
30 100 80
a c e
Restoring force [N]
15 50 40
0 0 0
-15 -50 A -40 B
-30 -100 -80

-16 -8 0 8 16 -30 -15 0 15 30 -30 -15 0 15 30
30 100 80
b d f
Restoring force [N]
15 50 40
0 0 0
-15 -50 -40
-30 -100 -80

-16 -8 0 8 16 -30 -15 0 15 30 -30 -15 0 15 30
[mm] [mm] [mm]
Fig. 1.42 Experimental hysteresis loops together with their identification for (a)–(b) cylinders of
natural rubber (diameterD10 mm, heightD30 mm), (c)–(d) (719) wire ropes of case A, and (e)–
(f) (719) wire ropes of case B. The small boxes in parts (b), (d), (f) indicate the experimental
measurements while the continuous lines denote the loops predicted by the identified Bouc–Wen
constitutive laws. Reprinted with permission [90]
Examples of identification of the constitutive parameters of cylinders of natural

rubber and of the wire rope devices are shown in Fig. 1.42. Elastomeric cylindrical
dampers shown in Fig. 1.42a,b exhibit softening hysteresis loops in the whole range
of displacement amplitudes. Similarly, the wire rope device of case A exhibits
softening loops in Fig. 1.42c,d. On the other hand, the wire rope device of case
B exhibits softening loops up to a threshold amplitude beyond which they become
hardening as in Fig. 1.42e,f. While in case A, the restoring force is identified through
(1.108) with kQ2 D 0 D kQ3 , in case B, the cubic term is retained in (1.108), hence
kQ2 D 0, kQ3 ¤ 0.
Problems
1.6 (The von Mises truss structure under a compressive force).

(a) Show that the equilibrium equation of the von Mises truss structure shown in
Fig. 1.43, under the assumption that the two trusses are exactly the same, is
2NM sin qM C P D 0 (1.109)
Fig. 1.43 The von Mises P

truss structure
0
l
E
k kE
h
0
q0
a a
where qM denotes the current angle that the left truss member makes with e 1
(positive when clockwise) and NM is the tension in the trusses (the state of
traction is assumed positive).
(b) Show that the strain–displacement relationship is
M D a.sec qM sec q o /:
l.q/ (1.110)
(c) By assuming a linearly elastic constitutive behavior for which the truss stiffness
is denoted by k E , the governing equation of the elastic problem is
2k E a .sec qM sec q o / sin qM C P D 0: (1.111)
(c) Calculate the tangent stiffness for the stress-free configuration (i.e., qM D 0) and
for a generic equilibrium configuration.
(d) Show that the governing equation of the elastic problem, in terms of the vertical
displacement of the keystone v (assumed positive downward), is
" #
lo
2k .h v/ 1 p
E o
C P D 0: (1.112)
a2 C .ho v/2
(e) After carrying out the nondimensionalization of the equilibrium equation, set
up a pseudo-arclength path-following code to trace the equilibrium paths for
different initial angles: q o D .=4; =8; =32/.
1.7 (The von Mises structure with torsional spring).
1. Derive the equilibrium equation of the von Mises truss structure shown in
Fig. 1.44, with the assumption that the two trusses exhibit the same elastic
stiffness k E and the torsional spring is linearly elastic with constant kT : Use two
kinematic descriptors: (i) the angle qM that the truss member makes with e 1 and
(ii) the vertical displacement v.
2. Calculate the tangent stiffness for the stress-free configuration (i.e., qQ D 0) and
for a generic equilibrium configuration.
3. Derive the equilibrium equations when the trusses exhibit different elastic
constants denoted by k1E (left) and k2E (right).

structure with torsional spring
0
l
k E kT
kE
q0
a a

structure with linear spring
0
l
kE kE
q0 k
a a
4. After carrying out the nondimensionalization of the governing equation for prob-
lem (a), write a pseudo-arclength path-following code to trace the equilibrium
paths for different initial angles: q o D .=4; =8; =32/ assuming different
nondimensional torsional spring constants.
1.8 (Nonlinear truss structure with a linear spring).
(a) Derive the equilibrium equation of the truss structure shown in Fig. 1.45, with
the assumption that the two trusses are the same and the spring is linearly elastic
with constant k: Use the horizontal and vertical displacements of the keystone
and the horizontal displacement of the roller support as generalized coordinates.
(b) Calculate the tangent stiffness for the stress-free configuration and a generic
equilibrium configuration.
(c) After carrying out the nondimensionalization of the governing equation, write a
pseudo-arclength path-following code to trace the equilibrium paths for differ-
ent initial angles: q o D .=4; =8; =32/ assuming different nondimensional
constants for the horizontal spring. For large values of the spring constant, the
equilibrium paths are expected to converge to those of Problem 1.6e.
1.9 (The three-dimensional von Mises structure).

(a) Derive the equations for the elastic equilibrium of the truss structure shown
in Fig. 1.46 under the compressive load P e 3 , considering the displacement
Fig. 1.46 Three-dimensional P

version of the von Mises
structure
u
3
4
k3
k4
h
2
k1
1
k2
e3 a
e2
e1 a
a a
vector u as kinematic descriptor and linearly elastic constitutive laws NO j D

kj lj , where kj is the stiffness and lj is the length variation of the j th truss.
Assume for simplicity h D a.
(b) Develop a path-following code and obtain the equilibrium paths for (i) k1 D
k2 D k3 D k4 D k and (ii) k1 D 1=2k, k2 D 1=5k, k3 D k D k4 .
Chapter 2
Stability and Bifurcation of Structures
In this chapter, the fundamental aspects of the modern theory of stability are
reviewed in the context of mechanical and structural systems subject to conservative
and nonconservative forces. The static and dynamic loss of stability is discussed in a
unified framework enriched by a variety of paradigmatic examples. Special attention
is placed on dynamic instabilities such as flutter and galloping or the Mathieu-type
instability triggered by parametric excitations. In the following chapters, the general
theory is applied to the study of stability of distributed-parameter systems such as
cables, beams, rings, wings, plates, and bridges.
2.1 Stability of Motion
One of the dangerous limit states in systems and structures is the loss of stability
of an equilibrium state (e.g., a column in straight vertical equilibrium that buckles
under a critical compressive force) or the loss of stability of a given motion
representing an operational condition in a structural component (e.g., a helicopter
blade or a wind turbine blade rotating at certain critical speeds). The concept
of stability is the foundational concept in the Theory of Stability whose modern
formulation is due to Lyapunov.
The equations of motion of multi-dof systems can be described in state space (cf.
Chap. 1) as
xP D f.x; tI c/ (2.1)
where f W IRn IR IRm !IRn is the vector field. The space .x; t; c/ 2 IRn IR IRm
is the state-control space. For a given set of control parameters c, the solutions of
(2.1) form a one-parameter group that defines a phase flow. The solutions of (2.1)
can be represented by the application
t ! '.tI xo ; c/ such that '.to I xo ; c/ D xo (2.2)

68 2 Stability and Bifurcation of Structures
y0
xj
x 0+y 0 δ(ε,t 0)
ε
x0
t
xi
Fig. 2.1 Lyapunov stability: '.t I xQo / is the reference trajectory starting off at xQo D xQ .to /; xQ o C yo ,
chosen in the sphere described by jyo j < ı."; to /, is the initial condition of the perturbed trajectory
entrapped in the phase tube j'.t I xQ o C yo / '.t I xQ o /j < "
where the argument xo WD x.to / denotes the initial condition at time t D to . For a
given set of control parameters, the curves .t; '.tI xo ; c// in the space IR IRn are
called integral curves, while their projections in state space IRn are called orbits or
trajectories.
Let xQ .t/ denote a motion of the system whose associated trajectory (see Fig. 2.1)
is given by '.tI xQ o ; c/ starting off at xQ o : The motion xQ .t/ is stable in the sense of
Lyapunov if a small positive number " can always be found for a given instant to
for which a ı."; to / > 0 exists such that if the initial conditions xo are taken with
jxo xQ o j < ı."; to /, the state vector expressing the evolution of the system from xo
is such that jx.t/ xQ .t/j D j'.tI xo ; c/ '.tI xQ o ; c/j < " at all times t > to .1 If
the stated property holds for all to ; the motion is uniformly stable. If a motion does
not satisfy the stated properties, the motion is unstable in the sense of Lyapunov.
The vector yo WD xo xQ o is the initial perturbation as it denotes the initial deviation
from the prescribed initial conditions, while the ensuing motions xQ .t/ and x.t/ are
the unperturbed (or reference) and perturbed motions, respectively. It is often stated
that the motion is stable if, for sufficiently small initial perturbations, the perturbed
motion is sufficiently close to the unperturbed motion at all times.
If the perturbed motion, besides evolving in state space close to the unperturbed
motion, tends to coalesce onto the unperturbed motion as t ! 1, the motion is said
to be asymptotically stable. The region in state space representing the set of initial
1
Here j j denotes a norm for vectors in state space IRn such that the ’distance’ between orbits can
be suitably measured.
2.1 Stability of Motion 69
conditions whose perturbed motions asymptotically converge to the unperturbed

motion xQ .t/ is the basin of attraction of the motion xQ .t/. When the basin of attraction
covers the whole state space, the motion xQ .t/ is globally stable.
In particular, the unperturbed motion can be: (a) an equilibrium state x.t/ D
xo when the right-hand side of (2.1) is in its autonomous form f.xI c/, therefore
f.xo I c/ D o, or (b) a T -periodic solution such that x.t C T / D x.t/, 8t 2 Œto ; 1/.
A periodic solution is called limit cycle if the vector field is autonomous. In the
following sections, the theory and methods enabling the assessment of stability will
be specialized to the context of these special classes of solutions. Of course, there
are other classes of reference/unperturbed motion such as quasi-periodic or non-
periodic (chaotic) motions.
Whenever upon variation of one of the control parameters ck , there is a change in
the stability properties of an unperturbed motion, the associated qualitative change
is called bifurcation. This event can thus lead to either a loss of stability of the
unperturbed motion or to a gain of stability when the unperturbed motion is unstable
from the outset.
Equations governing the perturbation. According to the definition due to Lya-
punov, the study of stability can be tackled more conveniently by introducing the
deviation (or perturbation) between the perturbed motion x.t/ and the reference
motion xQ .t/. The time evolution of the deviation y.t/ WD x.t/ xQ .t/ is governed by
the following initial-value problem:
yP D Qf.y; tI c/; y.to / D yo (2.3)
where Qf.y; tI c/ WD f.Qx C y; tI c/ f.Qx; tI c/:

Equation (2.3) is the variational equation. The solution of the variational
equation (2.3) is the trajectory '.tI yo ; c/ which gives the time evolution of the
initial perturbation yo : The study of the stability of the reference motion xQ is thus
reduced to the study of the properties of the perturbation '.tI yo ; c/ which measures
the deviation of the trajectories from the reference motion. The equilibrium solution
y.t/ D o of (2.3) corresponds to the solution xQ .t/ (i.e., the reference/unperturbed
motion) of (2.1). In other words, the study of stability, instability, or asymptotic
stability of xQ .t/ is transformed into the study of stability, instability, or asymptotic
stability of the trivial solution of (2.3).
The reference motion xQ .t/ is stable if it is always possible to find a small
positive number " (see Fig. 2.2) for which there exists a ı."; to / > 0 such that
8 jyo j < ı."; to /; then j'.tI yo ; c/j < " at all times t > to : The reference motion is
asymptotically stable if it is always possible to find a small positive ı.to / > 0 such
that 8 jyo j < ı.to /; then lim j'.tI yo ; c/j D 0.
t !1
Linearized variational equation. The nonlinear variational equation (2.3) can be

linearized about y D o. The Taylor expansion of the right-hand side of (2.3) yields
ˇ
Qf.y; tI c/ WD f.Qx C y; tI c/ f.Qx; tI c/ D fx ˇ y C O.jyj2 /
yDo
Fig. 2.2 Lyapunov stability yj

of an equilibrium state in
phase space of which a
two-dimensional projection is
shown. The dashed circle is
the set of initial conditions for
ε
which the ensuing motions
are trapped in the circle of
radius " at all times
δ(ε,t0)
O yi
where fx indicates the Frétchet derivative of f with respect to x, also called the
Jacobian matrix. Therefore, by neglecting higher-order terms and letting
ˇ
A.tI xQ ; c/ WD fx .Qx C y; tI c/ˇyDo ; (2.4)
the linearized equation is obtained as
yP D A.t/ y (2.5)
where the dependence of A on the reference motion xQ and the control parameters c
is dropped for ease of notation.
When the original equation is autonomous and the reference solution is an
equilibrium state xQ D xo ; A does not depend on time t: On the other hand, when
the system is autonomous but the reference solution is a limit cycle of period T or
when the system is nonautonomous and the reference motion is T -periodic, matrix
A.t/ is T -periodic, whence A.t C T / D A.t/:
2.2 Stability of Equilibrium States
The solution of (2.5) depends on the spectral properties of the nn constant real
matrix A; hence on the n eigenvalues of A obtained as the roots of the characteristic
equation
det.A I/ D 0: (2.6)
If the eigenvalues, the kth of which is denoted by k ; are distinct with corresponding
eigenvectors wk (i.e., the algebraic multiplicity is assumed equal to the geometric
multiplicity), then yk .t/ D wk ek t (k D 1; : : : ; n) are n independent solutions of the
linearized variational equation (2.5). If the complex-conjugate pairs of eigenvalues
2.2 Stability of Equilibrium States 71
and eigenvectors are expressed in their real and imaginary parts as .k ; N k / D .˛k C
N k / D .uk C ivk ; uk ivk / (with ˛k ; ˇk 2 IR and uk ; vk 2
iˇk ; ˛k iˇk / and .wk ; w
IRn ), the linear combination of the corresponding two linearly independent basis
functions wk and w N k can be cast in real form as
e˛k t Œb1k .uk cos ˇk t vk sin ˇk t/ C b2k .uk sin ˇk t C vk cos ˇk t/:
The general solution of (2.5) is a linear combination of the basis functions yk .t/:
X
y.t/ D e˛k t Œb1k .uk cos ˇk t vk sin ˇk t/ C b2k .vk cos ˇk t C uk sin ˇk t/ (2.7)
k
where ˛k WDRe.k /, ˇk WDIm.k /, and .b1k ; b2k / are the coefficients of the linear
combination to be determined from the initial condition given by yo WD y.to /:
On the other hand, if not all eigenvalues are distinct, for instance, the eigenvalue
has multiplicity m > 1; which is greater than the geometric multiplicity2, this
eigenvalue generates m independent solutions of the form
p0 et ; p1 .t/et ; p2 .t/et ; : : : ; pm1 .t/et
where pk .t/ is a vector containing polynomial functions of t of degree k or smaller.

For convenience, a fundamental matrix ˆ.t/ that collects all independent solutions
yk .t/ of (2.5) can be defined as
ˆ.t/ D Œy1 .t/; : : : ; yn .t/: (2.8)
Let b D Œb1 ; : : : ; bn | be the vector of unknown coefficients bk so that the general

solution of (2.5) can be written as y.t/ D ˆ.t/ b: The imposition of the initial
condition y.to / D yo yields the solution in the form
y.t/ D ˆ.t/ ˆ 1 .to / yo : (2.9)
2
m is the algebraic multiplicity (i.e., multiplicity of the corresponding root of the characteristic
polynomial). The geometric multiplicity of an eigenvalue is equal to the dimension of the
associated eigenspace. Eigenvalues for which the algebraic multiplicity is greater than the
geometric multiplicity are called nonsimple or defective. In such cases, a complete generalized
eigenspace can be defined introducing the generalized eigenvectors as the elements of the kernel
of .A I/k , k D 2; :::. Upon introducing the linear transformation y D Q x, where Q is the
matrix formed by the (simple) eigenvectors and generalized eigenvectors (i.e., the full generalized
eigenbasis of A), the transformed equations become xP D Jx where J D Q1 AQ is a matrix made
of diagonal blocks with the simple eigenvalues on the main diagonal and Jordan blocks having one
of the repeated eigenvalues on their main diagonal while the elements of their superdiagonal
P1 are
equal to 1. The solution for x.t / is a linear combination of the columns of e Jt D kD1 .Jt /k =kŠ,
some of which can be shown to be e t ( is the repeated eigenvalue of multiplicity m) multiplied
by polynomial functions of degree greater than 1 and up to m 1.
From the theory of linear ordinary differential equations [99,116,184], the following
general results hold (most of which can be ascertained by observing the form of the
general solution (2.7)):
1. If Re.k / < 0 .kD1; : : : ; n/, then lim y.t/=o for all y o ; thus the solution tends
t !1
asymptotically to o:
2. If Re.k /0 .kD1; : : : ; n/, and the eigenvalues with Re.k /D0 are distinct (or
are repeated provided that the algebraic multiplicity is equal to the geometric
multiplicity), then y.t/ is bounded for t
to :
3. If there exists an eigenvalue with Re.k />0; then there are initial conditions y o
for which lim jy.t/jD1, hence the solution diverges with time.
t !1
4. If Re.k /0 .kD1; : : : ; n/ and the eigenvalues with Re.k /D0 have algebraic
multiplicity greater than the geometric multiplicity, then lim jy.t/j=1.
t !1
These properties characterize the stability of the reference solution in a linear sense
(i.e., within the context of the linearized variational equation). The stability of the
reference motion in the context of the nonlinear variational equation (2.3) has yet to
be addressed.
The following major properties hold: if some of the eigenvalues of the Jacobian
matrix have zero real parts and all other eigenvalues have negative real parts,
the stability of the reference motion cannot be ascertained from the linearized
variational equation. In other words, the properties of the flow in the neighborhood
of y D o are not dictated by the linear terms alone but by the full nonlinear terms.
In all other cases, i.e., when there are no eigenvalues with zero real parts, the stability
of the reference motion can be ascertained from the eigenvalues of the linearized
variational equation. In particular, if all eigenvalues have negative real parts, the
equilibrium state is asymptotically stable. If at least one eigenvalue has a positive
real part, the equilibrium state is unstable.
It is worth introducing here useful terminology from the Theory of Dynamical
Systems and from the Bifurcation Theory [204, 446]. The equilibrium states for
which the Jacobian matrix A does not possess eigenvalues with zero real parts
are called hyperbolic points or nondegenerate points; on the other hand, when
one or more eigenvalues have zero real parts, the equilibrium states are called
nonhyperbolic points or degenerate points (see Fig. 2.3). Therefore, for hyperbolic
points, the stability is ascertained from the eigenvalues of the linearized problem,
while for nonhyperbolic points, a full nonlinear analysis must be carried out to
study the associated stability. This fundamental result stems from a Theorem due
to Hartman and Grobman [230, 231] according to which, up to a continuous change
of coordinates, the phase portrait near a hyperbolic fixed point is the same as the
phase portrait of the dynamical system represented by the linearized variational
equation.
Routh–Hurwitz criterion. The Routh–Hurwitz criterion provides a necessary and
sufficient condition for the stability of an equilibrium state overcoming the cum-
a Im(μ) b Im(μ)
Re(μ) Re(μ)
Fig. 2.3 (a) Hyperbolic points and (b) nonhyperbolic points
bersome calculation of the eigenvalues of A. For a n-dof system, the characteristic

equation obtained from (2.6) is the following algebraic equation of degree n:
a0 n C a1 n1 C a2 n2 C C an D 0 (2.10)
the solution of which can prove to be a formidable task. The Routh–Hurwitz

criterion allows explicit calculation of the eigenvalues to be avoided.
The coefficients ai in (2.10) are employed to generate the Hurwitz matrix as
follows:
2 3
a1 a0 0 0 : : : 0
6 a a a a ::: 0 7
6 3 2 1 0 7
6 7
6 a5 a4 a3 a2 : : : 0 7
HD6 7: (2.11)
6 a7 a6 a5 a4 : : : 0 7
6 7
4::: ::: ::: ::: ::: :::5
0 0 0 : : : : : : an
The following minors k of H (k D 1; 2; : : : n) are constructed:

ˇ ˇ
ˇ ˇ ˇ a1 a0 0 ˇ
ˇ a1 a0 ˇ ˇ ˇ
1 D a1 ; 2 D ˇˇ ˇ ; 3 D ˇ a3 a2 a1 ˇ ; : : : : : :
a3 a2 ˇ ˇ
ˇa a a ˇ
ˇ
5 4 3
ˇ ˇ
ˇ a a0 0 0 : : : 0 ˇˇ
ˇ 1
ˇ a a2 a1 a0 : : : 0 ˇˇ
ˇ 3
ˇ ˇ
k D ˇ a5 a4 a3 a2 : : : 0 ˇ ; with ap D 0; p > n: (2.12)
ˇ ˇ
ˇ ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: :::ˇ
ˇ ˇ
ˇ a2k1 a2k2 : : : : : : : : : ak ˇ
According to the Routh–Hurwitz criterion (for the proof, e.g., cf. [109]), a necessary
and sufficient condition for all the eigenvalues to have negative real parts (i.e., the
eigenvalues lie in the left-half plane) is that all minors k ; k D 1; : : : ; n, along the
a Im(μ) b Im(μ)
Re(μ) Re(μ)
Fig. 2.4 Stable hyperbolic points: (a) sink and (b) stable focus
principal diagonal of the Hurwitz matrix be positive, provided that (2.10) is put in a
form such that a0 > 0. Since 1 D a1 and n D an n1 , only the signs of n 2
minors are necessary to be assessed.
If one or more minors vanish, the system is said to be in a critical condition. The
critical value of the control parameter can be determined by forcing all the n 1
minors k .kD1; : : : ; n1) to vanish. The lowest real value of the control parameter
c such that one of the minors vanishes is a candidate to be the critical value of the
control parameter at which a bifurcation may occur.
2.2.1 Static and Dynamic Bifurcations of Equilibrium States
Before discussing the loss of stability incurred by equilibrium states, it is worth

pausing to see how the position of the eigenvalues k in the complex plane can
characterize the different nature of hyperbolic points. Hyperbolic points can be
broadly classified as stable hyperbolic points when all eigenvalues lie in the left
half-plane (excluding the imaginary axis) and as unstable hyperbolic points when
one or more eigenvalues lie in the right half-plane. In particular, a stable hyperbolic
point is called:
– Stable node or sink when all eigenvalues lie on the real negative semi-axis (i.e.,
they are all real and negative, see Fig. 2.4a).
– Stable focus when all eigenvalues are complex-valued and lie in the left half-
plane (i.e., they are all complex-valued with negative real parts, see Fig. 2.4b).
On the other hand, an unstable hyperbolic point is called:
– Saddle when all eigenvalues are real and lie on both sides of the real axis
excluding the origin (i.e., they are partly positive and partly negative, see
Fig. 2.5a).
a Im(μ) b Im(μ)
Re(μ) Re(μ)
c Im(μ) d Im(μ)
Re(μ) Re(μ)
Fig. 2.5 Unstable hyperbolic points: (a) saddle, (b) source, (c) unstable focus, (d) saddle-focus
– Unstable node or source when all eigenvalues are real and lie on the real positive
semi-axis (i.e., they are all real and positive, see Fig. 2.5b).
– Unstable focus when all eigenvalues are complex and lie in the right half-plane
(i.e., they are all complex with positive real parts, see Fig. 2.5c).
– Saddle-focus when some eigenvalues are complex and some eigenvalues are real
and lie on both sides of the real axis excluding the origin (see Fig. 2.5d).
A special case of a nonhyperbolic/degenerate point is that whose eigenvalues
all lie on the imaginary axis (excluding the origin). This degenerate point is called
center.
A bifurcation occurs whenever one of the eigenvalues crosses the imaginary axis
moving from the left to the right half-plane (or vice versa). There are two possible
crossing scenarios:
1. Transversal crossing of the imaginary axis along the real axis, which means that
one of the eigenvalues becomes zero and, past the bifurcation, turns into a real
and positive eigenvalue (see Fig. 2.6a). This bifurcation is called divergence or
static bifurcation. The loss of stability is also called static instability.
2. Transversal crossing of the imaginary axis away from the real axis, which
implies that some of the eigenvalues become purely imaginary and, past the
bifurcation, turn into complex-valued with a positive real part (see Fig. 2.6b).
This bifurcation is called Hopf or dynamic bifurcation. The loss of stability is
also called dynamic instability (or flutter/galloping depending on the specific
mechanical context).
a Im(μ) b Im(μ)
Re(μ) Re(μ)
Fig. 2.6 (a) Divergence and (b) Hopf bifurcation of an equilibrium state
Divergence means that the departure from the equilibrium state occurs through an
exponential unbounded growth of the perturbation in time without oscillations while
Hopf or dynamic bifurcation implies that the unbounded growth is accompanied by
an oscillatory behavior caused by the imaginary part of the eigenvalues.
2.2.2 Local Bifurcations of Equilibrium States
Autonomous systems cast in the form xP D f.xI c/ can admit equilibrium states
which are solutions of f.xI c/ D o: For a one-parameter family of vector fields (i.e.,
out of the m control parameters c, only one is considered and denoted by c for ease
of notation), the control-state space is spanned by .x; c/ 2 IRn IR: The locus of
equilibrium states in this space is given by
D f.xo ; c/ 2 IRn IR such that f.xo ; c/ D og: (2.13)
is called an equilibrium path or a bifurcation diagram. The bifurcation diagrams

can be calculated by the path-following procedures illustrated in Chap. 1. The loci
of the eigenvalues obtained from the linearized variational equation upon variation
of the control parameter c allow the stability and bifurcations of the associated
equilibrium states to be determined together with the bifurcation diagrams. It is this
characterization of the stability and bifurcations that justifies the name bifurcation
diagrams. The loci of the eigenvalues are conveniently described in the complex
plane in parametric form as
lk D fRe.k .c// C iIm.k .c// 2 C such that detŒfx .xo ; c/ k I D 0g: (2.14)
The transversal intersection of the loci of the eigenvalues with the imaginary axis at
a certain value of the control parameter denoted by co signals a local bifurcation. In
particular, there is a divergence bifurcation if
ˇ
d Re.k / ˇˇ
Re.k / D 0 D Im.k / and ˇ >0 (2.15)
dc cDco
while a Hopf bifurcation occurs if

ˇ
d Re.k / ˇˇ
Re.k / D 0 and ˇ > 0: (2.16)
dc cDco
The assessment of the qualitative change that takes place across the bifurcation
is an important aspect of the stability analysis. When dealing with n-dimensional
systems, a fundamental Theorem by SoM M sitajMsvili simplifies the study. According to
this theorem, the local bifurcation behavior for a one-parameter family of vector
fields can be restricted to the one-dimensional subspace tangent to the eigenvector
corresponding to the zero eigenvalue (divergence) or to the pair of complex
conjugate eigenvalues (Hopf) arising from the linearized variational equation.3
The reduced governing equation is called the bifurcation equation. The control
parameter value at which the bifurcation takes place is said to be the critical value
of the control parameter and the corresponding equilibrium state is the bifurcation
point or critical point.
There are various methods for the mentioned reduction process that delivers
the bifurcation equation such as the method of center manifold reduction [182],
the Lyapunov–Schmidt reduction method, the method of elimination of passive
coordinates, and the method of multiple scales [332, 335]. The static bifurcations
are discussed first.
2.2.2.1 Static Bifurcations
The local behavior in the vicinity of the bifurcation point can only be assessed by
studying the (reduced) bifurcation equation. To this end, let
xP D f .x; c/ (2.17)
denote the bifurcation equation reduced in the one-dimensional subspace tangential

to the eigenvector of A.x; co / whose eigenvalue is zero; let the bifurcation point
coincide with the origin of the phase space, and co D 0. Accordingly, f .0; 0/ D 0
3
Along the directions collinear with the eigenvectors whose eigenvalues have negative real parts,
the perturbations die out while the only nontrivial direction along which the evolution of the
perturbation determines which kind of behavior will emerge is the one associated with the
eigenvector whose eigenvalue has zero real part.
a x b x
c c
Fig. 2.7 Fold bifurcation: (a) xP D c C x 2 , (b) xP D c x 2
and fxo D 0 where fxo WD fx .0; 0/, etc. The Taylor expansion of (2.17) in x and c
about .0; 0/ yields
1 o 2 1 o 3 1
xP D f x C fxxx x C Cc.fco Cfxco x C /C c 2 .fcco Cfxcc o
x C /C
2Š xx 3Š 2Š
(2.18)
Bifurcation equations that describe typical bifurcations are given by (2.18) with
nontrivial low-order terms in x and c. A typical normal form is xP D cx p ˙ x q with
p D 0; 1 and q D 2; 3: The following bifurcations are recurrent in systems and
structures: fold (also called saddle-node) bifurcation, transcritical bifurcation, and
pitchfork bifurcation. The fold bifurcation is a catastrophic bifurcation since there
are no stable equilibrium states past the bifurcation. This also justifies using the
terminology limit point for it.
Fold bifurcation. The bifurcation equation is
xP D c ˙ x 2 : (2.19)
The case p xP D c C x 2 entails that, for c < 0, there are two equilibrium states
x1;2 D ˙ jcj, while p for c > 0; there are no equilibrium states (see Fig. 2.7a). The
equilibrium x1 D jcj is unstable (it canpbe ascertained that for x > x1 , xP > 0
and for x < x1 , xP < 0), while x2 D jcj is stable (for x > x2 , xP < 0 and
for x < x2 , xP > 0). For c > 0; the trajectories diverge for all initial conditions
(i.e., lim jxj=1 as t ! 1). At the critical value c D 0, the stable (node) and
unstable (saddle) equilibrium states coalesce. This bifurcation is also called blue
sky-catastrophe because of the sudden disappearance of an equilibrium state past
the critical value (often referred to as loss of a local attractor). The fold bifurcation
point is also known as a turning point or limit point.
a x b x
b>0 b=0 b<0 c b>0 b=0 b<0 c
Fig. 2.8 Fold bifurcations with initial imperfections: (a) xP D c C x 2 C b, (b) xP D c x 2 C b
The case xP D c x 2 entails that there are no equilibriumpstates for c < 0 (see
Fig. 2.7b), while there are two equilibrium states x1;2 D ˙ c for c > 0 with x1
and x2 being the stable and unstable states, respectively.
The introduction of an imperfection b in the bifurcation equation (i.e., b can be,
for example, a physical imperfection in the original system) leads to the equation
xP D c ˙ x 2 C b. In this case, the bifurcation diagram undergoes only a translation
along the c-axis with a shift of the critical values of the control parameter at the
bifurcation point as shown in Fig. 2.8. Systems exhibiting a fold bifurcation are said
to be insensitive to initial imperfections.
Transcritical bifurcation. The bifurcation equation for a transcritical bifurca-
tion is
xP D c x ˙ x 2 (2.20)
which admits simultaneously the fundamental solution xo D 0 and the nontrivial
solution x D c. The nontrivial solution of xP D cx x 2 is x1 D c. For c < 0,
the trivial solution xo D 0 is stable while the nontrivial solution x1 is unstable (see
Fig. 2.9a). Past the bifurcation point at c D 0 where the two solutions coalesce,
the stability is exchanged (i.e., the trivial solution xo D 0 becomes unstable while
the nontrivial solution x1 is now stable). If the plus sign is considered in (2.20), the
nontrivial solution becomes x1 D c which turns out to be unstable for c < 0 and
stable for c > 0 (see Fig. 2.9b).
The consideration of an initial imperfection b in the bifurcation equation (xP D
c x ˙ x 2 C b) qualitatively changes the bifurcation diagram. The trivial state xo D 0
is no longer an equilibrium solution: only nontrivial solutions are admitted (see
p and positive imperfections b > 0: there
Fig. 2.10). Consider the minus sign in (2.20)
are two equilibrium states x1;2 D c=2 ˙ c 2 =4 C b of which x1 is stable and x2 is
unstable.pFor negative imperfections b < 0, there is a range of control parameters,
jcj < 2 jbj, in which there are no solutions while there are two solutions (a node
a x b x
c c
Fig. 2.9 Transcritical bifurcation: (a) xP D cx x 2 , (b) xP D cx C x 2
a b x
x
b<0
b>0 b>0 b<0
b=0 b=0
c c
b<0 b<0 b>0
b>0
Fig. 2.10 Transcritical bifurcation with initial imperfections: (a) xP D cx x 2 C b, (b) xP D

cx C x 2 C b
p p p
and a saddle) for c < 2 jbj and jcj > 2 jbj. At jcj D 2 jbj, fold bifurcations
occur whereby the stable and unstable solutions coalesce and disappear.
The transcritical bifurcation is said to be a structurally unstable bifurcation due
to its high sensitivity to initial imperfections. Systems exhibiting a transcritical
bifurcation are said to be sensitive to initial imperfections.
Pitchfork bifurcation. The bifurcation equation is
xP D c x ˙ x 3 : (2.21)
The fundamental solution xo D 0 is alwaysp an equilibrium state. In addition, the two

symmetric equilibrium states x1;2 D ˙ jcj are admitted together with the trivial
state above or below the bifurcation point (see Fig. 2.11a). Consider the minus sign
in (2.21). For c < 0, the only solution is the trivial state which turns out to be
stable; for c > 0, p
the trivial solution becomes unstable and two stable (specular)
solutions x1;2 D ˙ c are born past the bifurcation point. This bifurcation is called
a b
x x
c c
Fig. 2.11 Pitchfork bifurcation: (a) supercritical xP D cx x 3 , (b) subcritical xP D cx C x 3
the supercritical pitchfork bifurcation and is typical of a rich variety of “perfect”

mechanical systems whose fundamental equilibrium state suffers a loss of stability
at a critical value of the control parameter bifurcating smoothly into either one of
the two specular equilibrium states .x1 ; x1 /. The loss of stability at the pitchfork
bifurcation is called buckling for mechanical systems subject to compressive forces.
If the plus sign is considered in (2.21), the bifurcation diagram is qualitatively
p c < 0, besides the (stable) trivial solution, two equilibrium solutions
different. For
x1;2 D ˙ jcj exist, which turn out to be unstable (see Fig. 2.11b). For c > 0,
the only equilibrium is the trivial state which is unstable. Therefore, if the control
parameter is increased from negative values, at the bifurcation point, there is a total
loss of local stable equilibrium states. This is a subcritical pitchfork bifurcation
which is typical of mechanical systems whose fundamental equilibrium state suffers
a loss of stability at the critical control parameter without any possibility of reaching
adjacent equilibrium states. This is due to the nature of the restoring forces which
do not possess sufficient authority to overcome the destabilizing forces past the
bifurcation.
If an initial imperfection is introduced in the bifurcation equation as
xP D cx x 3 C b (2.22)
the ensuing bifurcation diagrams undergo major qualitative changes (see

Fig. 2.12a,b). First, the trivial state is no longer an equilibrium solution; either
one or three nontrivial equilibrium solutions exist. Consider the minus sign in
(2.22). The discriminant of x 3 C cx C b D 0 is D 4c 3 27b 2 which vanishes
at co D 3.b=2/2=3. There is one solution for c < co while there are two dissimilar
(one stable and one unstable) equilibrium solutions for c > co . At c D co ; these
two solutions coalesce at a fold bifurcation (see Fig. 2.12a). The critical value of the
control parameter at the fold is independent from the sign of the initial imperfection.
On the other hand, if the plus sign is considered in (2.22), the critical condition for
the occurrence of the fold bifurcation is attained at co D 3.b=2/2=3. There is
a x b x
b>0 b<0
b>0 b<0
b=0 b=0 c
c
b<0 b>0 b>0

b<0
Fig. 2.12 Imperfect pitchfork bifurcation: (a) xP D cx x 3 C b, (b) xP D cx C x 3 C b
Fig. 2.13 Loci of the Im(μ)

eigenvalues in the
neighborhood of the Hopf
bifurcation at co D 0
iωο
Re(μ)
-iωο
one solution which is unstable across the whole range of c. For c < co , there
are two coexisting dissimilar (one stable and one unstable) equilibrium solutions
which coalesce at the fold bifurcation at c D co , past which only the nontrivial
unstable solution survives. The pitchfork bifurcation is structurally unstable since
the introduction of imperfections changes the qualitative behavior. This is typical
of perfect mechanical systems for which even a tiny geometric imperfection is
sufficient to change the qualitative features of the bifurcation responsible for the
loss of stability.
Hopf bifurcation. The Hopf bifurcation occurs when a pair of complex conjugate
eigenvalues crosses the imaginary axis transversely (see Fig. 2.13). Past the critical
condition at the transversal crossing, a limit cycle is born whose amplitude grows
with the square of the distance between the current value of the control parameter
c and the critical value co : This scenario is called supercritical Hopf bifurcation.
It is a typical scenario for positively damped systems which are exposed to self-
excited aeroelastic forces responsible for negative damping effects. Below the
critical condition, negative damping does not overcome positive damping and the
equilibrium state is asymptotically stable. At the critical condition, the negative
aeroelastic damping balances the positive damping and the equilibrium becomes
degenerate. Past the Hopf bifurcation, the negative damping overcomes the positive
damping transforming the stable trivial equilibrium into an unstable focus so that
nearby initial conditions give rise to trajectories that diverge in an oscillatory way
from the equilibrium and converge onto a limit cycle when the system possesses
restoring nonlinear terms.
The Hopf bifurcation equations (in Cartesian form) are:
xP 1 D !o x2 C x1 Œc ˙ .x12 C x22 /; xP 2 D !o x1 C x2 Œc ˙ .x12 C x22 / (2.23)
where !o is a positive real constant. By introducing the polar transformation x1 D

r cos and x2 D r sin ; (2.23) becomes
rP D cr ˙ r 3 ; P D !o : (2.24)
p
There are two solutions:pthe trivial solution r D 0, 8p c, and the limit cycle r D jcj;
D !o t C o (i.e., x1 D jcj cos.!o t C o /; x2 D jcj sin.!o t C o /: The Jacobian
of (2.23) at .x1 ; x2 / D .0; 0/ gives A D Œc; !o I !o ; c whose eigenvalues are
j D c ˙ i!o : Therefore, when c D 0, the eigenvalues cross the imaginary axis
transversely (dj =dc D 1) becoming a pair of purely imaginary complex conjugate
eigenvalues j D ˙ i!o , a situation that signals a Hopf bifurcation. p
There are two possible scenarios. For rP D r.c r 2 /; the limit cycle r D c
exists for c > 0 and is stable. The trivial equilibrium state is stable (stable focus) for
c < 0 and becomes unstable (unstable focus) for c > 0 (see Figs. 2.14a and 2.15a).
By increasing c from negative values, the negative real part of the eigenvalues j
turns positive across co D 0. This scenario is the supercriticalp Hopf bifurcation.
On the other hand, for rP D r.c C r 2 /; the limit cycle r D jcj exists for c < 0
and is unstable. The trivial equilibrium state is stable (stable focus) for c < 0 and
becomes unstable (unstable focus) for c > 0 (see Figs. 2.14b and 2.15b). Past the
critical point co D 0, locally there is neither a stable equilibrium solution nor a limit
cycle. This scenario is called subcritical Hopf bifurcation.
When the size of the limit cycle grows past the bifurcation, higher-order terms
must be included in the analysis. The bifurcation equations, which include quintic
nonlinear terms (in accordance with the symmetric nature of the system), are:
xP 1 D !o x2 C x1 Œc ˙ .x12 C x22 / C d.x12 C x22 /2 ;

xP 2 D !o x1 C x2 Œc ˙ .x12 C x22 / C d.x12 C x22 /2 : (2.25)
By introducing the polar transformation x1 D r cos and x2 D r sin , (2.25) is

transformed into
rP D cr ˙ r 3 C d r 5 ; P D !o : (2.26)
The bifurcation diagram with the minus sign is shown in Fig. 2.16a. The presence
of higher-order terms entails that, below the Hopf bifurcation point, there is an
unstable limit cycle coexisting with the stable trivial equilibrium whose basin of
x2
a
x1
x2
b
x1
Fig. 2.14 Hopf bifurcation: (a) supercritical rP D r.c r 2 /, (b) subcritical rP D r.c C r 2 /
a r b r
c c
Fig. 2.15 Hopf bifurcation: (a) supercritical when rP D r.c r 2 /, (b) subcritical when rP D
r.c C r 2 /
attraction is bounded by the unstable limit cycle itself. Past the bifurcation, this limit
cycle bounds the basin of attraction of the stable limit cycle born out of the Hopf
bifurcation. The distance between the stable and unstable limit cycles decreases
a r b r
co cF c cF co c
Fig. 2.16 Hopf bifurcation with higher-order terms: (a) supercritical when rP D r.c r 2 C d r 4 /
with d > 0, (b) subcritical when rP D r.c C r 2 C d r 4 / with d < 0
until they collide at a fold bifurcation (at c D cF ) past which there is a loss of
local attractor leaving no choice for the system but to approach some other type of
far-away attractor.
The bifurcation diagram with the plus sign is shown in Fig. 2.16b. Below
the Hopf bifurcation point, there are two coexisting limit cycles together with the
stable trivial solution. One of the limit cycles is unstable and the other is stable.
The unstable limit cycle forms the boundary between the basins of attraction of the
trivial stable solution and the stable limit cycle. These limit cycles coalesce through
a fold bifurcation at a value of the control parameter, denoted by cF , below the
Hopf bifurcation point. Therefore, there is a range of the control parameter, namely
c 2 .cF ; co /, in which there are two stable solutions, the trivial solution and the limit
cycle. This is a multistable range for the system, and the actual solution which the
system settles into depends on the initial conditions.
This phenomenology is extraordinarily important for systems subject to Hopf
bifurcations. A stability analysis based solely on the linearized variational equation
can only signal the Hopf bifurcation (critical condition for the trivial equilibrium)
but not the fold bifurcation, which represents the lower bound of the multistable
range where the system departs from equilibrium to settle into a limit cycle under
external perturbations. Hence, linear analysis underestimates the actual critical value
at which the trivial solution is no longer the only stable equilibrium solution.
Problem 2.1 (Hopf bifurcation with higher-order terms). A more general
normal form of the bifurcation equation (2.23) is
xP 1 D !o x2 C cx1 C .˛x1 ˇx2 /.x12 C x22 /;

xP 2 D !o x1 C cx2 C .ˇx1 C ˛x2 /.x12 C x22 / (2.27)
where .˛; ˇ/ are real coefficients. Note that (2.23) is recovered by putting
˛ D ˙1 and ˇ D 0. Show that, by introducing the polar transformation
x1 D r cos and x2 D r sin ; (2.27) becomes
rP D c r C ˛ r 3 ; P D !o C ˇ r 2 : (2.28)
Show that for ˛ < 0 the Hopf bifurcation is supercritical while for ˛ > 0 the Hopf
bifurcation is subcritical.
2.3 Stability of Limit Cycles and Periodic Solutions
The stability of a limit cycle or a periodic solution can be assessed by the following
two approaches. One approach employs the concept of a Poincaré map illustrated
in Chap. 1. The other approach resorts to the Floquet Theory sketched here in its
essential aspects.
The variational equation (2.5) linearized about a limit cycle or a periodic solution
of period T has the special form
yP D A.t/ y with A.t C T / D A.t/: (2.29)
The Theorem of Floquet proves that the fundamental solution matrix ˆ.t/ can
be expressed as the product of two n n matrices, namely
ˆ.t/ D P.t/ eBt (2.30)
where P.t/ is T -periodic (i.e., P.t C T / D P.t/) and B is a constant matrix (cf.
Problem 2.4 for the proof).
The matrix C D eBT is the so-called monodromy matrix. The eigenvalues of
C, known as the characteristic (or Floquet) multipliers, dictate the stability of the
periodic solution in nondegenerate cases. By virtue of the relationship C D eBT ;
the multipliers k are conveniently expressed as
k D ek T
where k are the characteristic (or Floquet) exponents. These pexponents, given by
k D .ln k /=T , defined within the constant 2i=T (i WD 1), can be chosen
to coincide with the eigenvalues of B which thus provide information about the
stability of the periodic solution as shown next.
Let u denote a new state vector according to the transformation y D P.t/ u:
Differentiating this transformation and accounting for (2.29) yield
P u C P.t/ uP D A.t/ y D A.t/ P.t/ u

yP D P.t/
2.3 Stability of Limit Cycles and Periodic Solutions 87
from which
P u:
uP D P1 .A P P/ (2.31)
Differentiating P.t/ D ˆ.t/ eBt with respect to t yields
PP D P̂ eBt C ˆ eBt .B/ D A ˆ eBt ˆ eBt B D A P P B:
P D B which, substituted into (2.31), yields

Consequently, P1 .A P P/
uP D B u: (2.32)
The solutions u consist of products of polynomials in t and ek t where k

are the eigenvalues of B (i.e., the Floquet exponents). As a consequence of the
transformation y D P.t/ u; the perturbation y about the periodic solution is the
product of polynomials in t; ek t ; and T -periodic terms.
The properties of the general solution of the variational equation (2.29) linearized
about a limit cycle or a periodic solution of period T leads to the following
statements.
1. If Re.k /<0 (i.e., jk j < 1), 8 k, then lim y.t/Do for all yo ; thus the perturba-
t !1
tion dies out.
2. If Re.k /0 (i.e., jk j1), 8 k, and the eigenvalues with Re.k /D0 (i.e.,
jk jD1) are distinct (or are repeated provided that the algebraic multiplicity is
equal to the geometric multiplicity), then y.t/ is bounded for t
to :
3. If there exists an eigenvalue with Re.k />0 (i.e., jk j>1), then there are initial
conditions y o for which lim jy.t/jD1, hence the perturbation diverges with
t !1
time.
4. If Re.k /0 (i.e., jk j1), 8 k, and the eigenvalues with Re.k /D0 (i.e.,
jk jD1) have algebraic multiplicity greater than the geometric multiplicity, then
lim jy.t/jD1.
t !1
These properties characterize the stability of the reference periodic solution in a

linear sense. The following fundamental property holds: if some of the Floquet
exponents have zero real parts (i.e., the associated Floquet multipliers have modulus
equal to one), while the other exponents have negative real parts (the modulus of the
multipliers is less than 1), the stability of the periodic solution cannot be ascertained
from the linearized variational equation. In other words, the properties of the flow
in the neighborhood of xQ are not dictated by the linear terms alone (i.e., eigenvalues)
but by the full nonlinear terms. In all other cases, when there are no exponents with
zero real parts, the stability of the reference periodic motion is fully ascertained by
the sign of the Floquet exponents. In particular, if all exponents have negative real
parts (the Floquet multipliers have modulus less than 1), the periodic solution is
asymptotically stable. If at least one exponent has a positive real part (the Floquet
multiplier has modulus greater than 1), the periodic solution is unstable.
a Im(r) b Im(r)
1 1
Re(r) Re(r)
Fig. 2.17 (a) Hyperbolic limit cycle and (b) nonhyperbolic limit cycle
Floquet multipliers of limit cycles. Let xQ .t/ be a limit cycle of the autonomous
equation xP D f.xI c/ with period T . The time derivative of the limit cycle, denoted
by xPQ .t/, is the solution of the linearized variational equation based at xQ .t/:
dxPQ ˇ
D A.t/ xPQ ; A.t/ WD fx ˇxQ :
dt
Since the linearized variational equation admits the T -periodic solution xPQ .t/, the
corresponding Floquet multiplier has modulus equal to 1. The perturbation along
which the multiplier has unit modulus, namely y.t/ D xPQ .t/; is tangential to the limit
cycle xQ .t/: This circumstance implies that the nontrivial perturbations y.t/ about a
limit cycle must be transversal to it. Therefore, the same general conclusions about
the stability of limit cycles of autonomous systems hold but in this case only n 1
Floquet multipliers must be considered since the multiplier of modulus 1 can be
excluded.
The limit cycles/periodic solutions for which there are no Floquet multipliers
with unit modulus are called hyperbolic cycles or nondegenerate cycles (see
Fig. 2.17a); conversely, when one or more multipliers have unit modulus, the limit
cycles are called nonhyperbolic cycles or degenerate cycles (see Fig. 2.17b). There-
fore, the stability of hyperbolic cycles is ascertained from the Floquet multipliers
while a full nonlinear analysis is necessary to reach conclusions about the stability
of nonhyperbolic cycles.
Monodromy matrix. The mapping (2.2) is recast as '.tI z; c/ by putting z WD xo :
The periodicity condition of the motion xQ entails '.T I zQ ; c/ D zQ where zQ WD
xQ .to /: The initial conditions (initial state) are perturbed by a small vector ız and
the ensuing trajectory '.tI zQ C ız; c/ is considered to investigate the stability.
The emerging behavior of these trajectories, when the perturbation ız is varied
arbitrarily in all possible state directions, dictates the stability of the periodic
solution. The deviation of the perturbed trajectory from the reference trajectory can
be calculated as
ı'.t/ WD '.tI zQ C ız; c/ '.tI zQ ; c/: (2.33)
After one period T; the Taylor expansion of the deviation is

ˇ
ı'.T / WD '.T I zQ C ız; c/ '.T I zQ ; c/ D 'z ˇQz ız C O.jızj2 /: (2.34)
The Jacobian 'z calculated at zQ coincides with the monodromy matrix C.T I zQ ; c/
which, in turn, coincides with the Jacobian of the Poincaré map (cf. Eq. (1.62) in
Sect. 1.4.1).
Stability of periodic solutions via the Poincaré map. In Chap. 1, a Poincaré
section was defined as a hypersurface ˘ of dimension .n 1/ in state space (see
Fig. 1.15 in Chap. 1). The reference periodic solution xQ is a closed orbit in state
space that intersects ˘ at qQ and comes back to intersect ˘ at the same point after
an interval of time T . The properties of the Poincaré section are that all trajectories
crossing ˘ in the neighborhood of qQ are such that (a) they intersect ˘ transversally
and (b) they cross ˘ in the same direction. Let nQ denote a unit vector normal to
the Poincaré section ˘ at q, Q so that the transversality condition is enforced by
Q c/ nQ > 0: The periodicity condition reads
f.qI
qQ D '.T I q;
Q c/:
The Poincaré map (also called return map) is defined as the map that delivers,
for a given point p on ˘; an image point that is the result of the next intersection
(after an interval of time T ) with ˘ of the trajectory originating from p. That is,
m.pI c/ WD '.T I p; c/: (2.35)
A periodic solution can be sought as the fixed point of the Poincaré map according to
m.pI c/ p D o: (2.36)
To study the stability of the fixed point qQ (representative of the periodic solution
xQ .t/), a perturbation ıq is introduced in all state space directions but for the direction
tangent to the orbit at qQ (i.e., ıq f.qI
Q c/ > 0). The deviation after one period of the
resulting perturbed orbit from the periodic orbit becomes
ı'.T / D m.qQ C ıq; c/ m.q;

Q c/ D mp .q;
Q c/ ıq C O.jıqj2 /: (2.37)
From (2.35), the Jacobian of the map is recognized to be
Q c/ D 'p .T I q;
mp .qI Q c/ (2.38)
where 'p is the Jacobian of ' with respect to all state space directions but for the
Q
direction tangent to the orbit through q.
The right-hand side of (2.38) is the (reduced) .n1/.n1/ monodromy matrix

Q o . After k periods, the deviation becomes
C
Q ıq
ı'.kT / D C
k
(2.39)
o
where C Q indicates the application of the monodromy matrix on itself k times.

k
o
Assume that the matrix C Q o admits .n 1/ linearly independent eigenvectors wj
with eigenvalues j (i.e., CQ o wj D j wj ) so that
X
n1 X
n1
ıq D b j wj ; ı'.kT / D bj jk wj :
j D1 j D1
This shows that ı'.kT / ! o as k ! 1 if and only if jj j < 1; 8 j D 1; : : : ; n1:

The consequence is that, under the stated conditions, the perturbation dies out.
The following conclusions can be drawn.
1. If the Floquet multipliers all lie inside the unit circle, the fixed point of the
Poincaré map is asymptotically stable.
2. If one or more Floquet multipliers lie outside the unit circle, the fixed point of the
Poincaré map is unstable.
3. If one or more Floquet multipliers lie on the unit circle, the stability of the fixed
point of the Poincaré map cannot be ascertained through a linear analysis but
must be studied by considering the full nonlinear problem.
Bifurcations of limit cycles/periodic solutions. The same terminology introduced
for the hyperbolic points that represent equilibrium states can be adopted for
hyperbolic cycles.
A loss of stability of a limit cycle/periodic solution occurs through a bifurcation
whenever one of the Floquet multipliers crosses the unit circle in the complex plane.
There are three possible crossing scenarios.
1. Transversal crossing of the unit circle along the positive real axis, which means
that one of the multipliers becomes C1 and, past the bifurcation, turns into real
and greater than 1. This bifurcation is called divergence.
2. Transversal crossing of the unit circle along the negative real axis through 1.
Past the bifurcation, the multiplier becomes smaller than 1. This bifurcation is
called flip or period-doubling.
3. Transversal crossing of the unit circle away from the real axis: the modulus of
some of the complex-valued multipliers becomes 1 and, past the bifurcation,
the modulus is greater than 1. This bifurcation is called Neimark–Sacher or
secondary Hopf bifurcation.
The bifurcations of limit cycles and periodic solutions occurring when there is a
crossing of the unit circle by at least one of the Floquet multipliers can be studied
a Im(ρ) b Im(ρ) c Im(ρ)
Re(ρ) Re(ρ) Re(ρ)
Fig. 2.18 Bifurcations of limit cycles: (a) divergence, (b) flip, and (c) Neimark–Sacher
by employing the Poincaré map tool. The limit cycles and periodic solutions are the
fixed points of the Poincaré map whose linearization is governed by the monodromy
matrix. Therefore, the same considerations drawn for equilibrium states can be
applied to the fixed points of the map (Fig. 2.18).
In particular, the local behavior in the vicinity of the bifurcation can be studied
in the reduced state space whose tangent is parallel to the eigenspace spanned by
the eigenvectors corresponding to the Floquet multipliers of unit modulus. The
bifurcation equations thus obtained can unfold different scenarios.
In the case of a divergence bifurcation (when the Floquet multiplier crosses
the unit circle along the real axis), the local scenarios can be those of a fold,
transcritical, or pitchfork bifurcation. The fold bifurcation is also called a blue-
sky catastrophe since, by increasing (or decreasing) the control parameter, as a
consequence of the collision of the stable periodic solution with the unstable one,
there is a disappearance of the periodic solution, a situation referred to as loss of a
local periodic attractor.
A quasi-periodic motion bifurcates out of the original limit cycle that loses its
stability through a Neimark–Sacher bifurcation. The attractor is said to be quasi-
periodic because it possesses two incommensurate periods T1 and T2 (the solution
is of the form x1 .t/ D a1 cos.!1 t C 1 / C a2 cos.!2 t C 2 / where !1 WD 2=T1
and !2 WD 2=T2 ). One period is associated with the precritical limit cycle (this
is called carrier period) and the other is generated through the bifurcation (this is
called modulation period). This motion unfolds in state space through a unique two-
dimensional invariant torus. A parametric representation of the torus is of the form
x1 D .R C r cos u2 / cos u1 ; x2 D .R C r cos u2 / sin u1 ; x3 D r sin u2 (2.40)
where r is the radius of the tube and R is the distance from the center of the torus
to the center of the tube. A parametric representation of the quasi-periodic solution
on the torus given by (2.40) is obtained by letting u1 D !1 t .mod2/ and u2 D
!2 t .mod2/ (see Fig. 2.19).
The quasi-periodic motion becomes a periodic motion when, upon variation of
the control parameter, the ratio between the two periods T1 and T2 locks into a
rational number. This phenomenon is known as frequency locking or phase-locking.
This phenomenology was found in a variety of nonlinear systems including systems
Fig. 2.19 Quasi-periodic

solution on a
two-dimensional torus
−0.45
c 0.5
d
a
0
−1
Mass magnetization M (Am /kg)
18 15
−0.5
b
10
15
M (Am /kg)
2
5
2
12 0
-5
9 -10
-15
6
uk
-2 -1 0 1 2
B (T)
3 • -Fe2O3 T = 300 K
0
-3
-6
-9
−1
-12
-15
−1.5 -18
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Induction of magnetic field B (T) −1.5
−2
−2
−2.5
−2.5 −3
0.256 0.2565 0.257 0.2575 0.258 0.2585 0.259 0.2595 0.26 0.261 0.2615 0.262 0.2625 0.263 0.2635 0.264
Ω Ω
Fig. 2.20 The hysteresis loop shown in part (a) is obtained by the Bouc–Wen model with n D
1, ı D 1=21, ˇ D 0:005 while part (b) shows the experimental room-temperature loop of "-
Fe2 O3 /SiO3 nanocomposite (Reprinted with permission [440]). Bifurcation diagrams (c–d) of the
Bouc–Wen hysteretic oscillator for f D 1:0. Part (d) is the bifurcation diagram referred to a
narrower frequency band. Reprinted with permission [240]
with weak hysteresis such as those described by the Bouc–Wen constitutive law
[240]. The bifurcation diagram (the displacement uk stroboscopically recorded
every excitation period vs. the excitation frequency ˝) in Fig. 2.20 of a harmonically
forced oscillator whose constitutive law is represented by the Bouc–Wen softening
(cf. (1.105) and (1.106) of Chap. 1) hysteresis (see Fig. 2.20a) in the superharmonic
resonance region shows the quasi-periodicity born out of the Neimark–Sacher
bifurcation and the repeated occurrence of phase-locking/synchronization in the
diagram of Fig. 2.20d. A thorough exploration of the dynamics near phase-locking
has revealed the occurrence of the intermittency phenomenon [240]. For frequen-
cies past the frequency-locking phenomenon, the ratio between the modulation
frequency and the carrier frequency is very close to a rational number and, as a
result, an orbit on this attractor spends long stretches of time near the ghost of the
frequency-locked orbit, from which it unlocks and then relocks nearly periodically.
It was found that chaos emerged in this oscillator via a torus breakdown scenario.
2.4 Stability of Conservative and Nonconservative Systems and Structures 93
The type of hysteresis explored here (see Fig. 2.20a) resembles very closely that
exhibited by a magnetic nanocomposite whose experimental loop is reported in
Fig. 2.20b [440].
2.4 Stability of Conservative and Nonconservative Systems

and Structures
The most natural way of recognizing whether a system is conservative or non-

conservative is to neglect its interactions with the external environment. A system
is defined as conservative when all of the restoring forces (internal forces due
to lumped elastic devices in discrete multi-body systems or the stresses arising
from deformation processes in continuous media) are derivable from a stored-
energy function, otherwise the system is nonconservative. Any natural or man-made
structure has some degree of nonconservativity such as internal friction, internal
material damping or viscosity, etc. However, the structure can be considered to be
conservative with weak nonconservative forces when the nonconservative forces are
small compared to the conservative ones. This is often the case with elastic systems
exhibiting weak damping.
Examples of conservative systems are elastic strings, elastic beams, or elastic
unforced beams subject to conservative (time-independent) forces, wings of aircraft,
elastic shells, or elastic frames provided that the forming materials are purely elastic
(no viscosity is expressed in their material behavior).
A conservative system can remain conservative as a whole or can become
nonconservative when the interactions with the environment are taken into account.
The applied forces are conservative when they are derivable from a potential
energy; thus, all forces, internal and external, are derivable from a potential
function (i.e., total potential energy) which turns out to be the sum of the stored-
energy function and of the potential energy of the external forces. Conversely, the
forces are nonconservative when they are not derivable from a potential function.
Examples of nonconservative systems are viscoelastic beams, aircraft wings subject
to aerodynamic forces during flight, rotating elastic helicopter blades or spinning
elastic disks subject to gyroscopic forces, and aerodynamic forces.
The fundamental difference between conservative and nonconservative systems
is that for the first the stability analysis can be carried out within a static context,
thus fully neglecting the dynamics, while for the latter, the stability can only be
assessed by analyzing the equations of motion.
A variety of static methods exist for conservative systems such as the energy
method or the adjacent equilibrium method. For nonconservative systems, the
stability analysis must be carried out along the lines presented in the previous
sections considering the governing equations of motion cast in state-space form.
Conservative systems. Conservative systems represent a rather large class of
systems also known as Hamiltonian systems. Let a ndof system be described by
Lagrangian coordinates denoted by q. The potential function is denoted by V .qI c/

P c/ D T .q/
while the system Lagrangian is L.q; qI P V .qI c/ where T D 12 qP M qP
indicates the kinetic energy for natural systems and M represents the (positive-
definite) mass matrix. The Euler–Lagrange equations deliver the equations of
motion in the form

d @L @L
D o H) M qR C Vq D o: (2.41)
dt @qP @q
The stability can be studied by casting the equations of motion in state-space form
(first-order differential form in time). To this end, the system Hamiltonian function
(a conserved quantity) is expressed as
1
P c/ D T .q/
H.q; qI P C V .qI c/ D qP M qP C V .qI c/ (2.42)
2
which, in terms of the canonical coordinates .q; p/ with p D q, P becomes

H.q; pI c/ D 12 p M p C V .qI c/: By virtue of the equalities Vq D Hq and
Hp D M p; the equations of motion can be recast as
qP D p D M1 Hp ;
pP D M1 Hq : (2.43)
By letting the 2n 1 state vector be expressed as x| D Œq| ; p| ; (2.43) is rewritten

in compact state-space form as

O M1
xP D S Hx ; S D (2.44)
M1 O
where S is a real skew-symmetric matrix. The equilibrium states are given by S

Hx D o: Hence, the equilibrium paths are
D f.q; pI c/ such that Vq D o and p D og: (2.45)
Therefore, the equilibrium states of a conservative system correspond to the

stationary points of the total potential energy V .
To study the stability of the equilibrium states, the linearized variational equation
is obtained as
ˇ
yP D A y; A D S Hxx ˇ
(2.46)
where the notation Hxx indicates the second Frétchet derivative of H with respect
to x and the Jacobian matrix A is given by

O I ˇ
AD 1 ; K WD Vqq ˇ : (2.47)
M K O
K denotes the tangent stiffness matrix. The eigenvalues of A are the roots of the
characteristic equation det.A I/ D 0 which becomes det.2 I C M1 K/ D 0
or equivalently
det.K M/ D 0; WD 2 : (2.48)
Since the mass matrix is symmetric and positive definite and the tangent stiffness is
also symmetric, the eigenvalues are real (and the corresponding eigenvectors are
mutually orthogonal). Consequently, the eigenvalues of A are
( p
˙i jj; > 0;
D p (2.49)
˙ jj; < 0:
If the tangent stiffness matrix K is positive definite (which is guaranteed if the

potential function V exhibits an isolated local minimum at the equilibrium state),
then the eigenvalues of K are positive, hence the eigenvalues of A come in
purely imaginary complex conjugate pairs (i.e., k and N k ). This implies that the
equilibrium state is (marginally) stable, hence it behaves as a center. A sufficient
condition for the marginal stability of equilibrium states of conservative systems
is that the tangent stiffness matrix be positive definite. Thus the stability of these
systems is only determined by the linearized restoring forces and not by the inertial
forces.
The interpretation of the stability properties of Hamiltonian systems is illumi-
nated by the study of the potential energy function. The isolated local minima of the
potential energy (at which Vqq D K is positive definite, and j > 0) correspond
to (marginally) stable equilibrium states (centers) while the local maxima (at which
Vqq D K is negative definite, and j < 0) correspond to unstable equilibrium states
(saddles).
This analysis shows that conservative systems can only undergo divergence
(static) bifurcations, occurring when the two complex-conjugate purely imaginary
eigenvalues coalesce to zero, a situation which corresponds to the singularity of K:
The adjacent equilibrium method for conservative systems. Instead of consid-
ering the linearized variational equation yP D A y for the stability analysis, the
linearization of the governing equation of motion directly delivers
ˇ ˇ
M ı qR C Kˇ ıq D o; Kˇ WD Vqq : (2.50)
The solution is sought in the form ıq D et w from which the following eigenvalue
problem is obtained:
.K M/ w D o; WD 2 : (2.51)

p p
Equation (2.51) admits two eigenvalues (1 D and 2 D ) together with
the corresponding (state-space) eigenvectors v1 D Œw; 1 w| and v2 D Œw; 2 w|
for each real eigenvalue (and eigenvector w) of the linearized dynamic (free
vibration) problem. At the divergence bifurcation, the vanishing of the eigenvalue
D 0 D j implies that the two eigenvectors v1 and v2 coalesce into one

eigenvector vo D Œwo ; o| where wo is the eigensolution of (2.51) with D 0;
namely
K wo D o: (2.52)
The eigenvector wo thus spans the kernel of the tangent stiffness matrix. This
autosolution implies that there exists an equilibrium state which is adjacent to the
considered equilibrium. The equilibrium state is said to be critical because it suffers
a bifurcation while the adjacent equilibrium described by wo is known as critical
mode or (buckling mode). Therefore, an approach to test whether a (divergence)
bifurcation occurs is to consider an adjacent configuration obtained by adopting
linearized kinematic relationships. If the adjacent configuration is an equilibrium
state, then the investigated equilibrium state about which the first-order perturbation
is assigned is a critical equilibrium state. This is the basis of the adjacent equilibrium
method.
Conservative systems with linear damping. The introduction of linear damping
in a conservative system is achieved by considering a positive-definite quadratic
dissipation function D. The Euler–Lagrange equations furnish the equations of
motion in the form

d @L @D @L
C D o H) M qR C C qP C Vq D o (2.53)
dt @qP @qP @q
where C is the (positive-definite) damping matrix. The equilibrium paths are again
found according to (2.45) which implies that the equilibrium states of a conservative
system with linear damping correspond to the stationary points of the potential
energy.
The Jacobian of the linearized variational equation becomes

O I
AD 1 1 (2.54)
M K M C
where K is the tangent stiffness matrix and C is the damping matrix.4 The
eigenvalues are the roots of the characteristic equation
det.2 M C C C K/ D 0: (2.55)
The stability of the damped conservative system can be studied by considering the
linearized variational equation of motion
M ı qR C C ı qP C K ıq D o: (2.56)
4
If nonlinear dissipative forces were considered, the linearized variational equation would exhibit a
tangent damping matrix resulting from the linearization of the dissipative forces. The conclusions
on stability would not change provided that the tangent damping matrix is positive definite.
By letting ıq D et w; the eigenvalue problem becomes
.2 M C C C K/ w D o: (2.57)
For each eigenvalue and its complex conjugate N (the bar indicates the complex
N respectively. Premultiply-
conjugate), the corresponding eigenvectors are w and w,
N | yields
ing (2.57) by w
m2 C c C k D 0 (2.58)
N M w; c WD w
where m WD w N C w; and k WD w
N K w. The roots (eigenvalues) are
r
c c 2 k
1;2 D ˙ : (2.59)
2m 2m m
When k D w N K w > 0 (the original conservative system has a p positive-definite

stiffness matrix), both eigenvalues have p negative real parts because .c=2m/2 k=m
< c=.2m/ when c > ccr WD 2 km, case known as overdamped. For the
underdamped case, c < ccr , the square root in (2.59) is purely imaginary and
the eigenvalues are complex conjugate with negative real parts. Consequently, the
equilibrium state is asymptotically stable: a stable node (overdamped) or a stable
focus (underdamped). On the other hand, when k < 0 (the original unstable
conservative system has an indefinite stiffness matrix), one of the eigenvalues is
positive, hence the unstable equilibrium (saddle) remains unstable.
Therefore, linear damping does not change the stability of the equilibrium states
of the perturbed (by damping) conservative system. The positive effect of dissipation
is to turn the marginal stability of the center into the asymptotic stability of the stable
node or stable focus. However, the dissipation cannot overcome the singularity
of the stiffness matrix. In conclusion, for this class of conservative systems with
damping, the bifurcations (divergence) can be studied in a straightforward manner
through the singularity of the tangent stiffness matrix.
Nonconservative systems. Engineering structures, systems, and devices can be
considered conservative if the various sources of dissipation in the materials and
constraints can be neglected and the interactions with the environment are not
taken into account. Conversely, these systems become nonconservative when the
interactions and the associated nonconservative forces are taken into account or
when the systems are embedded in some non-inertial reference frame. Examples are
aerodynamic damping, aeroelastic forces, gyroscopic forces, circulatory forces, and
more general forces not derivable from a potential function. In rotating structures,
for example, the Coriolis forces arise due to the relative system velocity with respect
to the rotating frame. These forces, expressed by G q; P are proportional to the
velocity vector through the skew-symmetric matrix G called the gyroscopic matrix.
On the other hand, circulatory forces (examples of which are follower forces) are
denoted by f.qI c/.
Following from Euler–Lagrange’s equations, the equations of motion read
M qR C ŒC C G.c/ qP C Vq .qI c/ C f.qI c/ D o: (2.60)
The path of equilibrium states is given by
D f.q; pI c/ such that Vq .qI c/ C f.qI c/ D o and p D og: (2.61)
This shows the obvious result that the equilibrium states do not coincide with
those of the conservative system due to the presence of the circulatory forces. The
associated linearized variational equation is
M ı qR C ŒC C G.c/ ı qP C ŒK.c/ C H.c/ ıq D o: (2.62)
The Jacobian governing the linearization of the circulatory forces, f D fq q C

O.jqj2 /, is decomposed into its symmetric and skew-symmetric parts according to
fq D sym.fq / C skw.fq / where sym.fq / D 12 .fq C fq | / and skw.fq / D 12 .fq
fq | / DW H denote the symmetric and skew-symmetric parts of the Jacobian foq ,
respectively. Hence the tangent stiffness matrix is the summation of the elastic and
(symmetric part of) the circulatory effects according to
ˇ 1 ˇ
K.c/ D Vqq ˇ C .fq C fq | /ˇ : (2.63)
2
The Jacobian of the linearized variational equation in state-space form, expressed as
yP D A y where y| D Œq| ; qP | , is

O I
AD : (2.64)
M1 .K C H/ M1 .C C G/
According to a property valid for real matrices, the real 2n 2n nonsymmetric

matrix A possesses the same eigenvalues as its transpose A| because det.A I/ D
det.A| I/ where y D et z. The eigenvectors zi (such that A zi D i zi ) are
called the right eigenvectors while the eigenvectors of A| (i.e., A| zj D j zj ) are
called the left eigenvectors. The pair .zi ; zj / satisfies the orthogonality condition
zj A zi D i ıij if the eigenvectors are normalized according to zj zi D ıij 5 .
5
The normalization is carried out by redefining the eigenvectors .zj ; z
j / as zj =jzj zj j and zj =jzj
q

zj j where jzj zj j D zj zj . For nonsymmetric matrices, a Dual Expansion Theorem holds in
the form
X2n X2n
xD ai zi D bj z
j; ai WD zi x; bj WD zj x:
iD1 j D1
The eigenvalue problem can be tackled more conveniently by considering the

linearized variational equation (2.62) which yields
Œ2 M C .C C G/ C .K C H/ w D o (2.65)
together with the associated characteristic equation
detŒ2 M C .C C G/ C .K C H/ D 0: (2.66)
Premultiplying (2.65) by wN D u iv (i.e., w

N is the complex conjugate of the
eigenvector w D u C iv) yields
m2 C .c 2ig/ C k C ih D 0; (2.67)

N M w > 0;
mWDw N C w > 0;
c WD w g WD v G u;
N K w > 0;
kWDw h WD 2u H v: (2.68)
Since the eigenvalues can be real, complex conjugate, or purely imaginary, all
bifurcation scenarios are possible for these nonconservative systems which can
undergo both divergence and Hopf bifurcations. An interesting example is that
of linearized aeroelastic forces acting on a lifting surface which give rise to
aerodynamic damping terms and to nonsymmetric (geometric) stiffness terms.
Some significant properties can be shown for simpler cases such as those of
nonconservative systems without damping and gyroscopic forces, or conservative
systems with gyroscopic forces or conservative systems with gyroscopic forces and
damping.
Systems with circulatory forces. Consider the case without damping and gyro-
scopic effects (i.e., C D O D G) so that the only nonconservative force is represented
by circulatory forces. The eigenvalues of (2.67) with c D 0 D g are given by
k h
2 D i D r.cos C i sin /
m m
p
with rD. k 2 C h2 /=m and Darctan .h=k/. By virtue of the De Moivre formula,
the eigenvalues are obtained as the square roots of 2 in the form

p C 2j C 2j
1;2 D r cos C i cos ; j D 0; 1:
2 2
The real parts of the eigenvalues are

p 1 h
Re.1;2 / D ˙ r cos arctan : (2.69)
2 k
The equilibrium is marginally stable if the eigenvalues are purely imaginary,

which only occurs when k > 0 and h=0: These conditions are satisfied when the
equilibrium state is stable for the conservative system (i.e., k > 0) and either one of
the real vectors u and v in the eigenvector w D uCiv is trivial or they are orthogonal
with respect to the circulatory matrix H; that is, u H v D 0.
On the other hand, the equilibrium is unstable as far as hD2u H v ¤ 0. This
holds true if one of the eigenvectors w admits both its real (u) and imaginary parts
(v), and they are not orthogonal with respect to the circulatory matrix H.
There is a rich literature on systems with circulatory forces [73]. For example, the
bifurcations of a purely flexible planar beam, equipped with a lumped viscoelastic
device, loaded by a follower force, were studied in [138]. The linear stability
diagram of the trivial state was constructed in parameter space and different
mechanisms of instability were highlighted and studied by the method of multiple
scales, such as divergence, Hopf, double zero, resonant and non-resonant double
Hopf, and divergence-Hopf bifurcations.
Systems with gyroscopic forces. The equation of motion is (2.60) with C D O
and f D o while its linearized form is given by (2.62). For these systems, the path
of equilibrium states is given by
D f.q; p; c/ such that Vq .qI c/ D o and p D og; (2.70)
hence, the equilibrium states correspond to those of the conservative system. The
gyroscopic forces can change the stability of an equilibrium state of the conservative
system.
The characteristic equation is expressed by (2.66). If is an eigenvalue,
is also an eigenvalue due to the skew-symmetry of G (i.e., G| D G). The
complex conjugate N of a complex-valued eigenvalue is an eigenvalue. Thus a
complex-valued eigenvalue always comes with the companion triplet .; ; N /.
N
In particular, (2.67) reduces to
m2 2ig C k D 0 (2.71)
whose roots are

q
.1 ; 2 / D ig=m ˙ .g=m/2 C k=m : (2.72)
Therefore, if k > 0 (the tangent stiffness matrix is positive definite, and the
equilibrium of the conservative system is stable), then (2.72) gives the following
two purely imaginary eigenvalues:
p
.1 ; 2 / D i g=m ˙ .g=m/2 C k=m :
If k<0 (the tangent stiffness matrix is indefinite, hence the equilibrium

p of the
conservative system is unstable), there are two possibilities: (a) g > jkjm and
2.5 Static Bifurcations of Conservative Structures 101
p
(b) g < jkjm.
h In the first instance, thei eigenvalues are again purely imaginary
p
.1 ; 2 / D i g=m ˙ .g=m/2 jkj=m , hence, the equilibrium is stable. In spite
of the unstable character of the equilibrium of the conservative
p system (k < 0),
for sufficiently large gyroscopic forces (i.e., g > jkjm), the equilibrium can
become stable. In the second case, the eigenvalues are .1 ; 2 / D ig=m ˙
p
jkj=m .g=m/2 : One of the eigenvalues has a positive real part which implies
that the equilibrium state is unstable.
The condition for turning an unstable equilibrium state into a stable state by
gyroscopic forces can be rewritten as
p
vGu> ju K u C v K vj.u M u C v M v/: (2.73)
Dynamic bifurcations are inhibited in the case of linear damping. This is due to
the dissipation that prevents the eigenvalues from becoming purely imaginary. The
characteristic equation (2.66) simplifies to
detŒ2 M C .C C G/ C K D 0 (2.74)
and (2.67) becomes
m2 C .c 2ig/ C k D 0; (2.75)
which admits eigenvalues that can never become imaginary because of the damping
term. Therefore, the damping forces prevent the stabilization of an unstable equi-
librium (i.e., k<0) although this may seem counterintuitive. This effect is known in
the literature as the destabilizing effect of damping.
2.5 Static Bifurcations of Conservative Structures
In this section, a variety of single- and multi-dof elastic structures are presented
that are subject to prestress forces causing static bifurcations. The natural control
parameter for this class of structures is the prestress load multiplier.
2.5.1 Example of Supercritical Pitchfork Bifurcation
The first conservative single-dof system is the upward infinitely rigid rod shown in
Fig. 2.21, supported by an elastic torsional spring at its pivot point O and subject
to a downward compressive force whose direction is always vertical. The motion is
considered to take place in the plane fe 1 ; e 2 g. The actual configuration of the rod is
described by the angle q taken to be positive in the clockwise direction. The problem
Fig. 2.21 A rigid rod subject P

to a vertical compressive
force P P
q s
e2
b2
O e
1
b1
is first formulated through the equation of motion and subsequently it is tackled by

the energy method.
Equation of motion and state-space formulation. The position vector of a
material point on the rod is r.s; t/ D sb2 .t/ where b2 .t/ D sin q.t/e 1 C cos q.t/e 2
is the unit vector collinear with the rod in its actual configuration while b1
denotes the unit vector orthogonal to b2 . The unit vectors b1 and b2 constitute a
convenient body-fixed basis. The velocity is rP D s qb P 1 while the acceleration is
rR D s qb
R 1 s qP 2 b2 . The equation of motion for this system consists of the balance
of angular momentum with respect to O which reads
Z l
r.l; t/ f C m
O D r rds
R (2.76)
0
where f D P e 2 is the applied (conservative) force, m O D kT qe 3 is the

(conservative) restoring elastic moment of the torsional spring (kT is the torsional
spring coefficient), and is the mass per unit length of the rod. The equation of
motion is
%Jo qR C kT q P l sin q D 0 (2.77)
Rl
where %Jo WD 0 s 2 ds is the mass moment of inertia of the rod with respect to O.
The equation of motion (2.77) can also be obtained through the Euler–Lagrange
equation based on the Lagrangian L D T V with
Z
1 l 1 1
T D rP rds
P D %Jo qP 2 and V D kT q 2 P l.1 cos q/: (2.78)
2 0 2 2
Fig. 2.22 Divergence Im(μ)

bifurcation of a conservative
system
Re(μ)
The first term in the total potential energy V is the stored-energy function of
the torsional spring, while the second term is the potential energy of the applied
force P . This energy is also the opposite of the work performed by the force when
the rod undergoes a rotation q which entails a downward vertical displacement of
the force equal to l.1 cos q/: Before proceeding with the stability analysis,
p (2.77)
is nondimensionalized using the characteristic time 1=!o ; where !o WD kT =.%Jo /
represents the natural frequency of the rod. The nondimensional equation becomes
qR C q sin q D 0 (2.79)
where WD P l=kT is the nondimensional load multiplier; for ease of notation,

the overdot indicates differentiation with respect to nondimensional time. There are
two equilibrium paths: the trivial path o WD fq D 0; 8g and the nontrivial
bifurcated path WD f.q; / such that q= sin qDg: The mechanical symmetry
of the system is reflected in the symmetry of the path which is invariant under the
transformation q ! q:
The stability of the trivial equilibrium along o can be studied by considering the
linearized variational equation
ı qR C .1 /ıq D 0
whose eigenvalues are

(p
˙i j 1j; < 1;
D p (2.80)
˙ j 1j; > 1:
Therefore, the equilibrium is (marginally) stable for < 1 since the eigenvalues are
a purely imaginary complex-conjugate pair while it becomes unstable (saddle) for
> 1 since one eigenvalue is real and positive. At D 1 DW o , the two purely
imaginary eigenvalues coalesce to zero and become real moving along the real axis
to the left and to the right. This scenario corresponds to the divergence bifurcation
of a conservative system shown in Fig. 2.22.
Fig. 2.23 Bifurcation

diagram of a rigid rod subject
to a compressive force P : the
load multiplier vs. the
angle q. The thick line
indicates the exact solution
while the thin line is the
third-order solution
/2 q
The type of local bifurcation (fold, pitchfork, or transcritical) can only be

ascertained by studying the bifurcation equation. Before performing the actual
computations, it can be inferred that the bifurcation has to preserve the symmetry of
the problem, thus fold and transcritical bifurcations are cast out and there is no other
choice but the pitchfork bifurcation. The bifurcation equation describes the local
behavior about the critical point in a subspace (center manifold) that is tangential to
the eigenvector whose eigenvalue is zero. At the critical condition .q; / D .0; 1/,
the Jacobian and associated eigenvector are respectively

01 1
AD ; yD :
00 0
Since the system is two-dimensional, the bifurcated equilibrium path together

with its stability are studied in closed form instead of pursuing the bifurcation
equation. The linearized variational equation along path is
ı qR C kıq D 0; k WD .1 q= tan q/:
p k > 0; 8 q ¤ 0. Thus the eigenvalues

Since q= tan q < 1, the stiffness is positive:
turn out to be purely imaginary: D ˙i j1 q= tan qj: The symmetric bifurcated
path is stable. The bifurcation is thus a supercritical pitchfork bifurcation. The equi-
librium paths and the associated stability are illustrated in Fig. 2.23. The Taylor
expansion of the equilibrium path about .q; / D .0; 1/ yields q .q 16 q 3 / C
O.q 5 / D 0 which is rearranged as cq 16 .1 C c/q 3 D 0 where higher-order terms
are dropped and c WD 1. The obtained equation has the same form as that of the
supercritical pitchfork bifurcation equation.
The energy method. For conservative systems, the stability analysis can be carried
out from a static point of view via the energy method or the adjacent equilibrium
Fig. 2.24 Potential energy V

profiles of a rigid rod subject
to a compressive force for ο
various load magnitudes
=o where
o WD P l=kT D 1 denotes
q
the critical load and the
corresponding energy is > ο
indicated by the dashed line
method. The equilibrium paths can be obtained from the stationarity of V , while
the stability is determined directly through the eigenvalues of the stiffness matrix
K which is the second derivative of V with respect to the Lagrangian coordinates:
K D Vqq . The singularity of K furnishes the critical/bifurcation condition, while its
positive-definite or indefinite property ensures stability or signals instability.
For a single-dof system, the stiffness matrix reduces to a scalar which coincides
with the eigenvalue. Therefore, the equilibrium path of the rigid rod is
D f.q; / such that Vq D q sin q D 0g (2.81)
while the stiffness/eigenvalue is k D Vqq D 1 cos q whence

(
1 ; on o ;
kD
1 q=tan q; on :
The sequence of potential energy profiles V .qI / in Fig. 2.24 shows the critical
character of the equilibrium state q D 0 at the bifurcation for o D 1 where both
the first and second derivatives of V vanish, while for > o , the trivial state
becomes a saddle and the two symmetric post-critical equilibria are the valleys of
the potential wells.
The adjacent equilibrium method. The critical condition can also be found by
considering linearized kinematic relationships and imposing the equilibrium in the
first-order deformed configuration. Since q is considered infinitesimal, the moment
about O generated by the downward force is P lq (which is the linearization of
the actual moment P l sin q). The moment equilibrium yields
.kT P l/q D 0:
The coefficient of q is the overall stiffness k WD kT P l, direct summation of the

(positive) elastic stiffness kT and the (negative) geometric stiffness P l. Therefore,
the critical condition is found as the vanishing of the stiffness according to kT P l D
0 which yields the critical load multiplier o D 1. This linearized analysis also
Fig. 2.25 The adjacent P

equilibrium method for a
nontrivial equilibrium state BM
δu
q
l
δq
b2
k O
b1
shows that the trivial equilibrium is stable for < 1 because k > 0 while it is
unstable for > 1 because k < 0:
By the same approach, the adjacent equilibrium method can be applied to the
bifurcated solution D f.q; / such that q sin q D 0g (see Fig. 2.25)
considering a first-order varied configuration from BM described by the infinitesimal
incremental angle ıq: The incremental displacement is in the tangential direction,
ıu D lıqb1 by which the incremental moment due to P is P l cos qıq. Since the
incremental elastic restoring moment is kT ıq; the adjacent equilibrium reads
.kT P l cos q/ıq D 0
by which the tangent stiffness turns out to be kT P l cos q whose nondimensional

form is k WD 1 cos q: Substituting D q= sin q into k yields k D 1 q= tan q:
Hence, the stability is ascertained through the condition k > 0:
Global analysis. The analysis of this problem is illuminated by the study of
the global behavior of the nonlinear dynamical system (2.79) which can be
tackled through the construction of the phase portrait in the precritical . < 1/;
critical . D 1/; and postcritical conditions . > 1/: In the precritical regime (see
Fig. 2.26a), the rod exhibits bounded periodic motions about the trivial equilibrium
(center). At the critical condition (see Fig. 2.26b), the rod still undergoes bounded
periodic motions about the trivial equilibrium due to the higher-order positive
stiffness term 16 q 3 : In the postcritical regime, the trivial equilibrium becomes a
saddle; hence, there exists a separatrix (homoclinic orbit) tangential to the p
unstable
and stable subspaces
p spanned by the eigenvectors having eigenvalues 1 D 1
and 2 D 1; respectively. The eigenvectors are

1 1
yU1 D p p 1 ; yS2 D p p1 : (2.82)
1 1
. .
a q b q
q q
.
q
c
Fig. 2.26 Phase portrait of a rigid rod subject to a compressive force when (a) WD P l=k D 0:5,
(b) D 1:0, and (c) D 1:5
The separatrix in Fig. 2.26c divides the region of bounded periodic orbits about the
two equilibria given by q= tan q D (called in-well orbits) from the region of
bounded periodic orbits about both equilibria (called cross-well orbits).
Sensitivity to initial imperfections. When the rod is initially rotated by a small
angle qo from the perfectly vertical configuration, the symmetry inherent in the
perfect (vertical) rod is lost. By the energy method, the potential energy is
1
V D kT .q qo /2 P l.cos qo cos q/ (2.83)
2
where q denotes the total angle measured from the vertical. The equilibrium states
are obtained as stationary points of V ; hence,
Vq D kT .q qo / P l sin q D 0 (2.84)
from which the (nondimensional) equilibrium path is
WD f.q; / such that .q qo / sin q D 0g

qo>0 qo<0
qo<0 qo>0
q
Fig. 2.27 Bifurcation diagram for the perfect rigid rod and for rods with initial imperfections
qo D ˙0:1 and qo D ˙0:5. The locus of fold bifurcations L bounds the unstable equilibrium
states
where WD P l=kT : Moreover, the tangent stiffness is

ˇ
k D Vqq ˇ D 1 cos q D 1 .q qo /= tan q: (2.85)
The locus of fold bifurcations is found by setting k D 0 which yields
n o
L D .q; / such that D sec q : (2.86)
This curve is also known as the locus L of limit points. L, denoted by the dashed-
dotted line, is the boundary of the region of unstable equilibrium states (see
Fig. 2.27).
Example 2.2 (Linearly damped rigid rod under a compressive force). Let the
linearly elastic spring be substituted by a linearly viscoelastic spring so that the
O
torsional spring constitutive equation is m.q; P D kT qCc q:
q/ P The equation of motion
becomes
%Jo qR C c qP C kT q P l sin q D 0 (2.87)
whose nondimensional form is
qR C 2 qP C q sin q D 0 (2.88)
p
where WD c=.2 kT %Jo / is the nondimensional damping coefficient, and ! WD
p
kT =%Jo is the frequency of the stress-free rod. The variational equation linearized
about the trivial equilibrium state q D 0 is
ı qR C 2ı qP C .1 /ıq D 0: (2.89)
Fig. 2.28 Phase portrait of an underdamped rigid rod subject to a compressive force when D
1:5
The associated eigenvalues, for the originally underdamped system with < 1, are
( p
˙ i 1 2 ; if < 1 2;
1;2 D p (2.90)
˙ 2 C 1/; if > 1 2:
Consequently, the eigenvalues are complex conjugate with negative real part for
< 1 2 (i.e., the trivial equilibrium is a stable focus), they turn both real and
negative for 1 2 < < 1 (stable node), while one of the eigenvalues becomes
positive for > 1 (i.e., the trivial equilibrium is a saddle). The change from stable
focus (underdamped case) to stable node (overdamped case) is due to the fact that
the effective damping ratio depends on the stiffness and, hence, it evolves with the
load multiplier.
2.5.2 Example of Subcritical Pitchfork Bifurcation
The upward infinitely rigid rod shown in Fig. 2.29 is supported by the horizontal
elastic spring from its free upper point A where a downward compressive force
is applied vertically. The motion takes place in the plane fe 1 ; e 2 g. The actual
configuration of the rod is described by the angle q taken as positive in the clockwise
direction. The equation of motion is the same as before except for the moment
contributed by the spring whose tension is n D kl sin qe 1 given the spring
elongation L D l sin q: The moment about O turns out to be r.l; t/ n D
lb2 .kl sin qe 1 / D kl 2 cos q sin q e 3 .
The equation of motion, in nondimensional form, thus becomes
qR C .cos q / sin q D 0 (2.91)

Fig. 2.29 A rigid rod P

B A
restrained by a horizontal
spring at its upper end and
subject to a compressive
force P
l q
e2
b2
O e1
b1
where WD P =.kl/: The dimensional form of the system potential energy is

1 2 2
V D kl sin q P l.1 cos q/: (2.92)
2
There are again two equilibrium paths, namely, the trivial path o D fq D 0; 8g
and the nontrivial bifurcated path
D f.q; / such that cos q D g:
As expected, the bifurcated path is symmetric.

To study the stability of the trivial equilibrium along o , the tangent stiffness
is calculated as k D 1 which gives the critical load multiplier o WD 1:
Therefore, the equilibrium is (marginally) stable for < o (two purely imaginary
eigenvalues) while it becomes unstable (saddle) for > o (one real positive
eigenvalue).
The stability of the bifurcated path is determined by calculating the tangent
stiffness along the path as k WD cos 2q cos q which, on account of D cos q;
becomes k D sin2 q < 0: The bifurcated path is unstable, hence the divergence
bifurcation is a subcritical pitchfork bifurcation as shown in Fig. 2.30.
angle qo ; by letting q denote the total angle from the vertical line, the potential
energy is calculated as
1 2
V D kl .sin q sin qo /2 P l.cos qo cos q/: (2.93)
2
The equilibrium states obtained as the stationary points of V are the solutions of
Vq D kl 2 .sin q sin qo / cos q P l sin q D 0; (2.94)

q0>0 q0<0
q0<0 q0>0
q
0
Fig. 2.30 Bifurcation diagram for the perfect rigid rod and for rods with initial imperfections
qo D ˙0:1. The locus of fold bifurcations L is indicated by the dashed-dotted line
from which the equilibrium path is obtained in nondimensional form as
D f.q; / such that .sin q sin qo / cot q D g:
The parametric representation of the locus of fold bifurcations, denoted by L in

Fig. 2.30, is obtained by setting k D 0. The equation governing the equilibrium
path is solved for qo and substituted into k D 0: The obtained equation is L D
f.q; / such that cos3 q D 0g.
This curve has a special meaning from an engineering design point of view
because the limit points described by the curve represent a limit state beyond which
the structure undergoes a likely catastrophic failure since there are no adjacent stable
equilibrium states beyond it.
The dependence of the limit load on the initial imperfection is obtained as (see
Problem 2.6)
L D cos3 Œarcsin.sin qo /1=3 : (2.95)
The derivative of L with respect to qo is
q
dL 2=3
D cos qo 1 sin qo = sin qo1=3 :
dqo
The derivative becomes unbounded at qo D 0 thus implying that small imperfections
can cause a large degradation of the limit load. For this reason, these structures are
said to be strongly sensitive to initial imperfections.
Fig. 2.31 A rigid rod P

restrained by an elastic spring
at an angle and subject to a A
compressive force P
q
l
α e2
b2
B O e1
b1
2.5.3 Example of Transcritical Bifurcation
The upward infinitely rigid rod shown in Fig. 2.31 is supported by the inclined
elastic spring attached to its free point A where a downward compressive force
is applied. The motion is constrained to take place in the plane fe 1 ; e 2 g. The actual
configuration of the rod is described by the angle q taken as positive in the clockwise
direction. For conservative systems, the equilibrium paths and their bifurcations
can be determined in a straightforward manner through the energy method. For
consistency with the previous treatments, the derivation of the equation of motion is
shown also for this system.
The position vector of a material point of the rod is r.s; t/ D sb2 .t/ where
b2 .t/ D sin q.t/e 1 C cos q.t/e 2 . The velocity and acceleration are given by
rP D s qb
P 1 and rR D s qb
R 1 s qP 2 b2 . The equation of motion consists of the balance of
angular momentum with respect to O written as
Z l
r.l; t/ f C r.l; t/ nO D r rds
R (2.96)
0
where f D P e 2 is the force, is the mass per unit length of the rod, and nO D
kL.r.l; t/ r B /=jr.l; t/ r B j is the restoring elastic force of the spring. The
vector r B D l cot ˛e 1 describes the fixed position of the grounded constraint point
B of the spring. The elongation of the spring is
q
L.q/ D l 1 C cot2 ˛ C 2 sin q cot ˛ 1= sin ˛ : (2.97)
The moment of the applied force is r.l; t/ f D P l sin qe 3 while the moment of
the spring tension is
r.l; t/ r B klL.q/ cot ˛ cos q
r.l; t/ nO D kL Dp e3:
jr.l; t/ r B j 1 C cot2 ˛ C 2 sin q cot ˛
The equation of motion thus reads

klL.q/ cot ˛ cos q
%Jo qR C p P l sin q D 0 (2.98)
1 C cot2 ˛ C 2 sin q cot ˛
where %Jo is the mass moment of inertia of the rod with respect to O.
The equation of motion (2.98) can also be obtained via Euler–Lagrange’s
equation with the kinetic energy given by the same expression as in the previous
example, while the potential energy is expressed as
1
V D kL2 .q/ P l.1 cos q/: (2.99)
2
The nondimensionalization
p of (2.98) based on the characteristic time 1=!o with
!o WD kl 2 =%Jo yields
L.q/= l cot ˛ cos q
qR C p sin q D 0 (2.100)
where WD P =.kl/ is the load multiplier and L is given by (2.97). There are two
equilibrium paths, namely, the trivial path o D fq D 0; 8g and the nontrivial
bifurcated path given by
L.q/= l cot ˛ cot q

D f.q; / such that p D g:
The stability of the trivial equilibrium along o is studied through the linearized
variational equation
ı qR C .cos2 ˛ /ıq D 0 (2.101)
from which the vanishing of the tangent stiffness at the divergence bifurcation yields
the critical load multiplier o WD cos2 ˛. The eigenvalues obtained from (2.101) are
( p
˙i j o j; < o ;
D p (2.102)
˙ o ; > o :
Therefore, the equilibrium is marginally stable (center) for < o (two purely
imaginary eigenvalues); it becomes unstable (saddle) for > o (one real positive
eigenvalue).
The bifurcated path is expressed, up to third-order terms, as
D o C 1
48
cot ˛.7 C 9 cos 4˛ 16/q 1
16
cos ˛ 2 .5 cos 4˛ C 3/q 2
CŒcot ˛.540 cos 4˛ 1575 cos 8˛ C 1035/=46080q 3 C O.q 4 /:
(2.103)
q0>0
L
0 q0<0
q0<0
q0>0
q
0
Fig. 2.32 Bifurcation diagram for the perfect rigid rod of Fig. 2.31 and for rods with initial
imperfections qo D ˙0:1 together with the locus of fold bifurcations L
2
For example, for ˛ D =4; the path becomes D o 3q q
8 C 16 128 q with
3 3
o D 2 : The bifurcated path, which is tangential to the straight line D o 3q

1
8 ;
is highlighted in Fig. 2.32 by the thicker line. The calculation of the Jacobian along
the nontrivial path with q > 0 shows that k < 0 (unstable) while the part of the path
with q < 0 has k > 0 (stable). Therefore, the divergence bifurcation is manifested
in the form of a supercritical transcritical bifurcation.
angle qo ; by letting q denote the total angle from the vertical line, according to the
energy method, the potential energy is calculated as
1
V D kL2 P l.cos qo cos q/ (2.104)
2
where
q q
L.qI qo / D l 1C cot2 ˛ C 2 sin q cot ˛ 1C cot2 ˛ C 2 sin qo cot ˛ :
(2.105)
The equilibrium states are obtained as the stationary points of V according to
Vq D kL.L/q P l sin q D 0: (2.106)

A m
q
k k
e2 P
b q0
e1
a a
Fig. 2.33 The von Mises structure exhibiting limit points at fold bifurcations at which the snap-
through phenomenon takes place
The parametric representation of the locus of fold bifurcations, denoted by L in

Fig. 2.32, is obtained by setting kD0 and substituting into it the equation governing
the equilibrium path solved for qo so as to eliminate the explicit appearance of qo .
2.5.4 Example of Fold Bifurcation and the Snap-Through

Phenomenon
The simplest example of a fold bifurcation occurs in the von Mises structure,
discussed in Chap. 1. The structure is composed of two identical elastic (massless)
truss bars, mutually hinged at A and at an angle qo with the horizontal (see
Fig. 2.33). This system is a paradigm for initially curved structures such as imperfect
rods, arches, imperfect plates, and shells. The actual configuration is described by
the rotation angle q (taken to be positive in the clockwise direction as in Fig. 2.33).
Let the von Mises truss structure be subject to a downward load P at the hinge
A where two trusses are joined and m be the point mass at A. The tension in
the left truss is nO D kL b where k is the truss equivalent spring constant
and b is the unit vector collinear with the current orientation of the left truss,
b D cos.qo q/e 1 C sin.qo q/e 2 (see Fig. 2.33). The elongation in the trusses
is L D aŒsec.qo q/ sec qo : By virtue of the symmetry of the trusses,
the mass at A can only undergo vertical motion described by the displacement
vector u WD r r o D aŒtan.qo q/ tan qo e 2 from which the acceleration is
obtained as uR D a sec2 .qo q/Œ2 tan.qo q/qP 2 qe
R 2 : The equation of motion is
thus 2kLb e 2 P D muR e 2 which gives
ma sec2 .qo q/Œq2

R tan.qo q/qP 2 C2kaŒsin.qo q/ sec qo tan.qo q/ P D 0:
(2.107)
The linearized variational equation about q D 0 is
.ma sec2 qo /ı qR C .2ka tan2 qo /ıq ıP D 0: (2.108)

L1
q0=
+
L
E
q
0
-
F L
L2
Fig. 2.34 Equilibrium paths of the von Mises structure with qo D Œ=8; =6; =4. The dashed-
dotted lines L1 and L2 indicate the loci of the limit points
The characteristic time for nondimensionalizing the equation

p is taken as the inverse
of the frequency of small oscillations, !o WD sin qo 2k=m: The nondimensional
linearized variational equation is
ı qR C ıq ı= tan2 qo D 0 (2.109)
where ı is the nondimensional form of ıP according to the following definition

for the load multiplier: WD P =.2ka/.
The equilibrium path is obtained as
D f.q; / such that sin.qo q/ sec qo tan.qo q/ D 0g: (2.110)
The nondimensional tangent stiffness along the equilibrium path is
k D sec2 .qo q/ sec qo cos.qo q/: (2.111)
The loci of static bifurcation points (folds) are found by solving k D 0 in

(2.111) and using the equation for the equilibrium path (2.110). A convenient
parametrization of the curve of bifurcation points is found by solving (2.110)
for qo and substituting the result6 in k D 0. Figure 2.34 shows two loci of
bifurcation points at which the bifurcations are represented by limit points. Locally,
6
An explicit parametrization can be obtained by considering the total angle q that the left truss
makes with the horizontal line as Lagrangian coordinate. The relationship between the limit
points and the initial angle qo is cos3 qL D cos qo while the locus of limit loads is expressed
as L D tan3 qL D tan3 Œarcos.cos qo /1=3 . The unstable branch is arcos.cos qo /1=3 < q <
arcos.cos qo /1=3 .
the bifurcation at the limit point is a fold: at the first limit point denoted by LC ,
for increasing q the stable state merges with the unstable state and they disappear
through a blue-sky catastrophe; at the second limit point denoted by L , the unstable
state coalesces with the stable state. For better readability, consider in Fig. 2.34 the
equilibrium path with qo D =4. The structure suffers a snap-through instability at
LC that causes the sudden jump of the trusses, indicated by the arrow, to a far-away
equilibrium state E. During the snapping-through phase, the trusses go through the
horizontal unstable equilibrium q D q0 : If the downward load is decreased from E;
the structure encounters the second limit point L where the trusses suffer a reverse
snapping to an upward configuration F with q < 0: The equilibrium path between
the two limit points LC and L is the set of unstable equilibrium states (indicated
by the dashed lines) where the trusses are compressed and inclined to a level such
that the negative geometric stiffness overcomes the elastic stiffness.
The mechanical asymmetry of initially curved structures. A further insight into
this problem can be gained if the Lagrangian coordinate is chosen as the total angle
q that the left truss makes with the horizontal line. This angle is taken as positive in
the counterclockwise direction. The equilibrium path, in this case, turns out to be
D f.q; / such that sin q.sec qo sec q/ D 0g:
This equilibrium equation has the virtue of exhibiting the symmetry of the solutions.
If .q; ) is a solution, then .q; / is also a solution. By dropping the inertia forces
and taking into account the nonlinear variational equation with terms up to cubic
order, the following equation is obtained:

1
cos q sec qo sec3 q ıq sin q sec qo C sec3 q ı 2 q
2
1
C cos q 2.cos 2q 2/ sec5 q sec qo ı 3 q C O ı 4 q ı D 0: (2.112)
6
This incremental form of the equilibrium shows that, as expected, there are two
antagonistic effects in the restoring force. The projection of the tension of the trusses
nO D ka.sec q o sec q/b along the vertical direction gives the restoring force
ka sin q.sec q o sec q/. The restoring force in the truss is always positive (i.e.,
compression) although only the vertical component of this force contributes to the
equilibrium. Therefore, in the incremental form of the equilibrium, the linearized
truss restoring force exhibits two terms: one is always positive (cos q sec qo ıq)
due to the elastic restoring effect, the other ( sec2 qıq) is negative due to the
decrement of the truss angle. The quadratic part of the incremental force given
by sin q 1=2 sec qo C sec3 q ı 2 q is always negative as far as q > 0; hence
it contributes a softening effect. Therefore, the stiffness suffers a continuous
degradation until vanishing at the limit point. On the other hand, if the force acts
upward, the stiffness increases with the angle q, a situation that signals a hardening
behavior.
A distinguishing feature of this kind of structures is that they exhibit nontrivial

precritical equilibrium paths before reaching the bifurcation, in the sense that the
precritical equilibrium states are possible because of the nonlinearities. This is
different from the other examined perfect structures where the precritical state is
always the trivial state. Another significant feature is that the limit loads decrease
significantly with the decrease in the initial angle which can be considered as a
measure of shallowness of the structure. Thus, shallow curved structures (e.g.,
shallow arches, shells or imperfect rods) become increasingly more prone to the
snap-through instability as they become shallower.
2.6 The Buckling Problem
Consider a conservative n-dof structure described by the Lagrangian coordinates

q and subject to forces that induce negative geometric stiffness effects. For
conservative systems, there is no need to study the variational equation associated
with the equations of motion. The eigenvalue problem that governs the loss of
stability at the divergence bifurcation (called buckling) is obtained directly from
the equilibrium equations in the adjacent configuration.
Let the forces be parametrized by a load multiplier and assume that the
structure admits the trivial equilibrium state q D o. Let the linearization of the
equilibrium equations (i.e., obtained as the equilibrium equations of the adjacent
configuration or derived from the stationarity of the potential energy based on a
second-order kinematic formulation) be
K./ q D o: (2.113)
Let the Taylor expansion of K./ about D 0 be K D KE KG where KE

(the elastic stiffness) and KG (the geometric stiffness per unit load multiplier) are
positive-definite, symmetric matrices. The critical condition is reached at those load
multipliers, denoted by j ; for which
.KE j KG / qj D o: (2.114)
Equation (2.114) is the statement of the buckling eigenvalue problem. A necessary

and sufficient condition for the existence of nontrivial equilibrium states qj is that
det.KE j KG / D 0 (2.115)
which is the characteristic equation for the buckling problem. Given the positive-
definite, symmetric nature of the matrices KE and KG ; there are n real and positive
eigenvalues, 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; n (usually ordered in increasing order), together with the
associated eigenvectors denoted by u1 ; u2 ; : : : ; un . The lowest eigenvalue, denoted
2.6 The Buckling Problem 119
by o WD 1 ; is called the critical load multiplier and the corresponding eigenvector

uo WD u1 is the critical buckling mode shape.
It is straightforward to show that these eigenvectors satisfy orthogonality condi-
tions with respect to the elastic and geometric stiffness according to
ui KE uj D 0; ui KG uj D 0; for i ¤ j: (2.116)
Since the eigenvectors are determined within an arbitrary constant, a normalization

condition with respect to the geometric stiffness KG is employed so that
uj KG uj D 1; uj KE uj D j ; j D 1; : : :; n: (2.117)
It is convenient to introduce the modal matrix U D Œu1 ; u2 : : : ; un such that
U| KG U D I; U| K E U D (2.118)
where I is the identity matrix and is a diagonal matrix with entries j .

Rayleigh quotient. The eigenvalue equation (2.114), solved for j after putting
qj D uj , yields
uj KE uj
j D : (2.119)
uj KG uj
The ratio between the numerator and denominator in (2.119) can be recognized to
be V E .uj /=V G .uj /, where V E .uj / is the modal elastic energy and V G .uj / is the
(geometric) potential energy (per unit load multiplier), respectively, given by
1 1
V E .uj / D uj KE uj ; V G .uj / D uj KG uj : (2.120)
2 2
When the argument u of the energies is not exactly the eigenvector corresponding
to one of the buckling mode shapes, the ratio is called the Rayleigh quotient and is
expressed as
u KE u
R.u/ WD : (2.121)
u KG u
According to the Rayleigh Theorem, R.u/ is stationary at the eigenvectors and
attains values corresponding to the buckling load multipliers. Moreover, the critical
load multiplier is expressed as

min u KE u
o D : (2.122)
u 2 IRn u KG u
The Rayleigh quotient is employed to obtain approximations of the buckling loads

and buckling mode shapes. For a given choice of basis vectors fv1 ; v2 ; : : : ; vn g;
the buckling mode shapes are expressed as linear combinations of vj according
P
to u D j bj vj : This trial vector u is substituted into the Rayleigh quotient and its
stationarity is sought with respect to bj thus obtaining
@R.bi vi /
D 0; j D 1; 2; : : : ; n (2.123)
@bj
where the summation convention on the repeated index is used.

Second-order effects due to prestresses. The structures subject to prestresses
that induce negative geometric stiffness terms exhibit an overall reduced stiffness.
As a consequence, if the prestresses are below their critical values and some
incremental forces are applied on the prestressed structure at some instant, the
ensuing displacements and stresses turn out to be larger than those calculated by
neglecting the prestresses and accounting only for the elastic stiffness of the natural
state.
Consider the example of the rigid rod subject to the compressive force of
Fig. 2.21. If a horizontal force H is applied at the free end of the rod, the equation
governing the adjacent equilibrium becomes .kT P l/q D H l: Therefore, if
P < Po DW kT = l; then
H l=kT 1
qD D q (1) (2.124)
1 P =Po 1 P =Po
where q (1) WD H l=kT is the elastic rotation calculated according to the first-
order theory by which the second-order (detrimental) effects of the compressive
force P are neglected. The nondimensional number 1=.1 P =Po / is known as the
amplification factor of the elastic solution. Also the elastic moment of the torsional
spring is amplified by the same factor since M D kT q whence
1
M D M (1) ; M (1) WD H l:
1 P =Po
Let the stated problem be generalized by recasting the incremental problem as
.KE KG / q D f; (2.125)
where f is the vector of incremental forces. The following transformation is

introduced:
Xn
qD i ui D U ; (2.126)
i D1
|
where D Œ 1 ; : : : ; n . Substituting (2.126) into (2.125) yields
.j / j D pj ; pj WD uj f; (2.127)
where pj is the j th modal component of the incremental force vector. The

coordinates j in (2.127) are the so-called normal coordinates as they allow a full
2.8 Flutter of Wings: Reduced-Order Models 121
uncoupling of the governing equations. The solution is j D pj =.j / and from

this, the solution is
X n
p
1 j
qD uj : (2.128)
j D1
1 =j j
By setting D 0; the solution of the first-order theory is obtained as

X
n
pj
q(1) D uj : (2.129)
j D1
j
Equation (2.128) can be rewritten as
X n
p
1 1 1 j 1
qD q(1) uj q(1) : (2.130)
1 =1 j D1
1 = 1 1 = j j 1 = 1
Equation (2.130) shows that an estimate (from above) of the actual solution of the
incremental problem can be obtained by multiplying the first-order solution q(1)
by the amplification factor 1=.1 =o / associated with the critical buckling load
o WD 1 .
2.7 Dynamic Bifurcations: Flutter of Lifting Airfoils
Flutter is a dynamic instability that takes place through a Hopf bifurcation in a

variety of structures subject to a flow field or other nonconservative force fields.
In this section, flutter of airfoils subject to uniform flows is discussed. This
phenomenology is typical of lifting surfaces such as aircraft wings, bridges, and
suspended structures.
2.8 Flutter of Wings: Reduced-Order Models
The flutter condition of aircraft wings is often determined by employing a two-

or three-dof model of a wing treated as a thin airfoil (see Fig. 2.35). Here the
mechanical formulation is shown in its major aspects for the three-dof model
although the two-dof linearized model with plunge and pitch is considered for
computations. Let fe 1 ; e 2 g be the fixed frame whose origin is taken to coincide
with the elastic center C E in the stress-free configuration B while fbo1 ; bo2 g are body-
fixed unit vectors collinear with the principal axes of inertia at an angle denoted
by ˛ o . The center of mass and the aerodynamic center are denoted by C and C A ,
respectively (see Fig. 2.35 bottom).
b2o e2
kh
kp ka b1o V V
.W a
C E
e1 -r r
Vr
ao+a
e2 r E
E A
C W
C C C
O e1
d
W
e d
ab
b b
Fig. 2.35 Lifting surface, the fixed frame fe 1 ; e 2 g, and the wing directors fb1 ; b2 g
The position vector of the elastic center in the actual configuration is r E .t/ D
p.t/e 1 C h.t/e 2 so that p.t/ and h.t/ represent the lagging (or sway) and the
flapping (or plunge) degrees of freedom (see Fig. 2.35). Let bok D R o e k ;
bk D R.˛/ bok by which bk D .R R o / e k . In component form, b1 D
cos.˛ o C ˛/e 1 C sin.˛ o C ˛/e 2 and b2 D sin.˛ o C ˛/e 1 C cos.˛ o C ˛/e 2 . The
counterclockwise angle ˛ by which the airfoil is rotated denotes the pitching degree
of freedom.
The velocity and acceleration of the material points of the cross section are,
respectively, given by rDP rP C C! xM and rD
R rR C C ! P xC!
M .! x/ M in which
rP Dpe
C P 2 e ! eM 1 and rR Dpe
P 1 Che C R 2 e ! .! eM 1 / e !
R 1 Che P eM 1 where
eM 1 D R e 1 , r C is the current position vector of the center of mass C whose
eccentricity with respect to the elastic center C E is denoted by e. On the other hand,
xM is the current position vector of a material point with respect to C . Therefore, the
linear momentum and angular momentum of the airfoil are
Z Z
lD P
rdA D %ArP ; h D C
r rdA
P D %Ar C rP C C %J C !
B B
where %A is the mass of the airfoil, %J C is the mass polar moment of inertia about
the center of mass C , and %J C ! D %J C ˛e
P 3.
Let the nonlinearly viscoelastic restoring force and couple be denoted by nO
O
and m.
Third-order expansions of the (horizontal and vertical) spring forces and of the
torsional spring moment are: NO (p) .p; p/ P D kh h C
P NO (h) .h; h/
P D kp p C k3(p) p 3 C cp p,
k3 h C ch h,
(h) 3 P and MO .˛; ˛/
P D k˛ ˛ C k3 ˛ C c˛ ˛.
(˛) 3
P On the other hand, .f A ; c A /
denote the aerodynamic resultant force (i.e., lift and drag resultants) and moment
reduced to the aerodynamic center C A and .f; c/ are the external resultant force and
moment reduced to the center of mass. Therefore, the balance of linear and angular
momentum leads to the following equations of motion for the plane problem:
nO C f A C f D lP (2.131)
O C r E nO C r A f A C c A C r C f C c/ e 3 D hP e 3 :
.m (2.132)
For the two-dof reduced model, the lagging degree of freedom together with
the drag force are neglected. To obtain the lift and moment induced by a uniform
airstream of velocity V e 1 (with zero initial angle of attack), according to the
theory of thin airfoils of Glauert [179], the effective angle of attack is first
expressed as

˛P 1 hP
˛e D ˛ C a b (2.133)
V 2 V
where a regulates the offset of the elastic center with respect to the mid-chord
position (see Fig. 2.35). To obtain ˛ e D ˛ C ˛r , consider the (linearized) downwash
P e 2 . The airstream velocity relative to the airfoil and
velocity as rP w D .d w ˛P C h)
its angle with respect to the horizontal line (see Fig. 2.35) become, respectively,
V e 1 rP w and ˛r D.˛d P
P w h/=V . Considering the point C W , where the downwash
velocity is calculated, at three-quarter of the chord from the leading edge gives
d w D .1=2 a/b (see Fig. 2.35).
The lift force and aerodynamic moment, reduced to the elastic center, are given
by7
L WD f A e 2 D bsV 2 CL ; CL D CLo ˛ e ; CLo WD @˛ CL .˛ e D 0/; (2.134)

c E D b 2 sV 2 CM ; CM D CL 12 C a C 2CM˛ (2.135)
where s is the wing span, is the air density, the aerodynamic center is assumed
at one-quarter of the chord, and CM˛ D 0 for symmetric profiles. The linearized
aerodynamic force and moment thus become
1
f L e 2 D bsV 2 CLo ˛ C ˛=V
P P
2 a b h=V ;
1 1
c E e 3 D b 2 sV 2 CLo ˛ C ˛=V
P P
2 a b h=V 2 Ca : (2.136)
7
Note that the lift and aerodynamic moment have slightly different forms (also the reference frame
is chosen differently) when considering the Theory of Theodorsen [427–429].
Thus the linearized Equations of motion become

" #
˛P 1 hP
%AhR %Ae ˛R C ch hP C kh h D bsV CL ˛ C
2 o
a b ; (2.137)
V 2 V
" #
P
˛ P
h
%J E ˛R %Ae hR C c˛ ˛P C k˛ ˛ D b 2 sV 2 CLo 12 C a ˛ C 1
a b
V 2 V
(2.138)
where %J E WD %J C C %Ae 2 is the polar mass moment of inertia with respect to the
elastic center C E .
By dividing the vertical coordinate
p h by b (i.e., hN WD h=b) and introducing the
characteristic time 1=!˛ (!˛ WD k˛ =%J E is the frequency of the pitch mode), the
following nondimensional form of the equations of motion is obtained:
" #
˛P 1 hP
R P
h "˛R C 2h ! h C ! h D kU ˛ C
2 2
a ; (2.139)
U 2 U
" #
1 ˛P 1 hP
r ˛R "hR C 2r ˛ ˛P C r ˛ D kU 2 C a ˛ C
2 2 2 2
a (2.140)
U 2 U
where the bar on h is dropped and the dot indicates differentiation with respect
to nondimensional timeptN WD t!˛ . The following nondimensional parameters
are introduced: r WD %J E =.%Ab 2 /,p" WD e=b, h WD ch =.2%A!h /, ˛ WD
c˛ =.2J E !˛ /, ! WD !h =!˛ ; !h D kh =%A. The nondimensional velocity is
U WD V =.b!˛ / and k WD sb 2 CLo =%A is the aerodynamic constant.
Flutter condition. The two equations of motion (2.139) and (2.140) can be written
in compact form by letting q D Œh; ˛| thus obtaining
M qR C .C kU CA / qP C .K kU 2 HA / q D o (2.141)
where
2 3
1 1
a
1 " 2 0 1
M WD ; C WD 4
A
5; H WD
A
:
" r 2 12 C a 1
a2 0 1
2
Ca
4
(2.142)
The stiffness and damping matrices are diagonal with entries f! 2 ; r 2 g and
f2h !; 2r 2 ˛ g, respectively. The matrices CA and HA are nonsymmetric. In
particular, HA can be decomposed into its symmetric and skew-symmetric parts as
1

0 0 12
Hsym WD 1 1
A 2 ; Hskw WD
A
:
2 2 Ca 12 0
The symmetric part HAsym contributes to the stiffness of the airfoil. On the other hand,
kU CA qP and kU 2 HAskw q embody the nonconservative terms.
The system is cast in first-order form as
xP D A x (2.143)
P ˛
where x D Œh; ˛; h; P | and

O I
AD : (2.144)
M1 .K kU 2 HA / M1 .C kU CA /
The eigenvalues are the roots of the characteristic equation
detŒ2 M C .C kU CA / C .K kU 2 HA / D 0 (2.145)
which is written explicitly as
a0 4 C a1 3 C a2 2 C a3 C a4 D 0: (2.146)
According to the Routh–Hurwitz criterion, a necessary and sufficient condition

for all the eigenvalues to have negative real parts is that all minors i .i D 1; : : : ; 4/,
along the principal diagonal of the Hurwitz matrix be positive.
If one or more minors vanish, the system is in a critical condition. Hence, to
find the flutter condition, each individual i is forced to vanish. The coefficients ai
.i D 0; : : : ; 4/ in (2.146) generate the Hurwitz matrix
2 3
a1 a0 0 0
6 a3 a2 a1 a0 7
HD6
40
7 (2.147)
a4 a3 a2 5
0 0 0 a4
from which the minors are 1 D a1 and

2 3
a1 a0 0
a1 a0
2 D det ; 3 D det 4 a3 a2 a1 5 ; 4 D det H D a4 3 : (2.148)
a3 a2
0 a4 a3
The lowest positive value U D Uo corresponding to which one of the minors

vanishes is the critical flutter velocity.
Example 2.3 (Computation of the flutter speed of a wing). Calculate the critical
flutter speed of the wing model employed in [222], whose parameters are: D
1:225 kg/m3 , a D 0:4, b D 0:135, " D Œ0:0873 b.1 C a/=b, s D 1 m, kh D
2844:4 N/m, k˛ D 99:4 Nm, ch D 27:43 Ns/m, c˛ D 0:036 Nsm, m D 12:387 kg,
%J E D 0:065 kgm2, CLo D 6:28.
a
0.8
0.4
0
-0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0.02
-0.4
-0.8
1.2
0.01
b c
0 0.8
-0.01 0.4
-0.02 0
-0.03 -0.4
-0.04 -0.8
-0.05 -1.2
2 2.4 2.8 3.2 2 2.4 2.8 3.2
Fig. 2.36 (a) Loci of the eigenvalues of the two-dof wing model in the complex plane, (b) real
parts of the eigenvalues, and (c) imaginary parts of the eigenvalues vs. the nondimensional flow
speed U
The corresponding nondimensional parameters are: ! D 0:3875, " D 0:0467,

r D 0:5366, h D 0:0731, ˛ D 0:0071, and k D 0:0113. By employing the
governing equations (2.139) and (2.140), the Routh–Hurwitz criterion or the direct
p gives Uo D 2:47. The dimensional flutter speed is
calculation of the eigenvalues
V D U b!˛ . Since !˛ D k˛ =%J E D 39:101=s, the dimensional flutter speed
is V D 13:04 m/s. The loci of the eigenvalues in the complex plane and the
variations of the real and imaginary parts with the air speed are shown in Fig. 2.36.
In particular, Fig. 2.36a shows the transversal crossing of the imaginary axis which
signals the bifurcation. The substantial insensitivity of the frequencies of the plunge
and pitch modes is for this example demonstrated in Fig. 2.36c.
Flutter of a two-dof system using the flutter derivatives. Two-dof systems
undergoing heave and pitch motions due to uniform airstreams can well describe
sectional models of lifting surfaces such as bridges or aircraft wings (see Fig. 2.37).
Consider a two-dof lifting surface of width b, subject to a steady uniform flow
of velocity V . The body can experience heave (vertical motion) described by h
and pitch (torsional motion) described by the rotation angle ˛ (see Fig. 2.37). The
balance of linear and angular momentum of the airfoil gives the following equations
of motion:
1 hP ˛P h
mhR C ch hP C kh h D bV 2 KH1 C KbH2 C K 2 H3 ˛ C K 2 H4 ;
2 V V b
(2.149)
Fig. 2.37 Two-dof model of e2

a bluff body subject to a
uniform airstream.
b2
kh
b1 V
kα α e1
b
1 2 2 hP ˛P h
%J ˛R C c˛ ˛P C k˛ ˛ D b V KA1 C KbA2 C K 2 A3 ˛ C K 2 A4
2 V V b
(2.150)
where the overdot indicates differentiation with respect to the dimensional time
t; m is the mass, %J is the mass moment of inertia with respect to the elastic
center C E (here it is taken to coincide with the mass center); .kh ; k˛ / are the spring
constants of the vertical and torsional springs, respectively; .ch ; c˛ / are the damping
coefficients for the heave and pitch motions; is the air density; K WD b! o =V is the
reduced oscillation (circular) frequency (K is related to the so-called reduced flow
velocity Ur :DV =.b fo /=2 =K where !o =2fo is the airfoil oscillation frequency);
and .Hj ; Aj / .j D 1; : : : ; 4/ are the flutter derivatives (also called aeroelastic
derivatives).
The right-hand sides of (2.149) and (2.150) are the lift force and aerodynamic
moment expressed in terms of the flutter derivatives .Hj ; Aj / .j D 1; : : : ; 4/. The
flutter derivatives are identified through wind tunnel tests as functions of K or Ur .
Notice that the velocity-dependent terms in the lift and moment give rise to the
aerodynamic damping matrix CA , while the displacement-dependent terms give rise
to the nonsymmetric matrix HA . Thus the equations of motion can be written as

M qR C C 12 bV 2 KCA qP C K 12 bV 2 K 2 HA q D o: (2.151)
The mass, stiffness, and damping matrices are diagonal, M D fm; %J g, K D

fkh ; k˛ g, and C D fch ; c˛ g. On the other hand,

1 H1 bH2 H4 =b H3
CA WD ; HA WD :
V bA1 b 2 A2 A4 bA3
The decomposition of HA into its symmetric and skew-symmetric parts leads to

" #
H4 1
.H3 C A4 /
Hsym WD 1
A b 2 ;
2
.H3 C A4 / bA3

0 1
.H3 A4 /
Hskw WD
A 2 :
12 .H3 A4 / 0
While the symmetric part HAsym contributes to the stiffness of the airfoil, the terms
proportional to CA qP and HAskw q represent the nonconservative forces.
To make the equations nondimensional, the p heave motion is scaled by b and
time by the characteristic time 1=!h (!h WD kh =m is the heave frequency). The
following nondimensional variables and parameters are introduced:
r
%J !˛ b 2
rWD ; N
! ˛ WD ; N
WD ;
mb 2 !h m
b!o c˛ ch
KWD ; ˛ WD 2
; h WD ;
V 2!˛ b m 2!h m
where N is the relative density of air/fluid with respect to the structure; the
nondimensional oscillation frequency is !N o WD !o =!h .
The nondimensional form of the equations of motion becomes
1
hRN C 2h hPN C hN D N!N o2 .H1 =!N o hPN C H2 =!N o ˛P C H3 ˛ C H4 h/; N (2.152)
2
1
r 2 ˛R C 2˛ !N ˛ ˛P C r 2 !N ˛2 ˛ D N!N o2 .A1 =!N o hPN C A2 =!N o ˛P C A3 ˛ C A4 h/:
N (2.153)
2
p
The critical flutter mode is sought as .h; N ˛/ D .u1 ; u2 /ei!N o t (where i WD 1 is
the imaginary unit) whose substitution into (2.152) and (2.153) yields
1 2
.!N o2 C 2i!N o h C 1/u1 D N!N o iH1 u1 C iH2 u2 C H3 u2 C H4 u1 ;
2
1
.r 2 !N o2 C 2i˛ !N ˛ !N o C r 2 !N ˛2 /u2 D N!N o2 iA1 u1 C iA2 u2 C A3 u2 C A4 u1 :
2
The set of equations governing the eigenvalue problem is rewritten in compact
form as A.!N o / u D o with u D Œu1 ; u2 | and
1
A11 D .!N o2 C 2i!N o h C 1/ N!N o2 iH1 C H4 ; (2.154)
2
1 1
A12 D N!N o2 iH2 C H3 ; A21 D N!N o2 iA1 C A4 ; (2.155)
2 2
1
A22 D .r 2 !N o2 C 2i˛ !N ˛ !N o C r 2 !N ˛2 / N!N o2 iA2 C A3 : (2.156)
2
A real-valued form of the eigenvalue problem can be obtained by letting u1 .t/ D

y1 cos !N o t C y2 sin !N o t and u2 .t/ D y3 cos !N o t C y4 sin !N o t: Substituting this
transformation into the equations of motion, setting the coefficients of cos !N o t and
sin !N o t to zero, and letting y D Œy1 ; y2 ; y3 ; y4 | yield the following system of real-
valued equations: A.!N o / y D o where
1 1 1
A11 D 1 !N o2 H N 4 !N o2 ; A12 D 2 !N o HN !N 2 ; A13 D 2 !N o H N !N 2 ;
2 2 1 o 2 3 o
1 1 1
A14 D H N 2 !N o2 A21 D 2h !N o C H1 N!N o2 ; A22 D 1 !N o2 H N !N 2 ;
2 2 2 4 o
1 1 1 2 1 2
A23 D H N 2 !N o2 ; A24 D H N !N 2 ; A31 D A N !N ; A32 D A N !N ;
2 2 3 o 2 4 o 2 1 o
1 2 1 2 1 2
A33 D r 2 !N ˛2 r 2 !N o2 A N !N ; A34 D 2˛ !N ˛ !N o A N !N ; A41 D A N !N ;
2 3 o 2 2 o 2 1 o
1 2 1 2 1 2
A42 D A N !N ; A43 D 2˛ !N ˛ !N o C A N !N ; A44 D r 2 !N ˛2 r 2 !N o2 A
N !N :
2 4 o 2 2 o 2 3 o
The flutter speed is calculated as the lowest real root of the characteristic equation
detŒA.!N o / D 0: To this end, an iterative procedure is employed as follows [406]:
1. A tentative value (initial guess) of K is chosen.
2. The values of the experimentally obtained coefficients Hi and Ai are extracted
for the guessed value of K.
3. The characteristic equation is solved and the complex-valued roots are
determined. In general, the imaginary part of !N o is different from zero for
all roots.
4. The procedure is iterated spanning a suitable range of K until the condition
Im.!N o / D 0 is satisfied.
The procedure described seeks only the critical flutter condition. It can be
modified to give information about the actual behavior of the eigenvalues of (2.152)
and (2.153) in the vicinity of flutter if they are set in the general form k D ˛k Ciˇk
with ˛k WD Re.k / and ˇk WD Im.k /. Within the spectrum of frequencies of the
modes of the unforced structure, !o is set, in its initial guess, to the frequency of the
mode that is expected to undergo the Hopf bifurcation, say the mth mode (often this
mode is the torsional mode). This is the initialization. Then the procedure unfolds
as follows:
1. An initial value of the flow velocity V is chosen so that the corresponding K D
b!o =V or reduced speed Ur D V =.bfo / are calculated.
2. The values of the experimentally obtained coefficients Hi and Ai are extracted
for the given value of K or Ur .
3. The characteristic equation is solved and the complex-valued eigenvalues k D

˛k C iˇk are determined among which the eigenvalue of interest is m D
˛m C iˇm . In general, ˇm ¤ !o . Hence, !o is corrected and the steps 1–3 of
the procedure are iterated until achieving convergence, i.e., until the condition
jˇm !o j < " is met with " denoting the tolerance. If the velocity V of step
1 does not correspond to the critical value, the real part ˛m of the eigenvalue is
different from zero.
4. The velocity is updated and the procedure is iterated assuming the imaginary part
ˇm of the critical mode found in the previous step as the oscillation frequency !o .
5. The critical velocity is determined when ˛m < "N (i.e., the real part of the
eigenvalue becomes sufficiently small), where "N is the numerical tolerance within
which the critical condition is determined.
The behavior of the loci of the real and imaginary parts of the eigenvalues in
the range of velocities signals the bifurcation when a pair of complex-conjugate
eigenvalues intersects transversally the imaginary axis (whereby ˛m D 0). The
advantage of this procedure, notwithstanding its higher computational costs, is that
it carries information both on the (damped) oscillation frequency and damping of
the critical mode of the airfoil subject to self-excited aeroelastic forces below and
above flutter.
2.9 Dynamic Instabilities Due to Parametric Resonances
Nonautonomous systems subject to time-varying excitations are said to be para-

metrically excited when the excitation input (force, displacement, or other driving
inputs) is such that it gets multiplied by the motion of the system by various physical
mechanisms. It is also said to be a multiplicative excitation as opposed to a direct
excitation. The latter can be, for example, a force directly applied to the system
mass. The work done by a parametric excitation depends on the motion. This is
the case for a pendulum whose pivot point is excited in the vertical direction by
a prescribed displacement denoted by y.t/ (see Fig. 2.38a). The apparent (inertia-
induced) force myR (m is the point-wise mass of the pendulum whose arm is assumed
to be massless) induces the couple myl R sin given that l sin is the lever arm of
the force if denotes the angle that the pendulum arm makes with a vertical line.
This demonstrates the multiplicative nature of the parametric excitation. Besides
the parametric excitation couple, the pendulum is subject to the restoring couple
induced by gravity given by mgl sin .
The trivial downward vertical configuration is a stable equilibrium state of
the parametrically excited system provided that the ratio between the excitation
frequency of the pivot and the pendulum natural frequency is away from certain
critical values. When the frequency of the prescribed motion is in a suitable ratio
with the natural frequency of the pendulum, the trivial equilibrium is no longer
stable and the pendulum may transition into other kinds of motion. The instability
2.9 Dynamic Instabilities Due to Parametric Resonances 131
a b c
y(t)
y(t)
m1 y(t) O1
l1 l1C
l
l m2
1
B l2C
O2
c l2
mg
2
Fig. 2.38 (a) The parametrically excited pendulum, (b) the autoparametric vibration absorber, (c)
the double pendulum
often appears as an abrupt and violent burst of sustained large-amplitude forced

pendular oscillations. An important feature of the phenomenology is that the ensuing
parametrically excited motion is orthogonal, in a broad sense, to the direction of the
excitation.
For small-amplitude oscillations (i.e., sin ), the equation of motion reduces
to Hill’s equation [401],
R C Œ! 2 C y.t/=
R l D 0 (2.157)
p
where ! WD g= l is the natural frequency of the pendulum. If yR is harmonic (i.e.,
y D Y cos t), this equation is referred to as Mathieu’s equation [70, 217, 332]. If
the dissipative effects are neglected, the trivial equilibrium undergoes instabilities
whenever the excitation frequency is twice the natural frequency divided by an
integer, namely, D m2 !, m D 1; 2; : : :
To prove this result, let time be rescaled by the characteristic time 2= by which
Mathieu’s equation is rewritten as
R C .ı C 2 cos 2t / D 0 (2.158)
where ı WD .2!=/2 and WD 2Y = l: The nondimensional excitation amplitude

is a small number (i.e., 1/. The natural frequency of the rescaled system is
p
! WD ı D 2!=: (2.159)
P
A straightforward perturbation based on D N k
kD1 k shows that the governing
R
equation at mth order is m C ım D 2 cos 2t m1 . If the generating solution

is 1 / ei! t (i is the imaginary unit), the forcing term of the .m C 1/th order

system is / ei .2m! /t : This forcing function can cause an unbounded growth of
the motion if the forcing frequency .2m ! / is equal to the natural frequency of
the pendulum ! : This occurs if and only if ! D m, hence ı D m2 . The definition

of ! according to (2.159) implies that the forcing frequency must be D m2 !,
m D 1; 2; : : :
If the excitation frequency is not exactly twice the natural frequency divided by
an integer, the instability can be triggered if the excitation amplitude is sufficiently
high. This means that in the plane .ı; /, there are instability regions which emanate
from the critical frequencies ı D m2 and become wider with increasing . In
the physical .; Y /-plane, the corresponding critical dimensional frequencies that
emanate from the instability regions are D m2 !, m D 1; 2; : : : The first instability
region which emanates from ı D 1 for m D 1 (i.e., D 2!) is the principal
parametric resonance. The second instability region corresponds to ı D 4 for m D
2 ( D !) and is referred to as parametric resonance. The other regions correspond
to higher-order resonances, such as ı D 9; 16; 25; : : : (i.e., D 23 !; 12 !; 25 !; : : :/
and thus accumulate on the origin of the frequency axis at D 0 as m goes to 1.
This accumulation of the critical frequencies on the origin of the physical frequency
axis shows that the time rescaling is very useful to study these instabilities since it
shifts the accumulation toward 1. The collection of instability regions is called a
Strutt–Ince diagram while the curves along which the instability occurs are called
transition curves. Each instability region is called a Mathieu tongue.
At amplitude levels beyond the instability, further bifurcations can lead to
more complex quasi-periodic or chaotic motions of the pendulum as observed in
experimental or numerical studies [205, 395].
Parametric instabilities arise in virtually all physical systems governed by
ordinary differential equations having coefficients (almost) periodic in time. They
also arise in distributed-parameter systems governed by partial differential equa-
tions, but there is no simple mathematical characterization of those equations that
admit parametric instabilities (cf., e.g., [260]). The essential physical phenomenon
of a parametric instability is that a small parametric excitation can produce a
large response when the driving frequency is close to twice one of the natural
frequencies of the system divided by an integer. However, the distinguishing feature
of parametrically excited linear systems is that the amplitude of the nontrivial
solution grows exponentially unbounded even when there is viscous dissipation,
whereas in “directly excited” linear systems, the resonance may be bounded as a
consequence of the dissipation. Geometric and material nonlinearities can act to
limit the motions caused by parametric instabilities because the frequency of the
motion, varying with the amplitude, can be shifted out of resonance. The large
growth of parametrically excited motions is a powerful natural amplifier, which
can be exploited in fields such as microengineering, structural health monitoring,
vibration suppression, or quenching of self-excited vibrations [396, 442].
In multi-body mechanical systems or in distributed-parameter systems, one mode
of vibration can effectively act as the parametric excitation of another mode through
the presence of multiplicative nonlinearities. Thus autoparametric resonance occurs
when the frequency of one of the modes is a multiple of half of the other. Other
effects include combination resonances, where the excitation is a sum or difference
2.9 Dynamic Instabilities Due to Parametric Resonances 133
of two modal frequencies. Studies include the motion of water waves in vertically
forced containers [153], of longitudinally forced strings [314, 411, 418, 419], of
transversally forced membranes [315], of longitudinally forced columns and plates
[62, 103, 205, 219, 412, 473, 481], of base-excited cantilever rods [16, 470], and of
plates and shells [24, 144, 340, 359, 449]. Studies in other areas of physics feature
the propagation of electromagnetic waves in media with a periodic structure and the
motion of electrons in a crystal lattice. The parametric resonance phenomenon also
arises in the study of the stability of (almost) periodic motions [292, 311, 332, 476].
Furthermore, as mentioned, the parametric resonance instability can also arise in the
presence of modal couplings of various kinds such as combination resonances of the
sum or difference type, two-to-one, three-to-one, and one-to-one internal resonances
[142, 332, 468].
Besides Faraday waves in vertically forced containers, the more general problem
of linear and nonlinear interaction of liquid sloshing dynamics with elastic con-
tainers and supported structures, which is of great concern to aerospace, civil, and
nuclear engineers, is treated in [202]. The problem of stability of parametrically
excited motions becomes much wider when the excitations exhibit stochasticity.
A good reference for an account of stochastic stability theorems and analytical
techniques for determining the random response of nonlinear systems is [203].
A parallel field of engineering interest is that of stabilization of the undesirable
parametric resonances in discrete and continuous systems. To mention but a few,
control of the principal parametric resonance of beams was sought by means of
various active/passive control strategies [247,472,475] or by finding optimal shapes
of the rods through a suitable optimization problem [293]. An active parametric
resonance cancellation method for magnetically levitated bodies was proposed in
theory and experiments in [474].
Methods to calculate the onset of parametric instabilities. A variety of methods
have been proposed to construct the instability regions of systems governed by
linear differential equations with time-periodic coefficients. The methods can be
grouped according to two fundamental approaches. The first approach involves
the determination of the characteristic exponents and generally leads to very
complicated mathematical analyses. The second method finds directly the boundary
surfaces or curves between the regions of stability and instability determining the
critical conditions under which periodic solutions may exist. In the analysis of
second-order equations, the method of variation of the parameters was combined
with a series expansion typical of a perturbation method in [420]. The method
has the advantage of providing information about the behavior of the nontrivial
solutions in both stable and unstable cases. This method was generalized to systems
of second-order differential equations in [198]. In [415] this approach was further
exploited in the presence of eigenvalues with negative real parts. A number of
variants of the second approach have been devised to treat parametrically excited
systems according to different perturbational procedures [332, 376, 389].
The expansion of the monodromy matrix in terms of the system parameters was
proposed as a method for computing the boundaries between the stable and unstable
regions of Hill’s equation with damping [401]. The eigenvalues of the matrix (i.e.,
the Floquet multipliers) are forced to take the values that they should have on
the associated transition curves, thus obtaining a parametric representation of the
transition curves together with the instability regions.
2.10 Parametric Resonances of Conservative Systems

with Linear Damping
The case of parametrically excited mechanical systems is treated first. In nondimen-

sional form, the equations of motion, expanded in Taylor series up to third order,
can be cast as
M qR C C qP C .K C P .t/B/ q D n2 .q; q/ C i(1) P q/
2 .q; P C i(2) R
2 .q; q/
Ci(1) P q;
3 .q; P q/ C i(2) R C n3 .q; q; q/
3 .q; q; q/
(2.160)
where the overdot indicates differentiation with respect to the nondimensional time
tI q.t/ is the vector of generalized coordinates; M is the positive-definite, symmetric
inertia matrix; K is the positive-definite, symmetric stiffness matrix; C is the linear
damping operator; n2 and n3 are quadratic and cubic elastic and geometric stiffness
2 ; i2 / and .i3 ; i3 / are quadratic and cubic inertia operators; P .t/B q
operators; .i(1) (2) (1) (2)
collects the parametric excitation terms. The adopted form of inertia nonlinearities
is typical of various mechanical systems.
In general, the nonlinear operators do not commute, i.e. n2 .u; v/ ¤ n2 .v; u/:
Because the linear, unforced, undamped, conservative problem is symmetric and
positive-definite, the eigenvectors um obtained from the eigenvalue problem
.K ! 2 M/ u D o (2.161)
are mutually orthogonal and are normalized according to
um M un D ımn ; um K un D !n2 ımn (2.162)
where ımn is the Kronecker delta.

The method of multiple scales is employed to unfold both the onset of the para-
metric resonance (i.e., critical condition) and the postcritical response. The method
of multiple scales is illustrated by means of an extraordinary number of examples
featuring various external and internal resonance conditions in [220,328,332]. Here,
uniform asymptotic expansions of the postcritical periodic motion are sought by
introducing the following time scales:
"2
t0 WD t; t1 WD "t; t2 WD t (2.163)
2Š
2.10 Parametric Resonances of Conservative Systems with Linear Damping 135
where " is a small dimensionless number. The time scale t0 accounts for the rapidly
varying part of the motion (occurring at the natural frequencies) and the stretched
time scales t1 and t2 account for the slowly varying part of the motion, namely, the
slowly modulated envelope and phase of the motion. Two time scales (i.e., t0 and t1 )
are sufficient if only the critical condition is to be determined. Provided that the data
are sufficiently differentiable, asymptotic expansions of the solutions are sought in
the form
X
3
"k
q.t; "/ qk .t0 ; t1 ; t2 / (2.164)
kŠ
kD1
where the functions qk .t0 ; t1 ; t2 / are to be determined. The following notational

convention is adopted for simplicity:
@ @2 @ @2
@k WD ; @k @l WD ; so that @0 WD ; @0 @2 WD ; etc.
@tk @tk @tl @t0 @t0 @t2
In accord with the method of multiple scales, the following expansions are
substituted into the equation of motion (2.160):
" 3 #
X3
"k "2 X "k
q.t; "/ P "/ Œ@0 C "@1 C @2
qk .t0 ; t1 ; t2 / ; q.t; qk .t0 ; t1 ; t2 / ;
kŠ 2Š kŠ
kD1 kD1
" 3 #
X " k
R "/ Œ@20 C 2"@0 @1 C "2 .@0 @2 C @21 /
q.t; qk .t0 ; t1 ; t2 / : (2.165)
kŠ
kD1
The forcing function is assumed to be sinusoidal: P .t/DP cos t. In seeking

periodic solutions to the nonlinear problem, it is essential to allow the frequency
to depend on the small parameter ":
."/ D 0 C " C O."2 /; 0 D 2!k (2.166)
where 0 is taken to be twice the natural frequency of the kth mode at the critical
condition. The damping matrix C and the parametric excitation function P .t/ are
ordered as " C and "P .t/, respectively.
Substituting (2.165) into (2.160), using the independence of the time scales, and
equating coefficients of like powers of " yield the following hierarchy of linear
problems.
Order ":
M @20 q1 C K q1 D o: (2.167)
Order "2 :
M @20 q2 C K q2 D 2M @0 @1 q1 C @0 q1 P cos t0 B q1

Cn2 .q1 ; q1 /Ci(1) (2) 2
2 .@0 q1 ; @0 q1 /Ci2 .q1 ; @0 q1 /: (2.168)
Because the kth mode is activated by the parametric instability and no internal
resonances engage this mode with other modes, the generating solution at order
" is assumed to be

q1 D Ak .t1 /ei!k t0 C ANk .t1 /ei!k t0 uk (2.169)
where Ak .t1 / is the complex-valued amplitude of the motion and the overbar indi-
cates the complex conjugate. Substituting (2.169) into (2.168) yields the following
inhomogeneous problem at second order:
M @20 q2 C K q2 D i!k ei!k t0 Œ2@1 Ak M C Ak C uk C hC N

k Ak Ak
2 2i!k t0 1

Ch
k Ak e P Ak ei.C!k /t0 CANk ei.!k /t0 B uk Ccc
2
(2.170)
where cc stands for the complex conjugate of the preceding terms and
h
k D n2 .uk ; uk / !k Œi2 .uk ; uk / C i2 .uk ; uk /;
2 (1) (2)
hC
k D n2 .uk ; uk / C !k Œi2 .uk ; uk / i2 .uk ; uk /:
2 (1) (2)
(2.171)
The right-hand side of (2.170) contains the following terms that can cause an
unbounded growth in time of the solution at order 2 :
1
i!k ei!k t0 Œ2@1 Ak M C Ak C uk P ANk ei.!k /t0 B uk : (2.172)
2
A solvability condition, according to the Fredholm Alternative Theorem, is imposed
by multiplying the resonant terms (2.172) in the right-hand side of (2.170) by the
solution of the linear adjoint problem, uk exp.i!k t0 /. The result is the following
complex-valued modulation equation for the amplitude Ak :
2i!k .@1 Ak C k Ak / D Pk ANk ei t1 (2.173)
where 2k WD uk C uk is the definition of the modal damping coefficient and
1
k WD uk B uk (2.174)
2
is called the effective parametric resonance coefficient of the kth mode.

To transform (2.173) into real form, let
1 k t1
Ak D ak ei 2 ei 2 (2.175)
2
and substitute it into (2.173) thus obtaining
Pk
@1 ak D k ak ak sin k ;
2!k
(2.176)
Pk
@1 k D cos k :
!k
The critical solutions on the transition curves correspond to the steady-state

solution of (2.176), namely, @1 ak D 0 D @1 k . Solving for sin k and cos k ,
summing the squares, and employing the fundamental trigonometric identity yield
q
D ˙ P 2 2k =!k2 .2k /2 (2.177)
from which the transition curves associated with the principal parametric resonance
are obtained as
q
2!k ˙ P 2 2k =!k2 .2k /2 : (2.178)
The parametric resonance is activated if the excitation amplitude is above a
threshold value called the critical force amplitude expressed as
Po D 2k !k =k (2.179)
where k is given by (2.174).

To obtain the postcritical response, the solution of the second perturbation is
substituted into the third perturbation for which a solvability condition is enforced.
This condition captures the effects of the nonlinear terms due to the elastic,
geometric, and inertial forces. By employing the method of reconstitution [332] so
as to express the time derivative of the critical amplitude AP D "@1 A C "2Š @2 A C ;
2
the bifurcation equation reads:
2i !k .APk C k Ak / D Pk ANk ei t C S Ak C k A2k ANk (2.180)
where k is the effective nonlinearity coefficient of the kth mode and S is a linear
frequency shift. The effective nonlinearity coefficient governs the bending of the
backbone of the kth mode8.
8
The backbone is the curve expressing the relationship between the frequency and the oscillation
amplitude of the unforced, undamped problem. The frequency reduces to that of the kth mode as
the amplitude goes to zero.
2.10.1 Multi-pendulum Systems and the Autoparametric

Transfer of Energy
The dynamics of multi-pendulum systems have been investigated in depth both from
a theoretical and from an experimental point of view. Some features of the chaotic
dynamics of the single pendulum were discussed in [390, 409], while the forced
double pendulum and the triple pendulum with impacts were addressed in [410]. For
small forcing amplitudes, there are many theoretical studies dealing with parametric
resonances in the planar double pendulum [143, 318, 407]. In particular, the method
of multiple scales was employed in [143, 392] to study the principal parametric
resonance of the in-phase and out-of-phase modes of a double pendulum.
Experimental studies of double pendulum systems have considered several
different geometric configurations as well as forcing conditions. One such forcing
condition is the high-frequency excitation that can stabilize the upright unstable
position. The effects of resonant high-frequency excitation on the linear stability
and nonlinear behavior of the pendulum were investigated in [212] by using the
method of direct partition of motion due to Blekhman [70]. It was shown that the
support excitation has a stabilizing effect for most system parameters but can also
destabilize the upright pendulum position: supercritical bifurcations may turn into
subcritical bifurcations and chaotic behaviors of the pendulum exist for a wide range
of system parameters and initial conditions. In a similar system, the normal form and
bifurcation theory were used in [479] to find closed-form solutions for equilibria,
periodic, and quasi-periodic motions.
Existence, bifurcations, and stability of high-frequency periodic motions were
studied again in a double pendulum [227]. The linear stability analysis of the four
equilibria was carried out for generic geometries, although when the two arms were
identical, the stability problem could be studied in the full nonlinear setting. For
the case of vertical base excitations at an arbitrary frequency and amplitude, a
rigorous stability analysis of the equilibria of the double pendulum was carried out
in [47]. Along the same lines, a large body of works have addressed high-frequency
parametric excitations [70, 217].
The effects of follower forces in inverted double pendula (with rotational springs
and dashpots between the arms), subject to base excitations, have also been studied
in depth.
Double pendulum. The equations of motion of a double pendulum, subject to
a vertical base motion y.t/ (see Fig. 2.38c), are given by the following two
autonomous ordinary differential equations with time-varying coefficients [392]:
J1 R1 C I1 .g C y/
R sin 1 C c1 P1
CI2o l1 R2 cos.1 2 / C I2o l1 sin.1 2 /P22 D 0; (2.181)
J2o R2 C I2o R sin 2 C c2 P2
.g C y/
CI2o l1 R1 cos.1 2 / I2o l1 sin.1 2 /P12 D 0 (2.182)
where 1 and 2 are the absolute angles (taken to be positive if counterclockwise)

of the upper and lower arms, respectively, with respect to a fixed vertical line;
the overdot indicates differentiation with respect to time. The governing physical
parameters are expressed as: J1 D J1o C m2 l12 ; Iio D mi lic ; I1 D I1o C l1 m2 ;
where mi , li ; lic , and Jio .i D 1; 2/ denote the mass, the arm length, the distance
of the center of mass of the i th arm from Oi , and the moment of inertia about
Oi . .Ik ; Jk / represent first- and second-order mass moments of inertia. Equations
of motion (2.181) and (2.182) hold for a double pendulum with nonuniform mass
properties of the arms as is the case in various engineering applications.
p is nondimensionalized by rescaling it by the characteristic time 1=!c with
Time
!c WD g= l , lWDl1 C l2 ; g is the acceleration due to gravity so that !c has the
meaning of circular frequency of a simple pendulum whose length is equal to the
sum of the lengths of the two arms. The following nondimensional parameters
are introduced: ˛WDI1 l=J1 ; ˇDI2o l=J1 ; o WDJ2o =J1 ; ıWDl1 = l: The nondimensional
amplitude and frequency of the prescribed periodic base motion are Y = l and =!c ;
respectively. The equations of motion in nondimensional form thus become
R1 C ˛Œ1 C y.t/

R sin 1 C 1 P1 C ˇı R2 cos.1 2 /
Cˇı sin.1 2 /P22 D 0; (2.183)
o R2 C ˇŒ1 C y.t/
R sin 2 C 2 P2 C ˇı R1 cos.1 2 /
ˇı sin.1 2 /P12 D 0 (2.184)
p
where i WD.ci =J1 / l=g is the nondimensional damping coefficient for the i th arm.
The nondimensional parameters associated with ˝ and Y are denoted by the same
notation as the dimensional quantities. The following four independent parameters
regulate the dynamics of the undamped double pendulum: .˛; ˇ; ı; o /:
Without the forcing term, under the mere action of gravity, the double pendulum
exhibits four equilibria obtained from (2.183) and (2.184) putting Pi D 0 D Ri .
The equilibria are .1 ; 2 / D .0; 0/; .0; /; .; 0/; and .; / of which only .0; 0/
is stable (marginally or asymptotically stable depending on the absence or presence
of damping). The double pendulum possesses two vibration modes about the stable
equilibrium .0; 0/ of which the lowest represents an in-phase mode while the second
is an out-of-phase mode. The frequencies and eigenvectors associated with these
modes are respectively given by
( 1=2 ) 1=2
˛o C ˇ ˛ 2 .o /2 C 4˛ˇ 3 ı 2 2˛ˇo C ˇ 2
!1;2 D ; (2.185)
2.o ˇ 2 ı 2 /
" #|
.˛ 2 .o /2 C 4˛ˇ 3 ı 2 2˛ˇo C ˇ 2 /1=2 ˛o ˙ ˇ
u1;2 D ;1 : (2.186)
2˛ˇı
The eigenvectors uk D Œ1 ; 2 | are normalized according to uk M uk D 1:
The transition curves are constructed by the method of multiple scales [332]. To
this end, let 2!k ; k D 1; 2, and rescale the damping and amplitude of the base
motion as "2 k and "2 Y . The equations of motion are then expanded in Taylor series
about .1 ; P1 ; 2 ; P2 / D .0; 0; 0; 0/ up to terms of fifth polynomial order.
The following time scales are introduced t0 WD t; t2 WD "2 t, and t4 WD "4 t: Only
three time scales are introduced because the perturbation procedure is terminated
at fifth order. A one-term expansion is obtained by carrying out the analysis up to
the cubic order where the solvability condition gives the modulation equations. A
two-term expansion is obtained by carrying out the analysis up to the quintic order.
Provided that the data are sufficiently smooth and differentiable, asymptotic
expansions of the solutions are sought in the form
X
3
k .t; "/ k;j .t0 ; t2 ; t4 /"j (2.187)
j D1
where the functions k;j .t0 ; t2 ; t4 / are to be determined. A detuning from the critical
condition is introduced according to D 2!k C "2 . To within second order, the
prescribed pivot acceleration is
1 1
yR D Œ@20 C 2"2 @0 @2 Y .ei.2!k t0 C t2 / C cc/ D 4!k Y .!k C "2 / .eit0 C cc/:
2 2
(2.188)
The principal parametric resonance of the kth mode is considered, thus the
solution of the linearized equations of motion at order O."/ is expressed as
Œ1;1 ; 2;1 | D uk ŒAk .t2 ; t4 /ei!k t0 C cc (2.189)
where Ak .t2 ; t4 / is the complex-valued amplitude and cc indicates the complex

conjugate of the preceding term. This generating solution, substituted into the
problem at third order, requires the imposition of a solvability condition by the
Fredholm Alternative Theorem. This yields the complex-valued equation as
1
@2 Ak D k Ak C ik A2k ANk C iYk ANk ei t2 (2.190)
2
where .k ; k ; k / are given, respectively, by
k D .˛Uk;1
4
C ˇUk;2
4
/=.4!k / C ˇı!k ŒUk;2 Uk;1
3
2Uk;2
2 2
Uk;1 C Uk;2
3
Uk;1 ; (2.191)
k D 1 Uk;1
2
C 2 Uk;2
2
; k D !k .˛Uk;1
2
C ˇUk;2
2
/: (2.192)
The eigenvectors appearing in (2.191) and (2.192) are expressed as uk D

ŒUk;1 ; Uk;2 | after being normalized. The coefficients .k ; k / are the effective
nonlinearity coefficient (which regulates the bending of the backbone of the
considered pendulum mode) and the effective parametric resonance coefficient,
respectively.
If the perturbation is arrested at this order, by introducing the polar form for the
complex-valued amplitude as Ak .t/ D 12 ak eik =2 ei t2 =2 into the solvability condition
(2.190), the following coupled ordinary differential equations are obtained:
1
aP k D k ak C k Y ak sin k ; (2.193)
2
1
Pk D C k ak2 C 2Yk cos k : (2.194)
2
The two-periodic solutions emanating from the parametric instability are solu-
tions of aP k D0 and Pk D0: The equation relating the amplitude of the motion a, the
base excitation Y; and the bifurcation parameter is obtained as:
1 p
D k ak2 ˙ 4Y 2 k 2 k 2 : (2.195)
2
Equation (2.195) is the bifurcation equation for the principal parametric instabil-
ity which can be expressed in terms of the frequency as
p
1
2!k C k ak ˙ 4Y k k :
2 2 2 2 (2.196)
2
According to (2.195), the parametric resonance is initiated only if the excitation

amplitude Y is above Yko , the critical amplitude for the onset of the instability in the
kth mode expressed as
k
2
1 Uk;1 C 2 Uk;2
2
Yko WD D : (2.197)
2jk j 2!k .˛Uk;12
C ˇUk;22
/
An explicit expression of the local approximation of the transition curves around

the tip of the kth Mathieu tongue can be obtained from (2.195) putting ak D 0,
solving for Y , and expanding its formula about D 0: When the pendulum is
frictionless (i.e., k D 0), the instabilities are obtained from (2.196) in the form
D 2!k ˙ 2Yk : Consequently, the instability region emanates directly from the
-axis at D 2!k :
The perturbation analysis can be carried out to the next order (fifth polynomial
degree) if the validity of the formulas for the transition curves is sought to be
extended to higher excitation amplitudes and away from the exact frequency tuning
condition at resonance, D 2!k . At fifth order, the solvability condition yields
@4 A: The solvability conditions are combined to obtain the time rate of change of
A according to AP D "2 @2 A C "4 @4 A: The outcome of the perturbation treatment is
a two-term expansion of the pendulum resonant motion featuring linear and cubic
nonlinear terms. The transition curves for three values of damping coefficients are
shown in Fig. 2.39 considering the parameters of a prototype used in experiments
[392]. As expected, the critical excitation amplitude for the onset of the instability
2.5
1.5
Y [cm]
0.5
k=1 k=2
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
f [Hz]
Fig. 2.39 Principal parametric instability regions of a double pendulum with l1 D 10:865 cm,
l2 D 9:5 cm, m1 D 18:45 g, m2 D 5:32 g, l1c D 4:20 cm, l2c D 2:41 cm, J1o D 714:31 g cm2 ;
J2o D 79:405 g cm2 , c1 D c2 D c: The damping values are c D .15; 150; 500/g cm2 /s. Increasing
the damping results in an upward shift of the curves. Reprinted with permission [392]
increases with the damping coefficient. Moreover, the instability region of the out-
of-phase mode is wider than that of the in-phase mode; its widening is such that
these regions intersect at frequencies slightly higher than twice the natural frequency
of the in-phase mode. The comparison between the analytically obtained transition
curves with those obtained from the fully nonlinear equations using a numerical
path-following package [128] has shown a very good agreement.
The bifurcations that take place during the parametric resonance phenomenon of
the double pendulum can be illuminating since they bear a paradigmatic character.
To facilitate understanding of the scenarios, a set of bifurcation diagrams obtained at
various excitation amplitudes is shown in Fig. 2.40a. For relatively low excitations,
the frequency-response curve (bifurcation diagram) of the out-of-phase mode
exhibits only supercritical pitchfork bifurcations and it is disconnected from the
curve of the in-phase mode. The latter is bent to the left due to the softening
nonlinearity of the pendulum restoring force. Thus, the right pitchfork bifurcation
of the in-phase mode is supercritical while the left pitchfork is subcritical (D). The
unstable solutions that arise from the subcritical bifurcation coalesce with the stable
resonant solutions at the fold bifurcation point (C ). In the region between the fold
and the subcritical bifurcations there are three solutions of which two are stable (the
trivial state and the parametric resonance solution) and one is unstable. This is a
multi-stability region for the pendulum.
Above a certain excitation amplitude, the curve of the out-of-phase mode is bent
to the left and exhibits the fold bifurcation (point G in Fig. 2.40a) that gives rise to
multi-stability also in this mode. Above a slightly higher threshold excitation, the
right supercritical pitchfork of the in-phase mode turns into a subcritical bifurcation
a 2.5
C
2.0
1.5 G
1.0
F
A H
0.5
G
B
0 A
D H E
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
f [Hz]
b 2.5
2.0
1.5
Y [cm]
1.0
0.5
0
0 2 4 f [Hz] 6 8 10
Fig. 2.40 (a) Numerical continuation-based bifurcation diagrams showing the amplitude of arm
1 vs. the excitation frequency when Y D .0:97; 1:1; 1:5; 1:5185; 1:53/ cm and c D 500 g cm2 /s.
(b) Transition curves (solid lines) and loci of fold bifurcation points (dashed lines) for c D 500 g
cm2 /s. Reprinted with permission [392]
from which an unstable solution is born (point A). The solution branch is bent to
the right until reaching a fold where it gains stability (point B). The newly born
fold of the in-phase mode and the fold of the out-of-phase mode become closer as
the excitation is increased until they collide and merge. This condition corresponds
to the intersection of the transition curves of the two modes (see Fig. 2.39). Past
this condition, there is one single curve for the in-phase and out-of-phase modes
which corresponds to the fact that the instability region becomes abruptly wide and
indistinct for both modes and is bounded by the right pitchfork of the out-of-phase
mode and the left pitchfork of the in-phase mode.
A numerical continuation of the fold bifurcations (indicated by the dashed

lines in Fig. 2.40b) shows clearly the width of the multi-stability regions for the
double pendulum. In the literature, little attention is paid to the continuation of
the fold bifurcations, while from the stability and safety perspective the loci of
these bifurcations are extremely important. For a nonlinear system, the transition
curves together with the fold loci represent the instability regions which are wider
than those predicted using the linearized theory leading to the pitchfork bifurcations
along the transition curves.
Autoparametric transfer of energy. The phenomenon of parametric resonance
is not necessarily harmful as it can be beneficially exploited to transfer energy
from a directly forced system (i.e., through direct forces or base excitations) to a
parametrically coupled substructure, acting as an autoparametric vibration absorber.
The autoparametric vibration absorber was investigated in depth in a series of
works [95].
In the context of the autoparametrically coupled two-dof system, the primary
structure consists of mass m1 whose motion is described by y.t/, linked to a
nonlinearly elastic spring, whose constitutive law is N.t/ D NO .y/; and a parallel
dashpot of viscous coefficient c (see Fig. 2.38b). The mass is subject to a direct force
F .t/: Attached to the mass m1 ; there is a pendulum of mass m2 and length l whose
angle with respect to the downward vertical line is denoted by : The equations of
motion for the system are
m2 l 2 R C m2 Œg C y.t/
R sin D 0; (2.198)
.m1 C m2 /yR C m2 lŒR sin C P 2 cos C c yP C NO .y/ D F .t/ m2 g: (2.199)

p p
By letting !1 WD k=m1 and !2 WD g= l be the frequencies of the structure by
itself (k is the linear elastic constant appearing in the linearization of the spring
constitutive law, NO .y/ D k y) and the pendulum, respectively, the autoparametric
transfer of energy may occur when !1 2!2 : The motion of the structure
can excite the pendulum parametrically thus causing a resonant large-amplitude
pendular motion. An important phenomenon associated with the 2:1 autoparametric
resonance is the saturation of the response amplitude of the directly excited mode
above a threshold excitation force [332].
2.10.2 Parametric Resonance of Spherical and Cylindrical

Shells Under Pulsating Pressures
Most of the literature on parametric instabilities in distributed-parameter systems

with geometric nonlinearities neglects the role of material nonlinearities both in the
onset of the instability and in the postcritical motion. The increasing use of new
nonlinear materials (e.g., shape-memory materials [241]) in advanced engineering
applications highlights the importance of studying the influence of the nonlinear

material response on the instability as pointed out by recent findings [24, 248, 255].
Only a few works on parametric instabilities have treated both material and geo-
metric nonlinearities. The Mathieu equation with cubic nonlinearities was studied
in [73], while nonlinear Mathieu equations with either quadratic damping or cubic
elastic response were studied in [344, 374, 375].
In contrast to these works, parametric instabilities were studied in [255] for a
general, physically reasonable class of nonlinear constitutive equations in viscoelas-
tic shells by applying the method of multiple scales to higher order. Thresholds in
material behavior separating qualitatively distinct dynamical responses were found.
A brief overview is presented next.
The simplest equation governing the radial motion of a uniform nonlinearly
viscoelastic cylindrical or spherical shell subject to the time-dependent pressure
p.t/ is
%ARr C N.r; rP / C p.t/r n D 0 (2.200)
where r.t/ is the radius of the shell at time t, %A denotes the constant mass per
unit reference area, N is the constitutive function giving the tension (hoop stress
resultant), p.t/ is the pressure at time t (per unit actual area of the shell surface)
taken to be positive when acting radially inward, n D 1 for cylindrical shells
(see Fig. 2.41) and n D 2 for spherical shells (cf. Chaps. 10, 17 in [23]). In
nondimensional form, the equation of radial motion becomes
1
rR C G.r/ C 2 H.r; rP / C p.t/r n D 0 (2.201)
2
where the following decomposition for the tension is adopted:
N.r; rP / D G.r/ C H.r; r/

P (2.202)
subject to the restrictions that
G.1/ D 0; H.r; 0/ D 0;

1 r!0
Gr > 0; HrP > 0; G.r/ C H.r; rP / ! as :
1 r !1
(2.203)
G is the equilibrium response function, accounting for much of the elastic behavior,
and H is the dissipative part of the tension. Note that one of the limits in (2.203)
requires that an infinite compressive force accompanies a total compression. G and
H are assumed to be continuously differentiable.
The natural radius of the shell has a scaled value of 1, so that N.1; 0/
G.1/ D 0, Nr .1; 0/ Gr .1/ D 1. Time has been scaled by the characteristic
time 1=!o where !o is the frequency of the radial mode. The dissipative part
of the tension has been scaled by 1=2!o2 2 %Ar o where is a dimensionless
Fig. 2.41 Stress-free

configuration B of the
cylindrical shell and actual
p2(t)
configuration BM under the p1(t)
pressures 1 .t / and 2 .t /: In
the derivation of the equation r2
of motion (2.200), it is r1
assumed that 1 .t / D 0 and B
p.t / D 2 .t /
B
k
j a2
i a1
p(r,j,z,t)
constant to be chosen later. The ordinary differential equation (2.201) is a nonlinear

version of Hill’s equation, differing from the standard form by having the nonlinear
constitutive terms G.r/ C H.r; rP / and having the quadratic pressure term p.t/r 2 for
spherical shells.
The pressure p is taken to be periodic. Let p0 be the mean value of p, and let q
be a slight periodic variation about the average mean so that
"2
p.t/ D p0 C q.t/ (2.204)
2Š
where " is a small dimensionless parameter. Moreover, the dissipative effects are
small. To this end, is replaced by " in (2.201).
Let r0 denote a constant solution of (2.201) when p is replaced by p0 , so that
N.r0 ; 0/ C p0 r0 n D 0: (2.205)
N.r0 ; 0/ G.r0 / is called the prestress. A graph of G.r0 / and p0 r n shows that this
equation has a unique solution for p0
0 (when the shell is under compression),
but may have many solutions or no solutions for p0 < 0 (when the shell is under
inflation) depending on how G.r0 / ! 1 as r0 ! 1. Only the cases for which
there is at least one stable equilibrium state are considered in this treatment.
Let r D r0 C u, so that (2.201) becomes
uR C N.r0 C u; uP / N.r0 ; 0/
"2
C p0 .nr0 n1 u C ı2n u2 / C q.t/Œr0 n C nr0n1 u C ı2n u2 D 0 (2.206)
2Š
where the Kronecker delta ınj WD 1 if j D n and WD 0 if j ¤ n. For mean

pressure p0 ¤ 0, the radius r0 ¤ 1 (recall that r0 ¤ 1 is the value for a stress-free
state). The value of r0 affects the term p0 .nr0 n1 u C ı2n u2 / containing the mean
pressure p0 , which represents the prestress effect. The dynamic response of the shell
about an equilibrium state of radius r0 depends critically on the nonlinearity of the
constitutive equation N.r0 C u; uP / N.r0 ; 0/.
The forcing term q.t/r0n is direct because q is not multiplied by the unknown
u describing the motion. On the other hand, q.t/Œnr0n1 u C ı2n u2 is a parametric
forcing because the pressure q is a time-varying coefficient of u. The direct forcing
term q.t/r0n contributes a primary resonance when the frequency of q is close to the
natural frequency ! about the equilibrium r0 under the constant pressure p0 . When
the frequency of q is close to 2!, the parametric forcing term q.t/Œnr0n1 u C ı2n u2
causes the principal parametric resonance of the radial mode (also called breathing
mode).
A representative family of constitutive functions is considered as

1 1
G.r/ D r a1 (2.207)
aCb r bC1
where a > 1 and b > 0 are constants. The term r a1 accounts for the behavior
of G under tension and the term r b1 accounts for the behavior of G under
compression and acts to penalize total compression severely when r ! 0. G is
the derivative of a stored-energy function proportional to V .r/ WD r a =a C r b =b.
The dissipative part of the tension is taken to be H D H1 uP , with different choices
for the viscosity H1 . Three qualitatively distinctive examples of the G of (2.207)
are chosen, each with b D a 1: material W (weak) with a D 32 , material M
(moderate) with a D 52 , and material S (strong) with a D 72 (see Fig. 2.42). The
rationale for these choices is that the potential function of constant hydrostatic
pressure on a cylindrical shell is proportional to the enclosed cross-sectional area,
and accordingly behaves like the square of r, whereas that on a spherical shell is
proportional to the enclosed volume, and accordingly behaves like the cube of r.
A comparison of such potential energies with the stored-energy function for (2.207)
shows that the exponents 2 and 3 on r, characterizing the growth of the potential
function for constant hydrostatic pressure, separate the three exponents a D 32 ; 52 ; 72
for the stored-energy function of the examples. Consequently, material W is weak
in resisting hydrostatic inflation on both a cylindrical and a spherical shell, material
M is strong in resisting hydrostatic inflation on a cylindrical shell but weak on a
spherical shell, and material S is strong in resisting hydrostatic inflation on both a
10
6
S
4
L
G
2 M
W
0
-2
-4
0 1 2 r 3 4 5
Fig. 2.42 The examples (2.207) of constitutive functions for tension G as a function of the stretch
r. The materials W, M, S, L respectively have the constitutive equations G.r/ D 12 .r 1=2 r 3=2 /,
G.r/ D 14 .r 3=2 r 5=2 /, G.r/ D 16 .r 5=2 r 7=2 /, and G.r/ D r 1. The curve M crosses
the curve L, linearly elastic material, at a value of r higher than shown. Reprinted with permission
[255]
cylindrical and a spherical shell. The behavior of these materials is contrasted with
that for a linearly elastic material L, which with the adopted scaling has the form
G.r/ D r 1 (corresponding to a D 2, b D 1). The equilibrium states and the
frequency of the radial mode about them are shown as functions of the static pressure
in Fig. 2.43 for the different materials and for both cylindrical and spherical shells.
Figures 2.44 and 2.46 show the instability regions of cylindrical and spherical
shells composed of the sample materials for the initially stress-free state and a pre-
compressed state. The comparison between the instability regions of cylindrical and
spherical shells under different prestress regimes clearly shows that the spherical
shells have wider instability regions due to the multiplicative parametric effect of
the pressure that couples with the square of the motion.
Under zero or compressional prestresses (see Figs. 2.44 and 2.45), the hierarchy
of materials (weak, moderate, and strong) is fully reflected in the increasingly
smaller instability regions as the material becomes stronger.
In Fig. 2.46, however, the inflational prestress causes the ordering of the in-
stability regions to be switched from the way they appear in Figs. 2.44 and 2.45
because the destabilizing effects of the inflational pressures are enhanced in stronger
materials.
The transition curves were also computed by a numerical path-following method
[128]. The agreement found between the numerical results and the perturbation
predictions (shown, for example, in Fig. 2.47) confirms that the perturbation ap-
proximation is excellent for P < 0:5.
10 10
8 8
6 W 6
r0 M W
4 L 4 M
S L
S
2 2
0 0
-1 -0.75 -0.5 -0.25 0 0.25 0.5 -0.5 -0.25 0 0.25 0.5
2 2
1.5 1.5
ω
1 S 1
S
L
0.5 M 0.5
L
W M
W
0 0
-1 -0.75 -0.5 -0.25 0 0.25 0.5 -0.5 -0.25 0 0.25 0.5
p0 p0
Fig. 2.43 This figure illustrates the rich variety of behaviors for different materials and for the
different shell geometries. The first column shows graphs for cylindrical shells and the second
for spherical shells. For each of the materials W, M, S, L, the first row portrays the equilibrium
solutions r0 vs. p0 , the second row shows the natural frequencies ! about the equilibrium state
vs. p0 . The absence of graphs for inflational pressures above certain thresholds for cylindrical
shells of materials W, L and spherical shells of materials W, M, L reflects the nonexistence of
equilibrium states under these pressures. Reprinted with permission [255]
0.5 0.45
S S
M M
0.4 W 0.35 W
0.3
0.25
P
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0 0
1.975 2 2.025 2.05 2.075 1.9 1.95 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
Ω Ω
Fig. 2.44 Principal parametric instability regions of stress-free cylindrical shells (left panel) and
spherical shells (right panel) for materials W, M, S (the static pressure is p0 D 0) when H1 D 0:0
and H1 D 0:02: The purely elastic case with H1 D 0:0 yields transition curves emanating from
the -axis. Reprinted with permission [255]
0.5 0.45
S
0.4 0.35
0.3 M S
0.25
P W M
0.2
0.15 W
0.1
0.05
0 0
2.24 2.26 2.28 2.3 2.32 2.34 2.36 2.25 2.3 2.35 2.4 2.45 2.5
Ω Ω
Fig. 2.45 Principal parametric instability regions of cylindrical shells (left panel) and spherical
shells (right panel) for materials W, M, S subject to the compressional pressure p0 D 0:1 when
H1 D 0:0 and H1 D 0:02: Reprinted with permission [255]
0.5 0.45
0.4 0.35
W
0.3
0.25
P
S
0.2
M 0.15 M
0.1 W
S
0.05
0 0
1.15 1.25 1.35 1.45 1.55 1.65 1.75 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9
Ω Ω
Fig. 2.46 Principal parametric instability regions of the radial mode of cylindrical shells (left
panel) and spherical shells (right panel) for materials W, M, S subject to the inflational pressures
p0 D 0:2 (left), p0 D 0:1 (right) when H1 D 0:0 and H1 D 0:02: Reprinted with permission
[255]
0.5 0.45
0.4 S
0.35
M
0.3
S 0.25 W
P
P
0.2
M 0.15
W
W
0.1
0.05
0 0
2.24 2.26 2.28 2.3 2.32 2.34 2.36 2.25 2.3 2.35 2.4 2.45 2.5
Ω Ω
Fig. 2.47 Transition curves of the principal parametric instability regions of cylindrical shells
(left panel) and spherical shells (right panel) for materials W, M, S subject to the compressional
pressure p0 D 0:10 when H1 D 0:02: The solid lines indicate the perturbation predictions,
the dashed-dotted lines describe the results obtained by numerical continuation. Reprinted with
permission [255]
Problems
2.4 (Floquet Theorem).

Prove the Floquet Theorem which states (2.30):
ˆ.t/ D P.t/ eBt : (2.208)
2.5 (The fundamental solution matrix and the monodromy matrix).

Show that the monodromy matrix C calculated at the T -periodic solution xQ .t/
coincides with the fundamental solution matrix ˆ evaluated after an interval of time
equal to T . In particular, ˆ is the solution to the following initial-value problem:
ˇ
dˆ @f.x; c/ ˇˇ
D ˆ; (2.209)
dt @x ˇxN
ˆ.0/ D I (2.210)
where I is the n n identity matrix and @f.x; c/=@x is the Jacobian of the vector
field.
2.6 (Sensitivity to initial imperfections).
Obtain the limit load of the imperfect structure of Fig. 2.30 in terms of the initial
imperfection qo .
2.7 (Equations of motion of the double pendulum).

Obtain the equations of motion (2.183) and (2.184) for the double pendulum and
show that their Taylor expansion about .1 ; P1 ; 2 ; P2 / D .0; 0; 0; 0/ up to terms of
fifth polynomial order yields
1
R1 C ˇı R2 C ˛1 C 1 P1 C ˛y.t/1 ˛Œ1 C y.t/13
6
1
Cˇı.1 2 /P22 ˇı.12 C 22 /R2 C ˇı1 2 R2
2
1 1 1
C ˇı.14 C 24 /R2 C ˇı12 22 R2 ˇı.1 23 C 13 2 /R2
24 4 6
1 1 1
C ˇı.12 2 1 22 /P22 C ˇı.23 13 /P22 C ˛ 5 D 0; (2.211)
2 6 120 1
o R2 C ˇı R1 C ˇ2 C 2 P2 C ˇy.t/2

1 1
ˇı22 R1 C ˇı1 2 R1 C ˇı.2 1 /P12 ˇŒ1 C y.t/23
2 6
1 1 1 1
C ˇı.14 C 24 /R1 ˇı1 23 R1 C ˇı12 22 R1 ˇı13 2 R1
24 6 4 6
1 1 1
ˇı.23 C 13 /P12 C ˇı.1 22 12 2 /P12 C ˇ 5 D 0: (2.212)
6 2 120 2
Fig. 2.48 The inverted P

double pendulum: (a)
reference configuration, (b) a b P c
current configuration with a mC
vertical downward force, (c) C P
current configuration with a
follower force.
q2 q2
k2 mB
k2(q2-q1)
B
q1 q1
e2
k1 A k1q1
e1
2.8 (Inverted double pendulum subject to a downward force).

For the double pendulum of Fig. 2.48, show the following.
(a) With the assumptions: mB D mC D m and kA D kB D k, the equations of
motion are
2ml 2 qR1 C ml 2 ŒqR2 cos .q1 q2 / C qP22 sin .q1 q2 / ml 2 sin .q1 q2 /qP1 qP 2
C2kq1 kq2 P l sin q1 D 0;
ml 2 qR1 cos .q1 q2 / C ml 2 qR2 ml 2 qP12 sin .q1 q2 / C ml 2 sin .q1 q2 /qP1 qP 2
Ck.q2 q1 / P l sin q2 D 0: (2.213)
(b) The kinetic and potential energies are
1 1
P t/ D
T .q; q; mB l 2 qP12 C mC l 2 qP12 C qP 22 C 2qP1 qP 2 cos .q1 q2 / ; (2.214)
2 2
1 1
V .q; P / D kA q12 C kB .q2 q1 /2 P l.2 cos q1 cos q2 /: (2.215)
2 2
(c) The linearized variational equations about q1 D q2 D 0 are
2ml 2 ı qR 1 C ml 2 ı qR2 C 2kıq1 kıq2 P lıq1 D 0; (2.216)

ml 2 ı qR1 C ml 2 ı qR 2 C k.ıq2 ıq1 / P lıq2 D 0: (2.217)
The variational equation can thus be written as M ı qR C .KE KG / q D o

where the associated mass and stiffness matrices are:

21 2 1 10
MDM ; K D
E
; K D
G
11 1 1 01
with M WD ml 2 =k and denoting the load multiplier WD P l=k.

(d) The eigenvalues of the characteristic equation M 2 4 C 3M.2 /2 C 2
3 C 1 D 0 are
s p
3.2 / ˙ 32 24 C 52
1;2;3;4 D ˙ :
2M
(e) The critical loads are

p p
3 5 3C 5
1 D ; 2 D ;
2 2
while the eigenmodes are expressed as
" p #| " p #|
32 C .5 24/ C 32 C .524/
1 D ;1 ; 2 D ;1 :
2 8 2 8
(f) Obtain the equations of motion for the case of a follower force collinear with
the current direction of the upper arm (see Fig. 2.48c). Compute the eigenvalues
and study the stability and bifurcation considering the load multiplier as control
parameter.
Chapter 3
The Elastic Cable: From Formulation
to Computation
This chapter shows the derivation of the nonlinear problem of elastic strings and
cables, treated as a one-dimensional continuum, subject to static and dynamic
excitation. The cable problem combines the striking simplicity of a straightforward
nonlinear formulation with an eminently complex nonlinear dynamic behavior. The
chief steps leading to the formulation of the governing equations are introduced
together with the leading steps enabling nonlinear analyses. The cable problem
also provides the motivation for studying nonlinear distributed-parameter systems
within the more general context of three-dimensional elasticity theory presented in
Chap. 4. In particular, the simplest nonlinear model of elastic cables is discussed
here: the model of cables resisting tension only. This is due to the high slender-
ness of cables which makes the bending/shear/torsional load-carrying capabilities
negligible with respect to the funicular mechanism. Continuation (step-by-step)
analyses for constructing the equilibrium paths are also shown in the context of a few
interesting examples. Within the class of semi-analytical discretization approaches,
the Galerkin method is chosen to discretize the elastic cable problem. A unified
nonlinear Total Lagrangian Formulation and Updated Lagrangian Formulation are
illustrated for cables subject to general loading conditions together with suitable
computational approaches. Using these, the structural responses to loads of varying
magnitude and type are unraveled.
3.1 Introduction
Cables are widely used structural components in civil, ocean, and space engineering.
They are employed in power transmission lines, in suspension bridges, in cable-
stayed bridges, in guyed masts and towers, in cable trusses, in cable networks as
part of general cable-suspended structures, in mooring lines, and in tethered satellite
systems, to mention only a few. Space engineering is becoming one of the most vital
fields involving formidable cable/string applications.

156 3 The Elastic Cable: From Formulation to Computation
A tethered satellite system, also known as TSS, consists of two or more satellites
connected by a thin and long string in orbit (with lengths that can reach up to
100 km). TSSs can be exploited for energy production (making use of the magnetic
field of the Earth), orbit raising, or deorbiting of satellites, to name but a few.
Another challenging concept is that of the space elevator conceived about one
century ago in Russia. A string moving with geostationary angular velocity in its
radial relative equilibrium state around the Earth, reaching from the surface of
the Earth far beyond the geostationary height, could be used as a track for an
Earth-to-space elevator. Research efforts are targeted toward the stability of the
radial equilibrium as well as to the material feasibility of this astonishingly long
string [372]. The scientific community is currently debating on whether the string
of the space elevator could be made of carbon nanotubes when the fabrication
techniques will be finalized.
Typically, cables are made in various different shapes.1 There are single-rope or
single-strand cables, chiefly used for small structures. Manufacturing a wire rope
is similar to making one from natural fibers. The individual wires are first twisted
into a strand, then six or so such strands again twisted around a core. This core
may consist of steel, but also of natural fibers such as sisal, manila, henequen, jute,
or hemp. This is used to relax stress forces when bending the rope. The flexibility
is particularly important in ropes used in machinery such as cranes or elevators
as well as ropes used in transportation modes such as cable cars, cable railways,
funiculars, and aerial lifts. It is not essential in suspension bridges and similar uses.
The specification of a wire rope type—including the number of wires per strand,
the number of strands, and the lay of the rope—is given according to a commonly
accepted coding system, consisting of a certain number of abbreviations.2
On the other hand, parallel wire cables are made up of a large number of
individual wires which are parallel to one another. Neither the cables nor the wires
are twisted in any manner. Cables of this type are used in large-scale structures,
such as the Golden Gate Bridge. Closed parallel strand cables consist of several
prefabricated galvanized strands, all laid parallel and in contact with one another.
Aluminum fillers are used to shape the cable into a nearly circular cross section, after
which the whole cable is wrapped by a continuous pretensioned wrapping and is
1
The modern wire rope was invented by the German mining engineer Wilhelm Ducay in the years
between 1831 and 1834 for use in mining in the Harz Mountains in Clausthal, Lower Saxony,
Germany. It proved superior to ropes made of hemp or to metal chains. The first ropes consisted
of wires twisted about a hemp rope core, six such strands then being twisted around another hemp
rope core in alternating directions. Earlier forms of wire rope had been made by covering a bundle
of wires with hemp. In America wire ropes were later manufactured by John A. Roebling, forming
the basis for his success in suspension bridge construction. Roebling introduced some important
innovations in the design, materials, and manufacturing processes of wire ropes.
2
For example, the wire rope shown in Fig. 3.1d is designated as 619 FC RH OL FSWR where 6
is the number of strands that make up the rope, 19 is the number of wires that make up each strand,
FC stands for Fibre Core, RH indicates Right Hand Lay, OL stands for Ordinary Lay, and FSWR
means Flexible Steel Wire Rope. Along these lines, the wire rope of Fig. 3.1e is a 719 RH OL
FSWR. Another common acronym is GSWR which means Galvanized Steel Wire Rope.
3.1 Introduction 157
d e
a b
Fig. 3.1 Typical cross sections of wire ropes: (a) wire, (b) core, (c) strand, (d) 619 wire rope
with a core, (e) 719 wire rope
radially clamped at several locations along the cable span, inducing significant radial
pressure and consequently increasing the friction between wires. Closed parallel
strand cables may typically contain 7, 19, 37, 61, 91, or 127 strands. The main
cables of suspension bridges are made of thousands of parallel high-strength steel
wires, usually 5 mm in diameter each, bundled together in strands. For example,
the prefabricated strands of the main cable of the Akashi–Kaikyo Bridge in Japan
(whose main span is 1,991 m) are made of 127 wires grouped so as to form a
hexagonal shape.
Due to their prominently slender cylindrical shape (i.e., the transversal length
is much smaller than the longitudinal length, the ratio is usually smaller than
103 ), cables can be treated as one-dimensional continuous elements. The structural
elements whose behavior resembles more closely that of cables are the chains.
Since the chain segments are mutually linked through frictionless hinges, the chain
segments can rotate relative to each other without internal resisting moments.
The resisting action is thus exerted only in the axial direction whereby the only
nontrivial internal force is the axial tensile force called tension.3
In the same way, cables can be conceived as being made of infinitesimal
segments. If the cable segments are assumed to rotate relative to each other without
internal resisting moments, as is the case for chains, the resulting cable behavior
turns out to be the simplest one-dimensional behavior since flexural or torsional
resisting mechanisms can be completely neglected. The accuracy of this assumption
depends on the slenderness of the cable and the loading conditions. Of course, in a
more general context, cables exhibit some degree of flexural and torsional resistance
to external forces which becomes crucial in limited regions known as boundary
3
When the length of the strand cables/wire ropes is only one order of magnitude larger than
the overall external cable diameter, the restoring force exhibited during cyclic flexural loading
is hysteretic (see Fig. 1.42 in Chap. 1) due to inter-wire friction [120, 454]. More complex three-
dimensional models involving contact and Coulomb-friction interfaces are necessary to describe
these behaviors.
layers which arise at the boundaries or where point loads are applied. For example,
the anchorage points of stay cables are usually represented by clamping devices
which restrain the rotation. To capture the local response within these boundary
layers, the far richer and more general model of cables resisting tension, bending,
and torsion is necessary. Within this richer mechanical context, the description of
the geometry of deformation involves more strain measures, namely, the flexural
and torsional curvatures besides the axial elongation (cf. Chap. 7).
3.2 The Simplest One-Dimensional String/Cable Model
The kinematics of purely extensible cables (i.e., cables resisting tension only) are
discussed illustrating the geometric aspects associated with the changes of config-
uration. The dynamic aspects pertaining to the balance laws and the constitutive
equations are then addressed.
The theory of deformation: stress-free and prestressed configurations. The
cable can be considered to be stress-free in the configuration B if it is not acted
upon by loads or if the loads are such that they do not cause any internal stresses
giving rise to a resultant tension. The stress-free configuration can be any arbitrary
configuration occupied by the cable, for example, on a frictionless horizontal plane
when it is not subject to forces besides the force of gravity. In this state, no
tension is expected to be generated. In Fig. 3.2, C indicates any reference curve
y
x
B B
L
e2 0
L
e1 σ
A x (σ)
O
r(s,t) C
e3
z
r 0(σ)
0
0 C
B s
Fig. 3.2 Cable stress-free configuration B; prestressed configuration Bo , and actual configuration
BM: Here only the base curve of the cable is shown in the three different states
3.2 The Simplest One-Dimensional String/Cable Model 159
in the stress-free configuration (taken here, for convenience, as coinciding with the
cable centerline) whose length is L: This reference curve is referred to as the base
curve. Let the arclength along this line, denoted by ; be the coordinate identifying
the material sections of the cable, with 2 Œ0; L IR. The fixed Cartesian
reference frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / is chosen as shown in Fig. 3.2. Thus the stress-free
configuration B is described by the position vector x./ of C with 2 Œ0; L:
When the cable ends are constrained to two support points, say A and B (A is
taken coincident with O), and the cable is allowed to hang freely under the action
of gravity,4 the cable occupies an equilibrium configuration, denoted by B o ; lying
in the vertical plane spanned by (e 1 ; e 2 ). The arclength along the base curve C o of
B o is denoted by s:
The geometry of deformation is discussed in the context of a cable mechanical
model that accounts only for its axial resisting mechanism. Thus the objective
is to describe only the length changes of the cable segments associated with the
configurational changes, while there is no kinematic interest in evaluating the
curvature changes from B to B o .
Let r o ./ indicate the position vector of the cable base curve in the configuration
B . There are various different parametrizations for r o : The natural parameter
o
is s; however, or x (horizontal coordinate along e 1 ) may be other convenient

parametrizations. For example, employing as the space coordinate and giving the
Cartesian representation of r o
r o ./ D x1 ./e 1 C x2 ./e 2 (3.1)
deliver the two kinematic descriptors .x1 ./; x2 .// which represent the kinematic
unknowns. The position vector r o is assumed to be continuously differentiable as
many times as necessary and its derivatives with respect to are assumed not to
vanish in Œ0; L: For ease of notation, let x D x1 and y D x2 :
The cable stretch and other kinematic relationships. An infinitesimal cable
segment of the reference configuration, expressed by x. C d/ x./; to
within first-order terms, has undeformed length d. Under the change from B
to B o ; the transformed material segment of C o in the current configuration B o is
r o . C d/ r o ./: The postulated continuous differentiability of r o allows the
following expansion in a Taylor series of : r o . C d/ D r o ./ C r o d C O.d 2 /
where r o denotes the derivative of r o with respect to : Therefore, the transformed
material segment in the current configuration, to within first-order terms in d, is
r o . C d/ r o ./ D r o d whose length is ds D jr o jd:
The cable stretch (also referred to as linear dilatation) at position is defined as
the ratio between the current length ds and the original length d 5 :
4
This can be practically realized by slowly rotating the horizontal plane by 90 ı .
5
In engineering applications, the strain measure often adopted is the elongation defined as the
ratio between the length variation and the original length, o WD .ds d /=d which leads to
o D o 1.
ds ˇˇ o ˇ
o ./ D D r ./ˇ: (3.2)
d
Because the derivative of r o with respect to is a vector in the tangent direction to
C o at , r o can be expressed as r o D jr o jao where ao ./ denotes the associated
unit tangent vector. Thus,
o ./ WD r o ./ D o ./ao ./ (3.3)
is called the stretch vector since it provides the actual orientation of a material fiber
at and its stretch o . Substituting the Cartesian representation of r o given by (3.1)
into (3.2) yields the following nonlinear strain-displacement relationship:
q
o D x2 C y2 : (3.4)
The Cartesian representation of the unit tangent vector is ao D cos o e 1 C

sin o e 2 ; where o denotes the angle between ao and e 1 : By solving (3.3) for ao
and by employing the Cartesian representation of r o given by (3.1), the unit tangent
vector is obtained as ao D r o = o D .x e 1 C y e 2 /= o from which

cos o D x = o ; sin o D y = o ; o D arctan y =x : (3.5)
3.2.1 The Prestressed Equilibrium
Cable equilibrium is attained in B o under the forces f o ./ per unit reference length
. The cable settles into an equilibrium state in which the balance of linear and
angular momentum is satisfied for any arbitrary cable segment Œ1 ; .0; L/:
The internal state of stress at position 1 is represented by the internal force that
the cable segment > 1 exerts on the cable segment < 1 through the cable
material cross section at 1 : Let no denote the stress resultant which is referred to
as the contact force (see Fig. 3.3). By constitutive assumption according to which
the cable flexural and torsional rigidities are fully neglected, the resultant contact
couple is zero.
Furthermore, if the force f o is applied quasistatically (i.e., with a sufficiently
slow speed so as to prevent inertial forces from being excited), the time rates
of change of linear and angular momentum of the cable segment must vanish.
Therefore, the balance of linear momentum for the cable segment between 1 and
can be written as follows:
Z
no .1 / C no ./ C f o . / d D o; 8 Œ1 ; .0; L/: (3.6)
1
Fig. 3.3 Balance of forces in O

the current configuration Bo r 0(σ)
n0(σ)
0
f
r 0(σ1 )
B
0
- n0(σ1 )
R
By accounting for no .1 / C no ./ D 1 no d ; and by postulating the continuity
of the integrand function, the balance of linear momentum (3.6) leads to the local
statement of equilibrium as
no ./ C f o ./ D o: (3.7)
At the same time, the balance of angular momentum (the moments are taken with
respect to O) reads
Z
r o .1 / no .1 / C r o ./ no ./ C r o . / f o . / d D o (3.8)
1
which is rewritten as
Z n o
Œr o . / no . / C r o . / f o . / d D o; 8 Œ1 ; .0; L/: (3.9)
1
By employing (3.7), (3.9) yields the local statement of the balance of angular
momentum as r o ./ no ./ D o. Since it is r o D o ao by virtue of (3.3),
the balance of angular momentum requires the tension no to be collinear with the
tangent to C o in the deformed configuration B o . Therefore, the contact force can be
merely expressed as
no ./ D N o ./ao ./; (3.10)
where N o denotes the magnitude of the contact force, called the tension. The
equilibrium equation is thus rewritten as
@ ŒN o ./ao ./ C f o ./ D o (3.11)
where the notation @ is used instead of the subscript to denote differentiation

with respect to .
y
e2
A e1 B
x
l 0
f 0
L
r0
e2 a0 b0
0
b 0
a0
e1
B
0
Fig. 3.4 Equilibrium Bo under in-plane static forces when the supports are at the same level
(horizontal cable)
The equilibrium equation (3.11) can be projected into the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 g or
the local basis fao ; bo g (see Fig. 3.4). Choosing the fixed basis yields
@ ŒN o ./ cos o ./ C b1o ./ D 0; @ ŒN o ./ sin o ./ C b2o ./ D 0 (3.12)
where the in-plane forces are expressed as f o D b1o e 1 C b2o e 2 :

Next, the equilibrium equation is projected into the local basis considering
No ao C N o ao C f o D o and accounting for ao D o bo D o o bo where
bo D sin o e 1 C cos o e 2 (see Fig. 3.4) and o D so .ds=d/ D o o . The
space rate of change of o
o WD so (3.13)
is the geometric curvature of the cable base curve in B o : Consequently,
@ N o ./ C f1o ./ D 0; o ./o ./N o ./ C f2o ./ D 0 (3.14)
where f1o WD f o ao and f2o WD f o bo : The representation of the external

forces in the local basis makes them dependent on the geometry of the current
configuration B o :
Constitutive law for purely extensible cables. A nonlinearly elastic constitutive
law relates the contact force N o to the stretch o according to
N o D NO o . o ; /; NO o .1; / D 0: (3.15)
The explicit appearance of in (3.15) means that the cable elasticity may not be
uniform along the cable span. A natural restriction is imposed on the first derivative
of NO o at o D 1 (i.e., the tangent elastic stiffness at the stress-free state) according to

ˇ
N1o WD @ o NO o ˇ o D1 > 0:
It can be shown that N1o D EA where E is Young’s modulus of the cable material
and A is the area of the undeformed cross section.
There is one more condition to be enforced for general loading conditions. The
physical experience suggests that cables cannot resist compressive forces because
of their prominent slenderness (the ratio between the cable diameter and the span
can be lower than 1/1000). Consequently, it is imposed that no compression can be
sustained when the stretch is less than or equal to 1,
NO o . o ; / D 0 if o 1:
For strong materials, it is also reasonable to expect that an infinite stretch or

elongation can be caused in theory6 only by an infinitely large force; that is,
lim NO o . o ; / D 1:
o !1
Conversely, for weak materials that soften under an increasing stretch, the tensile
strength is reached at a threshold value of the stretch.
The planar equilibrium problem. In the context of the displacement method,
the equilibrium equations of elastic cables are obtained in two steps. The strain-
displacement relationship (3.4) is incorporated into the constitutive equation (3.15)
which, in turn, is substituted into the equilibrium equations (3.12). Thus, the
governing equations in the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 g are

@ x./ @ y./
@ NO o . o ; / o C b1o D 0; @ NO o . o ; / o C b2o D 0: (3.16)
./ ./
On the other hand, the governing equations in the local basis fao ; bo g are
@ ŒNO o . o ; / C f1o ./ D 0; o ./o ./NO o . o ; / C f2o ./ D 0: (3.17)
The planar elastic cable problem is thus governed by a two-point boundary-value

problem consisting of two nonlinear ordinary differential equations in x and y (or x1o
and x2o ) supplemented by the pertinent geometric boundary conditions. For example,
for a cable suspended from two points at the same level and at a distance l apart,
the boundary conditions are x.0/ D 0 D y.0/ and x.L/ D l; y.L/ D 0: Such
a cable is referred to as a horizontal suspended cable. For a cable suspended from
6
This kind of limit condition has to be intended as an asymptotic condition. An infinite stretch does
not have any physical meaning.
two points placed at different levels, the boundary conditions read x.0/ D y.0/ D 0
and x.L/ D l; y.L/ D h: This is referred to as an inclined suspended cable. This
configuration is typical of the stay cables of cable-stayed bridges or of the guys
supporting masts, towers, platforms, etc.
Equilibrium states under pressure loads. A normal load always points in the
direction of the normal bo to the current configuration B o : The cable-fixed basis
turns out to be the most convenient basis for this loading condition. For hydrostatic
pressures [23], the exerted normal force f o is per unit actual length; hence, the
corresponding force per unit reference length is f o ./ D f o .s.// o ./bo ./.
Therefore, (3.14) become
@ N o ./ D 0; o ./o ./N o ./ o ./f o ./ D 0: (3.18)
The solution of (3.18)1 is N o D const. which, substituted into (3.18)2 and solved
for N o , yields the geometric curvature as
o D f o =N o : (3.19)
Therefore, for a constant hydrostatic pressure, the ensuing geometric curvature of

B o turns out to be constant implying that the configuration is a circular arc. This is
a classical result usually stated as: the funicular shape of a constant pressure load
is a circular arc.
Substituting the geometric curvature (3.13) into (3.19) yields the following first-
order differential equation:
@s o D f o =N o :
Enforcing the condition o .Lo =2/ D 0—which corresponds to prescribing the
symmetry of the configuration for the case of supports at the same level—yields

o D .f o =N o / s 12 Lo (3.20)
where Lo is the length of the cable in the current configuration B o . The cable
equilibrium configuration, parametrized by s; is obtained by integrating
dx dy
D cos f o =N o s 12 Lo ; D sin f o =N o s 12 Lo (3.21)
ds ds
together with the boundary conditions x.0/ D 0 D y.0/. The obtained solution is
˚
x.s/ D N o =f o sin f o =N o s 12 Lo C sin 12 f o Lo =N o ; (3.22)
˚
y.s/ D N o =f o cos 12 f o Lo =N o cos f o =N o s 12 Lo : (3.23)
The current tension N o and length Lo are yet to be determined by two additional
equations. One equation is the remaining boundary condition7 x .Lo / D l which
results in the following compatibility equation together with its nondimensional
form:
1
2N o =f o sin 2f
o
Lo =N o D l; sin 12 o o D 12 o (3.24)
where o WD Lo = l and o WD f o l=N o . The other equation is obtained from the

constitutive function N o ./ D NO o . o ; /, given by (3.15), for which the inverse
(constitutive) function is assumed to exist in the form
o ./ D b
o .N o ; /: (3.25)
The deformed cable length Lo can be obtained in terms of the initial length of the
cable according to
Z L
Lo D b o .N o ./; /d: (3.26)
0
Hence, the second equation that closes the system together with (3.24)2 is
Z 1
D o
b
o .f o l= o ; N /dN (3.27)
0
This nondimensional equation is obtained by letting N WD =L and introducing the

ratio WD L= l between the initial length L and the span l.
Substituting (3.27) into (3.24)2 yields the following transcendental equation in
the single unknown o :
Z 1
sin 1 o
2
b
.f l= ; N /dN
o o o
D 12 o : (3.28)
0
Equilibrium states under in-plane loads. The solution strategy to obtain the
equilibrium states B o caused by arbitrary in-plane loads is presented next. The
equilibrium equations (3.12) are integrated to give
Z Z
N o cos o D H o b1o . / d ; N o sin o D V o b2o . / d (3.29)
0 0
where H o WD N o .0/ cos o .0/ and V o WD N o .0/ sin o .0/ are the horizontal
and vertical components of the tension at A. They represent the opposite of the
7
The boundary condition y.Lo / D 0 is automatically satisfied due to the symmetry condition
enforced on o :
reactive forces at the left support and are to be regarded as two static unknowns.8
Equation (3.29), solved for cos o and sin o ; yields
Z Z

cos o D H o b1o . / d =N o ; sin o D V o b2o . / d =N o :
0 0
By employing the fundamental trigonometric identity, the tension N o turns out to

be expressed in the form
h
Z 2
Z 2 i1=2
N o ./ D Ho b1o . / d C Vo b2o . / d : (3.30)
0 0
Moreover, the geometric relationships (3.5), solved for x and y ; furnish the
following two first-order differential equations in x./ and y./:

Z
dx
D o H o b1o . / d =N o ./; (3.31)
d 0

Z
dy
D o V o b2o . / d =N o ./: (3.32)
d 0
Substituting the inverse constitutive function (3.25) into (3.31) and (3.32), and
integrating the resulting equations yields the solution .x; y/ parametrized by H o
and V o . In turn, the forces .H o ; V o / are determined by prescribing the geometric
boundary conditions on x./ and y./ at the constraints A and B:
The catenary equilibrium. The equilibrium of an inextensible cable under its
own weight is examined first. The inextensibility condition is enforced through an
internal kinematic constraint which imposes the stretch to be one regardless of the
loading conditions. The constraint reads
ds
o D D 1; 8 2 .0; L/: (3.33)
d
8
The overall equilibrium of the cable is governed by three equilibrium equations; however, there
are four unknowns, the horizontal and vertical reactions at A and those at B. Only one static
unknown is left as a statically indeterminate reaction. The equilibrium equations, for an inclined
cable, read
H.0/ C H.L/ C B1o D 0; V .0/ C V .L/ C B2o D 0; H.L/h C V .L/l C M3o D 0
where Bjo is the resultant component of f o in the e j -direction and M3o is the component of the
resultant moment about A O in the e 3 -direction:
Z L Z L Z L
Bjo WD bjo d; M3o WD e 3 r o f o d D .b1o y C b2o x/d:
0 0 0
This implies that ds D d: The gravity force per unit reference length is
f o D mge 2 where m WD A is the mass per unit reference length ; and is
the material mass density per unit reference volume. Equations (3.31) and (3.32)
become
dx Ho dy .V o C mgs/
D p ; Dp : (3.34)
ds .H o /2 C .V o C mgs/2 ds .H o /2 C .V o C mgs/2
The following nondimensional variables and parameters are introduced:

s x y
N WD ; sN WD ; xN WD ; yN WD
l l l l (3.35)
L mgl mgl
WD ; ˇ WD o ; WD :
l V Ho
Equations (3.34), rendered nondimensional by (3.35), are integrated to yield the
following closed-form parametric representation of the catenary equilibrium:

x.Ns / D arcsinh =ˇ C sN arcsinh.=ˇ/ =; (3.36)
"r #
2 q
y.Ns / D 1 C 2 1=ˇ C sN 1 C .=ˇ/ =;2
(3.37)
where the boundary conditions x.0/ N D 0 D y.0/N are incorporated and arcsinh
denotes the inverse sinh function. Enforcing the remaining boundary conditions at B
delivers two transcendental equations in the unknowns and ˇ: These two equations
play the role of nonlinear compatibility conditions.
To complete the nonlinear equilibrium solution, the tension N o is calculated
using (3.30) which furnishes
q
N o .Ns / D H o 1 C 2 .1=ˇ C sN/2 : (3.38)
Next, the cases of horizontal and inclined cables are discussed.

Horizontal cables. The nondimensional boundary conditions at the right boundary
N
B of the cable hanging from two supports at the same level are x. / D 1 and
N
y. / D 0; which, in explicit form, give

arcsinh =ˇ C arcsinh =ˇ = D 1; C 2=ˇ D 0: (3.39)
The solution of (3.39)2 is ˇ D 2= which delivers the vertical component of the
tension at A as V o D mgL=2. This force component may be obtained by imposing
the overall cable equilibrium in the vertical direction. In fact, the line of action of
the resultant weight force is the vertical through the midspan of the cable. Hence,
mgL
mgL
2 2
0 l 0
H H
y0
mgL
mgL
2 l
0 2
H
O
y0
0
x0 H
mgL
2
Fig. 3.5 Equilibrium of forces in a horizontal cable under its own weight
the two vertical reactions at the supports in A and B are the same and the equilibrium
in the vertical direction requires 2V .0/ mgL D 0 (see Fig. 3.5).
Substituting ˇ D 2= into (3.39)1 yields the governing compatibility condition
in the only remaining statically indeterminate unknown as
sinh .=2/ D =2: (3.40)

This equation can be solved for and can be further expanded in a series of as9
1 2 1 4
D sinh .=2/=.=2/ D 1 C C C O. 6 /: (3.41)
24 1920
N y/
On the other hand, the configuration variables .x; N and the tension N o are,
respectively, expressed as

N s / D arcsinh .Ns =2/ C arcsinh. =2/ =;
x.N (3.42)
hq q i
N s/ D
y.N 1 C 2 .Ns =2/2 1 C 2 . =2/2 =; (3.43)
q
N .s/ D H 1 C 2 .Ns =2/2 :
o o
(3.44)
Instead of the arclength s, the horizontal coordinate x can be used to formulate the
equilibrium equation as
q
yxx mg=H o 1 C yx2 D 0: (3.45)
9
The result suggests that for < 1, the undeformed length of the cable can be practically taken to
be coincident with the span. For > 1; L > l and increases with : These results are fully justified
and explained in the subsequent sections.
The exact solution of (3.45) is

1 1
y.x/ D H o =mg cosh mgl=H o x= l cosh mgl=H o : (3.46)
2 2
The cable sag-to-span ratio d is introduced as the ratio between the sag (i.e., y
calculated at the midspan) and the span l; thus d WD jy.L=2/j= l which gives

d D cosh 1 =: (3.47)
2
3.2.1.1 Shallow Versus Nonshallow States: Parabola Versus Catenary
A good approximation of the catenary is given by the parabola when 1 which

corresponds to H o mgl: This situation occurs in shallow cables for which the
angle that the tangent to the equilibrium configuration makes with the horizontal
axis is small. In turn, the smallness of opimplies that tan o D o C O. o 3 /:
Moreover, since j tan o j D jyx j 1; it is 1 C yx2 D 1 C O.yx2 /: By introducing
this approximation into (3.45), the following approximate equilibrium equation is
obtained:
yxx D mg=H o (3.48)
whose integration, together with the boundary conditions y.0/ D 0 D y.l/,
furnishes the following parabola in dimensional and nondimensional forms:
1 1
y.x/ D mg=H o x.x l/; y.
N x/ N xN 1/:
N D x. (3.49)
2 2
Therefore, the sag-to-span ratio of the parabolic configuration is
1
d D : (3.50)
8
There are two possibilities in the study of the equilibrium of a horizontal
suspended cable. In the first scenario, is provided as a datum which means that
the initial cable length and the span are chosen a priori. Hence, the compatibility
equation (3.40) is solved for and provides H o together with the sag-to-span
ratio d:
In the second scenario, the sag-to-span ratio is chosen, therefore (3.47) gives
which substituted into (3.41) delivers . This provides the required initial length
of the cable. For engineering applications such as power transmission lines or
suspension bridges, the span and the sag-to-span ratio are typically provided by
design constraints. Consequently, the cable length L and the horizontal reaction H o
are determined by the solution process.
A number of representative catenary configurations are shown in Fig. 3.6 for
different sag-to-span ratios, ranging from shallow (a) to deeply sagged profiles (d).
A x B
(a)
y (b)
(c)
(d)
Fig. 3.6 Inextensible catenary equilibrium states Bo when (a) D 0:05; D 1:0001; d D
6:25=1000; (b) D 0:75; D 1:0236; d D 9:48=100; (c) D 1; D 1:04219; d D 1:28=10;
and (d) D 1:5; D 1:09642; d D 1:96=10: The scale is not the same for the x- and y-axes
3 3
a b
2.5 2.5
2 2
γ γ
1.5 1.5
1 1
0.5 0.5
0 0
1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25 1.3 1.35 1.4 1.45 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
η d
Fig. 3.7 Variation of with (a) and (b) d
In Fig. 3.7a,b, variations of ; respectively, with (part a) and with the sag-to-span
ratio d (part b), are shown. In accordance with the above considerations, the solution
can be found through two approaches: (1) given , is determined in Fig. 3.7a,
and, correspondingly, d in Fig. 3.7b; (2) given d , is determined in Fig. 3.7b, and,
correspondingly in Fig. 3.7a.
Figure 3.7b shows the variation of with the sag-to-span ratio d (obtained from
the exact catenary solution) and its first-order approximation, given by (3.50) and
represented by the straight line. When < 1; the curves are nearly indistinguishable
whereas for > 1; the deviation becomes appreciable. In particular, the percent
difference between the catenary sag and the parabolic sag is about 2 % when D 1
which corresponds to a sag-to-span ratio close to 1=8: This justifies the engineering
practice to approximate the cable equilibrium by a parabola for sag-to-span ratios
lower than 1=8 as opposed to considering the exact catenary solution.
Fig. 3.8 Typical construction scheme of a suspension bridge
The parabola of the suspension bridge. The case of a constant downward vertical
load per unit horizontal length entails f1 D 0 and f2 D f . The equilibrium
equation in the vertical direction, by substitution of tan o D yx , becomes
H o yxx D f: (3.51)
The integration of (3.51) gives the following parabola as its exact solution:
f
y.x/ D x.x l/: (3.52)
2H o
Therefore, the sag-to-span ratio is
f l2
d D : (3.53)
8H o
The parabola represented by (3.52) is referred to as the parabola of the suspension
bridge problem. During the construction of a suspension bridge, segments of the
bridge deck are gradually suspended from the main cables starting from the midspan
as in Fig. 3.8. Therefore, the dead load of suspension bridges can be regarded as a
constant downward vertical load along the span of the bridge.
3.2.1.2 Inclined Cables
For inclined cables, the ratio h= l is a typical datum that corresponds to tan
where is the angle that the straight line through the two supports makes with
the horizontal line. The imposition of the boundary conditions for inclined cables,
N
x. / D 1 and y. / N D h= l D tan ; leads to the following two nonlinear
compatibility conditions:

arcsinh.=ˇ C / arcsinh.=ˇ/ = D 1; (3.54)
q q

1 C .=ˇ C /2 1 C .=ˇ/2 = D tan : (3.55)
B
0
L
y e2 h
b0 a0 f
0
0
e2 θ
e1
A e1 x
B
0 0
b
0
r (σ) a 0
s
l
Fig. 3.9 Equilibrium configuration Bo under in-plane static forces when the supports are at
different levels (inclined cable)
As for horizontal cables, there are two ways of studying the equilibrium of
inclined cables: (1) and are provided as part of the data (i.e., the initial
cable length and the height-to-span ratio are known); hence, the compatibility
equations (3.54) and (3.55) are solved for and ˇ providing H o and V o I (2) the
sag-to-span ratio (the sag can be defined as the maximum distance between the
lowest cable point and the line through A and B) and are prescribed as part of the
data; therefore (3.54) and (3.55), together with the equation giving the sag-to-span
ratio, deliver (i.e., the required initial length of the cable) and the nondimensional
reaction forces, (H o ) and ˇ (V o ).
The elastic catenary equilibrium. The inextensibility constraint must be relaxed
to consider the effects of the elasticity on the cable equilibrium. A linearly elastic
constitutive law is adopted in the form N o ./ D EA . o 1/ from which the
inverse constitutive function is obtained as o D N o =EA C 1: This, in turn, can be
substituted into (3.31) and (3.32) to obtain the governing equations whose solution
N
with the boundary conditions x.0/ D 0 D y.0/
N is

N /
x. N D =k
N C arcsinh.=ˇ C N / arcsinh.=ˇ/ =; (3.56)
q q
1
N /
y. N D =k 1=ˇ C N N C 1 C 2 .1=ˇ C N /2 1 C .=ˇ/2 =
2
(3.57)
where the nondimensional stiffness parameter k WD EA=H o is introduced. This
equilibrium state is known as elastic catenary.
The compatibility equations for this problem are

=k C arcsinh =ˇ C arcsinh =ˇ = D 1;
q q
2 2
=k 1=ˇ C 12 C 1 C 2 1=ˇ C 1 C =ˇ = D tan : (3.58)
For horizontal cables, the compatibility equation reduces to the more compact
form

1 1
sinh 1 =k D : (3.59)
2 2
The limit of (3.59) when k ! 1 (infinitely stiff cables) gives (3.40) which holds
for inextensible cables.
3.2.2 The Incremental Problem: Total Versus Updated

Lagrangian Formulation
The static forces f o acting in the configuration B o (such as, for example, the gravity
force in the catenary configuration) induce a tensile contact force no which is called
prestress for the cable. By analogy with the pendulum problem, the prestressed
cable possesses a geometric stiffness besides its elastic stiffness. Both the geometric
and elastic internal forces enable the cable to sustain incremental forces f applied
in B o which cause the cable to be displaced to the current configuration B: M
This section illustrates the incremental problem and the different approaches to
its formulation, known as the Total Lagrangian Formulation (TLF) or Updated
Lagrangian Formulation (ULF).
3.2.3 Kinematics of the Incremental Problem
The incremental kinematic problem describing the transformation from the pre-
stressed equilibrium B o to the current configuration BM is illustrated in the context
of ULF. The state of deformation may also be described as a total deformation from
the stress-free configuration B to BM by means of the TLF approach.
Total Lagrangian Formulation. By employing the arclength parameter in B;
let r.; t/ denote the position vector of the cable base curve in BM and let sM be the
arclength along this base curve. The total actual stretch M is defined as
dMs
M D D jr j: (3.60)
d
By letting a denote the unit vector in the direction tangential to the current cable
base curve, it is straightforward to obtain
M WD r D M a: (3.61)
Vector M is called the total stretch vector and gives the actual orientation of the
material fiber at and its total stretch. If r is given a component representation in a
convenient basis—e.g., the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g or the cable-fixed basis fa; b; cg
M
in B—(3.60) delivers the strain-displacement relationship. For example, in the fixed
basis, the position vector is r D r1 e 1 C r2 e 2 C r3 e 3 and its gradient becomes
r D r1; e 1 C r2; e 2 C r3; e 3 which, by virtue of (3.60), leads to
q
M D .r1; /2 C .r2; /2 C .r3; /2 : (3.62)
Updated Lagrangian Formulation. The objective of the updated Lagrangian

kinematic formulation is to express the kinematic relationships in terms of the
incremental quantities that describe the change of configuration from B o to B: M
By employing the arclength parameter s in B ; let r.s; t/ be the position vector
o
of the cable reference line in B. M The position vector r is expressed as the

sum of the position vector r in B o and the displacement vector u from B o to
o
BM W r.s; t/ D r o .s/ C u.s; t/:

The displacement vector u is the natural kinematic descriptor for the incremental
problem. The incremental stretch arising in the change of configuration from B o to
BM is defined as
D dMs =ds D jr s j: (3.63)
Moreover, by the Chain Rule, the total stretch can be expressed as
dMs dMs ds
M D D D o (3.64)
d ds d
which proves that the total stretch is the initial stretch o multiplied by the
incremental stretch .
The strain-displacement relationship is finally obtained by expressing the incre-
mental stretch as a function of the displacement gradient. Let u.s; t/ D u.s; t/e 1 C
v.s; t/e 2 C w.s; t/e 3 be the component form of u in the fixed basis so that the
gradient of the position vector becomes r s D ao C us and
r s D .cos o C us /e 1 C .sin o C vs /e 2 C ws e 3 : (3.65)
Thus the incremental stretch, according to (3.63), is expressed as
q
D .cos o C us /2 C .sin o C vs /2 C w2s : (3.66)
Fig. 3.10 Balance of linear n(σ,t)

and angular momentum in the O
current configuration BM
r (σ,t)
f (σ,t)
r (σ1,t) C
-n(σ1,t)
The unit vector in the current tangent direction is obtained as a D r s = D

.ao C us /= which in component form becomes
.cos o C us /e 1 C .sin o C vs /e 2 C ws e 3
aD p : (3.67)
.cos o C us /2 C .sin o C vs /2 C w2s
3.2.4 Equations of Motion
The governing equations of motion are derived according to both the Total and
Updated Lagrangian Formulations.
Total Lagrangian Formulation. The total external force per unit reference length
can be expressed as f.;M t/ D f o ./ C f.; t/ if f.; t/ represents the
incremental external force per unit reference length .
M t/ be the total contact force of the cable at position r.; t/ of the current
Let n.;
configuration BM (see Fig. 3.10). Consider a cable segment between 1 and for
which the statement of the balance of linear momentum reads
R
R
n.
M 1 ; t/ C n.;
M t/ C 1 f. ;M t/ d D d
%A@t r. ; t/ d ;
dt 1
8Œ1 ; .0; L/; 8t 2 .0; 1/: (3.68)
If the cable mass per unit reference length %A does not change with time, requiring
the balance of linear momentum (3.68) to hold for all parts of cable leads to the
local statement as
@ n.; M
M t/ C f.; t/ D %A@t t r.; t/: (3.69)
On the other hand, the balance of angular momentum reads

Z
r.1 ; t/ n.
M 1 ; t/ C r.; t/ n.;
M t/ C M t/ d
r. ; t/ f. ;
1
Z
d
D r. ; t/ Œ%A@t r. ; t/ d ; 8Œ1 ; .0; L/; 8t 2 .0; 1/;
dt 1
which, by making use of (3.69), gives
@ r.; t/ n.;
M t/ D o: (3.70)
M If NM denotes the total tension,

Consequently, nM must be collinear with @ r D a:
the current contact force can be written as
M t/ D NM .; t/a.; t/:

n.;
Accordingly, equation of motion (3.69) becomes

h i
M
@ NM .; t/a.; t/ C f.; t/ D %A@t t r.; t/: (3.71)
The final governing equation of motion is obtained by introducing the constitu-

tive equation for NM : For a nonlinearly elastic material, the constitutive law can be
cast in the form
NM .; t/ D NO .;
M /: (3.72)
Substituting the strain-displacement relationship into the constitutive equa-

tion (3.72) and the resulting equation into (3.71) yields the governing equation
of motion according to TLF as

O @ r.; t/ M
@ M /
N .; C f.; t/ D %A@t t r.; t/: (3.73)
M t/
.;
Updated Lagrangian Formulation. The reference configuration for the ULF is

M t/ be the
the prestressed configuration B o whose arclength coordinate is s: Let n.s;
total contact force of the cable at position r.s; t/ and f.s; t/ be the incremental
M t/ D f o .s/Cf.s; t/ indicates
external force per unit reference length s; so that f.s;
the total external force per unit reference length s in B o . Note that f o .s/ is not
the same as f o ./ since f o .s/ represents the force per unit reference length s and
is related to the former according to f o .s/ D f o ..s//= o ..s//: Enforcing the
balance of linear and angular momentum leads to the following equation of motion:
h i
M t/ D %A.s/@t t r.s; t/:
@s NM .s; t/a.s; t/ C f.s; (3.74)
The incremental form of the equation of motion is obtained from (3.74) by

expressing the total external forces, the current tension, and the unit tangent vector
as a direct summation of the quantities in B o and associated incremental parts,
namely, fM D f o C f; NM D N o C N; a D ao C .a ao /; where N indicates the
incremental tension.10 Employing the equilibrium equation in B o parametrized by s
as
@s ŒN o .s/ao .s/ C f o .s/ D o
and putting nM D NM a D N o ao C N o .a ao / C N a into (3.74) yield the following
equation of motion in incremental form:
@s .N a/ C @s ŒN o .a ao / C f D %A.s/@t t r: (3.75)
The governing equation of motion within ULF is obtained after substituting the
constitutive equation into (3.75). For example, for a nonlinearly elastic material, the
constitutive law for the incremental tension is given in the form
b .; s/:
N.s; t/ D N (3.76)
By substituting the strain-displacement relationship (3.66) into the constitutive
equation (3.76) and the resulting expression into the equation of motion (3.75), the
following equation is obtained:
@s ŒNO .; s/a.s; t/ C @s ŒN o .s/ .a.s; t/ ao .s// C f.s; t/ D %A.s/@t t u.s; t/
(3.77)
where use of the fact that @t t r.s; t/ D @t t u.s; t/ is made.11 Let
nE .s; t/ WD NO .; s/a.s; t/; nG .s; t/ WD N o .s/ Œa.s; t/ ao .s/ (3.78)
represent the elastic and geometric parts of the contact forces that contribute to
balance the external and inertial forces according to
@s nE C @s nG C f D %A.s/@t t u:
The first term is a nonlinear incremental elastic stiffness term while the second is a
nonlinear geometric stiffness term.
10
This definition is not unique. The current contact vector can be expressed as nM D .N o C N /a
or as nM D N o ao C N a: In the first case, the total tension is the summation of the pretension
N o and the incremental part N WD nM a N o . In the second case, the incremental tension is
N WD nM a N o .ao a/.
11
The governing equation of motion may be given in an alternative form, by letting the
displacement vector appear explicitly; that is,

@s NO =.ao C us / C @s N o = .us . 1/ao / C f D %A.s/@t t u:
3.2.5 Weak Form of the Equations of Motion
A sufficiently smooth test function y./ is introduced over Œ0; L with the
requirement that it vanishes at the boundary @Cu where the geometric conditions are
prescribed. Multiplying both sides of (3.69) by y and integrating over the length
Œ0; L yields
Z L Z L
.@ nM y C fM y/d D %A@t t r yd: (3.79)
0 0
This is a primitive weak form of the equations of motion. Integration by parts is

carried out to move the derivatives from the unknown contact force nM to y thus
obtaining
Z Z
L ˇL L
.%A@t t r y C nM @ y/d D nM y ˇ0 C fM yd: (3.80)
0 0
If the test function is taken to coincide with a virtual displacement or a virtual

velocity, the weak form (3.80) becomes the Principle of Virtual Work or the
Principle of Virtual Power, respectively. The integral term that involves nM is the
stress work spent by the tension nM D NM a in the test stretch @ y. Moreover, if y
coincides with the actual velocity, (3.80) furnishes the energy equation
Z Z L Z L
d 1 L ˇL
%Aj@t rj d C
2
nM @t d
M ˇ
D nM @t r 0 C fM @t rd: (3.81)
dt 0 2 0 0
ˇ
The term nM @t r ˇ@C takes into account the mechanical boundary conditions and
represents the power spent by the boundary forces. The energy equation states
that the input power (the right-hand side in the form of sum of power spent at
the boundary and power spent by the distributed forces) is transformed partly into
kinetic energy and partly into stress power.
3.2.6 Linearization about the Prestressed Equilibrium
The linearization of (3.77) can be obtained in a straightforward manner by intro-

ducing a small parameter, denoted by "; which suitably quantifies the deviations
of the cable actual configuration from the prestressed equilibrium B o : The un-
known functions are assumed to be continuously differentiable functions of ":
us .s; tI "/; .s; tI "/; NO ..s; tI "/; s/; a.s; tI "/; where us .s; tI 0/Do; .s; tI 0/D1;
NO ..s; tI 0/; s/ D 0; a.s; tI 0/ D ao : The elastic part of the tension parametrized by

" according to nE .s; tI "/ WD NO ..s; tI "//a.s; tI "/ and expanded in a Taylor series
of " becomes
nE .s; tI "/ D "NO (1) (1) ao C O."2 / (3.82)

ˇ
where NO (1) WD NO ..s; tI "/; s/ˇ"D0 D EA is the first derivative of ˇthe tension with
respect to the stretch evaluated at the stress-free state and (1) WD " ˇ"D0 denotes the
first-order part of the stretch/elongation (i.e., it contains terms linear in us ). On the
other hand, the Taylor expansion in " of the geometric part of the tension yields
nG .s; tI "/ D "N o a(1) C O."2 / (3.83)

ˇ
where a(1) WD a" ˇ"D0 is the first-order deviation of a from ao : Thus, retaining first-
order terms only in the equation of motion yields the following linearized equation
of motion:

@s ŒNO (1) (1) .s; t/ao .s/ C @s N o .s/a(1) .s; t/ C f.s; t/ D %A@t t u(1) .s; t/: (3.84)
The linearization of and a, given by (3.66) and (3.67), respectively, yields (1) and
a(1) as
(1) D .cos o /u(1)
s C .sin /vs ;
o (1)
(3.85)

1
a D .sin /us .sin 2 /vs e 1
(1) 2 o (1) o (1)
2

1
C .cos2 o /vs(1) .sin 2 o /u(1)
s e 2 C w(1)
s e3 (3.86)
2
s D us;" .s; tI 0/ D us e 1 C vs e 2 C ws e 1 denotes the first-order variation

where u(1) (1) (1) (1)
of the displacement gradient.

Upon dropping the superscripts 1, the component form of the linearized equa-
tions becomes

1
@s EA cos us C sin 2 vs
2 o o
2

1
C @s N o sin2 o us sin 2 o vs C f1 D %A@t t u; (3.87)
2

1
@s EA sin 2 o us C sin2 o vs
2
(3.88)
1
C @s N cos vs sin 2 us
o 2 o o
C f2 D %A@t t v;
2

@s N o ws C f3 D %A@t t w: (3.89)
By introducing the following column vectors: u D Œu; v; w| ; us D Œus ; vs ; ws |

and f D Œf1 ; f2 ; f3 | ; the linearized equations of motion are rewritten, in matrix
form, as

@s LE .s/ us .s; t/ C @s LG .s/ us .s; t/ C f.s; t/ D %A.s/@t t u.s; t/ (3.90)
where the elastic stiffness and geometric matrices are

2 3
cos2 o 12 sin 2 o 0
LE .s/ WD EA 4 12 sin 2 o sin2 o 0 5 ; (3.91)
0 0 0
2 3
sin2 o 12 sin 2 o 0
LG .s/ WD N o .s/ 4 12 sin 2 o cos2 o 05: (3.92)
0 0 1
The following properties deserve attention: (a) the symmetry of LE and LG (due
to the self-adjointness of the prestressed elastic problem derivable from an elastic
stored energy and a potential geometric energy); (b) the full elastic and geometric
uncoupling between the in-plane problem (in the (e 1 ; e 2 /-plane) and the out-of-
plane problem (in the e 3 -direction).
3.3 Static Analysis: First-Order Sequential Continuation

in Force Control
The case of a quasi-static loading program is considered in which the inertia forces
can be neglected. In the context of a force-driven loading scheme, the loading
process is discretized in a sufficiently large number of load steps with increments
f i (i D 1; : : : ; NL ). This corresponds to the physical instance of running an
experiment where a set of actuators prescribe the loads by small increments at each
step. At the i th step, the total force is f i D f i 1 C f i where f 0 D o and fNL is
the force at the end of the loading path.
The force increment is taken to be sufficiently small that it causes an infinitesimal
change of configuration from BMi 1 to BMi : This means that the incremental problem
is governed by linearized equations which feature the infinitesimal incremental
displacements ui and the incremental strains i . Consequently, a Taylor expan-
sion of the equilibrium equations about BMi 1 , truncated to first order, delivers the
incremental equations. At the i th step, the equilibrium equation reads:
@s ŒNO i ai C @s ŒN o .ai ao / C f i D o; i D 1; : : : ; NL : (3.93)

3.3 Static Analysis: First-Order Sequential Continuation in Force Control 181
The tension and the unit tangent vector can be expressed as
NO i D NO i 1 C NO i ; ai D ai 1 C ai
where NO i is the incremental tension and ai is the difference between the unit
tangent vector in BMi and the unit tangent vector in BMi 1 : Hence, the elastic and
geometric parts of the tension, to within first-order terms, are
NO i ai D NO i 1 ai 1 C NO i 1 ai C NO i ai 1 ; (3.94)

N .ai a / D N .ai 1 C ai a /:
o o o o
(3.95)
Substituting (3.94) and (3.95) into (3.93) and accounting for the equilibrium state
BMi 1 gives the incremental equilibrium equation in the form

@s NO i ai 1 C @s Nio1 ai C f i D o (3.96)
where Nio1 WD N o C NO i 1 is the total tension at the previous load step. By

performing explicit calculations of the incremental quantities, and by introducing
the operator notation, (3.96) is recast in the form

@s LEi 1 us.i / C @s LGi 1 us.i / C fi D o (3.97)
where
ui D Œui ; vi ; wi | ; us.i / D Œus.i / ; vs.i / ; ws.i / | :
The notations LEi 1 and LGi 1 indicate that the elastic and geometric stiffnesses are
evaluated in the configuration BMi 1 caused by the previous load step.
In nonlinear structural analysis codes, there is an option in the analysis, often
called restart, which allows to store the elastic and geometric stiffnesses correspond-
ing to the last load step, the configuration variables, the internal forces, and the total
forces. Subsequently, in a later run, the analysis can continue upon restart with a
new incremental loading path.
Iterative procedures for the incremental problem. The solution of the incremen-
tal problem BM i 1 ! BM i ; obtained via linearization, represents only an approximate
solution to the nonlinear incremental problem. Its accuracy is expected to improve
by decreasing the force increment f i . However, in general there are no a priori
estimates of the error associated with the solution of the incremental linearized
problem. Thus there is a need to correct the solution of the linearized problem so as
to achieve convergence to the solution of the exact nonlinear incremental problem
within a desired accuracy.
The basic concept is to introduce corrections iteratively so as to satisfy the

equilibrium equations of the incremental problem with increasing accuracy. The
iterative correcting procedure mimics the Newton–Raphson method.
The nonlinear equilibrium problem in BMi is governed by (3.93). An iterative
procedure is sought to be applied to (3.93) according to the Newton–Raphson
scheme. At the i th loading step, the initial guess (starting solution) for the iterative
procedure is that obtained from the linearized incremental problem, denoted by
a(0) O (0)
i and Ni : Accordingly,
O (0) O O (0)
i D ai 1 C ai ; Ni D Ni 1 C Ni :
a(0) (0)
(3.98)
The initial guess does not fulfill exactly the equilibrium equation of the i th load
step. Thus, the following residual/unbalanced forces arise:
rQ (0) O (0) (0)

i D @s ŒNi ai C @s ŒN .ai a / C f i :
o (0) o
(3.99)
The aim of the iterative procedure is to minimize the residual forces below a desired
numerical tolerance.
Suppose that the solution has been corrected j times so that the residual forces
become
rQ (j) O (j) (j)
i D @s ŒNi ai C @s ŒN .ai a / C f i :
o (j) o
(3.100)
The .j C 1/th correction is obtained by letting
a(j+1)
i D a(j)
i C ai ;
(j+1)
NO i(j+1) D NO i(j) C NO i(j+1) : (3.101)
Substituting (3.101) into (3.93) yields

o (j)
@s NO i(j) a(j)
i C @s N .ai a / C f i
o
o
C @s NO i(j+1) a(j) O (j)
i C @s .N C Ni /ai
(j+1)
D o: (3.102)
By accounting for (3.100) in (3.102), the resulting equation becomes

o
@s NO i(j+1) a(j) O (j)
i C @s .N C Ni /ai
(j+1)
D rQ (j)
i : (3.103)
By repeating operations similar to those carried out in the linearization, both a(j+1)
i
and NO i(j+1) are expanded in Taylor series. The iterative equations, in operator form,
read
G(j)
i us.i / C @s Li us.i / D Q
@s LE(j) (j+1) (j+1)
r(j)
i (3.104)
where the superscripts j indicate that the operators LE and LG are evaluated at the
preceding iterative correction. In particular, LE(j) G(j)
i and Li denote the tangent elastic
and geometric stiffness matrices calculated at the configuration BMi(j) :
The iterations are arrested according to different convergence criteria. For

example, the iterations may be arrested when a suitable norm of the residual forces
is below a given quantity called the tolerance and denoted by "r . Accordingly, an
example of arrest condition is
Z
i jds < "r :
jrQ (j+1) (3.105)
Another condition may be based on a convenient norm of the iterative corrections.

To solve the iterative governing equations, any of the available discretization pro-
cedures (e.g., finite elements, finite differences, the Galerkin method, see Chap. 11)
can be employed. Suppose that q indicates the vector of nodal displacements or the
amplitudes of some trial functions. Then, the incremental vector at each iterative
step is q(j+1) : The iterative sequence is convergent if and only if jq(j+1) j < jq(j) j:
Practically, the correcting sequence is arrested when
jq(j+1) q(j) j
jq(j+1) j < "q or < "Nq :
jq(j) q.j 1/ j
3.3.1 The Galerkin Method for the Incremental Problem
Among various spatial discretization techniques, the Galerkin method is employed

to determine an approximate solution to the incremental problem of the cable
subject to planar forces. After dropping the subscripts and superscripts, (3.104) is
rewritten as

@s LE us C @s LG us D r: (3.106)
After choosing a set of trial functions for u.s/ and v.s/; such that they satisfy the
geometric boundary conditions (u D 0 D v at s D 0, L), let q1 D Œq1(1) ; ::::; qM(1) |
|
and q2 D Œq1(2) ; ::::; q (2)
M be M1 column vectors listing the M Lagrangian (or
generalized) coordinates relating to the representation of u and v; respectively. Let
the trial functions for the discretization of u and v be organized in the vectors
j .s/ as
j .s/ D Œ1(j) .s/; 2(j) .s/; : : : ; M(j) .s/| ; j D 1; 2:
Thus, the discretized forms of the displacement components u.s/ and v.s/ are
| |
u.s/ D 1 .s/ q1 ; v.s/ D 2 .s/ q2 : (3.107)
Rearranging the Lagrangian coordinates for u and v according to a convenient

scheme in one single-column vector yields the vector of all Lagrangian coordinates.
| |
One of such possible schemes is q| D Œq1 ; q2 :
Hence, the displacement vector u D Œu; v| can be written as

|
1 .s/ o|
u.s/ D | q D ˆ.s/ q (3.108)
o| 2 .s/
where o D Œ0; : : : ; 0| is a M1 column vector of zeros.

A systematic way of obtaining ˆ is to express the coordinates extracted from the
vector q according to: q1 D B1 q and q2 D B2 q where B1 and B2 are Boolean
matrices, composed of zeros and ones. Consequently,
|
1 .s/ B1
ˆ.s/ D | : (3.109)
2 .s/ B2
The displacement gradient field is expressed as us .s/ D ˆ s .s/ q: Substituting

the obtained expressions into the equilibrium equation given by (3.106), pre-
multiplying the result by ˆ | , and integrating over the domain Œ0; L lead to the
discrete equilibrium equations according to the Galerkin method in the form:
.KE C KG / q D p (3.110)
where the vector of the generalized forces is

Z L
p WD ˆ | r ds: (3.111)
0
On the other hand, the elastic and geometric matrices are12

Z Z
L L
KE D ˆ | @s LE ˆ s ds and KG D ˆ | @s LG ˆ s ds: (3.112)
0 0
The linearized incremental problem given by (3.104) is
i C Ki / qi
.KE(j) D p(j)
G(j) (j+1)
i (3.113)
where the incremental displacement field and its gradient are expressed as
i .s/ D ˆ.s/ qi
u(j+1) s.i / .s/ D ˆ s .s/ qi ; respectively. The
(j+1)
and u(j+1) (j+1)
Integrating by parts KE and KG and considering the geometric boundary conditions ˆ.0/ D o D
12
ˆ.L/ yield these matrices in their symmetric forms

Z L Z L
KE WD .ˆ |
s L ˆ s /ds and K D
E G
.ˆ |
s L ˆ s /ds:
G
0 0
RL
vector of the generalized incremental forces is pi D 0 ˆ | r(j)
i ds: The elastic
and geometric matrices are, respectively, given by
Z L h i Z L h i
i D
KE(j) ˆ | @s LE(j)
i ˆ s ds; i D
KG(j) ˆ | @s LG(j)
i ˆ s ds:
0 0
Horizontal cables under uniform loads. The first example is a horizontal sus-
pended cable subject to a uniformly distributed downward vertical load whose
magnitude per unit reference length is increased quasistatically. The initial equilib-
rium is the prestressed configuration B o which is well represented by the catenary
solution, given in dimensional form by (3.46). A linearly elastic constitutive law is
considered for the incremental problem.
A sequential continuation analysis is employed based on a linear predictor
(solution of the linearized problem as initial guess) that triggers the iterative
Newton–Raphson procedure. At each step of the analysis, the linearized equations
(3.104) are discretized according to the Galerkin method taking sin.nx= l/ as
trial functions. The horizontal coordinate x is chosen in the formulation of the
incremental problem because the load per unit horizontal length is constant, namely,
f D .mg/e 2 ; where 2 Œ0; 4 is the load multiplier and m WD %A is the
mass per unit reference length of the cable. The nondimensional load parameter
is WD mgl=H o .
To facilitate a physical understanding of the mechanical problem, a specific cable
is selected with the following properties: the span is l D 35 m, the sag is yN D 5:5 m,
the mass per unit length is m D 5:6 kg/m, the cross-section diameter is D D 26 mm,
and Young’s modulus is E D 100 GPa. Since the sag-to-span ratio is given (i.e.,
d D 5:5=35), (3.47) is solved for thus yielding D 1:21894 and H o D mgl= D
1577:4 N. Hence, the nondimensional cable elastic stiffness turns out to be k D
EA=H o D 33:66 103 .
Two different computational schemes are employed: a continuation analysis
based on a Galerkin discretization and a continuation analysis based on a finite
element discretization. The former is implemented in MATHEMATICAr using an
increasing number of trial functions, M G D .5; 10; 15/; which result in an
increasing number of degrees of freedom N G D .10; 20; 30/, a number of load
steps
ˇ NL D 25 ( Dˇ 0:16), and the tolerance in the iterative scheme "v D
ˇv.1=2/(j+1)=v.1=2/(j) 1ˇ set to 103 :
The second scheme is implemented in the finite element solver called COMSOL
Multiphysicsr with a number of quadratic Lagrangian finite elements equal to
M F D 60 resulting in 242 degrees of freedom. Superscripts G and F indicate the
Galerkin and finite element solution, respectively. Figure 3.11a shows the Galerkin-
based equilibrium paths obtained by increasing the number of trial functions thus
proving that the convergence is from above, as expected. A very good agreement
between the Galerkin-based and the finite element-based results is obtained when
M G D 15 while the number of finite elements is M F D 60: Moreover, the structural
response exhibits a clear nonlinear hardening-type behavior due to the stiffening
a b
4
G
M =5 M F = 15
3.5 MG = 10 M F = 60
3 MG = 15 M G = 15
MF = 60
2.5
λ
2
1.5
0.5
-3 -3
x 10 x 10
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
v v
Fig. 3.11 Equilibrium path of a suspended cable under a uniformly distributed vertical downward
incremental load: Galerkin-based and finite element-based (COMSOLr ) continuation analysis.
Convergence of (a) Galerkin-based discretization and (b) finite element solution in COMSOLr:
M G indicates the number of trial functions in the Galerkin discretization, M F denotes the number
of finite elements in the FE discretization
Fig. 3.12 Equilibrium path 4

of a suspended cable: M G = 15 L
3.5 M G = 15 NL
comparison between the
Galerkin-based first-order 3 M F = 60
sequential continuation
2.5
analysis (based on the linear
predictor only: dashed-dotted l 2
line) and the nonlinear
1.5
continuation analysis based
on the Galerkin (dashed line) 1
or finite-element 0.5
discretizations (solid line) -3
x 10
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
v
effect caused by the increment of the cable tension at each step which results in a
gradual increase in geometric stiffness.
The results obtained with different meshes in the finite element-based equilib-
rium paths are contrasted in Fig. 3.11b. When the mesh is not particularly fine (in
the example with M F D 15 and M F D 60), the ensuing equilibrium path deviates
slightly and predicts a relatively stiffer behavior.
In Fig. 3.12, the equilibrium path obtained with the Galerkin-based approach is
compared with that obtained via the linear predictor, based on the tangent stiffness
calculated at the previous load step. The latter deviates from the actual path with an
overestimation of the displacements as a result of the underestimation of the actual
stiffness.
The displacement components u and v; corresponding to D 4; are shown in
Fig. 3.13. Four different schemes are considered for comparison: nonlinear Galerkin
with M G D .5; 15/; Galerkin with the linear predictor and M G D 15 and the finite-
element scheme with M F D 60:
a MG = 5 NL b
MG = 15 NL
MF = 60
v
u MG = 15 L
x
x
Fig. 3.13 Displacements (a) u.x/ and (b) v.x/ for different discretizations and computational
schemes when D 4. The double dotted-dashed line indicates the Galerkin-based first-order
analysis (based on the linear predictor only), the dotted-dashed and dashed lines indicate the
nonlinear Galerkin-based analysis results, while the solid line represents the finite element results
5
4
3
2
0 1
x 1 0 x 1
5
catenary
phase 1
“ 2 4
“ 3
“ 4 N
“ 5
y
3
a 1
b
Fig. 3.14 Incremental problem for the main suspension cables of a bridge. (a) Equilibrium
configurations due to the different construction phases, (b) evolution of the cable tension with
the construction phases
A naturally discrete incremental problem: construction of a suspension bridge.

The construction of a long-span suspension bridge can be described briefly as
follows. After erecting the towers, the two (or more) suspension cables and the side
cables are deployed and anchored. The hangers are then suspended from the cables
with uniform spacing. The bridge deck segments are, in turn, suspended from the
hangers in a number of successive steps. The lay up of the deck segments follows
a symmetric scheme: first, the long midspan deck segment is suspended, then two
equal deck segments are added symmetrically to the left and to the right at each step.
In the chosen example, the bridge segments are nine; hence, there are five discrete
load steps shown in Fig. 3.14. The described construction process is an illuminating
example of a naturally discrete incremental loading path where the discrete nature
arises from the fact that the spatial load distribution changes abruptly from one
phase to the next. Figure 3.14a shows the configurations corresponding to the five
load steps.
The analysis was carried out in COMSOLr using 80 finite elements (M F D 80)
and describing the loads through Heaviside functions. The phases are described in
discrete form introducing a parameter that takes the discrete values corresponding
to the phase numbers.
Appreciable changes in the equilibrium configurations are exhibited after loading
the midspan segment with a resulting localized curvature due to the concentration
of the load on a limited central segment of the cable. On increasing the number
of bridge segments, the load becomes more distributed and the equilibrium state
increasingly resembles that of a cable under a uniform load, which is a parabolic
profile. In Fig. 3.14b, the cable tension is shown as it evolves during the different
phases. Besides increasing with the progress of the construction phases, the tension
tends to be more uniform as a result of the spatial load distribution.
The Ritz–Galerkin method for the frequencies and mode shapes of generic
cables. The equation of motion (3.77), obtained via ULF, is rendered nondi-
mensional by scaling lengths by l and time by the characteristic time 1=!c WD
.ml 2 =H o /1=2 . The tensions are accordingly scaled by H o so that the incremental
elastic tension becomes NQ WD k . 1/ and the following nondimensional
parameters are introduced:
WD mgl=H o ; k WD E A=H o ; WD L= l (3.114)
where H o is the horizontal projection of the tension N o due to gravity, L is the

stress-free length of the cable, and l is the span between the cable supports. The
parameter can be determined once is fixed according to (3.40). The field
equations are supplemented with the boundary conditions u.0; t/ D o D u.1; t/;
for a cable suspended from two supports at the same level.
The shallow/nonshallow cable parameters. Small- and large-amplitude free
vibrations of linearly elastic nonshallow cables depend on the two parameters
and k [249, 250] which scale the geometric and elastic stiffness, respectively.
D mgl=H o is a truly geometric flexibility parameter affecting the initial
static curvature and k D EA=H o is the cable elastic stiffness relative to the
geometric stiffness. Conversely, for shallow cables [207] small-amplitude vibrations
depend solely on the Irvine elasto-geometric parameter which combines p the two
characteristic parameters for nonshallow cables according to WD k= with
R1
WD 0 cos3 o dx:
Variation of with the sag-to-span ratio d; obtained from the exact catenary
solution, is shown in Fig. 3.15a, together with the first-order approximation of
(straight line), the latter being typical of shallow cables possessing a parabolic
profile. When < 0:5; the curves are indistinguishable whereas for > 1; a
deviation occurs. In particular, the difference between the catenary sag and the
parabolic sag is about 2 % when D 1: In spite of the negligible sag deviation
within the range 2 Œ0:5; 1, the curvatures of the profiles are different in the
parabolic and catenary equilibria. Some differences in the frequencies may also
3
a b
2.5
2 k1 Ny k2 Co St
γ k3
1.5
0.5
0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
d λ/π
Fig. 3.15 (a) Variation of with the sag-to-span ratio d and (b) region of admissible nondimen-
sional parameters in the plane. The curves indicate the iso-stiffness curves: k1 D 2:5 102 ;
k2 D 5 103 ; and k3 D 5 104 : In (b), the curves denoted St, Co, and Ny represent cables of
span l D 200 m and made, respectively, of steel ( D 7:85 103 kg/m3 , E D 210 GPa), copper
( D 8:9 103 kg/m3 , E D 117 GPa), and nylon ( D 1:425 103 kg/m3 , E D 2:5 GPa). Reprinted
with permission [249]
occur within this range depending on whether the Irvine theory or the exact theory
is employed. Hence, 2 Œ0; 0:5 is indicated as the region of shallow profiles (the
dark grey region in Fig. 3.15b in the .; /-plane) whereas > 1 is identified as
the region of nonshallow profiles (the lightly shaded region in Fig. 3.15b). The
interposed region, 2 Œ0:5; 1; is considered as a transition region between the
two static regimes where the cable is considered as being neither shallow nor
nonshallow. In the region of nonshallow configurations, the deviation between the
parabolic and catenary solutions ranges from about 2 % for D 1 to about 17 %
for D 3:
In Fig. 3.15b, the region of admissible elastic stiffness k in the .; /-plane is
shown. The iso-stiffness curves are drawn according to the definition of the Irvine
parameter . The two lateral thick curves denote the boundaries of the admissible
region and correspond to k1 D 5 102 and k3 D 5 104 ; respectively. The
intermediate thick solid curve corresponds to k2 D 5 103 : These values have
been determined considering the expression k D E=S o in which S o WD H o =A
denotes the engineering tensile stress at the mid-span section. Hence, the minimum
k1 is attained when S o achieves its upper bound, taken here as the yielding tensile
strength Sy : Because typical working tensile stresses are around 5–10 % of Sy ; a
reasonable value of k is of the order of 103 : However, considering lower tensile
stresses in the catenary configuration, values of k of the order of 104 are feasible.
The ratio =k D mgl=EA turns out to be ˛ WD gl=E: Hence, taking the span l
as datum and choosing a material for the cable, the ratio ˛ is determined.
p Moreover,
p
since 2 D 2 k= and D . O /; using k D =˛ yields . / D .1=˛/ 3 =:
Figure 3.15b shows the curves corresponding to steel (St), copper (Co), and nylon
(Ny) cables of span equal to 200 m. Note that for more deeply sagged cables the
tension H o decreases (hence, increases) while the stiffness parameter k increases.
On the other hand, keeping fixed as may occur due to a design constraint on
the sag, the parameter space .; / can be spanned horizontally by changing
the material properties (e.g., from left to right, considering stiffer materials) or
decreasing the span which is reflected in a decrease of the sag-to-span ratio d: From
a design point of view, if the span is given, there are two options: (1) set S o and
determine k (the material is known) and (hence, the sag-to-span ratio); (2) set
(i.e., the sag-to-span ratio) and determine k, hence S o :
Eigenvalue problem. The linearized form of (3.77) parametrized by x can be cast
as
Ip .x/ @t t up C Lp .x/ up D o;
(3.115)
Io .x/ @t t u3 C Lo .x/u3 D 0
where, as known, the in-plane problem represented by the displacement vector up WD

u1 e 1 C u2 e 2 is uncoupled from the out-of-plane problem, represented by uo WD
u3 e 3 : The inertia operators are given by Ip .x/ WD sec o .x/I with I being the 22
unit tensor, and Io .x/ WD sec o .x/: It is further worth distinguishing between the
elastic and geometric stiffness operators, namely, Lp .x/ D LEp .x/ C LGp .x/ with

k.cos3 o /@x k.sin o cos2 o /@x
LEp .x/ D @x ; (3.116)
k.sin o cos2 o /@x k.sin2 o cos o /@x

N o .sin2 o cos o /@x N o .sin o cos2 o /@x
LGp .x/ WD @x (3.117)
N o .sin o cos2 o /@x N o .cos3 o /@x
where the external partial differentiation with respect to x is intended to be

performed after applying the matrix differential operator on the displacement vector
up : On the other hand, the out-of-plane stiffness operator is purely geometric and is
expressed as
Lo .x/ WD @x ŒN o cos o @x : (3.118)
The eigenvalue boundary-value problem with space-varying coefficients can be

solved via the Galerkin or the Ritz method by assuming the solution in the form
X
M
uj .x; t/ D k(j) .x/qk(j) .t/; j D 1; 2; 3 (3.119)
kD1
where k .x/ D sin kx; k 2 NC : If the vector of generalized coordinates is intro-

| |
duced as q| D Œq1 ; q2 , and
|
ˆ i D Œ1(i) .x/; 2(i) .x/ : : : M(i) .x/; i D 1; 2;
(3.119) can be cast in matrix form as

|
ˆ 1 .x/ 0
up .x; t/ D | q.t/ D ˆ.x/ q.t/: (3.120)
0 ˆ 2 .x/
Consequently, the mass and stiffness matrices are obtained as

Z 1
MD ˆ | Ip ˆ dx; (3.121)
0
Z 1 Z 1
KE D ˆ | LEp ˆ dx; KG D ˆ | LGp ˆ dx: (3.122)
0 0
Subsequently, by letting q.t/ D w exp.i!t/; the eigenvalue problem is recast in the

standard algebraic form:
E
K C KG w D ! 2 M w: (3.123)
The Ritz method. The total potential energy, summation of the stored and
geometric potential energies, is written as
Z 1 Z 1
1 1
U D k12 sec o dx C N o .2 ao a2 / sec o dx (3.124)
2 0 2 0
where the second-order part of the elongation is

2 D 1
2 cos4 o .u01 tan o u02 /2 C sec2 o u02
3
while the second-order part of the unit tangent vector is given by
1 h 1 2 o
a2 D cos5 o .3 cos.2 o / 1/u02 02 2 o 02
2 C 2u3 sec 3 tan u1
2 2
i 1 h
2 tan o tan2 o 2 u01 u02 e 1 C cos5 o tan o tan2 o 2 u02
1
2
i
C 2 2 tan2 o 1 u02 u01 tan o 3u02 2 o 02
2 C sec u3 e2

cos3 o u01 C tan o u02 u03 e 3 (3.125)
where the prime indicates differentiation with respect to x. The kinetic energy is
R1 2
expressed as K D 12 0 jujP sec o dx: By letting qj D Bj q; the Ritz approach
furnishes the mass matrices
2 Z
X 1 Z 1
| | |
Mp D Bk ˆk ˆk Bk sec dx;
o
Mo D ˆ 3 ˆ 3 sec o dx; (3.126)
kD1 0 0
30
25
20
ωn
15
10
5
1 CR 2 CR 3 CR 4 CR
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
λ/π
Fig. 3.16 Variation of the lowest nine natural frequencies with = obtained with Irvine’s
theory (dashed lines) and with the nonshallow theory when D0:75 (solid lines). Reprinted with
permission [249]
and the elastic and geometric stiffness matrices as

Z 1 | |
K D
E
p B1 ˆ 01 C tan o B2 ˆ 02
0
0| 0|
.k cos3 o / ˆ 1 B1 C tan o ˆ 2 B2 dx; (3.127)
Z 1 h
| 0| | 0|
KG D cos o N o sin2 o B1 ˆ 01 ˆ 1 B1 sin 2 o B1 ˆ 01 ˆ 2 B2
0
i Z 1
| 0| 0|
C cos2 o B2 ˆ 02 ˆ 2 B2 dx; Ko D cos o N o ˆ 03 ˆ 3 dx: (3.128)
0
Spectral energy properties of the modes. Figure 3.16 shows the variation of
the natural frequencies of the lowest in-plane modes for D 4:0 103 (dashed
lines) and D0:75 (solid lines). The frequencies were calculated employing the
exact linear theory and Irvine’s theory; as expected, for the lowest value of ,
the frequencies are indistinguishable. The lowest four crossovers (in Fig. 3.16)
between the symmetric and skew-symmetric modes of shallow cables occur when
D .2; 4; 6; 8/ : On the other hand, when D 0:75; the lowest four crossovers
occur at lower values of because the frequencies are lower than the frequencies of
a shallow cable possessing the same . However, the shift between the crossovers
tends to vanish for increasing .
Figure 3.17 shows the variation with of the lowest 20 frequencies when
D 1:5 (i.e., d ' 1=5) and D 2:5 (i.e., d ' 1=3). The shaded areas indicate the
a b
60
50
40
ωn
30
20
10
0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 30 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36
λ/π λ/π
Fig. 3.17 Variation of the natural frequencies with = when (a) D 1:5 and (b) D 2:5:
Reprinted with permission [249]
p
in admissible ranges of : The threshold value of is determined as 1 D k1 =
where k1 D E=Sy is the lower bound for k in Fig. 3.15b. There is a family of
principal crossovers that spans most of the considered -range. There are other
families of crossovers in the range of low that are, frequency-wise, far away from
the principal crossovers. In particular, comparing part (a) and part (b) in Fig. 3.17,
the corresponding principal crossovers occur at lower frequencies and lower when
increasing (i.e., lower geometric stiffness) whereas the secondary crossovers occur
at lower frequencies and higher : Consequently, the gap between the families of
principal and secondary crossovers decreases for more deeply sagged cables.
A classification of the modes can be carried out using appropriate energy
measures. This investigation also allows the crossovers to be classified.
In cable elastodynamics, there are three types of energies being activated: the
kinetic energy, the stored energy, and the geometric energy. The geometric energy
component is always present in cables suspended in the gravitational field whereas
the stored energy may be activated depending on the fact that the considered mode
suffers stretching. At the same time, the longitudinal component of the kinetic
energy becomes important with respect to the transverse component if elastic
stretching standing waves arise.
The ratio of the modal stored energy to the modal geometric energy component
and the ratio of the modal longitudinal kinetic energy component to the total kinetic
energy are computed, respectively, as
R1 2 R1 a 2
o
0 kn sec dx .u / sec o dx
En WD R 1 ; Kn WD R01 n (3.129)
0 N .2n a a2n / sec dx 0 jun j sec dx
o o o 2 o
where n and 2n are the first- and second-order parts of the elongation associated
with the nth linear normal mode, a2n is the second-order part of the unit tangent
3
10 100
10
2 a b
80
10
1 60
-1
10 Kn
En -2
10 40
-3
10
-4
20
10
-5
10 0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
λ/π λ/π
Fig. 3.18 Variation with = of (a) ratio of the elastic modal energy to the geometric modal
energy (in log scale) and (b) ratio of the modal longitudinal kinetic energy to the total kinetic
energy when D 0:75. Reprinted with permission [249]
vector in the nth modal configuration, and uan WD un ao D u1.n/ cos o C u2.n/ sin o
is the longitudinal/tangential component of the modal displacement vector un .
The ratios En and Kn , for a shallow cable with D 0:75; are reported in Fig. 3.18
where the following can be observed: (1) at the principal crossovers, En exhibits
peaks with mild curvature (see Fig. 3.18a); (2) at the secondary crossovers, En and
Kn exhibit peaks with high local curvature (see Fig. 3.18b).
At the principal crossovers, the peak of stored energy (hence, the peak of
stretching) accompanied by a negligible associated longitudinal kinetic energy
shows that these modes are elasto-static modes. In contrast, at the secondary
crossovers, the maximum stored energy is accompanied by a kinetic energy which
is mostly of the longitudinal type. Hence, these modes are referred to as elasto-
dynamic modes. The elasto-static modes lie within a relatively extended stiffness
region around the principal crossovers whereas the elasto-dynamic modes are
mostly localized around their crossovers. Away from the crossovers, the modes
become geometric modes with a prevailing transverse displacement component and
vanishing stretching. Cables thus possess three types of modes: geometric modes
(generic modes), elasto-static, and elasto-dynamic modes. The latter two play the
role of nongeneric modes. These properties are general and relate to different static
regimes of cables as was confirmed by several investigations into various regimes
up to very deeply sagged cables.
Cables can exhibit various types of nonlinear modal interactions at relatively
low excitation amplitudes since they are lightly damped. Examples of the nonlinear
interactions taking place at internal resonances are 2:1, 3:1, 1:1 at the crossovers or
multiple resonances with complex spatial responses [201, 364, 380, 381].
3.4 The Tethered Satellite System: A Space Application for Super-Long Strings 195
3.4 The Tethered Satellite System: A Space Application

for Super-Long Strings
A tethered satellite system, also known as TSS, consists of two or more satellites in
orbit connected by a thin and long string (see Fig. 3.19). The lengths of the tethers
can reach up to 100 km. The original concept was proposed in the 1960s by two
Italian professors, Giuseppe Colombo and Mario Grossi. For an introduction to this
subject, see [61, 187, 188, 370]. After a period of basic research, several successful
(SEDS project) and not completely successful (TSS1 project) flights in orbit around
the Earth were performed by NASA during the last decade of the twentieth century
(for a detailed description of these two projects, cf. [370]).
There exists a broad spectrum of important applications with TSSs ranging from
energy production (making use of the magnetic field of the Earth), to orbit raising
or deorbiting of satellites achieved by cutting the tether [61] in the stable radial
relative equilibrium position. This relative equilibrium is attained if a system of
two satellites connected by a tether with constant length moves in a circular orbit,
provided that the length of the tether is not of the order of the radius of the orbit [61].
Tethers have been studied as elastic strings (cf. [228, 286, 353, 354, 447]) and
as dumbbell systems (e.g., [487]). This section is an overview of the mechanics of
the simple configuration of a TSS represented by mass m1 (mass of the mother
satellite) and mass m2 (mass of the subsatellite) connected by a string of mass
per unit reference length %A; axial stiffness EA; viscosity EAD . An inertial frame
.O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / is considered with the origin fixed in the center of mass of the Earth.
Let s be the arclength along the unstretched string of original length L and r o .s; t/
b2
m2 b1
e2 r(s,t)
r20
m1
r0(s,t)
r10
e1
O
Fig. 3.19 Tethered Satellite System with the Earth-fixed inertial reference frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 /
and the rotating frame fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g
be the position vector of a material string particle at s and at time t: The superscript o
denotes all quantities referred to the Earth-fixed inertial frame. The mother satellite
is assumed to be moving in a circular LEO orbit13 described by r o1 .t/ D r1o b1 .t/
where r1o is known.
The angular velocity of the mother satellite before deployment can be calculated
according to the equation of motion m1 r o1 =jr o1 j3 D m1 @t t r o1 which, projected in
the b1 -direction and solved for !, delivers
q
!D =.r1o /3
where D 398600:4418 km3 =s2 is the geocentric gravitational constant.

The orbital altitude of the mother satellite is further assumed to be fixed before
and after deployment, thus r1o .t/ D r1o Dconst. Hence, the angular velocity ! D
!b3 does not change.
The string problem is parametrized using the arclength s 2 Œs1 ; s2 along a stress-
free configuration, where s1 is the arclength of the string section exiting the mother
satellite and s2 is the arclength of the string section attached to the subsatellite.
In accordance with the kinematic theory of elastic cables, the stretch can be
calculated as r os D a where a D r os =jr os j is the unit tangent vector to the
actual configuration of the reference curve of the tether, hence the stretch is given
by D jr os j. The tension in the string is n.s; t/ D N.s; t/a.s; t/ where the
nonlinearly viscoelastic constitutive law for N is N.s; t/ D NO .; ; P s/. For a
linearly viscoelastic material, the constitutive law is NO .; / P D EA. 1/ C
EAD @t : The gravitational force acting on the string per unit reference length is
%Ar o =jr o j3 :
The equation of motion reads
ro
@s n %A C f D %A@t t r o (3.130)
jr o j3
where f denotes the vector of other forces acting on the string per unit reference
length, among which the electrodynamic forces are discussed in the next section.
The boundary conditions are
r o .s1 ; t/
n.s1 ; t/ m1 D m1 @t t r o .s1 ; t/; (3.131)
jr o .s1 ; t/j3
r o .s2 ; t/
n.s2 ; t/ m2 D m2 @t t r o .s2 ; t/: (3.132)
jr o .s2 ; t/j3
13
A Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from
the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km. Given the rapid orbital decay of objects below
approximately 200 km, the commonly accepted definition for LEO is between 160 and 2; 000 km.
The International Space Station is in a LEO that varies from 319.6 to 346.9 km above the Earth’s
surface.
When the whole tether is deployed, s1 D 0 and s2 D L: The acceleration of mass

m1 turns out to be @t t r o .s1 ; t/ D r1o ! 2 b1 which is a purely centripetal acceleration
if the mother satellite is assumed to trace a Keplerian circular orbit.14 In this case,
the mechanical boundary condition (3.131) is replaced by the kinematic boundary
condition
r o .s1 ; t/ D r1o b1 .t/: (3.133)
The initial conditions15 are
r o .s; 0/ D rN o .s/; @t r o .s; 0/ D vN o .s/; r o .s1 ; 0/ D r1o b1 .0/
where r1o is the initial orbital altitude of the mother satellite.

To obtain the component form of the equation of motion, it is convenient to
introduce the following coordinate transformation into the moving frame with origin
in the mother satellite (see Fig. 3.19):
r o .s; t/ D r o1 .t/ C r.s; t/; r o1 .t/ D r1o b1 .t/ (3.134)
whereby r.s; t/ WD r o .s; t/ r o1 .t/ is the position vector of a material point of the
tether with respect to the mother satellite.
Substituting (3.134) into the equation of motion (3.130) yields
r1o b1 C r
@s ŒEA. 1/a C @s ŒEAD @t a %A C %Ar1o ! 2 b1 D %A@t t r;
jr1o b1 C rj3
(3.135)
while the mechanical boundary condition (3.132) becomes
r1o b1 C r
ŒEA. 1/ C EAD @t a m2 C m2 r1o ! 2 b1
jr1o b1 C rj3
D m2 @t t r at s D s2 : (3.136)
The other boundary condition is purely kinematic: r.s1 ; t/ D o:

The equations of motion are next projected into the rotating frame fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g.
To this end, the tether is supposed to lie in the .b1 ; b2 / plane. Hence, the component
representation of r in the rotating frame r.s; t/ D x.s; t/b1 .t/ C y.s; t/b2 .t/ leads
to the string velocity and acceleration as
14
To obtain the acceleration of the mother satellite, differentiating the position vector r o1 D r1o b1
twice yields @t t r o1 D r1o ! 2 b1 with ! WD @t and b1 D cos e 1 C sin e 2 :
15
The compatibility conditions associated with the initial conditions are rN o .s1 / D r1o b1 .0/ and
vN o .s1 / D r1o @t b1 .0/.
@t r D @t xb1 C @t yb2 C ! r; (3.137)

@t t r D @t t xb1 C @t t yb2 C 2! .@t xt b1 C @t yb2 / C ! .! r/ C @t ! r
D .@t t x 2!@t y ! 2 x @t !y/b1 C .@t t y C 2!@t x ! 2 y C @t !x/b2
(3.138)
where @t bk D ! bk is used and @t ! r is nonzero for nonconstant angular
p ve-
locity !. The following two kinematic relationships are considered: D xs2 C ys2
and a D r os =: Consequently, the final component form of the equations of motion
is obtained as
h i h i ro C x
@s EA. 1/@s x= C @s .EAD @t /@s x= %A o 1 2
Œ.r1 C x/ C y 2 3=2
C %A.r1o C x/! 2 C 2%A!@t y C f1 D %A@t t x; (3.139)
h i h i y
@s EA. 1/@s y= C @s .EAD @t /@s y= %A
Œ.r1o C x/2 C y 2 3=2
C %Ay! 2 2%A!@t x C f2 D %A@t t y (3.140)
where @t ! is set to zero and the force per unit reference length is expressed as
f D f1 b1 C f2 b2 .
The mechanical boundary condition, expressed by (3.136), gives rise to the
following two conditions:
@s x ro C x
ŒEA. 1/ C EAD @t m2 o 1 2
Œ.r1 C x/ C y 2 3=2
C m2 .r1o C x/! 2 C 2m2 !@t y D m2 @t t x at s D s2 ; (3.141)
@s y y
ŒEA. 1/ C EAD @t m2 o
Œ.r1 C x/2 C y 2 3=2
C m2 y! 2 2m2 !@t x D m2 @t t y at s D s2 : (3.142)
Comments. The time derivative of a vector u expressed in the rotating frame

fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g as u.t/ D uk .t/bk .t/ can give rise to a time rate of change relative to the
rotating frame. This time derivative is defined as @t uM WD @t u1 b1 C@t u2 b2 C@t u3 b3 .
Then, the time derivative with respect to the inertial frame is expressed as @t u D
@t uM C ! u and the second time derivative is @t t u D @t t uM C 2! @t uM C !
.! u/ C @t ! u: The second term is the well-known Coriolis term while the third
is the centrifugal acceleration term.
Electrodynamic tethers. Electrodynamic tethers are electrical conductors that
interact with the geomagnetic field around the Earth in such a way that an elec-
tromotive force (e.m.f.) is generated along the tether due to the Faraday law [119].
The electrical circuit is closed by means of two contactors attached to the ends of the
tether which interact with the surrounding ionospheric plasma and allow a current
to flow. The electromotive force E between the ends induced by the tether motion
is given by
Z L
ED .v.s; t/ B.s// ads (3.143)
0
where v WD @t r indicates the velocity of the tether at s and B.s/ is the magnetic
o
field at s. Because the tether is part of a closed circuit, a current I flows in the
direction of increasing E and the system functions as a generator. This current, in
turn, gives rise to a Lorentz force f L expressed as
f L .s; t/ D I.s; t/a.s; t/ B.s/: (3.144)
This force can be used to drag the system without expending chemical fuel [119].
Alternatively, if the current is forced against the electromotive force, the system
becomes a motor boosting itself to a higher orbit.
Radial equilibrium. The radial configuration of the tether having the masses
aligned with the vector that goes from the center of the Earth to the mother satellite
is an equilibrium state. The radial equilibrium solution for the string, r.s; t/ D
r.s/b1 .t/; is substituted into (3.135) and (3.136). The unit tangent vector to the
straight radial configuration of the tether is a D b1 and the stretch is D rs while
the stretch rate vanishes. The acceleration of the string becomes @t t r D r! 2 b1
accounting for the fact that @t t b1 D ! 2 b1 : Thus (3.135) becomes
%A
EA@ss r C %A! 2 .r1o r/ D 0: (3.145)
.r1o r/2

m2
r D 0 at s D 0 and EA.@s r 1/ C m2 .r1o r/! 2 D 0 at s D L:
r/2
.r1o
(3.146)
Example 3.1. The masses of the TSS are m1 D 50 103 kg and m2 D 103 kg.
The orbital altitude is r1 D 300 km. The string is made of Kevlar whose material
properties are: %A D 0:7 kg/km, EA D 104 N. The fully deployed tether has a
length equal to L D 20 km.
Equation (3.145) with boundary conditions (3.146) can be solved by employing
a convenient discretization scheme. The Earth’s equatorial radius is 6,378 km so
that r1o D .300 C 6;378/ kmD 6;678 km. In the radial equilibrium state, the tether
final length is L D 20184:9 m, thus the length is increased by 184.9 m, which is
slightly less than 1 %. The tension at the attachment point with the mother satellite
is N D 92:665 N, while at the other end where the subsatellite is connected the
tension decreases to N D 92:022 N.
Appendix. Galloping of Iced Cables Subject to Steady Winds
Power transmission lines or cables used in cable-stayed bridges and towers,

potentially subject to icing conditions, must be designed with large clearances to
prevent clashing and possible failures as they can experience self-excited aeroelastic
oscillations of large amplitude due to wind, predominantly in the vertical plane, a
phenomenon known as galloping.
This problem has been studied in the literature for slender beams or taut strings,
both in linear and nonlinear regimes, using simple models with one-, two- [71], or
three-dofs [477, 478]. In particular, in [477, 478] a three-dof model was employed
to analyze large galloping oscillations of suspended cables. When the in-plane
and out-of-plane fundamental frequencies of the cable coalesce, other types of
dynamic instabilities experienced by cables subject to wind were investigated in
[102,214,285]. In these works, however, only shallow cables were considered, while
nonshallow cables have been mostly ignored. The shallowness assumption together
with the hypothesis that the wind blows perpendicularly to the cable’s plane allows
the straightforward use of the quasi-steady sectional wind theory [71]. On the other
hand, when the cable is nonshallow, a generic segment of the cable is at an arbitrary
attitude in the flow and the expressions of the aerodynamic forces need to be
adapted accordingly [397]. This generalization was carried out in [245] employing
a geometrically exact formulation of the equations of motion of nonshallow cables.
A direct asymptotic approach based on the method of multiple scales was exploited
to treat the aerodynamically excited motions near the galloping instability since
quadratic nonlinearities become particularly important for nonshallow cables and
their effects would not be accounted for properly by reduced-order models with
insufficient degrees of freedom.
Equations of motion and aerodynamic forces. It is known that, due to the high
slenderness of these members, the bending/shear/torsional load-carrying capabil-
ities are negligible with respect to the funicular mechanism. However, from the
point of view of the experimental evidence, some cables such as ACSR (Aluminum-
Conductor-Steel-Reinforced) electrical conductors, or more general stranded cables,
exhibit elastic coupling between the axial and torsional deformations [291]. Hence,
a purely extensible string model would be a crude approximation also in con-
sideration of the fact that field observations about the galloping phenomenon
have registered the importance of torsional vibrations coupled with the vertical
oscillations.
The sources of the coupling between torsional and lateral vibrations can be
different: (a) for ice-coated cables, the eccentricity between the center of mass
and the center of torsion creates inertia coupling, (b) the rotational component of
the velocity of the cross section modifies the angle of attack, (c) the eccentricity
between the aerodynamic center (center of the resultant aerodynamic forces) and
the center of mass generates distributed aerodynamic couples, (d) the rotation of a
cylinder in a cross wind causes a lift force known as torsional lift [290]. Under these
a b
wS
α
e3
e1 -v S wr
d2
r
a d1
e2 ro
u Vb
Fig. 3.20 (a) Schematic view of the cable geometry and wind velocity field. (b) Cross section
of the cable with the ice accretion (grey region). wS is the wind velocity in the cable cross-
sectional plane, vS is the cross-sectional velocity of the cable, wr WD wS vS is the relative
cross-sectional wind velocity. The drag direction d 1 is collinear with wr while the lift direction
d 2 is orthogonal to it
circumstances, a full inertial/constitutive/aerodynamic coupling between lateral and

torsional motions takes place.
More refined models such as those described in Chap. 7 for elastic curved beams
would be necessary to describe accurately the onset of aerodynamic instabilities
and the post-critical response. In the following treatment, cables with uncoupled
extensional and torsional deformations are considered based on the assumption that
(a) the ice accretions are thin enough that the inertia coupling is negligible, (b) the
torsional lift and the modifications of the angle of attack induced by the torsional
rotations are also negligible (Fig. 3.20).
The equations of motion are given by (3.77) according to ULF by which
the initial prestressed configuration B o is the cable catenary and the incremental
deformation is induced by incremental forces represented here by the wind-induced
aerodynamic forces.
Since the cable elongation is small for typical engineering materials and loading
conditions, a linear constitutive law is adopted. The same nondimensionalization
adopted in (3.114) is employed here whereby the forces per unit reference length
are made nondimensional according to fj WD fj l=H o where H o is the constant
horizontal thrust in the cable under its own weight.
The quasi-steady sectional theory of aerodynamic forces on cylinders in cross
flow [71] is extended to cables or structural members at an arbitrary attitude in the
flow [245]. The main assumption is that these forces are orthogonal to the cylinder
(here cable) axis since the axial component is considered negligible relative to the
other components. The quasi-steady theory is based on consideration of a short-term

condition where the flow is stationary and unidirectional, with the mean velocity
being much larger than the fluctuating turbulence components. Further, the cable is
considered to be an infinitely thin line that causes no flow distortion.
Let w D V b be the mean wind velocity field where b D b1 e 1 C b2 e 2 C b3 e 3
is the unit vector in the wind direction. The wind-induced forces depend on the
component of the relative wind velocity in the cross-sectional direction. Let wS and
vS be the wind and cable velocity components lying in the cable cross-sectional
plane expressed as
wS WD w .w a/a D V Œb .b a/a; vS WD v .v a/a (3.147)
where v WD @t u is the cable velocity field, a is the unit vector in the current
tangent direction to the cable deformed configuration. Thus, the cross-sectional
wind velocity relative to the cable is expressed as
wr D wS vS DW Vr d 1 (3.148)
where wr
d 1 WD ; d 2 WD a d 1 : (3.149)
jwr j
The angle of attack can thus be expressed as

jwS wr j
˛ D arctan (3.150)
wS wr
whose linearization, for a wind blowing in the e 3 -direction (i.e., b D e 3 ), furnishes
˛ D .cos o @t u2 sin o @t u1 /=V (3.151)
where o is the angle that the unit tangent vector ao in the catenary equilibrium
makes with e 1 .
The drag and lift dimensional forces are then expressed as
1 2 1
f D .s/ WD V DCD .˛/d 1 ; f L .s/ WD Vr2 DCL .˛/d 2 (3.152)
2 r 2
where is the air density, D is the characteristic ice-coated cable section, and CD
and CL are the drag and lift coefficients, respectively.
The aerodynamic body forces per unit reference arclength s along the current
cable configuration are thus expressed in nondimensional form as
f.s; t/ D c .Vr =V /2 ŒCD .˛/d 1 C CL .˛/d 2 (3.153)

where the control parameter c WD 12 U 2 is proportional to the square of the

p
nondimensional wind velocity U WD V = H o =.Dl/. The force per unit reference
O
horizontal length x is f.x; t/ D f.s; t/ sec o using the relationship ds=dx D
o
sec where is the cable stretch.
Hopf bifurcation at galloping. The linearized equations provide the eigenvalue
problem yielding the critical velocity and the associated galloping mode. The in-
plane problem, described by the in-plane displacement vector up WD u1 e 1 Cu2 e 2 , is
both stiffness- and mass-wise uncoupled from the out-of-plane problem, described
by uo WD u3 e 3 . Hence, the following decomposition naturally arises in this problem:
p
Ip O L O
I WD ; L WD ;
O Io O Lo
p p
C Cpo D Dpo
C WD ; D WD
Cop C o Dop D o (3.154)
where I is the inertia operator, L is the stiffness operator, C and D are the structural
and aerodynamic damping operators, respectively. Therefore, the linearized eigen-
value problem reads:
Ip @t t up C .Cp C c Dp / @t up C .Cpo C cDpo /@t u3 C Lp up D o;

I o @t t u3 C .Cop C c Dop / @t up C .C o C c D o /@t u3 C Lo u3 D 0: (3.155)
Note that the inertia, stiffness, and aerodynamic operators are not uniform across
the cable span. By dropping the damping and aerodynamic forces, the eigenvalue
problem yields the frequencies and mode shapes of the in-plane and out-of-plane
problems as .!kp ; pk .x// and .!ko ; ko .x//. The linearized aerodynamic operator D
depends on the aerodynamic coefficients and their derivatives with respect to the
angle of attack evaluated at zero angle [245].
The Galerkin method is employed to discretize the governing equations. To this
end, let
X
Np
X
No
up .x; t/ D qkp .t/pk .x/; u3 .x; t/ D qko .t/ko .x/ (3.156)
kD1 kD1
where Np and No respectively indicate the number of in-plane and out-of-plane

trial functions taken as the mode shapes. The total number of degrees of freedom
is n WD Np C No . The resulting discretized equations can be written in compact
form as

M qR C C(n) C c D(n) qP C K q D o (3.157)
where q| D Œqp | ; qo | ] is the vector of the generalized in-plane and out-of-

plane coordinates, M and K are the symmetric, positive-definite mass and stiffness
matrices, C(n) and D(n) are the damping and aerodynamic matrices, respectively. In
state-space form, with the introduction of the state vector x| D Œq| ; qP | , (3.157)
becomes
xP D A x (3.158)
where
0 I
A WD : (3.159)
M1 K M1 .C(n) C c D(n) /
By putting x D ye t ; the characteristic equation for the eigenvalues is obtained as
det.A I/ D m C a1 m1 C C am 0 ; m WD 2n: (3.160)
The Routh–Hurwitz theorem (cf. Sect. 2.2) is employed to determine the crit-
ical condition. A necessary and sufficient condition for all eigenvalues to have
negative real parts is that all principal minors of the Routh–Hurwitz matrix H be
positive [271]. The galloping velocities cj 2 RC are found requiring that all minors
vanish. Consider the j th galloping velocity, the associated j th right eigenvector yj
and the adjoint left eigenvector yj are computed solving the following eigenvalue
problems:
.A j I/ yj D o; .A| N j I/ yj D o (3.161)
subject to the normalization condition yj yj D 1 where the bar indicates here the
complex conjugate.
Supercritical/subcritical Hopf bifurcation. The supercritical and subcritical
character of the bifurcation requires a full nonlinear analysis that includes structural
and aerodynamic nonlinearities [245]. To this end, a third-order expansion of the
incremental form of the equations of motion is carried out by introducing a small
formal parameter " to measure the deviations from the catenary configuration. The
equations are cast in first-order differential form letting u WD Œu1 ; u2 ; u3 | and
v WD Œ@t u1 ; @t u2 ; @t u3 | so that
@t u v D 0;
I @t v C .C C cD/ v C L u D n2 .u; u/ C n3 .u; u; u/
C "2 fo C f2 .v; v/ C f3 .v; v; v/ (3.162)
together with the boundary conditions. "2 fo is the static part of the wind force known
as the aerostatic force; .n2 ; n3 / are the cable quadratic and cubic forces (partly
geometric and partly elastic); .f2 ; f3 / are the quadratic and cubic aerodynamic
forces; C v indicates the linear dissipative forces; cD v indicates the linearized
aerodynamic forces. The full expressions of the quadratic and cubic structural and
aerodynamic forces are given in [245].
The demotion of the static part of the aerodynamic forces to second order is based
on the fact that this force and its static effect (the rotation of the plane containing the
cable configuration) are indeed of higher order with respect to the leading galloping
vibrational response and this is confirmed by the calculations.
The critical value of the control parameter related to the critical wind velocity
is denoted by co at the Hopf bifurcation. The detuning from the critical condition
is expressed as c D co C "2 ı: At the critical condition, the eigenvalue involved is
assumed to be of unit algebraic multiplicity and no simultaneous internal resonances
occur between the galloping mode and other modes. The response at leading order
is thus dominated by the individual galloping mode and the solution at order " is
accordingly
uo .x; t/ D A.t/ei!o t .x/ C cc; vo .x; t/ D A.t/ei!o t .x/ C cc (3.163)
where i is the imaginary unit, cc indicates the complex conjugate of the preceding
terms, A 2 C is the complex-valued amplitude, !o is the frequency of the critical
galloping mode, .x/ WD (R) .x/ C i(I) .x/ is the complex-valued galloping mode,
and .x/ WD (R) .x/ C i (I) .x/ is the associated velocity field. The superscripts (R)
and (I) indicate the real and imaginary parts, respectively. By employing the method
of multiple scales (the details are reported in [245]), the following bifurcation
equation is obtained:
AP D ı c1 A C c3 A2 AN (3.164)
where AN is the complex conjugate of A. Letting A WD 1

2 a.t/ exp .iˇ.t//; c1 D
c1(R) C ic1(I) , and c3 D c3(R) C ic3(I) in (3.164) yields
aP D ı c1(R) a C 14 c3(R) a3 ; ˇP D ı c1(I) C 14 c3(I) a2 : (3.165)
The fixed point corresponding to the amplitude of the galloping motion at leading
order is
q
a D 2 c1(R) =c3(R) ı (3.166)
where
Z 1 Z 1 Z 1

c1 WD D dx; c3 WD g2 dx C g3 dx: (3.167)
0 0 0
In (3.167), . ; / is the solution of the adjoint problem to the (first-order in time)
linearized problem calculated at c D co ; .g2 ; g3 / are the resonant effects of the
quadratic and cubic forces at third order [245]. Thus the coefficient c3 captures the
resonant part of the lowest-order nonlinear structural and aerodynamic forces. The
bifurcation equation (3.166) is the key to determine the type of bifurcation. The
bifurcation is a supercritical Hopf if and only if c3(R) < 0 (when c1(R) < 0). On
the other hand, the bifurcation is a subcritical Hopf if and only if c3(R) > 0 (when
c1(R) < 0).
Problems
3.2. Linearly elastic cable subject to a hydrostatic pressure

Show that for a linearly elastic cable of stiffness EA and length-to-span ratio D
L= l, subject to a hydrostatic pressure f o per unit actual length, the compatibility
equation (3.28) becomes
h
f ol i o
sin Co D : (3.168)
2 EA 2
where o WD f o l=N o .
3.3. The resultant forces in the catenary problem
Show that
(a) The distance of the resultant weight of a half cable from one of the cable ends
is given by
Ho mgl
xo D tanh : (3.169)
mg 4H o
Hint. The resultant weight of the half cable is mgl =2:

(b) To within first order, for small D mgl=H o ; xo becomes
l
xo D : (3.170)
4
3.4. The catenary problem parametrized by the horizontal coordinate
Show that
(a) The vector-valued equilibrium equation of the horizontal (inextensible) cable
under its own weight (see B o in Fig. 3.2), parametrized by the horizontal
coordinate x, becomes
@x no mg sec o e 2 D o: (3.171)
where m WD %Ao is the mass per unit reference length .

(b) The equilibrium equation (3.171), formulated in o .x/; is
mg
xo sec o D : (3.172)
Ho
(c) The equilibrium equation (3.172), formulated in y.x/; becomes

q
mg
yxx 1 C yx2 D 0: (3.173)
Ho
(d) The exact solution of (3.173) is

Ho mgl 1 x 1 mgl
y.x/ D cosh cosh : (3.174)
mg Ho 2 l 2 Ho
(e) The axial load is expressed as a function of x as

mgl 1 x
N .x/ D H cosh
o o
: (3.175)
Ho 2 l
(f) The nondimensional form of the catenary configuration and the axial load are

1 1 1
N x/
y. N D cosh xN cosh ; N D H o cosh
N o .x/ xN
2 2 2
(3.176)
where xN WD x= l, yN WD y= l, WD mgl=H o .
(g) The sag-to-span ratio is dN D .cosh 2 1/= .

3.5. Parabolic approximation to the catenary
Show that the sag-to-span ratio of the parabolic approximation (3.50) is the first-
order term in the expansion of (3.47) for small : That is,

d D cosh 1 = D =8 C O. 3 /: (3.177)
2
3.6. Strain-displacement relationship in the cable-fixed basis
Show that, by letting r D y1 ao C y2 bo C y3 c o and r D r o C u D r o C
.u1 ao C u2 bo C u3 c o / denote the position vector in the cable-fixed basis fao ; bo ; c o g,
according to a Total or Updated Lagrangian Formulation, respectively, the ensuing
strain-displacement relationships for the total and the incremental stretches are
p
M D.@ y1 o o y2 /2 C .@ y2 C o o y1 /2 C .@ y3 /2 ; (3.178)
p
D .1 C @s u1 o u2 /2 C .@s u2 C o u1 /2 C .@s u3 /2 ; (3.179)
where o WD so is the geometric curvature of the cable in the prestressed

configuration B o lying in the .e 1 ; e 2 /-plane. B o is parametrized by the arclength s
along the base curve.
3.7. Incremental equations of motion for the cable problem with
x-parametrization
(a) Show that, by adopting the horizontal coordinate x instead of the arclength s,
the equation of motion (3.77) is expressed as
h i
@x NO .x; t/a.x; t/ C @x ŒN o .x/.a.x; t/ ao .x//
Cf.x; t/ D %A.x/ sec o .x/ @t t u.x; t/ (3.180)
where the vector f.x; t/ denotes the force per unit reference length x.
(b) Find the stretch and the unit tangent vector.
3.8. Continuation analysis of the cable planar problem
Show that
(a) The unit vector ai in the configuration BMi (see Sect. 3.3) has direction cosines
given by
cos o C us.i / sin o C vs.i /

cos i D ; sin i D : (3.181)
i i
(b) The incremental equations of the planar problem of a linearly elastic cable with
axial stiffness EA at the i th step can be written in operator form as (3.97) where

us.i /
us.i / D :
vs.i /
The elastic stiffness and geometric stiffness matrices become
EA
LEi 1 WD
i21

.cos o C us.i 1/ /2 .cos o C us.i 1/ /.sin o C vs.i 1/ /
;
.cos o C us.i 1/ /.sin o C vs.i 1/ / .sin o C vs.i 1/ /2
Nio1
LGi 1 WD
i31

i21 .cos o C us.i 1/ /2 .cos o C us.i 1/ /.sin o C vs.i 1/ /
:
.cos o C us.i 1/ /.sin o C vs.i 1/ / i21 .sin o C vs.i 1/ /2
where Nio1 WD N o C NO i 1 is the tension at the .i 1/th load step.

(c) The elastic and geometric stiffness matrices can be further cast in a more
compact form as follows:

cos2 i 1 21 sin 2i 1
LEi 1 .i 1 .s// WD EA ; (3.182)
1
2 sin 2i 1 sin2 i 1

Nio1 sin2 i 1 12 sin 2i 1
LGi 1 .i 1 .s// WD : (3.183)
i 1 12 sin 2i 1 cos2 i 1
Note that (3.182) and (3.183) have the same forms as (3.91) and (3.92) if o
is replaced by i 1 : The difference is the presence of the stretch i 1 in the
denominator of Nio1 :
3.9. Residual forces in the cable planar problem
Show that the residual forces (3.100) of the cable planar problem at the i th load step
after j iterations have the form
h
cos o C u(j) i h i
NO i(j) C N o
s.i /
rQ (j)
i e 1 D @s (j)
@s N o cos o C f i e 1 (3.184)
i
h
sin o C v (j) i h i
NO i(j) C N o
s.i /
rQ (j)
i e 2 D @s @s N o
sin o
C fi e2: (3.185)
i(j)
3.10. Cable galloping

Consider an iced cable having the following parameters: l D 200 m, m D 6:2 kg/m,
EA D 1:57 GPa, D D 0:1 m. For this cable, the aerodynamic coefficients are [214]
CLo D 1:06; CDo D 0:59; CL˛ D 1:94; CD˛ D 0:01; CL˛˛ D 18:85; CDˇ˛˛ D
30:23; CL˛˛˛ D 886:50; ˇ CD˛˛˛ D 283:39 where CJ˛˛ D @2 CJ .˛/=@˛ 2 ˇ˛D0 ;
3ˇ
CJ D @ CJ .˛/=@˛ ˛D0 ; J D D, L: The air density is D 1:2 kg/m3 . With these
˛˛˛ 3
cable properties, follow the theory of Sect. 3.4 to find the lowest wind velocity for
galloping considering the following sag-to-span ratios: 1/12 and 1/4.
3.11. Equilibrium of a TSS
A TSS comprises two masses: m1 D 15 103 kg and m2 D 4:8 103 kg. The orbital
altitude is r1 D 200 km. The tether is made of Zylon whose Young’s modulus is
E D 280 GPa, the diameter is d D 1 mm, and the mass density is D 1:56 g/cm3 :
Determine the stretched length of the fully deployed tether.
3.12. The nonlinear damped free vibration problem for the tethered satellite
system
Solve the equation of motion of the tether in Example (3.1), expressed by (3.135)
together with the boundary conditions (3.136). Let r.s; t/ D x.s; t/b1 .t/ C
y.s; t/b2 .t/ with b1 D cos e 1 C sin e 2 and b2 D sin e 1 C cos e 2 : The
initial conditions are r.s; 0/ D r.s/
N D r.s/b1 where r.s/ is the radial equilibrium
of Example (3.1) and @t r.s; 0/ D vN .s/ D v o ı.s L/b1 with v o D .1; 10/ m/s.
The tether motion is thus excited by an initial velocity of the subsatellite in the radial
direction. The data are those of Example (3.1) with the addition of the viscosity-to-
elasticity modulus ratio, EAD =EA D 103 :
Chapter 4
Nonlinear Mechanics of Three-Dimensional
Solids
The study of strings and cables in Chap. 3 sets the stage for presenting most
of the aspects of the mechanical formulation and computation of a nonlinear
structural problem. In this chapter, these concepts are extended to nonlinear three-
dimensional solids. The geometric aspects of the transformations associated with
the changes of configuration experienced by three-dimensional solids are first
addressed with specific reference to the material (Lagrangian) formulation. The
spatial (Eulerian) formulation is briefly sketched. The elements of the stress theory
due to Cauchy are summarized in the context of the material and spatial frameworks.
The governing equations of motion are thus presented in their classical (strong)
form. The associated weak form and the computational implications are illustrated
first in a thoroughly abstract context and then in relation to the Principle of Virtual
Work (PVW) and Principle of Virtual Power (PVP) applied to three-dimensional
solids.
In the appendix to this chapter, the energy interactions that occur between these
solids and the environment are discussed within the general context of the Laws of
Thermodynamics applied to continuous bodies. Although the constitutive equations
of general solids form a comprehensive theory per se, these equations are concisely
presented in this chapter together with the leading aspects of the constitutive theory
of materials, including the thermodynamic restrictions and objectivity requirement.
The prominent role of the internal kinematic constraints is highlighted from a
mechanical and computational point of view. The example of a nonlinear strain
gauge is intended to show the richness of the implications stemming from nonlinear
three-dimensional theory and the open challenges associated with the design of
future testing machines and sensors that can leverage on the nonlinear behaviors
exhibited by materials and devices. Most importantly, the following chapters will
prove that the three-dimensional theory constitutes the theoretical framework from
which reduced or constrained theories of slender bodies can be deduced or within
which they can be fully justified.

212 4 Nonlinear Mechanics of Three-Dimensional Solids
4.1 Elements of the Theory of Deformation
The geometric aspects inherent in the changes of configuration experienced by

a three-dimensional Cauchy solid are discussed. Such a solid body is an open
set which can occupy regions of IE3 I it possesses a volume and mass, and can
withstand forces resulting from the mechanical interactions with the surrounding
environment. More formally, the body is said to be a topological space that
can be homeomorphically mapped into regions of IE3 I the result of one such
homeomorphism represents one of the infinitely many configurations achievable by
the body and is chosen as the reference configuration.
The reference configuration is selected to be either a stress-free (also known as
a natural) configuration or any arbitrary convenient configuration and is denoted by
B. The positions occupied by the material points in B are described by the vector
x WD P O; where O is the origin of the reference frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / taken, for
the sake of simplicity, as a Cartesian reference frame.
Admissible deformations. A motion of the body B is defined by a one-parameter
family of its configurations
.t; x/ ! p.x; t/, x 2 B; t 2 Œ0; 1/; p 2 IE3 (4.1)
where p.x; t/ is the position vector at time t of the material point P x (see
Fig. 4.1). Thus, the actual configuration BM at time t is the transformation under
p.; t/ of the reference configuration B, namely, BM D p.B; t/:
The Frétchet derivative of the position vector p with respect to x
@p.x; t/
F.x; t/ WD D .r p/| (4.2)
@x
B
n
Q B
Q
e3 P u(x,t) P
x p(x,t)
O
e2
e1
Fig. 4.1 Reference configuration B and current configuration BM. A material neighborhood of P
and its deformed image
4.1 Elements of the Theory of Deformation 213
is the deformation gradient, where r indicates the nabla vector, and the superscript
| represents the transpose.1
The preservation of the orientation of the reference configuration requires that
det F > 0: It is later shown that det F represents the ratio between the volume of
an infinitesimal part in the actual configuration and the volume of the same part
in the reference configuration. The condition det F > 0 prevents the deformation
from being so severe that a three-dimensional neighborhood collapses into a lower-
dimensional neighborhood or that a lower-dimensional neighborhood explodes into
a higher-dimensional neighborhood.
Regularity and physical plausibility. The study of a deformation implies the
study of the properties of the vector field p from two points of view:
(a) Local, when the neighborhood of a material point I.P / B and its deformed
M PM / BM are considered.
image I.
(b) Global, when the comparison between B and BM is intended to establish how
some properties associated with the entire body change during the motion.
The function x ! p.x; t/ represents a deformation (also known as a transport
or a motion). The possible deformations are restricted here to the class of regular or
admissible deformations as specified by the following properties.
• Regularity: Material points that are sufficiently close in the reference configura-
tion remain sufficiently close in the current configuration.
• Physical plausibility: Material points preserve their material individuality during
the motion in consonance with the principle of impenetrability of matter and the
principle of permanence of matter.
Consequently, the following mathematical prescriptions are imposed on pW
(a) p.x; t/ is regular, in the sense that it is continuously differentiable up to the
order required by the analysis everywhere in B and at all times; the same
property holds for the inverse motion denoted by p 1 .y; t/ where y D p.x; t/
M
2 B.
(b) p.x; t/ is a one-to-one mapping (injective and surjective), hence two different
material points can never occupy the same position at any time.
(c) It is required that the deformation preserves the orientation of the reference
configuration,

@p.x; t/
det > 0, 8x 2 B; 8 t 2 Œ0; 1/: (4.3)
@x
Statements (a) and (b) imply that p is a homeomorphism, a global prescription of p:
1
By considering a fixed orthonormal basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g; the position vector is p.x; t / D pi e i and
r D e J @=@xJ . The lowercase subscripts refer to quantities in the actual configuration while the
uppercase subscripts refer to the reference configuration. Hence, the tensor product r p reads
@pi @pi @pi

rpD e J e i H) .r p/| D e i e J H) FiJ WD :
@xJ @xJ @xJ
The strains of three-dimensional solids. The position vector p.x; t/ can also be
uniquely described by the associated displacement vector field u.x; t/ defined as
u.x; t/ WD p.x; t/ x: (4.4)
The regularity properties of p and its derivatives are directly transferred onto the
displacement vector field u.x; t/:
A material point P of B is considered together with a material fiber (curve)
emanating from P (see Fig. 4.1) which is parametrized by the arclength s so that
x D x.s/ and P x.0/ (cf. [23]). The analysis is restricted to a small material
neighborhood of P denoted by I B: Let Q denote the material point of the fiber
x.s/ on the boundary of I.P / so that the material segment PQ is dx D x s ds D
nds where n WD x s is the unit vector tangential to the material fiber x.s/ through
P . For ease of notation, ./s WD @s ./.
At time t, the material neighborhood I.P / is transformed into I. M PM / and the
M
material point Q occupies the actual position Q. The deformed material fiber x D
x.s/ is described by p.x.s/; t/: Thus, the deformed material segment PQ M is given
by the difference between the actual position of x C dx and that of x:
M D @p .x; t/ dx C r.x; dx; t/

PQ
@x
with lim jrj=jdxj D 0 as jdxj ! 0. The leading-order term is given by

ˇ
@p ˇˇ
dp D dx D F nds (4.5)
@x ˇsD0
where F represents the deformation gradient at x according to (4.2). Consequently,

infinitesimal material fibers are transformed through two fundamental types of
kinematic transformation: (i) stretching (involving length changes) and (ii) rotation
(leaving the fiber length unchanged). The representation of the state of strain is not
unique since it can be quantified through infinitely many measures of strain.
Stretch or linear dilatation. The geometric transformation of the material fiber
emanating from P in the direction n can be quantified as the limit of the ratio
between the length of the deformed material segment and the initial length ds D
jdxj as ds ! 0. The limit ratio, denoted by n , can be calculated accordingly as
p p
n WD jF nj D n .F| F/ n D n C n: (4.6)
The Gibbs notation n C n indicates the full contraction of the second-order tensor
C with the unit vector n which, in algebraic format, corresponds to n| C n where n
is a column vector listing the components of n in a chosen basis and C is the matrix
representing C in the given basis.
The strain measure n is referred to as stretch or linear dilatation. The tensor in

(4.6)
C WD F| F (4.7)
represents the (right) second-order Cauchy–Green deformation tensor, a symmetric
and positive-definite tensor because n2 D n C n > 0, 8n 2 IE3 : By definition,
when n < 1, the material fiber is subject to contraction; when n D 1 the material
fiber is undeformed (i.e., a neutral state); when n > 1, the fiber is stretched.
It is useful to define an alternative strain measure, denoted by n , as the ratio
between the relative length change and the initial length:
jdpj jdxj p
n WD lim D n 1 D n C n 1: (4.8)
ds!0 jdxj
This strain measure is referred to as the elongation and has the virtue of vanishing
when the material fiber along n does not experience any stretching.
The parametrization of a material fiber with arclength s in x D x.s/ induces
O t/ D p.x.s/; t/:
a parametrization of the fiber in the actual configuration as p.s;
Taking the derivative of p.x.s/; t/ with respect to s gives the expression
@pO @p
D x s D F n: (4.9)
@s @x
In consonance with previous works, it is convenient to introduce the vector
@pO
n WD D F n: (4.10)
@s
This vector has magnitude equal to the stretch n and is collinear with the deformed
material fiber which in the reference configuration was collinear with n and was of
unit length. Let nM be the unit vector collinear with the deformed fiber n : The vector
n D n nM is referred to as the stretch vector.
Since the nabla vector in the Cartesian basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g is r D e 1 @=@x1 C
e 2 @=@x2 C e 3 @=@x3 , the deformation gradient reads
@p @p @p
F D .r p/| D e1 C e2 C e 3 D 1e 1 C 2e 2 C 3 e 3 (4.11)
@x1 @x2 @x3
where
@p
k WD ; k D 1; 2; 3: (4.12)
@xk
Equation (4.11) shows that the deformation gradient can be constructed as the
assemblage of the three stretch vectors . 1 ; 2 ; 3 /, organized algebraically in the
three column vectors of F.
Fig. 4.2 The orthogonal n

shear strain: the change of
angle between two material N n
lines from the reference to the θmn
actual configuration P θmn
P m m
I (P ) M
I (P )
Shear strain. In general, the geometric transformation of a material neighborhood

of P may be such that, besides suffering length changes, the material fibers may also
experience changes of mutual angles; that is, changes between the angle subtended
by the stretched fibers in the actual configuration and the angle in the reference
configuration. This second type of geometric transformation incurred by the fibers
may take place without any stretching. If a material neighborhood undergoes such a
geometric transformation, the material is said to be purely sheared or distorted.
These concepts are made more rigorous by considering two material fibers that
emanate from the material point P of B described by x m D x.sm / and x n D x.sn /.
Thus, the infinitesimal vectors dx m D x sm dsm D mdsm and dx n D x sn dsn D
ndsn represent the infinitesimal material lines in the direction tangential to the fibers
m WD x sm and n WD x sn : Let mn denote the angle between these fibers in B. If the
material segments dxm and dx n are, respectively, transformed into dpm and dpn
in the actual configuration, then the angle subtended by the deformed segments
becomes Mmn . The shearing effect, which represents the change in the relative angle
(see Fig. 4.2) between the fibers m and n, is expressed by the shear strain mn , a
nondimensional quantity defined as
mn WD mn Mmn : (4.13)
When the initial material fibers are mutually orthogonal, mn D 2 ; the correspond-
ing shear strain becomes mn WD 2 Mmn and is known as the orthogonal shear
strain.2
The current angle Mmn can be calculated considering the deformed segments
given by dpm D m dsm and dpn D n dsn , according to (4.5) and (4.10), respec-
tively. Thus cos Mmn D lim .dpm dpn /=.jdpm jjdpn j/ as .dsm ; dsn / ! 0 yields
m n mCn
cos Mmn D D : (4.14)
m n m n
2
It is customary to refer to the orthogonal shear strain as simply the shear strain. Henceforth, unless
otherwise specified, the term shear strain will implicitly mean orthogonal shear strain.
Equation (4.14) implies
m n mCn
sin mn D D : (4.15)
m n m n
Geometric meaning of the Cauchy–Green tensor. Light is shed on the

geometric meaning of the components of C by considering the definition of the
strain measures.
• Consider a material fiber n that emanates from P collinear with the unit vector
e k of the fixed basis. The (squared) stretch of this fiber is
k2 D e k C e k D Ckk : (4.16)
Thus the diagonal component Ckk is the squared stretch of the material fiber
through P and collinear with the axis e k :
• Consider now two material fibers m and n through P and collinear, respectively,
with e j and e k ; j ¤ k. The associated shear strain is
ej C ek Cjk
sin jk D p p Dp p : (4.17)
Cjj Ckk Cjj Ckk
Hence, the off-diagonal component Cjk , divided by the stretches of the material
fibers collinear with the axes e j and e k ; represents the sine function of the
(orthogonal) shear strain associated with the fibers collinear with e j and e k :
Exercise 4.1. By making use of the dyadic product, show that C is expressed in
tensorial notation as
X
3
CD k2 e k e k C 1 2 sin 12 .e 1 e 2 C e 2 e 1 /
kD1
C1 3 sin 13 .e 1 e 3 C e 3 e 1 / C 2 3 sin 23 .e 2 e 3 C e 3 e 2 /: (4.18)
Moreover, show that the algebraic representation of the deformation tensor, in the
orthonormal basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g, is given by the matrix
2 3
12 1 2 sin 12 1 3 sin 13
CD4 22 2 3 sin 23 5 : (4.19)
32
Solution. This representation is obtained in a straightforward manner if F is

considered to be F D 1 e 1 C 2 e 2 C 3 e 3 : It is C D F| F D .e 1 1 C e 2 2 C
e 3 3 / . 1 e 1 C 2 e 2 C 3 e 3 / from which (4.18) is obtained.
Principal stretches and principal directions of stretch. From an engineering
standpoint, it is important to determine which fibers n of the material neighborhood
of the base point P undergo the maximum (minimum) stretching. This problem can
be formulated as a stationarity condition of the function n2 D n| C n subject to the
constraint n| n D 1 which states that the unknown vector must be of unit length,3
a condition conveniently rewritten as .n| n 1/ D 0; 8 2 IR: By employing
the Lagrange multipliers approach, the expression
f WD n2 .n| n1/ D n| Cn.n| n1/ D n| .CI/nC (4.21)
represents the function for which the stationarity is sought with respect to changes
in n. The stationarity of f requires that the unknown vector n satisfies the following
eigenvalue problem:
@f
D .C I/ n D o (4.22)
@n
subject to the constraint @f =@ D n| n 1 D 0: Consequently, a necessary and
sufficient condition for the existence of nontrivial solutions of (4.22) is
det .C I/ D 0: (4.23)
Equation (4.23) is the characteristic polynomial associated with the eigenvalue

problem (4.22). By virtue of the symmetry of C and its positive-definite nature,
three real and positive eigenvalues always exist, j 2 IRC , j D 1,2,3, together with
|
the three mutually orthogonal eigenvectors n1 , n2 , and n3 for which nj nk D ıjk ;
under the assumption that the eigenvalues are distinct. The directions .n1 ; n2 ; n3 /
are the so-called principal directions of stretch.
The meaning of the eigenvalue k can be ascertained by considering the
governing eigenvalue problem
.C k I/ nk D o:
| |
Pre-multiplying the latter by nk yields nk C nk D k D k2 ; thus the eigenvalues
of C represent the squared principal stretches.
The deformation tensor is expressed in the principal basis fn1 ; n2 ; n3 g as the
diagonal tensor
C D 12 n1 n1 C 22 n2 n2 C 32 n3 n3 : (4.24)
The principal stretch vectors are defined as 1 D 1 nM 1 ; 2 D 2 nM 2 ; and 3 D 3 nM 3 :

The shear strain between a pair of principal stretch vectors can be computed by
exploiting (4.15) and the identities C nk D k2 nk and nj nk D ıjk . The result
3
The stated problem can also be cast as the stationarity condition (min/max) of the magnitude of
the stretch vector,
min =max j n j2 D min =max n C n: (4.20)
n2IE3 ;jnjD1 n2IE3 ;jnjD1
is sin jk D . j k /=.j k / D nM j nM k D .nj C nk /=.j k / D k =j .nj

nk / D k =j ıjk : Hence, nM j nM k D k =j ıjk implies the mutual orthogonality of the
principal stretch vectors which represent, in the actual configuration, the stretched
images of the unit vectors collinear with the principal directions of stretch in the
reference configuration.
Depending on the multiplicity of the eigenvalues of (4.23), there are three
possibilities:
(a) The multiplicity of all eigenvalues is one, 1 ¤ 2 ¤ 3 : This implies that a
sphere is mapped into an ellipsoid. Hence, this state is referred to as a triaxial
or a three-dimensional state of deformation.
(b) The multiplicity is two, 1 D 2 ¤ 3 : In this case, by considering the
plane whose normal is n3 , each direction lying in this plane (i.e., eigenspace
associated with the repeated
p eigenvalue)
p pis a principal direction of stretch with
the stretch given by D 1 D 2 : Therefore, any arbitrary pair of
orthogonal axes (n1 ; n2 ) makes a principal basis together with n3 . The deformed
image of a cylindrical neighborhood whose axis is collinear with n3 is again a
cylinder. This motivates the terminology cylindrical state of deformation.
(c) The multiplicity is three, 1 D 2 D p3 D : Any direction is a principal
direction of stretch whose magnitude is : Hence, a sphere is mapped into a
sphere. Any triplet of orthonormal vectors represents a principal basis of stretch.
The ensuing state is referred to as a spherical or isotropic state of deformation.
When one of the principal stretches is unitary, the state of strain is biaxial or
planar. The plane orthogonal to the principal direction with unit stretch is the plane
of deformation. When two principal stretches are unitary, the state of deformation is
uniaxial, the axis of strain being collinear with the principal direction whose stretch
is different from 1.
The unfolding of the local deformation phenomenon is fully achieved by
exploiting the polar decomposition theorem due to Cauchy which is stated here
without proof.
Theorem 4.2 (Cauchy’s polar decomposition). Any nonsingular (real) tensor A
can be uniquely decomposed into the product of an orthogonal tensor and a positive-
definite symmetric tensor,
A DRU DV R (4.25)
C 5
where R 2 O.3/ and U ; V 2 Sym . When det A > 0; as a corollary of the
4
polar decomposition theorem, R can be shown to be a proper orthogonal tensor,

R 2 SO.3/6 and det R D 1:
4
O.3/ denotes the group of all rotations in Euclidean space IE3 : The orthogonality of R implies
R | D R 1 :
5
SymC denotes the space of all symmetric and positive-definite second-order tensors.
6
SO.3/ indicates the group of proper rotations described by proper-orthogonal tensors.
This condition is satisfied by the deformation gradient F since det F is enforced

to be strictly positive and orientation-preserving. Thus, the polar decomposition of
F delivers
F DRU DV R with R 2 SO.3/: (4.26)
According to (4.26), the Cauchy–Green deformation tensor can thus be expressed as
C D F| F D .R U /| .R U / D .U | R | / .R U / D U U D U 2 : (4.27)
The meaning of tensors U and V is clarified by the following theorem:

Theorem 4.3. The tensors C and U possess the same eigenvectors; the eigenvalues
of C are the squares of the eigenvalues of U :
To prove Theorem (4.3), let .k ; nk / be an eigenpair (eigenvalue, eigenvector) of
U ; U nk D k nk : Pre-multiplying this equality by U yields U U nk D k U nk .
According to (4.27), C D U 2 I consequently,
C nk D k U nk D k2 nk :
Therefore, .k2 ; nk / is an eigenpair of C: Since the eigenvalues of C are the squares

of the principal stretches, k D k ; which implies that the eigenvalues of U are the
principal stretches. The representation of U in the principal basis is thus given by
the expression
U D 1 n1 n1 C 2 n2 n2 C 3 n3 n3 : (4.28)
The tensor U is known as the (right) stretch tensor.

It is of interest to investigate how the principal directions of stretch fn1 ; n2 ; n3 g
are transformed by the deformation. Substituting F D R U expressed by (4.26)
into the definition of the stretch vector k yields k D Fnk D R U nk D k Rnk :
Moreover, k D k nM k combined with the previous expression implies
nM k D R nk ; k D 1; 2; 3: (4.29)
Thus nM k represents the kth principal direction of stretch rotated in the actual
M
configuration B:
Since the deformation gradient can also be decomposed as F D V R, by using
(4.29), k D F nk D V R nk D V nM k is obtained. Since k D k nM k ;
V nM k D k nM k
which proves that .k ; nM k / is an eigenpair of V . Thus the tensorial representation of

V becomes
V D 1 nM 1 nM 1 C 2 nM 2 nM 2 C 3 nM 3 nM 3 : (4.30)
Fig. 4.3 Transformation of

the principal basis of stretch
under the actions of U and R
(top) and R and V (bottom) U R
P P
R V
There are two different ways to represent the deformation process (see Fig. 4.3):
(1) U stretches the principal directions in the reference configuration B. The
stretched directions are subsequently rotated by RI (2) V stretches the principal
M after they have been rotated by R.
directions in the actual configuration B;
Volume and area dilatations. The volume dilatation or volume ratio, denoted
by ; is defined as the limit ratio of the deformed volume of a material three-
dimensional element to its original volume (see Fig. 4.4) as the material element
is asymptotically shrunk into the material base point,
VM
WD lim : (4.31)
V !0 V
On the other hand, the area dilatation (also known as area change) of the reference
material surface through P whose unit normal is n is defined by the following limit
ratio:
jaj
M
n WD lim (4.32)
A!0 jaj
where a D An and aM D AMnM denote the vectorial areas of the surface
elements whose unit normals are n in the reference configuration and nM in the
actual configuration, respectively. For the actual computations of the volume and
area dilatations, see (4.266) and (4.267) in Problems 4.19 and 4.20 according to
which
q
D det F; n D .det F/ n .F1 F| / n; (4.33)
daM D .det F/.F1 /| da: (4.34)

n
n
dx(2) dp(2)
dA dA
x dx(1)
@B dp(1)
p(x,t)
dV
B
(3)
e3 dx dx(2)
dx(1) @B dp(3)
dV
dp(2)
B dp(1)
O e2
e1
Fig. 4.4 Transformation of volumes and areas. In the reference configuration B, dV D .dx .1/
dx .2/ / dx .3/ and dA D jdx .1/ dx .2/ j while in the actual configuration BM, dVM D .dp .1/ dp .2/ /
dp .3/ and dAM D jdp .1/ dp .2/ j
Given daM D dAMnM and da D dAn, dividing both sides of (4.34) by dA yields n nM D
.det F/.F1 /| n. This suggests the definition of the area stretch vector as
n WD n nM D .det F/.F1 /| n: (4.35)
This vector has the virtue of describing the actual orientation of the area with unit
normal nM together with the area dilatation suffered by an area element having unit
normal n in the reference configuration.
The role of internal kinematic constraints. The general deformations of three-
dimensional solids are unconstrained in the sense that the material fibers are in
general free to stretch and shear. However, in several practical situations, it turns
out that certain deformation modes are severely restricted by the presence of high
stiffness differences exhibited by the body while undergoing certain deformations
with respect to other deformation modes. A classical example is that of rubber-like
materials which are soft if they are stretched or sheared, but offer very high stiffness
when subject to volume changes. It is advisable to fully constrain these deformations
a priori so that they are prevented independently of the forcing conditions. The
deformations are constrained by means of kinematic conditions known as internal
kinematic constraints.
Consider the case of incompressible materials for which the incompressibility
constraint D 1 prevents volume dilatations throughout the body: det F D 1;
8 x 2 B: In other cases, the fibers may be particularly strong in one direction, say
n: Then, the associated kinematic constraints must enforce that the stretch of fibers
collinear with n be equal to 1 at all points and at all times: n D 1; 8 x 2 B for a
given direction n:
In thin plate-like bodies, if e 3 is the unit vector normal to the plane parallel
to the prevailing dimensions of the body, transversal fibers typically do not shear
appreciably with respect to fibers in the plane .e 1 ; e 2 /: Thus, 13 D 23 D 0 H)
C13 D C23 D 0; 8 x 2 p B: p
These are derived
p from p (4.17) according to which
sin jk D .e j C e k /=. Cjj Ckk / D Cjk =. Cjj Ckk / where the summation
convention on the repeated indices is not meant to be used.
Infinitesimal strain tensor. The finite deformation theory has been presented
without any restriction on the magnitude of the strains. The infinitesimal deforma-
tion theory can be derived directly from the finite deformation theory through an
asymptotic process endowed with the proper ordering assumptions.
To this end, it is convenient to introduce strain measures that coalesce to zero
when the strains vanish. This strain-free situation occurs when the stretch of any
material fiber is unitary and the shear strain vanishes for any arbitrary pair of fibers.
The proper measure is thus the elongation n defined by (4.8). According to (4.6)
and (4.15), the strain is identically zero when C D I which implies U D I and
F D R. Under these conditions, fibers of the material neighborhood undergo only
finite rotations. Therefore, a tensor that vanishes when the strain is zero is C I:
This situation is consistent with the definition of the elongation n which indeed
vanishes when C D I. Here, the tensor C I is scaled by the factor 1=2 to simplify
the analysis. The obtained symmetric tensor is known as the Green–Lagrange strain
tensor, also referred to as the material strain tensor7 , given by
1 1
E WD .C I/ D .F| F I/: (4.36)
2 2
The elongation of a material fiber n and the shear strain of fibers m and n; in terms
of E, become
p 2m E n
n D 2n E n C 1 1 and sin mn D : (4.37)
.1 C m /.1 C n /
Thus, n D 0 and nm D 0, 8 m; n 2 IE3 , if and only if E D O:

It is convenient to express the Green–Lagrange strain tensor E in terms of the
(transposed) displacement gradient r u:
1 1
ED Œ.r u/| C r u C r u .r u/| : (4.38)
2 2
7
According to the polar decomposition, the Green-Lagrange strain tensor can be written as
E D 1=2.U 2 I/. Generalized strain tensors can be defined as
1
E(m) D .U 2m I/:
2m
m D 1 corresponds to the Green-Lagrange tensor, m D 1=2 gives the Biot strain tensor. On the
other hand, E(0) D ln U is the logarithmic or Hencky strain tensor.
If the displacement gradients are assumed to be infinitesimal, the norm of r u

can be considered to be of the same asymptotic order as an infinitesimal quantity
denoted by ", namely, jr uj D O."/: By virtue of (4.38), the leading-order terms
in the Green–Lagrange tensor turn out to be E D Œ.r u/| C r u =2 C O."2 /: The
infinitesimal deformation tensor can thus be expressed as
1
E(1) WD Œ.r u/| C r u : (4.39)
2
Therefore, the finite strain tensor E and the infinitesimal strain tensor E(1)
coincide to within an error of the order of O."2 /. Under a finite rigid-body motion
of the neighborhood of the material point x for which U D I, the deformation
gradient is reduced to the orthogonal tensor R from which .r u/| D R I. By
virtue of (4.36) and (4.39), E(1) can be expressed as
1
E(1) D r u .r u/| D O."2 / (4.40)
2
which proves that E vanishes to within an error of the order of O."2 / under a local
rigid-body motion. In turn, this implies
r u D .r u/| C O."2 / (4.41)
which indicates that the displacement gradient is skew-symmetric to within an error

of the order of O."2 /. By considering the first-order Taylor expansion of u.x/ as
u.x/ D u.x 0 / C .r u/| .x x 0 /; the following form of infinitesimal rigid-body
displacements is obtained accordingly:
1
u.x/ D u.x 0 / C .x x 0 /; WD Œ.r u/| r u (4.42)
2
where is the (skew-symmetric) infinitesimal rotation tensor whose action on
vectors, such as n, can be expressed through the associated axial vector in the
following manner: n D n. The axial vector is the infinitesimal rotation
vector expressed as D 12 r u.
Strains of the infinitesimal deformation theory. The Taylor expansion of (4.8)
yields the infinitesimal strains as the first-order terms
n D n E(1) n; and mn D 2m E(1) n: (4.43)
The meaning of the components of E(1) can be inferred by resorting to the definition
of the strain measures.
1. Consider a material fiber n through P and collinear with e k : The infinitesimal
elongation of the considered fiber is
k D e k E(1) e k D Ekk
(1)
: (4.44)
(1)
Therefore, the diagonal component Ekk is the elongation of the material fiber
through P collinear with the axis e k :
2. Let m and n be two material fibers through P and collinear with e j and
e k , respectively. The associated infinitesimal orthogonal shear strain can be
calculated as
jk D 2e j E(1) e k D 2Ejk(1) : (4.45)
Thus the off-diagonal component Ejk(1) represents half the shear strain of the fibers
collinear with the axes e j and e k :
The infinitesimal strain tensor E(1) is given the following tensorial representation in
the basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g once the geometric meaning of its components is brought out:
X
3
12 13
E(1) D k e k e k C .e 1 e 2 C e 2 e 1 / C .e 1 e 3 C e 3 e 1 /
2 2
kD1
23
C .e 2 e 3 C e 3 e 2 /: (4.46)
2
The algebraic version is
2 3
1 12 12 21 13
E(1) D 4 2 21 23 5 : (4.47)
3
On the other hand, in the principal basis fn1 ; n2 ; n3 g of E(1) , the ensuing diagonal
representation is
E(1) D 1 n1 n1 C 2 n2 n2 C 3 n3 n3 (4.48)
where j represents the principal elongation in the principal direction nj :

Equation (4.39) can be written in component form as

1 @ui @uj
Eij D
(1)
C ; (4.49)
2 @xj @xi
known as the linear strain–displacement relationships.
The deformation theory in spatial formulation. The position of the material
particle x at time t is defined as y D p.x; t/. If the vector-valued function x !
p.x; t/ is assumed to be one-to-one throughout the body and at all times, then there
exists an inverse function y ! p (-1) .y; t/; such that y D p.x; t/ , x D p (-1) .y; t/:
Here the standard notation f (-1) is used to indicate the inverse function of f; thus the
vector-valued function p (-1) .y; t/ represents the material particle of the reference
configuration that occupies position y at time t:
In the spatial formulation, all scalar, vector-, and tensor-valued functions are
parametrized by the spatial coordinates y 2 BM and time variable t: This description
is particularly useful in fluid mechanics where the interest is not in the trajectories
of the individual fluid particles but in the changes of the (scalar, vector-, or tensor-
valued) properties of the fluid particles that flow through a certain position y 2 BM at
time t:
To move from the material to the spatial formulation, the coordinate
transformation x ! p(-1) .y; t/ is introduced in all material functions of x. For
example, let #.x; t/ denote the absolute temperature at time t of the material
particle x of the reference configuration. To determine the spatial distribution of the
temperature at time t; the coordinate transformation x ! p (-1) .y; t/ is introduced,
M
and #.y; t/ WD #.p (-1) .y; t/; t/ is thus obtained.
Stretch in the spatial formulation. The following problem is posed: given the
actual fiber nM at y, what is the reference stretched material fiber from which nM is
originated? To solve the stated problem, first the stretch vector n D F n D n nM
is considered. Since nM is a datum, the previous linear relationship can be inverted to
obtain n1 n D F1 n:M Thus the vector (-1) WD F1 nM represents the material fiber
in the reference configuration that is stretched, under the motion, into the actual unit
M Since (-1) D n1 n; its magnitude, j(-1) j D n1 ; corresponds to the inverse
fiber n.
of the stretch which justifies the terminology inverse stretch vector for (-1) :
A more rigorous formulation to this problem is reported next. The lines in the
actual configuration can be parametrized by the arclength sM to have y.Ms /. Let nM WD
y sM be the unit vector collinear with the direction tangential to the actual material
fiber at y: To determine how this material fiber is transformed under the inverse
motion, dp(-1) can be expressed as
@p (-1) @p (-1)
dp(-1) .y; t/ D dy C O.jdyj2 / D ndM
M s C O.jdyj2 /: (4.50)
@y @y
The inverse stretch vector is defined as the limit of dp(-1) .y; t/=dMs as dMs ! 0; thus
@p (-1)
(-1) .y; t/ WD .y; t/ n:
M (4.51)
@y
M
Consequently, the material fiber that at time t is collinear with n.y; t/ is transformed
under the inverse motion into (-1) .y; t/ (see Fig. 4.5). Since x D p(-1) .p.x; t/; t/;
its material gradient gives
@p (-1) @p @p (-1) M 1 .y; t/:
ID H) .y; t/ D F (4.52)
@y @x @y
The inverse stretch is defined as the limit ratio of the reference to actual length
ˇ (-1) ˇ q
ˇ @p ˇ
.y; t/ Dˇˇ
(-1)
nM ˇˇ D j .y; t/j D nM F
(-1) M | F
M 1 nM (4.53)
@y
where FM | F
M 1 D .F
M FM | /1 DW B
M 1 from which the (left) Cauchy–Green strain
M (also called the Finger tensor) is obtained as
tensor B
M WD F
B M |:
M F (4.54)
Q n(y,t)
e3 B P s u(y,t)
s
P
y
B
O
e2
e1
Fig. 4.5 Spatial formulation: y 2 BM represents the spatial coordinates; p (-1) .y; t /; the inverse
function of p.x; t /; denotes the material particle in B that occupies position y at time t in BM
The determinant is det B M D .det F/

M 2 . By virtue of the polar decomposition theorem,
2
BM D VM :
The Green–Lagrange strain tensor used to describe the material strains is defined
as 2n E n WD lim.jdpj2 jdxj2 /=jdxj2 D n n 1 (as ds ! 0) with the property
that E vanishes when the strain vanishes in all directions of the neighborhood. Its
dual tensor in spatial formulation is defined according to
M nM WD jdyj jdp j D nM I nM nM F
2 (-1) 2
2nM E M | F
M 1 nM D nM .I F
M | F
M 1 / nM
jdyj 2
(4.55)
from which
E M 1 /:
M WD 1 .I B (4.56)
2
M is known as the Euler–Almansi strain tensor (or the spatial strain tensor).
E
According to (4.54) and (4.52), it is

(-1) |
@p (-1)
M 1 D @p
B : (4.57)
@y @y
It is worth noting that p.x; t/ D x C u.x; t/ is transformed into y D p(-1) .y; t/ C

u.p(-1) .y; t/; t/ according to the coordinate transformation x ! p (-1) .y; t/. If
M
u.y; t/ WD u.p(-1) .y; t/; t/; then p(-1) .y; t/ D y u.y;
M t/; thus the spatial
deformation gradient turns out to be
@p (-1) @uM
D I .rM u/
M |; with .rM u/
M | WD (4.58)
@y @y
where rM is the nabla vector in spatial form (spatial gradient) and rM uM is the
(transposed) spatial displacement gradient.
Substituting (4.58) into (4.57) and, in turn, into (4.56) gives
M 1 D I Œ.rM u/
B M | C .rM u/
M C .rM u/
M .rM u/
M |; (4.59)
M D 1 Œ.rM u/
E
1
M .rM u/
M | C .rM u/ M .rM u/
M |: (4.60)
2 2
Time derivatives. The material time derivative is in general defined as the time
derivative of any quantity, spatial or material, calculated so that the identity of the
material particle is held fixed. In particular, the material time derivative expressed
in terms of the reference coordinates x is the time rate of change of quantities
calculated while the reference material point is kept fixed. Different notations are
used to indicate the same material time derivative such as Dt D P
./; dtd ./, Dt , or ./,
while the partial time derivative is denoted by @t ./. Changes of notation occur
whenever this helps saving space without raising ambiguity. For example, the
material time derivative of the position vector p.x; t/ is the velocity field in material
description expressed as
ˇ
v.x; t/ WD Dt p.x; t/ D @t p.x; t/ˇx= fixed :
From the velocity field v.x; t/ in material description, the velocity field in spatial
M
description can be calculated as v.y; t/ WD v.p (-1) .y; t/; t/: Similarly, the material
time derivative of the temperature field in referential description given by
ˇ
P
#.x; t/ D @t #.x; t/ˇx=fixed
represents the time rate of change of the temperature of the material particle x:
M
When the spatial description #.y; t/ of the temperature is considered, its spatial
argument y D p.x; t/ is also a function of time; hence, to calculate the time rate of
M
change of #.y; t/ while the material particle is kept fixed, the Chain Rule is applied
giving
M @#M ˇ ˇ
Dt #.y; t/ D @t p.x; t/ˇx=fixed C @t #M ˇy=fixed D rM #M vM C @t #M
@y
where @t p.x; t/jx=fixed with the substitution x ! p(-1) .y; t/ is the spatial description
M
of the velocity field v.y; M
t/. Here, Dt #.y; t/ denotes the material time derivative in
spatial form. The term rM #M vM is referred to as the convective derivative and the term
@t #M is known as the local time derivative.
Next the velocity in spatial description and in terms of the displacement gradient
M
is calculated as follows: v.y; t/ D @t u.y;
M t/ D @t u.p.x;
M t/; t/ D @u=@y
M vM C @t uM
from which
M
v.y; t/ D .rM u/
M | vM C @t u:
M (4.61)
Similarly, the spatial acceleration is computed as
M
a.y; M
t/ D @t v.y; t/ D .rM v/
M | vM C @t v:
M (4.62)
Strain rates. A natural way of introducing the strain rates of material fibers through
the material point x is to calculate the material time derivative of the stretch vector
n D F n as follows:
P n
Dt n D F (4.63)
where the material time derivative of the deformation gradient is
P @p @pP @v P
F.x; t/ D Dt D D H) F.x; t/ D .r v/| : (4.64)
@x @x @x
Thus the material time rate of change of the deformation gradient is the material
velocity gradient. To proceed with the calculation of the material time derivative
of F.x; t/ in spatial coordinates, the coordinate transformation x ! p(-1) .y; t/
is introduced in F.x; t/ so as to obtain the spatial description of the deformation
M
gradient F.y; PM
t/ WD F.p (-1) .y; t/; t/ and compute F.y; t/: Alternatively, the above-
stated coordinate transformation can be directly introduced in (4.64) to obtain
PM @vM @vM @p
F.y; t/ D .p.x; t/; t/ D D .rM v/ M
M |F
@x @y @x
from which
PM D L
F M F
M (4.65)
M WD .rM v/
where L M | denotes the spatial velocity gradient.
Substituting (4.65), expressed back in material form, into (4.63) yields
Dt n D L n : (4.66)
Hence, the spatial velocity gradient applied onto the stretch vector furnishes its
material time rate of change. The decomposition of L into symmetric and skew-
symmetric parts yields
D WD sym.r v/; W WD skw.r v/ (4.67)
where D is known as the stretching tensor and W is the spin tensor. The axial vector
associated with W; denoted by w; is the instantaneous angular velocity, also given
by w D 1=2 r v: Therefore, as a consequence of the decomposition of L; (4.66)
can be rewritten as
Dt n D D n C W n D D n C w n : (4.68)
The material time rate of change of n D n n; M given by (4.68); accounts for the
time rate of change of the stretch n as well as for the rate of change of the actual
M
material fiber direction n:
Therefore, the computation of the rates of the stretch can be achieved by
considering
n2 D n n D n F| F n D n C n D n .2E C I/ n (4.69)
from which
P n D 2n E
Dt .n2 / D n C P n (4.70)
and

|
P D 1C
E P D 1
F P :
P F C F| F (4.71)
2 2
Similarly, the rates of the shear strains, say between material fibers m and n; can be
calculated by considering m n D m C n D m .2EC I / n according to (4.15),
from which
P n D 2m E
Dt . m n / D m C P n: (4.72)
Next the Leibnitz Rule is used to obtain Dt . m n / D Dt . m / n C m Dt . n /
which together with (4.68) leads to
Dt . m n / D 2m D n C m n Œ.w m/
M nM C .w n/
M m
M D 2 m D n (4.73)
where the property .w n/

M mM D .w m/M nM is used. The right-hand side of (4.72)
can be expressed in terms of spatial quantities using the relationships m D m m;M
M m D m F1 m;
n D n n; M and n D n F1 n: M
m P F1 nM D 2m
M F| C P F1 n:
M F| E M (4.74)
Equating (4.74) to (4.73) and, in turn, to (4.72) gives
M D nM D m
2m P F1 nM D 2m
M F| C P F1 n:
M F| E M (4.75)
M n/;
Since (4.75) must hold for all .m; M the following equalities are obtained:
P F1 D 1 F| C
D D F| E P F1 : (4.76)
2
Equalities (4.76) establish a relationship between the stretching tensor and the rates
of the material deformation tensors C and E:
When the body undergoes a rigid-body motion, there is no stretching, UM D UPM D
O: Hence, the stretching tensor D M vanishes and the spin tensor WM D R PM R
M | is
uniform throughout the body.
Push Forward and Pull Back Operations. Equation (4.76) shows that the stretch-
ing tensor can be obtained by pre-multiplying the rate of the material deformation
tensor E by the transposed inverse of the deformation gradient and post-multiplying
by the inverse of the deformation gradient. This operation has a universal meaning
and is referred to as a Push Forward Operation. Notice that the stretch vector
n D F n is the result of the application of F on the material fiber n: Therefore,

the stretched fiber represented by n can be regarded as the application of a push
forward operation on n
n D F n DW Œn: (4.77)
Dually, by considering the inverse motion x D p (-1) .y; t/ and the inverse stretch
vector (-1) D F1 n;
M the latter is proved to be the result of a Pull Back Operation
on the fiber collinear with nM according to
(-1) D F1 nM DW Œn:

M (4.78)
These operations can be applied on the strain tensors. All vectors are expressed
in terms of their images in the actual configuration. By using n D n F1 nM and
n D n n,
M the following equality
m n m n D m .C I/ n D 2m E n (4.79)
becomes
M 1 / nM D 2m
M .I B
m M F| E F1 nM (4.80)
1
M D .I B
which, on account of E M /=2 given by (4.56), yields the desired result
M D F| E F1 D ŒE:

E (4.81)
Thus the Euler–Almansi deformation tensor is the result of a push forward operation
on the Green–Lagrange strain tensor where the Push Forward Operation on material
tensors is defined by
Œ D F| . / F1 : (4.82)
M employing (4.81) which gives
At the same time, E can be obtained from E
M F D ŒE
E D F| E M (4.83)
where the Pull Back Operation on spatial tensors is defined by
Œ D F| . / F: (4.84)
Equation (4.83) says that the Green–Lagrange strain tensor E; defined in the
reference configuration, is the result of a pull-back operation on the Euler–Almansi
deformation tensor EM defined in the actual configuration.
The remarkable result expressed by (4.76) is rewritten as
P
D D ŒE (4.85)
which indicates that the stretching tensor is the result of a push forward operation
P the material time derivative of E: Since E D ŒE;
on E; M then E P D Dt ŒE:
M
Combining this result with (4.85) yields
M DW L ŒE
D D ŒDt ŒE M (4.86)
where the operator L Œ; called the Lie derivative, is defined by
L Œ WD ŒDt Œ : (4.87)
The stretching tensor (4.86) is a formidable result, from a computational point of

view. It says that the stretching tensor can be calculated through the following
sequence of operations: (1) pull back operation on the spatial deformation tensor
M (2) application of the material time derivative on the resulting tensor, and (3)
E;
push forward operation on the obtained tensor into the actual configuration.
4.2 Elements of the Stress Theory
This section offers a concise review of the stress theory for nonlinear three-
dimensional solids. First the Cauchy stress is introduced as a measure of the state
of stress referred to actual deformed areas. The classical equations of motion are
thus obtained by stating the balance of linear and angular momentum referred to
the actual configuration. Thereafter, the referential description of the equations of
motion is illustrated through the first and second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensors.
The data for the dynamical problem of nonlinear solids. The description of
the forces acting on structures often poses serious challenges due to lack of sufficient
experimental data for their thorough characterization or for their intrinsic stochastic
nature. In general there are two kinds of forces. Forces can be exerted on a solid
body by a device that has a built-in feedback mechanism capable of controlling
the mechanical inputs. In some other instances, the forces of the first kind may be
supplied by an ideal mechanical source that is not affected in any way by interactions
with the body. In either of these two cases, these forces represent the mechanical
data of the dynamic problem for nonlinear solids.
In many other practical engineering problems, however, the mechanical source
interacts with the body; hence, the forces are the result of the relative motion
between the body and the source. A typical example is the fluid-structure interaction
from which important challenges arise both for its reliable description and for the
ensuing dynamic instabilities.
Only forces of the first kind will be taken into account with the major focus
on volume and surface forces, described by vector-valued functions that represent
volume or surface force densities. Namely, the volume forces are forces per unit
reference volume in B and the surface forces are forces per unit reference area
4.2 Elements of the Stress Theory 233
fdA
fdA
B
∂Bf tdA
b dV
B
n
e3
P ∂Bf b dV
B
0 P
x p(x,t) ∂B
0
B
0
O
e2
e1
Fig. 4.6 Reference configuration B and current configuration BM with body and surface forces
on @Bf .8 By letting b denote the force acting on the material element of

volume V , the force per unit reference volume at the material point x in B
is b.x/ D lim b=V as V ! 0. The force per unit area defined on @Bf is
f.x/ D lim f=A as A ! 0 where f indicates the surface force acting on
the material surface element of @Bf whose area is A:
The forces can also be expressed as forces per unit actual volume or per unit
actual area. To this end, let bM and fM denote these force densities and dVM and dAM be
the volume and area of the deformed volume and surface elements, respectively.
M as in the kinematic case, indicates the quantities expressed in
The notation ./,
spatial coordinates. Since the forces (not the densities) that act on both the surface
and volume elements do not change with the material or spatial description, the
following equalities must hold: bdV D bd M VM and fdA D fd M A:M According to (4.33)
M M
and (4.32), D dV =dV D det F and dAn =dAn D n where the subscript indicates
the normal to the surface element dA. Consequently,
M
b D .det F/ b; M
f D n f: (4.88)
Conservation of mass. Consider a material point x of the reference configuration

(see Fig. 4.6) whose material neighborhood possesses volume V .x/ > 0 and mass
m.x/ > 0: The mass density in the reference configuration is defined as .x/ D
lim m=V .x/ as V ! 0. When the body is subject to a motion, the volume of
the deformed neighborhood of PM at p is VM > 0 and the mass is m: M Thus the
M
mass density in the actual configuration is .y/ M VM as VM ! 0, where
D lim m=
y D p.x; t/.
8
@Bf denotes that part of the boundary of B where the surface forces are prescribed or, as a
particular case, are zero.
Let B o B denote a closed region inside the body in the reference configuration
and let BM o BM represent the corresponding deformed image in the current
configuration B:M According to the principle of conservation of mass, the mass of BM o
is equal to the mass of B o : The mass of an infinitesimal material region is dm D dV
while the mass of the deformed element is dm M D dM VM . Thus the equality of masses
requires
Z Z
dV D M VM ;
d 8 B o B ” D M det F (4.89)
Bo BM o
where the equality dVM D det FdV and the continuity of the functions are exploited.
Equation (4.89) is the continuity equation in material description and expresses the
local form of the balance of mass.
Overall balance laws. According to Newton’s second law in its generalized form,
the balance of linear and angular momentum of the entire body requires (1)
the resultant forces to be equal to the time rate of change of the overall linear
momentum, (2) the resultant moment to be equal to the time rate of change of
angular momentum. Provided that vM WD p.p P (-1) .y; t/; t/ represents the velocity in
the spatial description, the linear and angular
R momentum R of the body in the actual
configuration BM at time t are given by BM vM d M VM and BM y vM d M VM , respectively.
The angular momentum and the moments are calculated about the origin O of
the Newtonian reference frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 /. The following balance equations are
obtained:
Z Z Z
M AM C
fd M VM D d
bd M VM ;
vM d (4.90)
@BM BM dt BM
Z Z Z
M M M M d
y fdA C y bdV D M VM :
y vM d (4.91)
@BM BM dt BM
According to Reynold’s Transport Theorem9, the time derivatives on the right-hand

sides of (4.90) and (4.91)
R can be applied
R to the function vM inside the integral thus
M VM and BM y aM d
giving, respectively, BM aM d M VM where aM denotes the acceleration in
spatial coordinates.
Equations (4.90) and (4.91) can be expressed in terms of the quantities of the
reference configuration B by using (4.88) and (4.89), and by simply replacing ./ M
9
This is due to one of the forms of Reynold’s Transport Theorem by which
Z Z
Dt M
.y; t /.y/dVM D M
Dt .y; t /.y/dVM
BM BM
where y D p.x; t /: If the function is chosen to coincide with one of the components of the
velocity vector, D Dt pi (i D 1; 2; 3), the expressions for the time-derivatives of the linear and
angular momentum are obtained.
4.2 Elements of the Stress Theory 235
with ./ in (4.90) and (4.91) to move from the spatial to the material description.
The material descriptions of the balance equations thus read
Z Z Z
fdA C bdV D @t t pdV; (4.92)
@B B B
Z Z Z
p fdA C p bdV D p @t t pdV (4.93)
@B B B
where @t t p denotes the acceleration in the material description.

The Cauchy stress. A region BM o is considered inside the actual configuration BM of
the body, endowed with a regular boundary surface denoted by @BM o (see Fig. 4.6).
A material point y D p.x; t/ is taken on the boundary and nM is the unit outward
normal vector to the boundary @BM o at y. The vectorial element area at y is denoted
by daM D dAMn:
M
Cauchy postulated that the resultant action exerted on BM o through the surface
element at y by the complementary part BM BM o of the body is represented by the
contact force tM dAM where tM is the Cauchy stress vector defined as the contact force
per unit actual surface. This stress vector is a function of the position y and the unit
M
normal n:
tM D tM .y; n/:
M (4.94)
The dependence of tM from the unit normal nM is governed by the Cauchy Lemma and
the Cauchy Stress Theorem.
Lemma 4.4 (The Cauchy Stress Lemma). The stress vector representing the
contact force per unit actual area through a surface at y with unit normal nM is
the opposite of the stress vector representing the contact force through the same
M
surface whose unit normal is n:
tM .y; n/
M D tM .y; n/:
M (4.95)
Proof. To prove this lemma, a material surface is considered through y with unit
normal n. M This surface divides the body BM in two complementary parts denoted by
BM – and BM C : The balance of linear momentum of BM – and BM C yields
Z Z Z Z
M AM C
tM .y; n/d M AM C
fd M VM D
bd M VM ;
Mad (4.96)
˘M n @BM – BM – BM –
Z Z Z Z
M AM C
tM .y; n/d M AM C
fd M VM D
bd M VM
Mad (4.97)
˘M n @BM C BM C BM C
where ˘M n D ˘M nC D ˘M n– is the planar region of normal nM that cuts the body in BM C

and BM . Since the unit outward normal of ˘M n– @BM – is n;
M then tM .y; n/
M is the contact
M M
force per unit actual area that B exerts on B through ˘M n at y: On the contrary,
C
M is the contact force per unit actual area that BM – exerts on BM C through ˘M nC ;
tM .y; n/
thus summing the two equations and accounting for (4.90) yields
Z Z
M AM C
tM .y; n/d M AM D o; 8 y 2 B;
tM .y; n/d M 8 nM 2 IE3
˘M n ˘M n
” tM .y; n/
M C tM .y; n/
M D o:
t
u
Theorem 4.5 (The Cauchy Stress Theorem). Let nM D nM 1 e 1 C nM 2 e 2 C nM 3 e 3 be
the unit normal vector to an internal material surface through y 2 B: M The stress
vector tM .y; n/
M can be expressed as a linear combination of the three stress vectors
tM k .k D 1; 2; 3/ according to
tM .y; n/
M D nM 1 tM 1 C nM 2 tM 2 C nM 3 tM 3 ; M 8 nM 2 IE3
8 y 2 B; (4.98)
where tM k WD tM .y; e k / and fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g is an orthonormal basis.

Proof. The proof of this famous Theorem resorts to a geometric construction known
as the Cauchy tetrahedron. One of the four triangular faces is taken as the surface of
unit normal nM while the other three faces are parallel to the Cartesian planes whose
normals are the unit vectors e k of the chosen basis. The balance laws are enforced
on the tetrahedron thus proving (4.98). t
u
By letting
TMij .y/ WD e i tM .y; e j / D e i tM j ; (4.99)
the stress vector can be expressed as
tM D TM nM (4.100)
where TM is the Cauchy stress tensor. In component form, (4.100) becomes

tMi D TMij nM j :
Principal directions of stress and principal stresses. The Cauchy stress vector
tM defined on a material surface through y with unit normal nM is conveniently
represented in component form in the intrinsic basis fnM 1 ; nM 2 ; nM 3 g with one of the
axes (e.g., nM 3 / collinear with nM and the other two axes parallel to the tangent plane to
the surface. According to (4.100), the components in this basis are TM13 D nM 1 TM nM 3 ;
TM23 D nM 2 TM nM 3 ; TM33 D nM 3 TM nM 3 : The component TM33 is the normal stress while
.TM13 ; TM23 / are the shear (or tangential) stresses.
A direction such that tM D M nM is a principal direction of stress and the plane
normal to it is a principal plane of stress. This terminology stems from the fact
that the stress vector is purely normal to the principal plane since the shear stresses
vanish (TM13 D M nM 1 nM 3 D 0 and TM23 D M nM 2 nM 3 D 0), while TM33 D M nM 3 nM 3 D M .
This justifies the term principal stress for M .
4.3 The Cauchy Equations of Motion 237
According to (4.100), TM nM D M nM is recast as the following eigenvalue problem:
.TM M I/ nM D o: (4.101)
A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of nontrivial solutions of

(4.101) is
det .TM I/
M D 0: (4.102)
Equation (4.102) is the characteristic polynomial associated with the eigenvalue
problem (4.101). By virtue of the symmetry of TM (in consonance with (4.112)
shown in the next section) three real eigenvalues M j 2 IR, .j D 1,2,3/ and three
corresponding eigenvectors nM 1 , nM 2 , and nM 3 always exist. The eigenvectors turn out
to be mutually orthogonal if the eigenvalues are distinct.
In the principal basis of stress fnM 1 ; nM 2 ; nM 3 g; the stress tensor becomes diagonal:
TM D M 1 nM 1 nM 1 C M 2 nM 2 nM 2 C M 3 nM 3 nM 3 : (4.103)
There are three possibilities depending on the multiplicity of the eigenvalues

of TM .
(a) The multiplicity of all eigenvalues is one, M 1 ¤ M 2 ¤ M 3 ; then the state of stress
is said to be triaxial or three-dimensional.
(b) The multiplicity is two, M 1 D M 2 ¤ M 3 ; then each direction lying in the plane
whose normal is nM 3 (i.e., the associated eigenspace) is a principal direction of
stress, thus M D M 1 D M 2 : Any arbitrary pair of orthogonal axes denoted by
(nM 1 ; nM 2 ) makes a principal basis with nM 3 . This is known as a cylindrical state of
stress.
(c) The multiplicity is three, M 1 D M 2 D M 3 D M ; then any direction is a principal
direction of stress whose magnitude is M and any triplet of orthonormal vectors
represents a principal basis of stress. The ensuing state is referred to as a
spherical or hydrostatic state of stress.
When one of the principal stresses is zero, then the state of stress is said to be
biaxial or planar. The plane orthogonal to the principal direction with M D 0 is the
plane of stress. When two principal stresses vanish, the state of stress is uniaxial, the
axis of stress being collinear with the principal direction whose associated normal
stress is M ¤ 0:
The principal directions of stress, according to the polar decomposition Theorem
F D R U ; can be obtained in the material description by rotating back nM k ; thus
nk D R | nM k :
4.3 The Cauchy Equations of Motion
The equations enforcing the overall balance of linear and angular momentum of a
deformable solid are necessary but not sufficient balance equations as is the case for
rigid bodies. Cauchy postulated that the balance of linear and angular momentum of
a deformable body must be enforced on any arbitrary region BM o of B:

M The resulting
equations, together with the overall balance of linear and angular momentum, are
necessary and sufficient balance conditions for the deformable body.
The statements of balance of linear and angular momentum of the inner region
BM o are, respectively,
Z Z Z
tM dAM C M VM D
bd M VM ;
Mad (4.104)
@BM o BM o BM o
Z Z Z
y tM dAM C M VM D
y bd M VM :
M ad
y (4.105)
@BM o BM o BM o
Employing the Divergence Theorem10 so as to transform the surface integrals

into volume integrals yields the local (differential) form of the balance equations.
First, the resultant contact force acting on @BM o is transformed into a volume integral.
According to Cauchy’s Stress Theorem (4.5), Cauchy’s formula tM D nM j tM j (use of
the summation convention is made) can be substituted into the first integral term of
(4.104) to obtain
Z Z Z
tM dAM D nM j tM j dAM D @yj tM j dVM ; (4.106)
@BM o @BM o BM o
by virtue of which, (4.104) yields
@yj tM j C bM D MaM (4.107)
by invoking the continuity of the functions and the fact that the balance laws must
hold for 8 BM o BM and 8 t 2 Œ0; 1/. By letting tM j D TMij e i ; bM D bMi e i ; and vM D vM i e i
in (4.107), the following Cartesian component form of (4.107) is obtained:
@yj TMij C bMi D MaM i ; i D 1; 2; 3 (4.108)
which, in explicit component form, yields
@y1 TM11 C @y2 TM12 C @y3 TM13 C bM1 D MaM 1 ;

@y1 TM21 C @y2 TM22 C @y3 TM23 C bM2 D MaM 2 ;
@y1 TM31 C @y2 TM32 C @y3 TM33 C bM3 D MaM 3 : (4.109)
10
It can be proved in general that, for any second-order tensor formed by a dyad, or a linear
combination of dyads, A D uv; the Divergence Theorem takes the form
Z Z Z Z
.uv/ n dA D r .uv/| dV; A n dA D r A | dV:
@B B @B B
4.4 The Equations of Motion in Material Description 239
|
The vector whose i th component is @yj TMij D .rM TM /i represents the divergence
of the Cauchy stress tensor in the actual configuration. Thus, the tensorial (frame-
independent) representation of (4.107) is
|
rM TM C bM D Ma:
M (4.110)
Equation (4.110) is the Cauchy equation of motion, in spatial formulation, also

known as the classical form of the equation of motion.
The differential form of the balance of angular momentum can be obtained
exploiting Cauchy’s Stress Theorem (4.5). The angular momentum of the contact
forces on @BM o , using y tM D y nM j tM j , reads
Z Z Z
y tM dAM D nM j y tM j dAM D @yj .y tM j /dVM
@BM o @BM o BM o
Z

D e j tM j C y @yj tM j dVM :
BM o
Substituting this equation into (4.105) and using (4.107) yield
e j tM j D o ” TMij D TMj i ; 8 y 2 BM o B:
M (4.111)
The second equation of motion in tensorial form reads

|
TM D TM (4.112)
which states the symmetry of the Cauchy stress tensor.

The equations of motion must be supplemented by the (mechanical) boundary
conditions. In the absence of boundary lumped masses, the boundary conditions
require that, at any point on the boundary of the body subject to the known forces f; M
the stress vector must be equal to the prescribed force per unit actual area, tM .y; n/
M D
M
f.y; M In tensorial and component notations, the boundary conditions become
n/.
TM nM D f;
M TMij nM j D fMi ; 8 y 2 @BMf : (4.113)
4.4 The Equations of Motion in Material Description
The balance equations are naturally enforced in the actual configuration since both
the unknown contact forces and the prescribed surface forces refer to the actual
configuration. The drawback of the introduced stress measure is that it is based on
the unknown actual configuration. This justifies the need to introduce a stress vector
defined as contact force per unit reference area. To this end, the contact force exerted
on the actual material surface through y is considered in its ratio to the area of the
corresponding surface of the reference configuration (see Fig. 4.7).
n tdA
dA n tdA
x
dA
e3
B p(x,t)
B
O e2
e1
Fig. 4.7 The Cauchy stress vector tM in the actual configuration and the nominal stress vector t
As shown in Sect. 4.1, by letting da D dAn and daM D dAMnM denote the vectorial
areas of the surface elements in the reference and actual configurations, respectively,
the elementary contact force through the actual area dAM is given by tM dA,M while the
elementary contact force expressed in terms of the reference area dA is tdA. Thus,
the stress vector per unit reference area is defined by the following identity:
tdA D tM dAM (4.114)
which, in turn, gives t D n tM where n is the area dilatation. The stress vector t is
known as the nominal or first Piola–Kirchhoff stress vector.
According to the Cauchy Stress Theorem, tM D TM n, M by which t D n TM n. M
Therefore, the relationship between the Piola–Kirchhoff stress vector and Cauchy’s
stress tensor, on account of (4.35), is
t D TM n : (4.115)
In turn, (4.115) combined with (4.35) yields
t D .det F/TM .F1 /| n H) t D T n (4.116)
where T is given by
T D .det F/TM .F1 /| ; TiL D .det F/ TMij .F1 /Lj : (4.117)
T is called the nominal stress tensor or first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor or

engineering stress tensor. By definition, this tensor measures the contact force per
unit area of the reference configuration. The Cauchy Stress Theorem (4.5) can thus
be stated in terms of material quantities as
t D n1 t 1 C n2 t 2 C n3 t 3 or t D T n: (4.118)
The balance equations can be rewritten in terms of quantities referred to B. For

the balance of linear momentum of region BM o B, M by expressing the elementary
contact force as tMi dA D TiL nL dA and using the conservation of mass dV D M dVM ,
M
the integral contact force on @BM o is given by
Z Z Z
tMi dAM D TiL nL dA D @xL TiL dV:
@BM o @Bo Bo
At the same time,

Z Z Z Z
M
MaM i dV D @t t pi dV and bMi dVM D bi dV
BM o Bo BM o Bo
where bi is bi D .det F/ bMi according to (4.88). The integral balance equation then
leads to the following local form:
@xL TiL C bi D @t t pi : (4.119)
Equation (4.119) is the (first) Cauchy equation of motion in material description

whose component form becomes
@x1 T11 C @x2 T12 C @x3 T13 C b1 D @t t p1 ;

@x1 T21 C @x2 T22 C @x3 T23 C b2 D @t t p2 ;
@x1 T31 C @x2 @T32 C @x3 T33 C b3 D @t t p3 (4.120)
where @xL TiL D .r T | /i is the divergence of the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor
in Cartesian coordinates. The first Cauchy equation of motion can thus be expressed
in tensorial form as
r T | C b D @t t p: (4.121)
The second Cauchy equation of motion in material description can be obtained by
|
expressing the balance of angular momentum, given by (4.112) as TM D TM ; in
terms of material quantities. The following set of algebraic equations are obtained:
F T | D T F| : (4.122)
The boundary conditions in material description are t D f which reads
T n D f; x 2 @Bf : (4.123)
The equations of motion together with the boundary conditions, in material

description, can thus be cast in the following vectorial form:
r T | C b D @t t p; x2B (4.124)

F T | D T F| ; x2B (4.125)
T n D f; x 2 @Bf : (4.126)
Second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor. A second nominal stress tensor denoted by

S obtained from the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor is introduced deliberately as
a symmetric tensor, in consonance with the Cauchy stress tensor TM , so as to satisfy
the balance of angular momentum (4.122) from the outset. S is known as the second
Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor and is defined according to
T D F S: (4.127)
Consequently, the balance of angular momentum F T | DT F| becomes F S |

F| DF S F| which is satisfied if and only if S | D S . Tensor S is expressed in
terms of T and TM , respectively, as
S D F1 T ; S D .det F/F1 TM F| ; (4.128)
where F| WD .F1 /| since .F1 /| D .F| /1 . The equations of motion in terms
of S become
r .F S /| C b D @t t p; x 2 B; (4.129)
S| D S; x 2 B; (4.130)
.F S / n D f; x 2 @Bf : (4.131)
The algebraic equations enforcing the balance of angular momentum are thus
replaced by a more complicated form of the initial boundary-value problem due
to the highly nonlinear terms in r .F S /| :
Linearization of the equations of motion. The first step toward the lineariza-
tion is to consider all quantities as functions of a small nondimensional parameter
" 1 that serves the purpose of parametrizing the deviations from the reference
configuration.
The body and surface forces are assumed to be O."/ at leading order:
b.x; tI "/ D "b(1) .x; t/ C O.x; tI "2 /; f.x; tI "/ D "f (1) .x; t/ C O.x; tI "2 /:
Accordingly, the position vector field is
ˇ
p.x; tI "/ D x C "p(1) .x; t/ C O.x; tI "2 /; p (1) WD @" p ˇ"D0 DW u(1) ; (4.132)
where u(1) is the first-orderˇ displacement from B, the notations @" ./ WD @./=@" and
r (1) .x; t/ WD @" r.x; tI "/ˇ"D0 are employed. By assuming that the reference config-
uration is stress-free, S .x; tI 0/=O implies S .x; tI "/="S (1) .x; t) + O.x; tI "2 /.
The Taylor expansion of the deformation gradient yields F.x; tI "/DI C
.r u/| .x; tI "/DI C ".ru(1) /| +O.x; tI 2 /: Therefore, the linearized equations
of motion and the (mechanical) boundary conditions become
r S (1) C b(1) D @t t u(1) ; x 2 B; (4.133)

S (1)
n D f ; x 2 @Bf :
(1)
(4.134)
The kinematic boundary conditions, which prescribe the position of the material
points of the boundary @Bu as p.x; t/ D p.x;
N t/, become
u(1) .x; t/ D u.x;

N t/; x 2 @Bu ; t 2 Œ0; 1/ (4.135)
N
where u.x; t/ is the prescribed displacement on @Bu assumed to be of order O."/.
The equations of motion (4.133) together with the boundary conditions (4.134)
deliver the equilibrium equations by setting @t t u(1) D o; thus obtaining
r S (1) C b(1) D o; x 2 B; (4.136)

S (1)
n D f ; x 2 @Bf :
(1)
(4.137)
The overall balance of linear and angular momentum, given by (4.90) and (4.91),
can be expressed in terms of quantities of the reference configuration as
Z Z Z Z
fdA C bdV D o; p fdA C p bdV D o:
@B B @B B
Thus, on account of p.x; tI "/ x C "u(1) .x; t/; the overall balance equations at
leading order become
Z Z Z Z
f (1) dA C b(1) dV D o; x f (1) dA C x b(1) dV D o:
@B B @B B
The resultant moment is calculated in B without accounting for the change of the
lever arms of the forces induced by the displacement field u.
On the other hand, if the reference configuration is not assumed to be stress-free,
the force fields can be expressed as b.x; tI "/ b(0) .x; t/ C "b(1) .x; t/; f.x; tI "/
f (0) .x; t/ C "f (1) .x; t/ where the forces .b(1) ; f (1) / arise naturally as incremental
forces with respect to the lowest-order forces .b(0) ; f (0) /: Accordingly, the stress field
is S .x; tI "/ S (0) .x; t/C"S (1) .x; t/ and the local and global equilibrium equations
in the reference configuration become
r S (0) C b(0) D o; x 2 B; (4.138)
Z Z S (0) nZ D f (0) ; x 2 @BfZ; (4.139)

f dA C
(0)
b dV D o;
(0)
x f dA C (0)
x b dV D o:
(0)
(4.140)
@B B @B B
The equilibrium problem (4.138)–(4.140) is referred to as the prestress problem. On

the other hand, the linearized problem is
|
r ŒS (1) C .ru/(1) S (0) | C b(1) D o; x 2 B; (4.141)
|
ŒS (1) C .ru/(1) S (0) n D f (1) ; x 2 @Bf ; (4.142)
Z Z
f (1) dA C b(1) dV D o; (4.143)
Z @B Z B
.x f (1) C u(1) f (0) /dA C .x b(1) C u(1) b(0) /dV D o: (4.144)
@B B
This is called the incremental problem. The stress terms .ru/(1) | S (o) account for
the effects of the prestress state in the incremental problem (4.141)–(4.144). These
terms are called geometric stiffness terms.
4.5 Integral Formulations Toward Computations:

The Weak Form
In this section, the weak form of the equations of motion is discussed in conjunction
with the principle of virtual work and the principle of virtual power. An extended
discussion about the parallelism, in the context of beam theory, between the method
of weighted residuals , the weak form, and the principle of virtual work or the
principle of virtual power is given in Chap. 11 to which the reader is referred for
a deeper insight into the computational aspects.
The equations of motion together with the mechanical boundary conditions in
material formulation are given by (4.129)(4.131). Both members of (4.129) are
multiplied by a sufficiently smooth function w.x/ and are integrated over domain B
to obtain the following primitive weak form:
Z
.r T | C b @t t p/ w dV D 0; (4.145)
B
where T D F S . The function w.x/ is called the test function (or weighting
function). This function may be chosen as a virtual displacement or a virtual
velocity.
While (4.145) is a weak form of the governing balance equations (4.129), it does
not, however, account for the mechanical boundary conditions. To account for these,
it is necessary to apply the divergence theorem so as to bring out the boundary terms
which are thus forced to satisfy the mechanical boundary conditions (in an average
sense). This is achieved by imposing the condition that the weighting function w
vanishes on the boundary where the kinematic boundary conditions are prescribed:
w D o; 8 x 2 @Bu :
The only term that needs to be treated by the divergence theorem is the
first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor. To this end, the following Lemma (proved in
Problem (4.30)) is exploited.
Lemma 4.6. For a sufficiently smooth second-order tensor field A.x; t/ and a
sufficiently smooth vector field w.x/; x 2 B IE3 ; the following equality holds:
.r A | / w D r .A | w/ A | W .r w/: (4.146)
4.5 Integral Formulations Toward Computations: The Weak Form 245
The inner product between second-order tensors is defined according to
A W B WD tr.A | B/ D Aij Bij :
Substituting (4.146), with A replaced by T , into (4.145) gives

Z Z Z
r .T | w/dV T | W .r w/dV C .b @t t p/ wdV D 0: (4.147)
B B B
The integrals make sense according to the Lebesgue Theory only if the weighting
functions are at least continuous and admit square integrable partial derivatives,
w 2 H 1 .B/.11 The reader is referred to Chap. 11 for more details. The divergence
theorem is then applied to the first integral to obtain
Z Z Z
r .T | w/dV D .T | w/ ndA D .T | w/ ndA (4.148)
B @B @Bf
where the integration is limited to @Bf because @B D @Bf [ @Bu and w D o;

8 w 2 @Bu . Since .T | w/ n D .T n/ w; by invoking the mechanical boundary
condition (4.126), (4.148) becomes
Z Z
r .T | w/dV D f wdA: (4.149)
B @Bf
Substituting (4.149) into (4.147) and recognizing that T | :.r w/ =T :.r w/| yield the
weak form of the equations of motion as
Z Z Z Z
@t t p wdV C T W .r w/| dV D f wdA C b wdV;
B B @Bf B
8 w.x/ 2 H 1 .B/ such that w.x/ D o for x 2 @Bu : (4.150)
No specific constitutive laws are invoked to obtain the weak forms of the
equations of motion. These equations are truly integral forms of the balance laws
regardless of the constituent material of the three-dimensional body. In the next
sections, it is shown that the weak form of the equations of motion is equivalent
to the statements of the principle of virtual work or principle of virtual power.
Furthermore, the intimate connections with the method of weighted residuals
applied to three-dimensional solids are discussed.
The weak form of the equations of motion in spatial formulation. This is
obtained by introducing a sufficiently smooth function defined in terms of the spatial
11
H 1 .B/ denotes the space of square integrable functions whose domain is B and which are
endowed with square integrable derivatives. Such a space is called a Hilbert space.
M
coordinates y; w.y/ for y 2 BM such that w.y/
M D o for y 2 @BMu : Multiplying both
members of the equation of motion (4.110) by the test function wM yields
Z

|
rM TM C bM MaM wM dVM D 0: (4.151)
BM
By applying the divergence theorem and the mechanical boundary condition TM nM D

M y 2 @BMf ; the weak form of the equations of motion in spatial formulation is
f;
obtained as
Z Z Z Z
M VM C
aM wd TM W .rM w/
M | dVM D fM wd
M AM C bM wd
M VM ;
BM BM @BMf BM
8 w.y/
M M such that w.y/
2 H 1 .B/ M D o for y 2 @BMu : (4.152)
4.6 The Principles of Virtual Work and Virtual Power
The von Mises truss structure presented in Chap. 1 is given here as an introductory
example (see Fig. 4.8) before presenting the general form of the Principle of Virtual
Work (PVW). The von Mises truss structure is a symmetric structure with two
trusses of equal length l that make an angle o with the horizontal line in the stress-
free configuration B: The vertical load applied to lumped mass m at the keystone
hinge causes the truss member length to change from l to l, M and a new equilibrium
configuration is attained in BM where the trusses form an angle .
For the equilibrium problem, the inertia forces are neglected. Denoted by NM , the
current tension in the trusses, the equilibrium equation is
2NM sin C P D 0: (4.153)
The tension is related to the elongation of the trusses via a constitutive law. However,
the PVW does not require the specification of a constitutive law: the trusses can be
made of any material such as elastic, elasto-visco-plastic, or pseudoelastic.
B*
δv
B
v
B
e2 δθ
Fig. 4.8 The von Mises truss
structure: B; BM, and B θ θ
0
indicate the stress-free, e1

actual, and virtual a a
configurations, respectively
4.6 The Principles of Virtual Work and Virtual Power 247
An infinitesimal displacement, called virtual displacement, is considered to

cause a (virtual) infinitesimal change of configuration from BM to B . The virtual
displacement has to satisfy the kinematic boundary conditions. In this example, the
virtual displacement vanishes at the left and right hinges: ıu D o; 8 x 2 @Bu : A
virtual displacement with the stated property is said to be a kinematically admissible
infinitesimal displacement.
The displacement of the mass from the reference configuration B to BM is v./ D
a.tan tan 0 /: Thus, the virtual displacement from BM to B can be obtained from
v./ by introducing the transformation ! C ı and expanding v. C ı/ in
Taylor series up to first-order terms which gives ıv:=v. C ı/ v./=a sec2 ı:
Moreover, the virtual change of length of the trusses is ı lM D a sin sec2 ı since
lM D a sec : This relationship is the strain–displacement relationship which states
the compatibility between the virtual strain ı lM and the virtual displacement ı.
The work performed by the external force P under the virtual change of
configuration from BM to B (i.e., the so-called virtual work) is calculated as
ıW ext =P ıv=P a sec2 ı. The equilibrium equation (4.153) relating the tension NM
to the external force P is substituted into the virtual external work to obtain
ıW ext D 2NM sin ıv D 2aNM sin sec2 ı: (4.154)
M is computed
On the other hand, the work of the truss tension NM (ıW int D 2NM ı l)
M
taking into account the relationship between the virtual elongation ı l and the virtual
rotation ı thus obtaining
ıW int D 2NM a sin sec2 ı: (4.155)
Hence, the external work (4.154) is equal to the internal work (4.155) as stated by
the PVW,
ıW int D ıW ext : (4.156)
By enforcing the PVW in the form given by (4.156) to hold for any kinematically
admissible (virtual) displacement ı, the equilibrium equation (4.153) is obtained.
Moreover, by requiring (4.156) to hold for any statically admissible (equilibrated)
force system .P; NM /, the identity (4.156) yields the virtual strain–displacement
relationship.
When the load P is not applied quasistatically, the equation of motion for the
mass is 2NM sin C P =m vR where v=aR sec2 .R C 2P 2 tan /. By substitution of
the equation of motion, the external virtual work becomes
R C 2NM ı lM D ıW int :
ıW ext D P ıv D mvıv
Thus the internal virtual work now includes the work of the inertia force12 mvR
with the implicit assumption that the inertia force does not change during the virtual
displacement ıv.
The PVW can also be formulated in the form of the virtual powers if kinemat-
ically admissible virtual velocities are considered instead of displacements. In the
P sec2 ı :
present example, the virtual velocity is ı v=a P
This example is generalized to three-dimensional solids so as to illustrate the
PVW, first, in spatial formulation, then in material formulation. Before pursuing
the generalization, the PVW is reviewed in the context of three-dimensional
infinitesimal theory.
Let f.f; b/; T g denote a set of (surface and body) forces and stresses that satisfy
the equilibrium version of the balance equations (4.121)(4.123). Let .ıu; ıE/
represent any kinematically admissible infinitesimal displacement and associated
strain tensor such that ıE Dsym.r ıu/ holds. The kinematic admissibility of the
virtual displacement ıu requires it to be sufficiently smooth and such that ıu.x/ D o
on @Bu : Then, the PVW states
Z Z Z
.T W ıE/ dV D f ıudA C b ıudV: (4.157)
B @B B
The right-hand side is the work of the surface and volume forces in the virtual
displacement ıu, whereas T W ıE D Tij ıEij D T11 ı1 CT22 ı2 CT33 ı3 CT12 ı12 C
T23 ı23 C T31 ı31 is the work per unit volume of the stresses in the infinitesimal
virtual strains, also known as virtual stress work.
Theorem 4.7 (Principle of Virtual Work: material formulation). Let ıu.x/;
with x 2 B; denote an arbitrary infinitesimal virtual displacement from BM to
BM such that ıu.x/ D o; x 2 @Bu : Let f.f; b/; T g be a set of (surface and
volume) forces and the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor (T ). Assume the forces
and stress tensor f.f; b/; T g to satisfy the equation of motion (4.121) together with
the mechanical boundary conditions (4.123). Furthermore, let ıF be the material
deformation gradient associated with the virtual change of configuration induced
by ıu: Then,
Z Z Z Z
@t t p ıudV C T W ıFdV D f ıudA C b ıudV: (4.158)
B B @Bf B
Proof. This theorem can be proved by resorting to the weak form of the equations of
motion expressed by (4.150) and by letting the weighting function w be the virtual
displacement ıu: However, a direct proof of the PVW is given in Problem 4.32 by
exploiting the governing equations and the divergence theorem. This approach has
the virtue of offering a mechanical interpretation of the (more abstract) weak form
of the equations of motion. t
u
12
It may seem odd that the inertia force appears as an internal force in the virtual internal work.
The balance of linear momentum may be enforced à la D’Alembert whereby the inertia force mvR
enters the equation. In this case, the-virtual external work comprises the term mvıv:
R
4.6 The Principles of Virtual Work and Virtual Power 249
Property 1 (Duality of T & ıF; S & ıE; S & 12 ıC). There is a work conjugacy
or duality in the reference configuration between: the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress
tensor T and the virtual deformation gradient ıF, the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress
tensor S and the virtual material strain tensor ıE, and the second Piola–Kirchhoff
tensor S and (one-half) the virtual Cauchy–Green deformation tensor 12 ıC.13
A consequence of the PVW (in material description) is the following:
Corollary 4.8 (Weak material form of the equations of motion). A necessary
and sufficient condition for a stress field given by the first Piola–Kirchhoff tensor T
to satisfy the equations of motion (4.121) and boundary conditions (4.123) is that
(4.158) is satisfied for any virtual displacement ıu:
Next the spatial formulation of the principle of virtual work is illustrated.
Theorem 4.9 (Principle of Virtual Work: spatial formulation). Let ı u.y/; M 8y 2
BM denote an arbitrary virtual displacement from BM to BM such that ı u.y/
M D o for
y 2 @BMu : Let ı E
M Dsym.rM ı u/
M represent the first variation of the Euler–Almansi
tensor induced by the virtual displacement field ı u:M Furthermore, let f.f;M b/;
M TM g
be a set of (surface and volume) forces and the Cauchy stress tensor. Assume the
M b/;
forces and stress tensor f.f; M TM g to satisfy the equations of motion (4.110) and
the mechanical boundary conditions (4.113). Then,
Z Z Z Z
M VM C
MaM ı ud TM W ı Ed
M VM D fM ı ud
M AM C bM ı ud
M VM : (4.160)
BM BM @BMf BM
This theorem can be proved by resorting to the weak spatial form of the equations
of motion expressed by (4.152) and letting the weighting function wM be the virtual
M A direct proof of Theorem (4.9) is provided in Problem 4.33,
displacement ı u:
which helps delving into its mechanical interpretation.
A consequence of the PVW is the following:
Corollary 4.10 (Weak spatial form of the equations of motion). A necessary
and sufficient condition for a Cauchy stress field TM to satisfy the equations of
motion (4.110) and boundary conditions (4.113) is that (4.160) holds for any virtual
M
displacement ı u:
The Principle of Virtual Power. The integral (weak) formulation of the equations
of motion can also take the form of the Principle of Virtual Power (PVP) where the
13
The principle of virtual work in material description, using the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress
tensor, can be stated as follows:
Z Z Z Z
@t t p ıudV C S W ıEdV D f ıudA C b ıudV;
B B @Bf B
8 ıu 2 H 1 .B/ such that ıu.x/ D o for x 2 @Bu ; 8t: (4.159)

virtual velocity takes the place of the virtual displacement. The Principle of Virtual
Power in spatial formulation seems to be more appealing to physical intuition. Thus,
the spatial formulation of the PVP is presented first.
Theorem 4.11 (Principle of Virtual Power: spatial formulation). Let ı v.y/; M
M denote an arbitrary virtual velocity field such that ı v.y/
y 2 B, M D o for y 2 @BMu :
M b/;
Let f.f; M TM g be a set of (surface and volume) forces and the Cauchy stress
tensor. Assume the forces and stress tensor f.f; M b/;
M TM g to satisfy the equations of
motion (4.110) and the mechanical boundary conditions (4.113). Furthermore, let
ıLM D .rM ı v/
M | be the virtual spatial velocity gradient. Then,
Z Z Z Z
M VM C
MaM ı vd TM W ı Ld
M VM D fM ı vd
M AM C bM ı vd
M VM : (4.161)
BM BM @BMf BM
This theorem is proved by considering the weak spatial form of the equations
of motion expressed by (4.152) and choosing the weighting function wM to coincide
M | .rM ı v/
with the virtual velocity ı vM so that .rM w/ M A direct proof of
M | D ı L:
Theorem (4.11) is given in Problem 4.34.
According to (4.67), ı LM D sym.ı L/ M C skw.ı L/ M where sym.ı L/M DW ı DM is the
virtual stretching tensor and skw.ı L/M DW ı WM is the virtual spin tensor. Therefore,
by virtue of the symmetry of the Cauchy stress tensor TM ; the virtual stress power
can also be expressed as
TM W ı L
M D TM W ı D:
M
Property 2 (Duality of TM & ı D).

M The Cauchy stress tensor TM and the virtual
M are work conjugate (or dual) fields in the actual configuration.
stretching tensor ı D
The discussion is concluded with the material formulation of the PVP.
Theorem 4.12 (Principle of Virtual Power: material formulation). Let ıv.x/;
with x 2 B; denote an arbitrary virtual velocity field such that ıv.x/ D o; x 2
@Bu : Let f.f; b/; T g be a set of (surface and volume) forces and the first Piola–
Kirchhoff stress tensor. Assume the forces and stress tensor f.f; b/; T g to satisfy
the equations of motion (4.121) and the mechanical boundary conditions (4.123).
Furthermore, let ıFP be the material gradient of the virtual velocity field ıv: Then,
Z Z Z Z
@t t p ıvdV C P
T W ıFdV D f ıvdA C b ıvdV: (4.162)
B B @Bf B
This theorem can be proved by considering the weak material form of the equations
of motion expressed by (4.150) and by letting the weighting function w (that
need not be infinitesimal) coincide with the (material) virtual velocity ıv so that
.r w/| .r ıv/| D Dt .r ıu/| D ıF: P A direct proof of Theorem (4.12) is shown
in Problem 4.35.
4.7 The Constitutive Equations in Solid Mechanics 251
P is
It can also be proved that the stress power per unit reference volume, T W ıF;
expressed as
P D S W ıE:
T W ıF P
Property 3 (Duality of T & ıF; P S & ıE).P There is a work conjugacy or duality in
the reference configuration between: the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor T and
P the second Piola–
the time rate of change of the virtual deformation gradient ıF;
Kirchhoff stress tensor S and the time rate of change of the material strain tensor
P
ıE.
A consequence of the principle of virtual power in material description is the
following:
Corollary 4.13 (Weak form of the equations of motion). A necessary and suf-
ficient condition for a stress field, expressed by the first Piola–Kirchhoff tensor T
to satisfy the equations of motion (4.121) and boundary conditions (4.123), is that
(4.162) holds for any virtual velocity field ıv:
4.7 The Constitutive Equations in Solid Mechanics
The strain–displacement relationships and the equations of motion hold for any
material body. The material properties are described by the so-called constitutive
equations.
The constitutive aspects of the material behavior are treated by the constitutive
theory of materials which offers a variety of intriguing mathematical problems and
open challenging questions. Among these open questions, there is the problem
of designing elaborate test machines that can measure the material properties of
material samples under sufficiently general conditions so as to generate enough
experimental data that can support the mathematical modeling of the material
behavior. A related problem is that of indirectly characterizing the material behavior
of existing structures such as the monumental structures of past civilizations.
These materials have suffered a remarkably high number of stress cycles and have
resisted a variety of degrading processes including, primarily, physical and chemical
processes. In studying these structures to assess their stability and residual life,
there is a need for accurate modeling of the constitutive aspects with the severe
limitation that material samples can rarely be removed and carried to a laboratory
for mechanical testing. In these instances, recourse is made to indirect measurement
techniques based on the proper formulation of suitable inverse problems.
The discussion about the constitutive characterization is first restricted to a nar-
row class of materials that exhibit neither memory effects nor internal dissipation.
The most general constitutive equation for these materials reads
b .p.; t/; x; t/
T .x; t/ D T (4.163)
where the (explicit) dependence of T b on time t and on the motion of the entire
body is prevented by the principle of objectivity as shown in the next sections.
Constitutive equation (4.163) says that the state of stress at the material point x
depends on the motion of all material points of the body. From a physical standpoint,
this implies that there is a full interaction between the considered material particle
and all other particles, either neighboring or far away. Such a material is said to
be fully nonlocal with a terminology that brings out the essential aspect of the
mentioned interactions [149].
The broad generality inherent in the constitutive equation (4.163) is significantly
weakened if the state of stress at x is assumed to depend only on the motion of
a neighborhood of x: The size of the neighborhood depends on the order of the
gradients of p from which the dependence of T b is postulated:
b .p.x; t/; p x .x; t/; p xx .x; t/; : : : ; x/

T .x; t/ D T (4.164)
where the more compact notation p x WD @p=@x etc. is employed. Such a material
is said to be a gradient-type nonlocal material. Depending on the order of the
gradients, high- to low-order gradient nonlocal theories for strongly or weakly
nonlocal materials may be devised.14 The material is said to be simple if the
dependence is restricted to first-order gradients:
b .p.x; t/; p x .x; t/; x/:

T .x; t/ D T (4.165)
In particular, the simplest material is the elastic material that obeys the constitu-
tive equation
b .F.x; t/; x/:
T .x; t/ D T (4.166)
Most of the natural or engineered materials do however dissipate energy
internally due to the irreversibility of nano/microstructural interactions and transfor-
mations that occur when the material is subject to cyclic loads or to time-dependent
loading conditions. For the latter, strain rates arise in the material fibers and heat can
be exchanged between the body and the environment. Materials whose constitutive
functions depend on the deformation gradient and its rates are said to be viscoelastic
materials of the strain-rate type. In particular, if there is a dependence up to the
nth time derivative of F; the materials are known as viscoelastic materials of the
strain-rate type of complexity n: When n D 1; the material is a simple viscoelastic
material.
14
There are also integral-type nonlocal theories which account for the effects of the motion of the
rest of the body on the state of stress at x through integrals as, for example, in

Z
T .x; t / D Tb p x .x; t /; p x .x 0 ; t /dV .x0 /; x :
B
0
B
n0
e03
e02
B
O
0
p0(x,t0 )
c
e10 n
e3 n P
B
P
p(x,t)
x
O e2
e1
Fig. 4.9 B is the reference configuration; BM represents the actual configuration under the motion
p.x; t /; BMo indicates the actual configuration under the motion p.x; t / with a superimposed rigid
motion described by the vector c and the rotation tensor Q
Principle of Objectivity. The material properties cannot be affected by the su-

perposition of rigid motions or, equivalently, they cannot depend on the change of
observer. Therefore, physically admissible constitutive equations must be objective
(or frame-indifferent) in the sense of possessing invariance under rigid motions or,
equivalently, under the change of observer. This property amounts to requiring the
constitutive equations to fulfill the Principle of Objectivity.
If a body undergoes a motion p.x; t/; then by superimposing on p a rigid-body
motion described by .c.t/; Q.t//15 relative to a different clock shifted by time t S ;
the resulting combined motion (see Fig. 4.9) is expressed as [23]
p o .x; t o / D c.t/ C Q.t/ p.x; t/; t o D t C t S: (4.167)
A different way of casting this problem is to consider the same motion p.x; t/ in
different frames undergoing a relative rigid motion [295]. In the problem stated
by (4.167), an observer undergoing the rigid-body motion .c.t/; Q.t// would
“measure” the same original motion p while the observer of the first frame would
“measure” the motion given by (4.167).
15
c indicates, for example, the translation of the center of mass and the proper-orthogonal tensor
Q describes the rotation.
The Principle of Objectivity states that the state of stress for the motions p and p o
does not change. In other words, if t D T n is the contact force per unit reference
area with normal n at x, the contact force t o D T o n referred to motion p o must be
the vector t rotated by Q, namely, t o D Qt which corresponds to T o n D QT n.
Thus the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor is objective if and only if
T o .x; t C t S / D Q.t/ T .x; t/: (4.168)
This objectivity requirement is enforced next in the constitutive equations. To

this end, note that the relationship between the deformation gradient Fo associated
with po and the deformation gradient F is Fo .x; t o / D Q.t/ F.x; t/: Consider
simple materials for which the general forms of the constitutive equations are taken
as those corresponding to the motions p and p o :
b .p.x; t/; F.x; t/; x; t/; T o .x; t o / D T
T .x; t/ D T b.p o .x; t o /; Fo .x; t o /; x; t o /:
(4.169)
Equation (4.167) is substituted into T o and, in turn , into (4.168) to obtain

b .p.x; t/; F.x; t/; x; t/
Q.t/ T
b.c.t/ C Q.t/ p.x; t/; Q.t/ F.x; t/; x; t C t S /;
DT 8 .c; Q; t S /: (4.170)
This must hold for arbitrarily superimposed rigid-body motions, for all clocks,
and for all admissible motions p.x; t/ of the material body subject to the re-
striction det F > 0: Necessary and sufficient conditions that ensure the objectivity
requirement (4.170) are given by the following important Theorem due to Noll
(cf. [438, 439]).
Theorem 4.14 (Objectivity of the constitutive equations). The constitutive equa-
tion given by (4.169) for simple materials is invariant under rigid motions (or
change of observers) if and only if
.i / b is independent of the motion p.x; t/ and time t;
T .4:171/
.i i / b b .U .x; t/; x/.
T .F.x; t/; x/ D R.x; t/ T .4:172/
The proof of this Theorem is given in Problem (4.36).
The constitutive equation (4.166) takes a different form if S .x; t/=F1 .x; t/
T .x; t/ is considered instead of T . Equation (4.172) together with the polar
decomposition are substituted into S .x; t/ to obtain
b .U .x; t/; x/ DW S
S .x; t/ D U 1 .x; t/ T b.C.x; t/; x/: (4.173)
Thus, for simple materials, the constitutive equations satisfy the following:
b .F.x; t/; x/ D F.x; t/ S

T b.C.x; t/; x/: (4.174)
Moreover, the response of actual materials is such that the entropy inequality (or
maximum dissipation principle) is always satisfied. Thus, the constitutive functions
must comply with the reduced Clausius–Duhem inequality (see Appendix I)
P P #P # 1 .r # q/
0
T WF (4.175)
where D e # is the Helmholtz free-energy function (e is the internal energy

per unit reference volume), # is the temperature, r # is the material gradient of
the temperature, q is the heat flux vector, and is the entropy rate (for a thorough
discussion, see Appendix I). This inequality leads to thermodynamic restrictions on
the constitutive functions discussed in the following section.
Thermodynamic restrictions. Consider a simple thermoviscoelastic material
for which the constitutive functions for the stress T , the Helmholtz free energy ,
P #; g; x/
the heat flux q, and the entropy rate are postulated as functions of .F; F;
b .F; F;
T .x; t/ D T P #; g; x/; .x; t/ D P #; g; x/
.F; F;
q.x; t/ D q.F;
O P #; g; x/;
F; .x; t/ D .F;
O P #; g; x/
F; (4.176)
where g WD r # is the material temperature gradient. The forms of the functions

b ; ; q;
.T O /
O are forced to comply with the reduced Clausius–Duhem inequality
(4.175). In particular, the time rate of change of is calculated as
P C@ WF
P D @ WF R C @ #P C @ g:
P (4.177)
@F P
@F @# @g
Therefore, the inequality (4.175) becomes

h i h i
b @
T P @ WF
WF R C @ #P
@
gP # 1 .g q/
0 (4.178)
@F P
@F @# @g
which must hold 8 .F; F; P F; P g; g/:

R #; #; P By making use of arguments similar to
those in [23], the inequality leads to @ =@g D o and @ =@FP D O: Hence, the free
energy must depend only on F and #: .x; t/ D .F; #; x/: Moreover,
ˇ ˇ @
bˇ P
T D F .F; #; x/; qO ˇ.FDO;gDo/
P D o with F WD : (4.179)
.FDO;gDo/ @F
Equation (4.179) says that the mechanical equilibrium response at constant tem-
perature must be derived by differentiation of the free-energy (density) function
with respect to F and, at the same time, there is no heat flux when there are no
temperature gradients and time variations of F: The most remarkable implication of
(4.179) is that the dissipative part of the stress can be extracted from the total stress
according to
P #; g; x/ WD T
T D .F; F; b.F; F;
P #; g; x/ T
b.F; O; #; o; x/ (4.180)
so that the constitutive equation is expressed as

b.F; F;
T P #; g; x/ D F
P #; g; x/:
.F; #; x/ C T D .F; F; (4.181)
Therefore, by enforcing the heat conduction inequality r # q 0; the strong form

of the Clausius–Duhem inequality (cf. Appendix I)
P P #P
0
T WF (4.182)
yields the mechanical dissipation inequality

P #; g; x/ W F
P D WD T D .F; F; P
0; 8 .F; F;
P #/: (4.183)
This inequality states that the dissipative part of the stress must be constitutively
such that the associated dissipative power is always greater than or equal to zero for
all thermomechanical motions and at all times.
More insight into the constitutive characterization of the stress is gained by
calculating the work per unit reference volume performed by the stress T between
two instants of time. Integrating the stress power T W F P between the two arbitrary
instants of time t1 and t2 yields
Z t2 Z t2
int
W.1;2/ WD b .F; F;
T P #; g; x/ W F.x;
P t/dt D F
P
.F; #; x/ W F.x; t/dt
t1 t1
Z t2
C P #; g; x/ W F.x;
T D .F; F; P t/dt D W(1,2)
E
C W(1,2)
D
(4.184)
t1
where the elastic part of the mechanical work is

Z t2 Z t2
E
W(1,2) WD P
F .F; #; x/ W F.x; t/dt D d D .F2 / .F1 /;
t1 t1
while its dissipative part is

Z t2
D
W(1,2) WD P #; g; x/ W F.x;
T D .F; F; P t/dt:
t1
The elastic part of the work depends only on the initial and final states of the
deformation process, and not on the intermediate states along the load path. The
implication of the work decomposition into elastic and dissipative parts becomes
apparent if the instant of time t2 is taken such that it corresponds to a state whose
deformation gradient becomes equal to that at time t1 : For this particular load path,
.F2 / D .F1 /; hence, W(1,2)E
D 0; W(1,2)
int
D W(1,2)
D
: The stress work in a closed
load path is in part recovered through the restitution of the stored energy and in
part irreversibly spent through the dissipative stress T D : This part of the stress is
responsible for the nonconservative nature of the material response.
Objective rates. The invariance of physical properties with respect to the

superposition of rigid motions means literally that if infinitely many arbitrary rigid
motions are superimposed, these physical properties do not change. The frame-
indifference or invariance with respect to changes of observer means that if the
measurement setups of the physical properties are changed, the same measurements
are expected to be obtained. The implications of the superposition of rigid motions
on most of the physical quantities involved in the dynamics of solid bodies can
be unfolded. Extensive efforts have been directed toward the definition of suitable
time derivatives (rates) of objective tensors that would themselves be objective
(i.e., invariant under rigid motions). These objective derivatives are often referred
to as corotational derivatives, examples of which are the Jaumann derivative, the
Jaumann–Zaremba derivative, the Oldroyd upper derivative, the Green–Naghdi
stress rate, and the Truesdell rate of the Cauchy stress.
4.7.1 Elastic Materials
A very special class of materials is that of elastic materials for which the dissipative
part of the stress vanishes: T D DO. The stress is purely elastic and derivable from the
free-energy function . The free-energy function is known as the stored-energy
function. These materials are also called hyperelastic materials since the associated
constitutive function can be obtained from a stored energy , namely, T b D F or
b D 2@ D @ :
S (4.185)
@C @E
In particular, isotropic and transversely isotropic elastic materials are discussed
next since they represent the most common type of elastic materials employed in
engineering applications.
4.7.1.1 Isotropic Materials
Material responses are in general dependent on the loading direction. These

materials are said to be anisotropic. On the other hand, for isotropic materials, the
response does not depend on the loading direction. These materials exhibit the same
stiffness or compliance in all possible directions. Consider an unconstrained and
homogeneous body such as, for example, a stress-free homogeneous disk subject
to two equal and opposite forces whose line of action passes through the center
of the disk. If the line of action of the forces is rotated (or equivalently, the disk
is rotated with respect to the line of action), then the material response changes
with the loading direction if the material is anisotropic. On the other hand, the
material response is invariant with respect to rotations of the reference configuration
Fig. 4.10 B and Bo are two reference configurations differing by a rigid motion; BM represents the
actual configuration under the motion p.x; t /
if the material is isotropic. In more general terms, isotropy is a local property. The
conditions ensuring isotropy together with frame-indifference are discussed in the
next subsection.
Isotropy. The concept of invariance of the constitutive functions with respect to
rotations of the reference configuration is formalized by considering a homogeneous
material body in a stress-free configuration B and a motion x ! p.x; t/ that
deforms the body into the actual configuration BM D fp.x; t/; 8x 2 Bg (see
Fig. 4.10). Let the body in the reference configuration B be subject to a rigid-
body motion, represented by the translation c and rotation Q, which displaces
the body into the stress-free configuration B o to be considered as a new reference
configuration. Therefore, the position vector x o for B o is given by x o D c C Q x:
Subsequently, let the body in B o be subject to a motion that deforms it into
the actual configuration B:M Let po .x o ; t/ denote the position vector of the motion
M
B ! B: Since the motions p.x; t/ and p o .x o ; t/ describe the same configuration
o
M po .x o ; t/ D p.x; t/: The deformation gradients associated with the motions p

B,
and po are denoted by F and Fo ; respectively. On account of @x o =@x D Q, the
relationship between F and Fo can be obtained as
@p o @x o
FD D Fo Q H) Fo D F Q| : (4.186)
@x o @x
If the material is isotropic, the relationship between stress and strain in the body
that has been rotated from B to B o and then deformed into BM is the same as that
in the body that has been deformed from the original reference configuration B
M Therefore, the state of stress associated with the motion p and represented
into B:
by the constitutive function T .x; t/ D T b .F/ must be the same as the state of
stress associated with the motion po and represented by the constitutive function
b .Fo /: By incorporating (4.186), the stated invariance is thus
T o .x o ; t/ D T
expressed as
T b .F/; 8 Q 2 SO.3/:
b.F Q| / D T (4.187)
Note that the above transformation is due to the fact that the reference configuration
is rotated by Q, it is not a rotation of the reference frame which implies a change
of basis/observer. The invariance can also be stated for the second Piola–Kirchhoff
b.Co / D S
stress tensor as S b.C/ where Co D Q C Q| : Thus
S b.C/; 8 Q:
b.Q C Q| / D S (4.188)
Besides the invariance due to isotropy, expressed by (4.187) or (4.188), the frame-
indifference must also be enforced. Let tM and tM denote the Cauchy stress vectors
o
o
associated with the motions p and p , respectively. The frame-indifference must
ensure that tM D tM ; that is, TM D TM : The first Piola–Kirchhoff tensors associated
o o
with the Cauchy stress TM or TM are calculated as T D .det F/TM F| and T o D
o
o M o
.det F /T .F / : By using (4.186) and det F D det Fo , then T o D T Q| which,
o |
by substitution of T D F S and T o D Fo S o , yields S o D Q S Q| : In summary,

the frame-indifference requires
T o D T Q| ; S o D Q S Q| ; 8 Q 2 SO.3/: (4.189)
Considering S o D S b.Q C Q| / and T o D T

b.F Q| / and combining them with
(4.187), (4.188), and (4.189) yield
T b .F/ Q| ;
b .F Q| / D T (4.190)
b.Q C Q / D Q S
S | b.C/ Q ; |
8 Q 2 SO.3/: (4.191)
4.7.1.2 Transversely Isotropic Materials
Transversely isotropic materials are those for which there exists an axis, known
as the axis of transverse isotropy, such that the constitutive functions are invariant
under rotations about this axis. Let n denote a unit vector collinear with this axis,
let be the rotation angle about it, and Q.; n/ be the orthogonal tensor describing
the rotation. There are different ways of parametrizing Q. The Euler–Rodrigues
formula is often used as
Q.; n/ D I C sin P C .1 cos /P 2 ; Pij D ij k nk (4.192)
where ij k is the Levi–Civita permutation tensor and nk (k D 1; 2; 3) are the

direction cosines of n in a given basis. To ensure frame-indifference and transverse
isotropy of axis n, (4.190) and (4.191) must hold for all Q restricted to have the form
Q.; n/ given by (4.192). Therefore, the constitutive functions of a transversely

isotropic material must satisfy
T b .F/ Q| .; n/;

b .F Q| .; n// D T (4.193)
S b.C/ Q| .; n/;

b.Q.; n/ C Q| .; n// D Q.; n/ S 8 2 Œ0; 2/:
(4.194)
The elasticity tensor of a linearly elastic, transversely isotropic material can be

proved to depend on eight constants [366]. If further reflections with respect
to planes through the axis of transverse isotropy n are enforced as admissible
symmetry transformations for the material, the number of constants is reduced
to six. However, regardless of the reflections, transversely isotropic hyperelastic
materials admit only five material constants. There are different ways of obtaining
the constitutive equations in tensorial form. One viable way is to derive them from
a properly defined stored-energy function [458]. The forms of the elasticity tensors
for isotropic hyperelastic materials and for linearly hyperelastic isotropic materials
are discussed in the following sections.
4.7.1.3 Hyperelastic Isotropic Materials
Hyperelastic materials are materials for which the stress is purely elastic and
derivable from the stored-energy function : According to (4.185), the constitutive
function is Tb .F; x/ D F .F; x/ and S b.C; x/ D 2 C .C; x/ D E.E; x/. If
the hyperelastic material also possesses isotropy, then the stored-energy function
must be invariant under rotations of the reference configuration. Therefore, the
hyperelastic material behaves isotropically if and only if the stored-energy function
is such that
.F Q| / D .F/; .Q C Q| / D .C/; .Q E Q| / D .E/ (4.195)
for all possible rotations described by the proper-orthogonal tensors Q. Stored-

energy functions that behave as prescribed by (4.195) are said to be isotropic
scalar-valued functions.
The constitutive equation of an isotropic hyperelastic material is shown [23] to
have the following two forms:
b.C; x/ D s0 I C s1 C C s-1 C1 ;
S b.C; x/ D ˛0 I C ˛1 C C ˛2 C2
S (4.196)
where, in particular, the scalar functions sk depend on C and x for general

inhomogeneous materials as follows:
s0 W D 2@ =@I1 C 2trC@ =@I2 ;

s1 W D 2@ =@I2 ; s-1 WD 2.det C/@ =@I3 : (4.197)
The functions Ik .C/ are the invariants of C given by
I1 WD trC D CMM; I2 WD 12 Œ.trC/2 trC2 D 12 ŒCLM CML CNN

2
;
I3 WD det C D IJK CI1 CJ2 CK3
where IJK is the permutation symbol.

Stored-energy functions for hyperelastic isotropic materials. According to
a fundamental representation theorem for isotropic scalar-valued functions, these
functions must depend only on the invariants of their tensorial argument. Therefore,
D .I1 .C/; I2 .C/; I3 .C//. Differentiating D .I1 .C/; I2 .C/; I3 .C// with
respect to C yields
@ @ @I1 @ @I2 @ @I3
D C C : (4.198)
@C @I1 @C @I2 @C @I3 @C
It can be shown that @I1 =@C D I; @I2 =@C D I1 I C; and @I3 =@C D I3 C1 :
Therefore, the constitutive equation of an isotropic hyperelastic material is given
by (4.196). According to the Cayley–Hamilton Theorem, the inverse of C can
be expressed in terms of I; C and C2 which leads to the alternative form of the
constitutive equations given by the second equation in (4.196).
Another effective representation of the constitutive equations can be obtained in
terms of the principal stretches. By considering the principal directions of stretch
.n1 ; n2 ; n3 /; C D 12 n1 n1 C 22 n2 n2 C 32 n3 n3 : Therefore,
b.C; x/ D 2 @ D 2 @ n1 n1 C 2 @ n2 n2 C 2 @ n3 n3
S
@C @12 @22 @32
1 @ 1 @ 1 @
D n1 n1 C n2 n2 C n3 n3 (4.199)
1 @1 2 @2 3 @3
whereby the principal axes of stress in the reference configuration are collinear
with the principal directions of stretch. The principal stresses are thus constitutively
expressed as
1 @
SOLL WD ; L D 1; 2; 3: (4.200)
L @L
The stored-energy functions must behave in agreement with fundamental physi-
cal principles of material behavior. One such principle, based on the phenomenolog-
ical evidence exhibited by the behavior of healthy solid materials, is that an infinite
amount of force, hence of energy, is required to stretch unboundedly material fibers,
areas, and volumes or to make them undergo a total compression. Thus, the stored-
energy functions are required to become unbounded as material fibers, areas, and
volumes grow unbounded or undergo a total compression:
! 1 as det F ! 0 and as k ! 1:
Other properties of the stored-energy functions, such as convexity or poly-convexity,

are not addressed since they are extensively treated in the wide literature in nonlinear
elasticity (e.g., cf. [23]).
By considering material area elements whose normals are collinear with the
principal directions of stretch .n1 ; n2 ; n3 /; the associated area dilatations are
1 D 2 3 ; 2 D 1 3 ; ; 3 D 1 2 :
On the other hand, the volume dilatation is D det F D 1 2 3 : A quite general

stored-energy function that satisfies the mentioned properties can be cast in the form
.1 ; 2 ; 3 / D a1 1˛1 C a2 2˛2 C a3 3˛3 C a4 ˛1 4 C a5 ˛2 5

ˇ1 ˇ2
C a6 ˛3 6 C a7 .1 2 3 /˛7 C b1 1 C b 2 2
ˇ3 ˇ4 ˇ5 ˇ6
C b 3 3 C b4 1 C b5 2 C b6 3 C b7 ˇ7
with .˛i ; ˇj / > 0, i; j D 1; : : : ; 7.

The stored-energy functions of isotropic materials are additionally required to
coalesce into that of a linearly isotropic hyperelastic material when the strains (i.e.,
elongations and shear strains) become infinitesimally small. For an isotropic linearly
hyperelastic material, the constitutive equations and stored-energy function are
S D .trE(1) /I C 2E(1) ; .E(1) / D 12 S W E(1) D 12 .trE(1) /2 C tr.E(1) /2

(4.201)
where .; / are Lamé’s constants and E(1) is the infinitesimal strain tensor. The 28
material constants .ak ; bk / and .˛i ; ˇj / are indeterminate; hence, there is freedom
of choosing them so as to make the function behave in prescribed ways.
Another approach to the construction of stored-energy functions for isotropic
materials is based on expanding the function, expressed in terms of the invariants,
in Taylor series as
1
X
.I1 ; I2 ; I3 / D cij k .I1 3/i .I2 3/j .I3 1/k (4.202)
i;j;kD0
where the expansion is performed about the stress-free configuration for which F D
I and I1 D 3, I2 D 3, I3 D 1: For finite-dimensional representations, the number of
terms in the series is truncated thus neglecting higher-order powers of the invariants.
The question of deciding which nonlinear terms in the series should be kept and
which terms should be neglected is a subtle one. Different forms of the stored-energy
functions have been devised to describe various isotropic hyperelastic materials.
Each of the functions invariably has some virtues and some drawbacks.
St. Venant–Kirchhoff materials. For these materials, the stored-energy function

(4.202) takes the special form
.I1 ; I2 / D 12 .3 C 2/.I1 3/ C 14 . C /.I1 3/2 12 .I2 3/
D 12 .trE/2 C trE2 (4.203)
where E is the material strain tensor, .; / are Lamé’s constants. The stored-
energy function given by (4.203) exhibits a serious drawback: it does not grow
unbounded when I3 D det F D ! 0 since it does not depend on I3 :
Therefore, these materials can suffer total compressions thus possibly violating
the fundamental physical principle of impenetrability of matter. To overcome this
problem, a modified version has been proposed substituting trE with det F: The
ensuing modified St. Venant–Kirchhoff constitutive equations read
.I1 ; I2 ; I3 / D 12 ln2 .det F/ C trE2 : (4.204)
Hyperelastic incompressible and compressible materials. There are entire fam-

ilies of stored-energy functions used for hyperelastic compressible and incompress-
ible materials one of which plays the role of ancestor function, the Mooney–Rivlin
stored-energy function [141].
This function, valid for incompressible materials, has the form
.I1 ; I2 / D c1 .I1 3/ C c2 .I2 3/

D c1 .12 C 22 C 32 3/ C c2 Œ.1 2 /2 C .2 3 /2 C .3 1 /2 3
(4.205)
where .1 ; 2 ; 3 / are the principal stretches such that 1 2 3 D 1 (incompress-

ibility) and .c1 ; c2 / > 0 are material constants, usually determined by fitting of
experimental data, such that 2.c1 C c2 / D . Since the right and left Cauchy-
Green deformation tensors possess the same invariants, the stored-energy function
(4.205) can be expressed in terms of the left Cauchy-Green deformation tensor B, M
the deformation gradient F or the right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor C thus
obtaining different expressions of the constitutive equations such as:
TM D pI C 2c1 B M 1 ;
M 2c2 B T D pF| C 2c1 F 2c2 F| C1
(4.206)
where p.x; t/ is the hydrostatic pressure. The special case of (4.205) with c2 D 0 is
the stored-energy function for the so-called neo-Hookean material.
A generalization of the Mooney-Rivlin constitutive equations (4.205) is the
Ogden constitutive equations obtained from the following stored-energy function:
X
M X
N
D ai .1˛i C 2˛i C 3˛i 3/ C bj Œ.1 2 /ˇj C .2 3 /ˇj C .3 1 /ˇj 3
i D1 j D1
(4.207)
where .ai ; bj / are positive constants and ˛i
1, ˇj
1. Equation (4.207) is often
taken in the simpler form
X
M
i X
M
i
D .1˛i C 2˛i C 3˛i 3/; with D 2; .i ˛i / > 0:
i D1
˛i i D1
˛i
(4.208)
While the above equations can describe large deformations (up to 200% for the
Mooney-Rivlin model and 700% for the Ogden model) of nearly incompressible
materials such as polymeric or biological materials, the effects of compressibility
are often accounted for by modifying the original Mooney-Rivlin stored-energy
function as follows:
.IN1 ; IN2 ; I3 / D c1 .IN1 3/ C c2 .IN2 3/ C 3 .I3 / (4.209)
where IN1 and IN2 are the first and second invariants of the deviatoric part of the left
or right Cauchy-Green deformation tensors. The function 3 of the third invariant
(which scales as the square of the volumetric dilatation, 2 D .det F/2 D 12 22 32 )
incorporates the compressibility effects and is defined such that
0 0 00
c1 D C 3 .1/; c2 D =2 3 .1/; 4 3 .1/ D C 2:
There are different versions of 3 .I3 /, one of such choices being 3 .I3 / D
c3 .det F 1/2 c4 ln.det F/. Homogeneous isotropic compressible materials de-
scribed by a stored-energy function of the form (4.209) are often called Hadamard
materials. They exhibit the unique feature that longitudinal infinitesimal waves may
propagate in every direction irrespective of the state of finite static homogeneous
deformation.
The constitutive laws of incompressible materials can also be obtained from
those of compressible materials by imposing the internal kinematic constraint
D det F D 1. The main consequence of the internal kinematic constraint is that
the hydrostatic pressure denoted by p.x; t/ (work-conjugate with the volumetric
dilatation ) becomes a reactive stress which cannot be prescribed constitutively.
The kinematic constraint is rewritten as 1 D 0 and multiplied by p to obtain
p.det F 1/ D 0: This equality is added to the stored-energy function letting p play
the role of a Lagrange multiplier thus obtaining
Inc
D p.det F 1/: (4.210)
Thus the constitutive equation for the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor can be
obtained as
T D FInc D pF| C F (4.211)
where the equality .det F/F D .det F/F| D F| is exploited.
4.7.1.4 Linearly Hyperelastic Isotropic Materials: Elastic Moduli
Linearly hyperelastic materials are governed by a constitutive function of the form
b D L W E(1) ;
S SOij D Lijkl kl (4.212)
where S D Sij e i e j is the stress tensor, E(1) D ij e i e j denotes the infinitesimal
deformation tensor, and L D Lijkl e i e j e k e l is the positive-definite, symmetric
elasticity tensor.
The 81 elastic constants of L reduce to 36 due to the symmetry of E(1) and
S while the fact that the constitutive functions are derived from a stored-energy
function .E(1) / (i.e., S D E) entails the symmetry of L with a further reduction
of the constants to 21.
The special forms of L are discussed for isotropic and transversely isotropic
linearly elastic materials for which the constants turn out to be two and five,
respectively.
In terms of the two elastic constants (moduli), the elasticity tensor for isotropic
materials becomes

Lijkl D Kıij ıkl C ıil ıjl C ıil ıjk 23 ıij ıkl (4.213)
where K is the bulk modulus and D G is the shear modulus (also known as
Lamé’s second constant).
The direct form of the constitutive equations is
Sij D .trE(1) /ıij C 2ij ; S D .trE(1) /I C 2E(1) (4.214)
where WD K 23 G is Lamé’s first constant. On account of trE D trS =.3 C

2/, the direct constitutive equations (4.214) can be inverted to obtain the inverse
constitutive equations as
Sij
ij D .trS /ıij (4.215)
2G E
where E WD G.3 C 2G/=. C G/ is Young’s modulus and D 12 =. C G/
is Poisson’s ratio. The inverse functions are often written as ij D Œ.1 C /Sij
.trS /ıij =E.
It is convenient for computational purposes to recast the six independent
components of S and E in the algebraic vectors and
, respectively, according to
Voigt’s notation16 with the following rule for the indices f11 ) 1; 22 ) 2; 33 )
3; .23; 32/ ) 4; .13; 31/ ) 5; .12; 21/ ) 6g: The following is obtained:
p D Sij with p D i ıij C .1 ıij /.9 i j /; p D 1; : : : ; 6 and i; j D 1; 2; 3: Thus
D ŒS11 ; S22 ; S33 ; S23 ; S13 ; S12 | and
D Œ11 ; 22 ; 33 ; 23 ; 13 ; 12 | . Recall that
ij D 2ij ; hence the last three components of
are equal to the shear strains (twice
the off-diagonal terms of E). With this notation, the constitutive equation (4.214)
can be written as D L
where the elasticity matrix and its inverse are given by
2 3
C 2G 0 0 0
6 C 2G 0 0 07
6 7
6 7
6 C 2G 0 0 0 7
LD6 7;
6 G 0 07
6 7
4 G 05
G
2 3
1 0 0 0
6 1 7
6 0 0 0 7
1 6
6 1 0 0 0
7
7
L1 D 6 7:
E6 2.1 C / 0 0 7
6 7
4 2.1 C / 0 5
2.1 C /
(4.216)
Hyperelastic transversely isotropic materials in Voigt’s notation. For trans-

versely isotropic materials, for a given axis of transverse isotropy n D nk e k ; the
elasticity tensor L D Lijkl e i e j e k e l can be expressed following [267] as
Lijkl D C1 ni nj nk nl C C2 .ıik nj nl C ıil nj nk C ıjk ni nl C ıjl ni nk /

CC3 .ıij nk nl C ıkl ni nj / C C4 ıij ıkl C C5 .ıik ıjl C ıil ıjk / (4.217)
where
C1 D nCkCm4p2l;
N C2 D pm; C3 D mCl k; C4 D km; C5 D m:
N k; l; m; p/ possess the following meaning:

The five introduced elastic moduli .n;
nN denotes the modulus for the longitudinal uniaxial stretch along n, l denotes the
associated cross-modulus, p is the axial shear modulus, k is the plane stress bulk
modulus for the lateral dilatation without longitudinal extension, and m is the shear
modulus in any transverse direction.
16
In mathematics, Voigt’s notation or Voigt’s form in multilinear algebra is a way to represent a
symmetric tensor by reducing its order. There are a few variants and associated names for this idea:
Mandel notation, Mandel–Voigt notation, Kelvin notation, and Nye notation.
Fig. 4.11 The nonlinear e2

strain gauge problem
B B
e1
l
l
If n is collinear with the axis e 3 of the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g, on account of

Voigt’s notation, the elasticity matrix reads
2 3 2 3
L11 L12 L13 0 0 0 kCm km l 0 0 0
6 0 7 6 kCm l 0 07
6 L11 L13 0 0 7 6 0 7
6 7 6 7
6 L33 0 0 0 7 6 nN 0 0 07
LD6 7D6 7 (4.218)
6 L44 0 0 7 6 p 0 07
6 7 6 7
4 L44 0 5 4 p 05
L66 m
Example 4.15 (Nonlinear strain gauge). A strain gauge is an electrical conductor

subject to a voltage difference V; between its ends at a distance l. The voltage V is
related to the current I via Ohm’s law. This law states that there is a proportionality
between the voltage and current, V D RI where the constant of proportionality R
is the conductor electrical resistance. The resistance is linearly proportional to its
length and inversely proportional to the area of its cross section according to R D
l=A where is the electrical resistivity.17 Changes in l and A result in changes in
R: This physical phenomenon is exploited to measure strains in structures through
strain gauges bonded to the structure at selected control points where the strain is
to be monitored. The aim is to find the nonlinear relationship between the strain in
the conductor and its resistance with the assumption that the conductor is made of a
homogeneous isotropic hyperelastic material.
Consider a Cartesian reference frame with e 1 collinear with the axis of the
conductor while .e 2 ; e 3 / span the cross-section plane (see Fig. 4.11). Let the
conductor ends be subject to a length change and let 1 denote the stretch in the axial
direction. It is reasonable to assume a uniform stretch throughout the strain gauge,
provided that it is perfectly bonded to the hosting structure. Due to the material
isotropy and homogeneity, the stretches in the transverse directions are assumed to
be the same, namely, 2 D 3 : Thus the state of strain dealt with is a homogeneous
cylindrical state and the associated Cauchy–Green deformation tensor is diagonal
17
Since the dynamic aspects of the problem are not addressed, there is no appearance of the mass
density of the conductor hence no ambiguity arises about the meaning of usually employed to
denote the mass density.
with C11 D 12 and C22 D C33 D 22 : The components of the material strain tensor
are E11 D .12 1/=2 and E22 D .22 1/=2 D E33 :
If a St. Venant–Kirchhoff material is adopted, then the components of the second
Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor are SO11 D .2 C /.12 1/=2 C .22 1/; SO22 D
.12 1/=2C.C/.22 1/ D SO33 ; SO12 D SO23 D SO31 D 0: This homogeneous state
b/| D o: Note that the mechanical
of stress satisfies the equilibrium equation r .F S
boundary conditions on the mantel (lateral boundary) of the conductor require .F
S / n D o everywhere. This condition results in SO22 D 0 D SO33 : Thus, as expected,
the state of stress is uniaxial. The imposition of the boundary condition leads to a
relationship between the transverse stretches and the axial stretch in the form
3 C 2 12
22 D : (4.219)
2. C /
The resistance of the deformed conductor can be calculated by considering its
actual length lM D l1 and its deformed area (assuming, for simplicity, a cylindrical
conductor whose deformed radius is rM D r2 ), AM D .r2 /2 D A22 : By
considering that the resistivity does not change with finite length changes, then
lM l 1 2. C /1
RM D D DR : (4.220)
AM 2
A 2 3 C 2 12
In particular, if the specific variation of the resistance (before and after the
deformation) is measured as .RM R/=R DW R=R; the following nondimensional
relationship is obtained:
R 2. C /1 2. C /1 C 12 .3 C 2/

D 1D : (4.221)
R 3 C 2 1
2
3 C 2 12
Equation (4.221) can be rewritten in terms of the strain gauge elongation WD 1 1
and Poisson’s ratio WD 1=2=. C / as
R .1 C 2/ C 2
D : (4.222)
R 1 2 2
In practical applications, the strains are small; therefore, a linearized version of
(4.222) is employed
R
D .1 C 2/ (4.223)
R
which can be solved to give the strain D R=R.1 C 2/1 as a function of the
measured resistance variation.
Figure 4.12 shows three curves portraying the variations R=R with 1 in
aluminum/copper/gold conductors for which the St. Venant–Kirchhoff constitutive
equations are assumed. While the linear tensile range is narrow (maximum elonga-
tions of the order of 10%), the compressive range is larger in accordance with the
discussed limitation of the St. Venant–Kirchhoff constitutive equations which do not
penalize compressive states. The trends show that St. Venant–Kirchhoff isotropic
Au DR/R
Cu 2
Al
0.5 1 1.5
-1
Fig. 4.12 The nonlinear variations of the relative electrical resistance with stretch in a nonlinear
strain gauge problem. Al indicates aluminum ( D 0:33), Cu denotes copper ( D 0:36), Au
stands for gold ( D 0:42)
material conductors with higher Poisson’s ratios perform better, both in the linear
range and, most remarkably, in the nonlinear range with higher gain factors.
If different homogeneous isotropic hyperelastic materials were used for the
conductor, then the constitutive equations would be more general than the Saint-
Venant-Kirchhoff equations, namely, S11 D SO11 .12 ; 22 /; S22 D SO22 .12 ; 22 / D
S33 D SO33 .12 ; 22 /: Solving the boundary condition SO22 .12 ; 22 / D 0 would yield
2 D O 2 .1 /: With the obtained expression, the actual resistance and the resistance
variation turn out to be RM D R1 =.O 2 /2 from which
R 1 .O 2 /2
D : (4.224)
R .O 2 /2
The sensible dependence on the material constitutive law is apparent.
Appendix I: The Energy Balance and the Laws

of Thermodynamics
The energy equation in material formulation is obtained by multiplying both

members of the equations of motion (4.121) by the velocity v.x; t/ and integrating
over a bounded region B o B
Z Z
|
Œr T C b vdV D @t t p vdV: (4.225)
Bo Bo
The divergence theorem is applied to move the spatial derivatives from T to v so as

to incorporate the mechanical boundary conditions in the ensuing boundary terms.
A different way of obtaining the energy equation is to exploit the principle of

virtual power (4.162), and conceive the velocity v.x; t/ D p.x; P t/ as a special
admissible virtual velocity field. Hence, by replacing the virtual velocity ıv by the
actual velocity v in the principle of virtual power (4.162), the energy equation in
material description is obtained as
Z Z Z Z
d 1 P
jvj2 dV C T W FdV D f vdA C b vdV: (4.226)
dt B 2 B @B B
Equation (4.226) says that the input mechanical power (the right-hand side) is
transformed partly into kinetic energy and partly into stress power.
In terms of the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor, the energy equation
becomes
Z Z Z Z
d 1 P
jvj dV C
2
S W EdV D f vdA C b vdV: (4.227)
dt B 2 B @B B
Another approach to obtain the energy equation, referred to an arbitrary region

B o B; is to directly calculate the power expended by the contact surface forces
and volume forces acting on @B o and B o ; respectively. Then, exploiting the boundary
conditions and the equations of motion, and using the divergence theorem yield the
final form of the energy balance.
The form of the stress power in material formulation shows that the following
work conjugacy relationships hold.
Property 4 (Duality of T & F, P S & E; P S & 1 C).
P There is power conjugacy be-
2
tween the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor .T / and the time rate of change of the
P between the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor S and
deformation gradient .F/;
P or (one-half) the Cauchy–
the time rate of change of the material strain tensor .E/
1 P
Green deformation tensor . 2 C/.
In spatial formulation, the energy equation is obtained as (see Problem (4.38))
Z Z Z Z
d 1
M 2 dVM C
M vj
j TM W Dd
M VM D tM vM dAM C bM vM dVM : (4.228)
dt BM o 2 BM o @BM o BM o
The energy balance is a direct consequence of the equations of motion since

it represents an integral balance of mechanical quantities. When a body is subject
to forces and undergoes a motion, heat may be generated or absorbed, and other
forms of energy may be exchanged with the surrounding environment. The way
these energy interactions occur is regulated by the Laws of Thermodynamics. Some
fundamental notions of thermodynamics are reviewed here with a focus on the Laws
of Thermodynamics within nonlinear three-dimensional theory.
A thermodynamic system is defined as any particular portion of matter in space
that is separated by the environment, with which it exchanges matter and/or energy
through a control surface (real or fictitious, rigid or deformable), referred to as a
boundary. The system is said to be closed if no mass can flow through its boundary
(the amount of mass is fixed) while energy can flow in the form of work or heat.
When the boundary of the system is mechanically and thermally isolated, no energy
interactions can occur and the system is said to be insulated.
On the other hand, a system is said to be open if it consists of a fixed amount of
volume of a given region ˝ which is independent of time and can exchange both
mass and energy with the environment.18
The state of the system is described by macroscopic variables, referred to as
thermodynamic variables or state variables, such as temperature or density. When
some of these variables change over time, a thermodynamic transformation occurs.
A transformation is considered reversible if, at the end of the transformation, the
system itself and the environment can recover the original states by inverting
the sign of the interactions between them. Purely reversible transformations are
indeed an idealization of the actual physical situations because real thermodynamic
transformations always imply some degree of irreversibility.
The Laws of Thermodynamics regulate the thermodynamic transformations
between a system and the environment. The First Law states the conservation
of energy while the Second Law establishes the direction of the thermodynamic
transformations. These principles regulate closed systems such as Cauchy three-
dimensional solids for which the conservation of mass is prescribed. It is assumed
here that the only energy exchanges with the system occur through mechanical
work spent by surface and volume forces, by heat transfer through the boundary
(e.g., conduction), and possibly by distributed internal heat sources. Furthermore, in
consonance with the balance laws of mass and linear and angular momentum, it is
postulated that the Laws of Thermodynamics apply to any part of the body. Besides
the integral form of the thermodynamic balance laws, this allows the local form to
be obtained.
The First Law of Thermodynamics. The First Law of Thermodynamics is usually
stated as follows for a closed system19 :
dU D dW C dQ: (4.229)
The sum of incremental mechanical work and heat, dW CdQ, that a system ex-
changes with the environment during a thermodynamic transformation, is balanced
by a variation of the internal energy dU stored in the system.
While dW and dQ are not exact differentials as they depend on the specific
transformation, their sum dU is an exact differential. The internal energy U is thus
a state function and encompasses all forms of energy possessed by the material
particles.
M
If the body undergoes a motion p.x; t/ whose velocity is v.y; t/ and BM o denotes
an arbitrary part of the actual configuration BM bounded by the surface @BM o , then
R
18
The mass flux, for example, would be calculated as @˝ MvM nM dVM :
19
In Classical Thermodynamics, the First Law is stated as dU D dQ dW because the work is
assumed to be positive when it is done by the body on the environment; this is in opposition to the
standard convention of Continuum Mechanics.
the region BM o exchanges mechanical and thermal power with the environment. The
mechanical power PM W of the forces and the heat power PM Q are computed as
Z Z Z Z
PM W D tM vM dAM C bM vM dVM ; PM Q D hM dAM C rM dVM (4.230)
@BM o BM o @BM o BM o
where hM is the heat flux entering region BM o per unit actual surface and per unit of
time through the boundary @BM o I rM is the specific internal heat, the heat produced (or
released) at position y within the region BM o per unit actual volume per unit of time
(e.g., absorbed electromagnetic power). R
Let eM denote the internal energy per unit actual volume, hence EM WD BM o ed M VM
R
M
is the total internal energy while T WD 2 BM o j
1
M vj 2 M
M dV is the macroscopic kinetic
energy. Then, the energy balance for region B is M o 20
dTM dEM
C D PM W C PM Q (4.231)
dt dt
where d=dt denotes the material time derivative. The divergence theorem applied to
the heat power absorbed by region BM o leads to
Z Z Z

PM Q D hM dAM C rM dVM D rM rM qM dVM (4.232)
@BM o BM o BM o
M
where it is assumed, according to Stokes’ heat flux theorem, that the heat flux h.y; t/
at y depends21 only on the surface at y through its unit outward normal nM in the
M
form h.y; M D q.y;
t; n/ M t/ n.
M The vector q.y;
M t/ is known as the Cauchy heat flux
vector.
Substituting the spatial form of the energy equation (4.228) and the heat power
(4.232) into (4.231) gives
Z Z Z
d
eM dVM D TM W D
M dVM C M
rM rM qM dVM ; 8 BM o B: (4.233)
dt BM o BM o BM o
The local form of the First Law of Thermodynamics in spatial formulation is thus
obtained as
eMP D TM W D
M C rM rM q:
M (4.234)
The Second Law of Thermodynamics. The Second Law of Thermodynamics
establishes limits on thermodynamic transformations and, in particular, it regulates
20
The first Law of Thermodynamics (4.229) can be considered in the more meaningful rate form,
UP D P C QP where P is the mechanical power of the forces and QP is the thermal power.
21
The negative sign has been introduced because we assume the flux hM to be positive when it is
entering the body.
the direction of these transformations. It is postulated that a state function, the

entropy, denoted by S; exists and is such that
dQ
dS
0 (4.235)
#
where dQ is the heat absorbed by the body, and # is the absolute temperature of
the source with which the heat transfers occur. The equality sign holds only in the
presence of reversible transformations while the inequality applies to irreversible
transformations. The quantity dS in (4.235) indicates the increment of entropy
possessed by the system, whereas dQ=# is the input entropy to the system. Thus
the difference dS dQ=# represents the increment of entropy production. For an
isolated system, which exchanges neither mass nor energy with the environment, the
exchanges of thermal power vanish; thus, QP D 0 and SP
0: This leads to one of the
statements of the Second Law of Thermodynamics: the entropy is a nondecreasing
function of time in all transformations that occur in an isolated system.
Consider a part BM o BM for which the entropy input, in a unit of time, is the
summation of the entropy flux hM S (entropy received per unit actual surface and per
unit of time), transferred through its boundary @BM o , and the entropy supplied by an
internal source denoted by sM (entropy generated per unit actual volume per unit of
time). If M is the specific entropy possessed by the body (entropy per unit actual
volume), then the Second Law can be written in rate form as
Z Z Z
d
M dVM
hM S dAM C sM dVM : (4.236)
dt BM o @BM o BM o
In full consonance with Stokes’ heat flux formula, for the entropy flux hM S at the
current position y, the following expression is assumed:
hM S .y; t; n/
M D hM S .y; t/ nM (4.237)
where hM S .y; t/ is the Cauchy entropy flux vector. The total entropy flux through the
boundary @BM o is computed by means of (4.237) as
Z Z Z
hM S dAM D hM S nM dAM D rM hM S dVM (4.238)
@BM o @BM o BM o
which, substituted into (4.236), furnishes
PM C rM hM S sM
0: (4.239)
The input entropy flux hM S is postulated to depend on the heat flux vector q; M
whereas the internal entropy sM is related to the specific internal heat rM according to22
22
These equations play a constitutive role within the thermodynamic setting in the same way that
the constitutive equations relate the state of stress to the state of strain in the mechanical setting.
qM rM
hM S WD ; sM WD : (4.240)
#M #M
Substituting (4.240) into inequality (4.239) yields the local form of the Second Law
of Thermodynamics in spatial formulation as
PM #M C #M rM .q= M rM
0:
M #/ (4.241)
An alternative form of the inequality is
#M PM C rM qM #M 1 .rM #M q/
M rM
0:
This inequality is also known as the classical (strong) form of the Clausius–
Duhem Inequality which, by incorporating the First Law (4.234), can be transformed
into the following reduced Clausius–Duhem Inequality:
ePM #M PM TM W D
M C #M 1 .rM #M q/
M 0: (4.242)
It is useful to introduce the Helmholtz free-energy function M (energy per unit

actual volume, whose form is constitutively postulated)
M WD eM #M ;
M (4.243)
according to which the reduced Clausius–Duhem Inequality (4.242) becomes
PM C M #PM TM W D
M C #M 1 .rM #M q/
M 0: (4.244)
The reduced Clausius–Duhem Inequality (4.244) is often written as
M PM M #PM #M 1 .rM #M q/
TM W D M
0 (4.245)
where the term #M 1 .rM #M q/

M represents the positive entropy rate due to heat
M qM 0; the latter known as the heat conduction
conduction which is equivalent to rM #
23
inequality. By enforcing the heat conduction inequality for all thermomechanical
processes, a stronger form is obtained as
M MP M #PM
0
PM D WD TM W D (4.246)
23
This inequality leads to the requirement that the spatial thermal conductivity tensor K M be
positive-definite. In fact, rM #M qM D rM #M K
M rM #M 0 if and only if K
M .y/ is positive-definite
everywhere.
where PM D is often referred to as the internal dissipation. Thus, the Clausius–

Duhem Inequality requires the internal dissipation to be positive semi-definite for
P
all thermomechanical processes. In particular, for isothermal processes, #M D 0 and
the dissipation inequality becomes
M PM
0:
PM D WD TM W D (4.247)
Based on phenomenological observations, the heat flux is found to be, with good
approximation, linearly dependent on the temperature gradient through a constant of
proportionality known as the thermal conductivity coefficient. This is the statement
of the Fourier law of heat conduction. Its generalization to the three-dimensional
setting in spatial formulation is achieved by introducing a positive-definite spatial
thermal conductivity tensor K M such that
M
q.y; t/ WD K M
M .y/ rM #.y; t/: (4.248)
The Laws of Thermodynamics in material formulation. The local forms of

the Laws of Thermodynamics can be transformed from the spatial to the material
formulation. In agreement with the energy equation in material form, given by
(4.226), the mechanical power is expressed as
Z Z Z Z
d 1 P dV:
t v dA C b v dV D jvj2 dV C T WF
@Bo Bo dt Bo 2 Bo
To express the heat power in material formulation, by using (4.34) for the transfor-
mation of areas, the material heat flux vector (heat absorbed through the boundary
@B o ) per unit reference area per unit of time turns out to be related to the spatial heat
flux vector qM by
q D .det F/ F1 q: M (4.249)
Employing the divergence theorem yields the absorbed thermal power in material
description as
Z Z Z Z
hM dAM D qM nM dAM D q n dA D r q dV: (4.250)
@BM o @BM o @Bo Bo
The internal heat power and the internal energy per unit reference volume are
given, respectively, as r D .det F/Mr and e D .det F/e.
M The First Law in material
description thus becomes
P C r r q:
eP D T W F (4.251)
Similarly, it can be shown that the Clausius–Duhem Inequality, in material descrip-

tion, becomes
1
.r # q/ r
0
# P C r q (4.252)
#
where is the entropy per unit reference volume. The reduced Clausius–Duhem
Inequality and its expression in terms of the Helmholtz free-energy function D
e # (free energy per unit reference volume) are, respectively, given by
P C# 1 .r # q/ 0;
eP # P T W F P P #P # 1 .r # q/
0: (4.253)
T WF
The heat conduction inequality in material formulation becomes r # q

0: The
stronger form of the Clausius–Duhem Inequality (4.253)2 states
P P #P
0:
P D WD T W F (4.254)
The Fourier law of heat conduction has the material form
q.x; t/ WD K .x; t/ r #.x; t/ (4.255)
where K is the (positive-definite) material thermal conductivity tensor.
Appendix II: Curvilinear Coordinates
The position vector x 2 IE3 in curvilinear coordinates .s1 ; s2 ; s3 / is expressed as
x.s1 ; s2 ; s3 / D x1 .s1 ; s2 ; s3 /e 1 C x2 .s1 ; s2 ; s3 /e 2 C x3 .s1 ; s2 ; s3 /e 3 :
The partial differentiation of x with respect to sj yields

ˇ ˇ
@x ˇ @x ˇ
D hj bj ; hj Dˇˇ ˇ (4.256)
@sj @s ˇ j
where the summation convention is not applied on the repeated index j and the base
vectors bj form an intrinsic orthonormal basis according to
bj bk D ıjk :
The nabla vector is thus expressed in curvilinear coordinates as
b1 @ b2 @ b3 @
rD C C : (4.257)
h1 @s1 h2 @s2 h3 @s3
Cylindrical coordinates. The coordinates are .s1 ; s2 ; s3 / D .r; ; z/ while the

position vector is x D r cos e 1 C r sin e 2 C ze 3 . Calculating @x=@sj and taking
the norms yield
@ 1 @ @
h1 D 1, h2 D r, h3 D 1; r D b1 C b2 C b3 :
@r r @ @z
The base vectors are expressed in the Cartesian basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g as
b1 ./ D cos e 1 C sin e 2 ; b2 ./ D sin e 1 C cos e 2 ; b3 D e 3 :
Spherical coordinates. The coordinates are .s1 ; s2 ; s3 / D .r; ; / and the

position vector is x D r sin cos e 1 C r sin sin e 2 C r cos e 3 : Calculating
@x=@sj and taking the norms yield
@ 1 @ 1 @
h1 D 1, h2 D r, h3 D r sin ; r D b1 C b2 C b3 :
@r r @ r sin @
The base vectors are expressed as
b1 .; / D sin .cos e 1 C sin e 2 / C cos e 3 ;

b2 .; / D cos .cos e 1 C sin e 2 / sin e 3 ;
b3 ./ D sin e 1 C cos e 2 : (4.258)
Problems
4.16 (Strains and polar decomposition).

Let u.x/ D u1 .x/e 1 C u2 .x/e 2 C u3 .x/e 3 with
u1 D ".3x12 C x2 /; u2 D ".2x22 C x3 /; u3 D ".4x32 C x1 / (4.259)
be the displacement field of the three-dimensional body (" is a small dimensionless

scaling number)
B D fx 2 IE3 ; x1 2 .0; 3/; x2 2 .0; 2/; x3 2 .0; 1/g
with its boundary @B represented by the six planes parallel to the coordinate
planes x1 D 0 and 3; x2 D 0 and 2; x3 D 0 and 1, with respect topthe Cartesian
frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 /:pConsider the following material fibers m D 1= 14.e 1 C 2e 2
C3e 3 / and n D 1= 13.3e 2 C 2e 3 / emanating from P D .2; 12 ; 13 / in the
reference configuration B:
(a) Prove that p.x/ D x C u is an admissible deformation (orientation preserving).
(b) Calculate the deformation gradient F; the Cauchy–Green deformation tensor C;
and Green–Lagrange strain tensor E.
(c) Calculate the stretches and elongations along m and n and the shear strain
between them.
(d) Calculate the principal directions of stretch, the principal stretches, and
elongations.
(e) Let A be the orthogonal tensor that rotates the fixed basis into the principal
basis fn1 ; n2 ; n3 g, namely, nL D AML e M (nL D A e L /: Prove that tensor C in
the principal basis is obtained through the transformation Co D A| C A if the
orthogonal matrix A associated with A is taken as the matrix obtained through
the following arrangement:
n1 n2 n3
e1 A11 A21 A31
e2 A12 A22 A32
e3 A13 A23 A33
p o
(f) Calculate Uo D C ; then the components of Uo in the fixed basis according
to U D A Uo A| . The obtained matrix is the positive-definite and symmetric
matrix of the polar decomposition F D R U.
(g) Calculate the orthogonal matrix R D F U1 ascertaining that R R| D R|
R D I.
(h) Calculate the stretches, elongations, and shear strain along m and n emanating
from the same material point for D 103 .
4.17 (The Green–Lagrange tensor).
(a) Show that, according to the defined strain measures, the Green–Lagrange strain
tensor, in the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g, has the form
2 2 3
1 1 2 sin 12 1 3 sin 13
14 1
ED 22 1 2 3 sin 23 5 ; (4.260)
2
32 1
(b) Prove that the linearization of E yields the infinitesimal strain tensor E(1) .
4.18 (Strain tensor and equations of motion in cylindrical coordinates).
(a) Show that the components of the infinitesimal deformation tensor in cylindrical
coordinates (r; ; z) are
1
E11 D @r u1 ; E22 D u1 =r C 1=r@ u2 ; E33 D @z u3 ; E13 D @z u1 C @r u3 ;
2
(4.261)
1 1
E12 D 1=r@ u1 C @r u2 u2 =r ; E23 D @z u2 C 1=r@ u3 (4.262)
2 2
(1) (1) (1)
where .E11 ; E22 ; E33 / are the radial, azimuthal (circumferential), and axial
(1) (1) (1)
elongations, respectively; 2.E12 ; E23 ; E13 / are the shear strains between the
radial and azimuthal directions, between the azimuthal and axial directions,
and between the radial and axial directions, respectively.
(b) Show that the linearized form of the equations of motion is
@r T11 C .T11 T22 /=r C 1=r@ T12 C @z T13 C b1 D @t t u1 ; (4.263)

@r T12 C 1=r@ T22 C 2T12 =r C @z T23 C b2 D @t t u2 ; (4.264)
@r T13 C T13 =r C 1=r@ T23 C @z T33 C b3 D @t t u3 : (4.265)
4.19 (Volume dilatation).

Show that the volume dilatation is given by
D det F; D 1 2 3 (4.266)
where the latter holds in the principal basis of stretch fn1 ; n2 ; n3 g; and k is the kth
principal stretch.
4.20 (Transformation of areas).
Show that the transformation of the vectorial area d a under the motion and the area
dilatation are given by
d aM D .det F/.F1 /| d a; (4.267)

q
n D .det F/jF| nj D .det F/ n .F1 F| / n (4.268)
where .F1 /| D .F| /1 DW F| :

4.21 (Area dilatations).
Show that, in the principal basis of stretch, the dilatations of the areas whose normals
are the principal axes of stretch are given by the expressions
2 3 1 3 1 2
n1 D ; n2 D ; and n3 D : (4.269)
1 2 3
4.22 (Plane-strain problem).

Calculate the Cauchy–Green deformation tensor of a plane-strain problem by using
the three elongations .1 ; 2 ; 3 / measured by three strain gauges collinear with the
unit vectors .m1 ; m2 ; m3 / with m1 and m2 orthogonal to each other and m3 making
an angle ¤ .n 1/=2 with m1 (n is an integer).
4.23 (Decomposition of F into dilatational and distortional parts).
Show that the deformation gradient F can be decomposed into the following
multiplicative product of a dilatational (volumetric) part FV and a distortional
(deviatoric or volume-preserving) part FD W
F D F V FD ; FV D .det F/1=3 I; FD D .det F/1=3 F: (4.270)

Show that the associated principal stretches k are
kV D .det F/1=3 ; kD D .det F/1=3 k : (4.271)
4.24 (Decomposition of the spatial velocity gradient).

By using the polar decomposition theorem, show that alternative expressions for
the spatial velocity gradient and its symmetric part (stretching tensor) and skew-
symmetric part (spin tensor) are
PM R
M DR
L M UPM UM 1 R
M|CR M D VPM VM 1 C VM R
M |; L M | VM 1 ;
M R
DM D 1R M .UPM UM 1 C UM 1 UPM / R
M |;
2
PM R
WM D R M | C 1R M .UPM UM 1 UM 1 UPM / R
M |: (4.272)
2
4.25 (Euler’s equations of motion).
Show that equations of motion (4.92) and (4.93) reduce to Euler’s equations
governing the motions of rigid bodies once the motions of Cauchy solids are
constrained so that they are strain-free.
4.26 (Symmetry of the Cauchy stress tensor).
By using the permutation symbol ij k to express the vector product .u v/i D
ij k uj vk , show the symmetry of the Cauchy stress tensor.
4.27 (The second Cauchy equation of motion).
Prove that the referential counterpart of the second Cauchy equation of motion
|
TM D TM is given by (4.122), namely F T | D T F| .
4.28 (Implications of the second Cauchy equation of motion).
Prove the following three statements.
(a) The second Cauchy equation of motion (4.122) is given in component form as
Fik Tjk D Tik Fjk : (4.273)
(b) When i D j , (4.273) is an identity; the resulting equations are invariant if the
indices i and j are interchanged; the only independent equations are obtained
for .i; j / D .1; 2/; .2; 3/; .3; 1/: This shows that the states of stress in the
referential description are again expressed by six independent components as
in the spatial formulation based on the Cauchy stress tensor.
(c) In the limit of infinitesimal displacement gradients, (4.273) becomes
Tij D Tji : (4.274)
4.29 (Identity involving the first Piola–Kirchhoff tensor).

Show that
.T | w/ n D .T n/ w: (4.275)
4.30 (Lemma 4.146).
Prove the Lemma expressed by (4.146) which states
.r A | / w D r .A| w/ A| W .r w/ (4.276)
for a sufficiently smooth second-order tensor A.x; t/ and vector field w.x; t/; x 2
B IE3 .
4.31 (Different forms of the virtual stress work).
Prove that the virtual stress work per unit reference volume, T W ıF; can be
expressed, in terms of the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor, as
1
T W ıF D S W ıC D S W ıE: (4.277)
2
4.32 (Principle of Virtual Work in material formulation).
Prove the principle of virtual work expressed by Theorem (4.7) by directly
exploiting all the balance and strain-displacement equations and the Divergence
Theorem, in material formulation.
4.33 (Principle of Virtual Work in spatial formulation).
Prove the principle of virtual work expressed by Theorem (4.9) by directly
exploiting all the balance and strain-displacement equations and the Divergence
Theorem, in spatial formulation.
4.34 (Principle of Virtual Power in spatial formulation).
Prove the principle of virtual power according to Theorem (4.11) expressed by
(4.161).
4.35 (Principle of Virtual Power in material formulation).
Prove the principle of virtual power according to Theorem (4.12) expressed by
(4.162).
4.36 (Noll’s Theorem).
Prove Theorem (4.14) on the objectivity of the constitutive equations of simple
materials.
4.37 (Equilibrium equations in material formulation for three-dimensional
solids).
By letting u D u1 e 1 C u2 e 2 C u3 e 3 and S D SIJ e I e J , show that the equilibrium
equations r .F S /| C b D o, in Cartesian coordinates, become
@1 ŒS11 .1 C @1 u1 / C S21 @2 u1 C S31 @3 u1

C@2 ŒS12 .1 C @1 u1 / C S22 @2 u1 C S32 @3 u1
C@3 ŒS13 .1 C @1 u1 / C S23 @2 u1 C S33 @3 u1 C b1 D 0; (4.278)
@1 ŒS11 @1 u2 C S21 .1 C @2 u2 / C S31 @3 u2

C@2 ŒS12 @1 u2 C S22 .1 C @2 u2 / C S32 @3 u2
C@3 ŒS13 @1 u2 C S23 .1 C @2 u2 / C S33 @3 u2 C b2 D 0; (4.279)
@1 ŒS11 @1 u3 C S21 @2 u3 C S31 .1 C @3 u3 /

C@2 ŒS12 @1 u3 C S22 @2 u3 C S32 .1 C @3 u3 /
C@3 ŒS13 @1 u3 C S23 @2 u3 C S33 .1 C @3 u3 / C b3 D 0: (4.280)
For linearly elastic isotropic materials, the St. Venant–Kirchhoff constitutive equa-
tions are
S11 D tr.E/ C 2E11 ; S22 D tr.E/ C 2E22 ; S33 D tr.E/ C 2E33 ;

(4.281)
S12 D 2E12 ; S13 D 2E13 ; S23 D 2E23 : (4.282)
The components of the Green–Lagrange strain tensor are

1
E11 D @1 u1 C Œ.@1 u1 /2 C .@1 u2 /2 C .@1 u3 /2 ; (4.283)
2
1 1
E12 D .@2 u1 C @1 u2 / C Œ@1 u1 @2 u1 C @1 u2 @2 u2 C @1 u3 @2 u3 ; (4.284)
2 2
1 1
2 2
1
E22 D @2 u2 C Œ.@2 u1 /2 C .@2 u2 /2 C .@2 u3 /2 ; (4.286)
2
1 1
2 2
1
E33 D @3 u3 C Œ.@3 u1 /2 C .@3 u2 /2 C .@3 u3 /2 : (4.288)
2
4.38 (Energy equation in spatial formulation).
M is
Show that the energy equation in spatial formulation, for an arbitrary part BM o B;
Z Z Z Z
d 1
M 2 dVM C
M vj
j TM W Dd
M VM D tM vM dAM C bM vM dVM : (4.289)
dt BM o 2 BM o @BM o BM o
4.39 (Heat flux vectors in material and spatial formulations).

Show that the material heat flux vector q (heat flux per unit reference area per unit
of time) is related to the Cauchy heat flux vector qM per unit actual surface per unit
of time by (4.249).
4.40 (Linearization of the First Law of Thermodynamics and Clausius–Duhem

inequality).
Show that the linearized forms of the First Law of Thermodynamics, given
by (4.251), and the Clausius–Duhem inequality, given by (4.253)2 , become,
respectively,
P Cr r q
eP D T W E
(1)
(4.290)
P C #P T W E
P C # 1 r # q 0
(1)
(4.291)
where E(1) is the infinitesimal strain tensor.

4.41 (Constitutive equations in terms of principal stretches).
Show that, by substituting (4.200) into T D F S ; the constitutive equations for T
in terms of principal stretches are
b D @ nM 1 n1 C @ nM 2 n2 C @ nM 3 n3
T (4.292)
@1 @2 @3
where nM k are the actual orientations of the principal directions of stretch.

4.42 (Strain gauge with the modified Saint-Venant-Kirchhoff constitutive law).
Calculate the resistance–stretch and resistance–elongation relationships in a strain
gauge governed by the modified Saint-Venant-Kirchhoff constitutive equation given
by (4.204).
Chapter 5
The Nonlinear Theory of Beams
The nonlinear theory of beams undergoing planar motions is presented in its

kinematic, dynamic, and constitutive aspects. The classical form of the equations of
motion and the associated weak form are both derived. Ad hoc approximate theories
for planar moderately-large-amplitude motions are illustrated and the associated
accuracy is discussed using several examples. The theory is then generalized to
three-dimensional finite motions. Different constrained versions of the theory, such
as the theory of unshearable and inextensible beams, are presented.
The linearized elastodynamic problem is obtained and the remarkable uncou-
pling between axial, torsional, and shearing/flexural motions is highlighted as it
sheds light on some important aspects of the nonlinear coupling between different
load-carrying mechanisms activated in the large-amplitude regime.
Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of beam theories, the so-called intrinsic
theory and the induced theories [23]. In the context of intrinsic theories, a self-
contained and internally consistent characterization of the motions of slender solid
bodies is carried out by using a finite number of strain parameters that depend on just
one independent space variable, which is typically taken as the arclength coordinate
along a base curve of the beam. Various levels of refinements can be incorporated
by the intrinsic theories through increasingly richer levels of kinematic details. The
Cosserat theory of beams belongs to the class of intrinsic theories. These theories,
although self-contained and independently developed, draw fundamental inspiration
from three-dimensional theory.
On the other hand, deduced theories are obtained as exact consequences of
three-dimensional theory. From a historical perspective, the first steps toward
establishing a theory of beams were undertaken by Bernoulli (1694) and Euler
(1727). Subsequent contributions are due to Saint Venant (1843, 1845), Kirchhoff
(1859), Clebsch (1862), and Love (1893). In the last century, before the First World
War, the Cosserat brothers (1907) took a fundamental step toward the generalization
of Kirchhoff’s theory that was termed the Special Cosserat Theory. Some further
refinements to the Special Cosserat Theory came from Timoshenko (1921), and
Truesdell and Eriksen (1958). However, the most powerful, systematic, elegant

286 5 The Nonlinear Theory of Beams
development of the intrinsic beam theories is due to Antman [19, 20, 23]. Important
contributions are due to Caflisch and Maddocks [86], Foltinek [160], Marsden et al.
[176, 405], and Simo [404], to cite but a few.
Readers eager to learn more about the intrinsic beam theories (as well as shell
theories), and be challenged on different fronts of mechanical formulation from first
principles and modern mathematical tools for global analysis of overall motion,
should read [23] and [450]. There are also various books on theories of flexible
beams with a more engineering flavor, among which, [167].
In the exposition on beam theories, the major focus is directed toward the
intrinsic theory with a continuous recourse to three-dimensional justifications
especially while discussing issues like the kinematic admissibility, the generalized
stress resultants and the reduced-order description of linear and angular momentum.
5.1 The Theory of Beams Undergoing Planar Motion
A beam is a slender three-dimensional body with one geometric dimension prevail-

ing over the others. The reference (stress-free) configuration B o can be straight or
curved. When the stress-free configuration is curved, the beam is called a curved
beam or arch. The theory of curved beams and rings is presented in Chap. 7.
For the sake of simplicity, the straight stress-free configuration is taken as the
reference configuration. The reference frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / is adopted as the fixed
(Newtonian) frame for the beam theory (see Fig. 5.1). A reference material line C o
in B o is chosen as a base curve1 [23] described by r o .s/ D se 1 where s 2 Œ0; l
is the arclength parameter and l denotes the length of the beam in the reference
configuration.
The treated three-dimensional slender cylindrical body, called a beam, can be
effectively regarded as the collection of all material cross sections orthogonal to
the base curve C o and rigidly attached to it. To identify the orientation of the cross
section at s in the reference configuration, two unit vectors denoted by .bo2 ; bo3 /
are taken to describe two material fibers, respectively, collinear with .e 2 ; e 3 / in the
plane of the cross section. The unit vector bo1 D bo2 bo3 is normal to the cross section
and bo1 D r os D e 1 .2 The reference configuration can thus be described as B o D
fpo .s/ D r o .s/ C xN o .s/; xN o .s/ WD x2 .s/bo2 C x3 .s/bo3 ; s 2 Œ0; lg where the vector
1
The base curve can be any convenient material curve or line. It is often taken to coincide with
the centerline (i.e., the line that passes through the centers of masses of the cross sections, denoted
here by C o ) so as to obtain the simplest form of the inertial forces. On the other hand, this choice
does not necessarily lead to the simplest expressions of the applied generalized force and moment
resultants.
2
When the unit vectors (bo2 ; bo3 ) are taken to be collinear with the principal axes of inertia of
the cross section and C o is chosen coincident with the centerline, the intrinsic reference frame
.C o ; bo2 ; bo3 / represents the principal inertia reference frame of the cross section at s with origin in
the center of mass C o :
5.1 The Theory of Beams Undergoing Planar Motion 287
b2
B b3 b1
C
r(s,t) S
e2
e3 e1 u(s,t)
B C
0
O
r0(s) b02
b30 b01
C 00
S
C
0
0
Π
Fig. 5.1 Planar motion of a beam: Bo is the reference configuration and B denotes the actual
configuration
xN o .s/ spans the cross section S o . In the beam theory presented here, the geometry
of deformation is based on a fundamental internal kinematic constraint, namely, the
rigidity of the cross sections according to which they are assumed to fully preserve
their original shape no matter what the loading conditions are. It is said that the cross
sections possess a local rigid structure. This holds true within small bounded errors
provided that the beam cross sections are made of compact domains or non-open,
thin-walled domains. It is well known from three-dimensional theory that the cross
sections undergo transverse contraction, the well-known Poisson effect, as well as
out-of-plane warping due to shear and torque. Hence, compact beams only ideally
possess a perfect local rigid structure of their cross sections. However, in terms
of strains, the transverse (in-plane) elongations are nearly an order of magnitude
smaller than the longitudinal elongations and the out-of-plane warping is also an
order of magnitude smaller than the transverse shear/bending displacements. It is
well justified to neglect the small changes of areas and shape of the cross sections
thus gaining remarkable simplifications for the devised theory.
The theory of deformation in the plane. In this section, the Special Cosserat
Theory of beams deforming in the plane is presented. Planar motions occur
when the actual configuration C of the material base curve C o lies in the plane
˘ o (known as the plane of deformation) obtained as the plane parallel to .e 1 ; e 2 /
b2 b2
γ
η ν b1
C b1 C
0
e2 S u b2
r C
0
e1 r0 b01 C
O C 0
0
S
Fig. 5.2 Planar motion of beams: the stretch vector .s; t / D @s r.s; t / and the strains .; / as
components of
intersecting B o through the base curve C o (taken here as the centerline). Moreover,
the rotations of all material cross sections take place about e 3 orthogonal to ˘ o .
Let r.s; t/ be the position vector of C and let the cross section S in the actual
configuration be described by .b2 .s; t/; b3 .s; t// with b3 D e 3 : The reference frame
intrinsic to the actual cross section S is .C; b1 ; b2 ; b3 /: According to the postulated
rigidity of the cross sections, the local position vector that describes the material
points of S is x.s;
N t/ WD x2 .s/b2 .s; t/ C x3 .s/b3 .s; t/ where .x2 ; x3 / are the same
coordinates appearing in xN o : The unit vector b1 makes an angle .s; t/ with bo1 D
e 1 ; hence, the cross section, orthogonal to bo1 in the reference configuration B o ; is
rotated by in the current configuration. Consequently, the actual configuration of
the beam is
N t/; xN D x2 b2 C x3 b3 ; s 2 Œ0; lg;

B.t/ D fp.s; t/ D r.s; t/ C x.s;
where b1 D cos e 1 C sin e 2 ; b2 D sin e 1 C cos e 2 : The kinematic

unknowns are r.s; t/ and .s; t/: However, instead of the position vector r, the
displacement vector u of the base curve defined by u.s; t/ WD r.s; t/ r o .s/, can be
conveniently adopted as the kinematic unknown.
A full justification of the deformation theory for planar motions, with the
choice of generalized strains, can be given only in the context of the three-
dimensional kinematic theory incorporating the relevant kinematic assumptions.
The fundamental results of the theory are sketched next. More details about the
justification of the results of the two-dimensional deformation theory can be found
in the bulleted subsection called nonlinear strains within the three-dimensional
theory. Therein it is proved that the base fiber @s r o .D bo1 / orthogonal to the cross
section at s is transformed into WD @s r. This vector is called stretch vector and
gives rise through its projections onto the unit vectors b1 and b2 (see Fig. 5.2) to the
following strain–displacement relationships:
.s; t/ DW .s; t/b1 .s; t/ C .s; t/b2 .s; t/ (5.1)

where
WD @s r b1 and WD @s r b2 (5.2)
denote the beam stretch and the shear strain, respectively. The third generalized
strain variable, defined as the rate of change of the rotation angle with respect to
the arclength s,
.s; t/ WD @s .s; t/ (5.3)
is referred to as bending (or flexural) curvature. does not describe the geometric
curvature of the deformed base curve.
The geometric boundary conditions are in the form:
r.0; t/ D rN 1 .t/; r.l; t/ D rN 2 .t/; .0; t/ D N1 .t/; .l; t/ D N2 .t/: (5.4)
Alternatively, the geometric boundary conditions can be given as u.0; t/ D
uN 1 .t/; u.l; t/ D uN 2 .t/ where uN 1 .t/ and uN 2 .t/ are the prescribed motions of the
base points of the terminal cross sections.
The strains expressed in terms of the displacement gradient us D us e 1 C vs e 2
become
.s; t/ D .1 C us / cos C vs sin ; .s; t/ D .1 C us / sin C vs cos (5.5)
where, for ease of notation, the subscript s denotes differentiation with respect to s.
The linearization of the strain–displacement relationships, expressed by (5.5),
can be carried out by considering a small parameter " such that r.s; tI "/ D r o C
"u(1) .s; t/ and .s; tI "/ D " (1) .s; t/: Then the stretch and shear strain in (5.5)
and the bending curvature in (5.3) are Taylor expanded up to first-order terms
in ": The notation w(1) WD w" j"D0 is adopted for any function w such as u(1) D
u(1) e 1 C v (1) e 2 : The result of the linearization is D 1 C " (1) ; D " (1) ; and
D "(1) ; with
(1) D u(1)
s ; (1) D vs(1) (1) ; and (1) D s(1) : (5.6)
Nonlinear strains within the three-dimensional theory. Let the position

vector of the base curve be r.s; t/ D r1 .s; t/e 1 C r2 .s; t/e 2 ; whence
p.s; t/ D r1 e 1 C r2 e 2 C x2 b2 C x3 b3
D .r1 x2 sin /e 1 C .r2 C x2 cos /e 2 C x3 e 3 : (5.7)
The (transposed) deformation gradient can be calculated according to F| D r p D

e 1 @x1 C e 2 @x2 C e 3 @x3 .p1 e 1 C p2 e 2 C p3 e 3 /; from which
F D .@s r1 x2 @s cos /e 1 e 1 C cos e 2 e 2 C e 3 e 3

C .@s r2 x2 @s sin /e 2 e 1 sin e 1 e 2 (5.8)
with @x1 D @s :
In accord with the definition of the stretch vector in the context of three-
dimensional theory (cf. Chap. 4), by using (5.8) the stretch vector of a material fiber
collinear with bo1 D e 1 at s is found to be
1 D F bo1 D .@s r1 x2 @s cos /e 1 C .@s r2 x2 @s sin /e 2 : (5.9)
The magnitude of 1 is the stretch of the material fiber bo1 given by

h i1=2
1 D .@s r1 /2 C .@s r2 /2 2 x2 @s .@s r1 cos C @s r2 sin / C x22 .@s /2 : (5.10)
If the material fiber coincides with the base curve C o ; it is x2 D 0; from which the
stretch vector and its magnitude, respectively, become
p
o1 D @s r1 e 1 C @s r2 e 2 ; 1o D .@s r1 /2 C .@s r2 /2 D j@s rj (5.11)
where, here and henceforth, the superscript o indicates quantities referred to the base
curve C o . As expected, the stretch of any material fiber lying in the cross section at
s; due to the enforced kinematic constraint, is identically 1, hence 2 D 1 D 3 :
On the other hand, the shear strain between the material fiber collinear with the
baseline and the material line of the cross section collinear with bo2 D e 2 is found
to be
sin o D @s r b2 =1o D . sin @s r1 C cos @s r2 /=j@s rj (5.12)
where, for notational simplicity, o D 12 o
denotes the shear strain between the
material fibers bo1 and bo2 through the base point C o . Equation (5.12) is computed
according to o1 o2 D 1o 2o sin o D 1o sin o and o1 o2 D sin @s r1 C cos @s r2 .
The vector @s r D @s r1 e 1 C @s r2 e 2 (collinear with the tangent to the deformed
base curve C) is projected along the unit vectors .b1 ; b2 /, intrinsic to the cross
section, thus obtaining
@s r b1 D @s r1 cos C @s r2 sin ; @s r b2 D @s r1 sin C @s r2 cos : (5.13)
Let
WD @s r b1 and WD @s r b2 (5.14)
denote, respectively, the components of @s r in the intrinsic basis fb1 ; b2 g: Since
@s r b2 D 1o sin o ; it follows that
q
D 1o sin o ; D 1o cos o D .1o /2 2 : (5.15)
and are chosen to describe the beam stretch and shear strain, respectively.
According to (5.15), is the true stretch 1o of the material base fiber multiplied
by the cosine of the shear strain while is the sine of the shear strain multiplied
by the true stretch 1o . For ease of notation, let WD o1 be the (generalized) stretch
vector.
There is a third strain variable that can be identified if the deformation gradient is
expressed as F D .@s r/.e 1 / x2 @s b1 e 1 C b2 e 2 C b3 e 3 from which 1 D F e 1 D
@s r x2 @s b1 D . x2 @s /b1 C b2 : This expression says that the stretch of
fibers at a distance x2 from the fiber of the base curve depends from x2 through the
multiplicative function @s , thus considered as the third strain variable. Let
.s; t/ WD @s .s; t/ (5.16)
be the bending (or flexural) curvature. The bending curvature is different from
the geometric curvature of the deformed base curve which can be calculated as
G WD @sM where WD C is the angle that r s makes with e 1 and sM is the arclength
along the deformed base curve C: By considering the relationship dMs =ds D j@s rj;
and by the Chain Rule, the geometric curvature becomes
@ ds @s C @s C @s
G D D D : (5.17)
@s dMs j@s rj 1o
Only in the case of the vanishing derivative of the shear strain, that is @s D 0;
the geometric curvature is proportional to the bending curvature G D =1o and,
in particular, when the true stretch of the base curve is unitary, the geometric
and bending curvatures coalesce (i.e., G D ). The triplet .; ; / represents
the (generalized) strain variables or strain measures by which the strains are
parametrized in the nonlinear theory of beams undergoing planar motion.
To ensure that the motions are admissible (in the sense that they preserve the
orientation of the reference configuration), the condition det F > 0 must be enforced
thus leading to
det F D x2 > 0; 8 x 2 B ” .s/ > V .; s/: (5.18)
By virtue of the definition of the stretch and the bending curvature ; the
deformation is admissible if it is not so extreme that material segments of the base
curve suffer a total compression or that the cross sections are sheared to the extent
that b2 aligns with @s r. The function V .; s/ in (5.18) takes different expressions
depending on the choice of the base curve. For example, if the base curve coincides
with one of the two material lines that result from the intersection of the plane of
symmetry with the beam, then V .; s/ D h where h represents the thickness of the
beam cross section; thus, the inequality (5.18) becomes > h . On the other hand,
N where
if the base curve coincides with the centerline of the beam, thenV .; s/ D h
N
h WD max.jx2 j/ is the maximal distance between the center of mass and the material
points on the edges of the beam cross section in the x2 -direction. The interpretation
of this condition becomes straightforward considering that, by virtue of (5.15)2;
becomes indeed the stretch of the base curve denoted by 1o when D 0. The
condition enforces the curvature to be smaller than the threshold value of 1=h; N if
is chosen to be one. For this upper bound value of the bending curvature, the
compressed fibers that are the farthest from the centerline (i.e., through which the
neutral axis passes for the considered pure bending case) suffer a total compression.
Thus, the curvature is prevented from reaching this extremal condition in which the
external fibers are totally compressed.
Internally constrained beams: the Euler–Bernoulli beam. When a beam is
sufficiently slender,3 the shearing effects turn out to be barely appreciable. For such
beams, it is better to enforce the internal kinematic constraint that prevents shear
strains no matter what the loading and boundary conditions are. The imposition of
unshearability, which translates into D 0; leads to the following kinematic and
strain–displacement relationships:

1 C us vs vs
r s D b1 ; cos D ; sin D ; D arctan ; (5.19)
1 C us
q
D .1 C us /2 C vs2 ; D Œvss .1 C us / uss vs = 2 : (5.20)
The unshearability condition implies, through its main consequence (5.19)1; that
b1 .s; t/ is parallel to r s .s; t/; 8s 2 Œ0; l and 8t: Therefore, the cross sections
rotate by an angle such that they maintain orthogonality to the deformed base curve
described by r.s; t/:
Due to specific loading and boundary conditions, it may also happen that the
unshearable beam does not exhibit appreciable stretching effects. The motions can
be further constrained by the inextensibility constraint D 1 whence r s D b1 .
Solving the inextensibility constraint with respect to the horizontal displacement
gradient us ; with given by (5.20)1, and substituting the result into the bending
curvature (5.20)2 yield
q !
vs vss
us D 1 ˙ 1 vs ; D ˙ arctan p
2 ; D ˙p : (5.21)
1 vs
2 1 vs2
Of the two signs in (5.21), only the plus sign is meaningful. The obtained kinematic
relationships show that the problem can be formulated in terms of one kinematic
unknown only, namely, the transverse displacement v.s; t/: The obtained beam
model is referred to as the Euler–Bernoulli beam model.4 The linearization of the
kinematic relationships (5.21)2;3 of the Euler–Bernoulli beam yields5
(1) D vs(1) and (1) D vss

(1)
: (5.22)
3
p h= l between the beam thickness and span or the ratio
The slenderness ratio is defined as the ratio
r= l between the radius of gyration r WD J =A of the cross section and the beam span given that
A is the area and J the second area moment of the cross section.
4
Historically, the correct order would be Bernoulli–Euler as pointed out in [23]. However, the order
Euler–Bernoulli has prevailed in the literature.
5
These expressions may be obtained directly by imposing the unshearability constraint in the
linearized strain–displacement relationships (5.6).
Alternative kinematic representations. There is an alternative derivation of

the kinematic relationships. The proper orthogonal tensor that describes the rotation
of the cross sections in the fixed basis has the following algebraic representation:

cos sin
RD : (5.23)
sin cos
Moreover, in consonance with the definition of elongation, the beam elongation is

D 1: The (algebraic) strain vector
and the curvature tensor N (in IE2 ) can be
defined as

D R| rs ros ; N D R| Rs : (5.24)
Substituting into (5.24) the gradients of ro .s/ and r.s; t/ given, respectively, by ros D
Œ1; 0| and rs D Œ.1 C us /; vs | yields

0 s

D ; N D :
s 0
Equations of motion. The linear and angular momentum per unit reference length
are calculated as
Z Z
l .s; t/ WD @t p.s; t/.s/dA; h.s; t/ WD p.s; t/ @t p.s; t/.s/dA (5.25)
S S
where @t p.s; t/ is the velocity of the material points p o .s/ of the cross section
at s which occupy the current position p.s; t/. Given @t p.s; t/ D @t r.s; t/ C
x2 @t b2 .s; t/, the following expressions of linear and angular momentum per unit
reference length are obtained:
Z
l .s; t/ D Œ@t r C x2 @t b2 .s/dA D %A.s/@t r C %I.s/@t b2 ; (5.26)
S
Z
h.s; t/ D Œr C .x2 b2 C x3 b3 / Œ@t r C x2 @t b2 .s/dA
S

D r %A.s/@t r C %I.s/@t b2 C b2 %I.s/@t r C %J.s/@t b2 (5.27)
where
Z Z Z
%A.s/ WD .s/dA; %I.s/ WD x2 .s/dA; %J.s/ WD x22 .s/dA: (5.28)
S S S
%A.s/ is the beam mass per unit reference length; %I.s/ and %J.s/ are the first and
second mass moments of the cross section with respect to the axis collinear with
b3 and passing through the base point. In the derivation of (5.27) and (5.28), it is
c
C
B
n(s,t)
-m(s1 ,t)
e2 r(s1, t) -n(s1, t)
r(s,t)
e3 O e1
0 m(s,t)
Π
Fig. 5.3 Planar motion of beams: the contact force n and contact couple m at the material sections
at s1 and s in the actual configuration B
assumed that .e 1 ; e 2 / is a plane of symmetry for the cross sections in the reference
configuration. The fact that the force resultants lie in the plane of symmetry ensures
that the deformation process takes place in this plane. The natural choice for the unit
vector b2 is to take it collinear with the axis of symmetry of the cross sections which
coincides with one of the principal axes of inertia.
Let n.s; t/ WD N.s; t/b1 .s; t/ C Q.s; t/b2 .s; t/ and m.s; t/ D M.s; t/e 3 denote
the beam generalized stress resultants and moment resultant, also referred to as the
contact force and contact couple (or bending moment) at the cross section s at time
t (see Fig. 5.3). The component of n normal to the rotated cross section, denoted by
N; is the tension whereas the component tangential to the cross section, denoted by
Q; is the shear force; M is the bending moment.
The balance of linear and angular momentum of the overall beam is enforced
through
Z l Z l
d
f1 C f2 C f ds D l ds;
0 dt 0
Z l Z l Z l
d
c1 C c2 C r f ds C c ds C r.l; t/ f 2 D h ds (5.29)
0 0 dt 0
where f and c are the resultant applied force and resultant couple per unit reference
length; .f 1 ; c 1 / and .f 2 ; c 2 / are the resultant forces and couples at the beam ends
s D 0 and s D l, respectively. These resultants are the outcomes of a reduction
process carried out with respect to the chosen base curve of the beam.
Consider an arbitrary inner part of the beam whose end cross sections are located
at s1 and s with Œs1 ; s .0; l/: The balance of linear and angular momentum is
enforced on the beam part Œs1 ; s according to
Z s Z s
d
n.s1 ; t/ C n.s; t/ C f. ; t/d D l . ; t/ d ;
s1 dt s1
r.s1 ; t/ n.s1 ; t/ C r.s; t/ n.s; t/ m.s1 ; t/ C m.s; t/

Z s Z s Z
d s
C cd C r fd D h. ; t/ d : (5.30)
s1 s1 dt s1
By applying the integration-by-part rule, the balance of linear and angular momen-
tum in local form yields the following equations of motion, one vector-valued and
one scalar:
@s n C f D %A@t t r C %I @t t b2 ; (5.31)
@s M C . n/ e 3 C c D fb2 Œ%I @t t r C %J @t t b2 g e 3 (5.32)
where WD @s r is the stretch vector of the base curve at s and time t.

If the base curve C o is taken to be the beam centerline, the equations of motion
reduce to the simpler form
@s n C f D %A@t t r; (5.33)
@s M C . n/ e 3 C c D %J @t t : (5.34)
Simplification of the angular momentum. In the previous derivations, the

section-fixed director b2 was always assumed to be collinear to the axis of symmetry
of the beam. Relaxing this assumption leads to the following expression of the
angular momentum:
Z
h.s; t/ D Œr C .x2 b2 C x3 b3 / Œ@t r C x2 @t b2 .s/dA
S
D r .%A@t r C %I3 @t b2 / C b2 .%I3 @t r

C %J33 @t b2 / C b3 .%I2 @t r %J23 @t b2 / (5.35)
where
Z Z
%I2 WD x3 dA; %I3 D %I WD x2 dA;
S S
Z Z
%J33 D %J WD x22 dA; %J23 D %J WD x2 x3 dA:
S S
Here, %J D %Jij bi bj is the inertia tensor of the cross section. If b2 is collinear to

the axis of symmetry, then
Z Z
%I2 WD x3 dA D 0; %J23 WD x2 x3 dA D 0
S S
which entails that (5.35) reduces to (5.27).

Component form of the equations of motion. The component form of the
equations of motion (5.33) and (5.34) depends on the choice of the basis onto
which the equations are projected. By choosing the local basis fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g and
accounting for @s b1 D b2 and @s b2 D b1 , the space gradient of the contact
force n D N b1 C Qb2 becomes @s n D .Ns Q/b1 C .Qs C N /b2 : Moreover,
. o n/ e 3 D Q N:
The calculation of the acceleration @t t r of the base points requires the calculation
of the time rate of change of the basis vectors if r is expressed in the local
basis fb1 ; b2 g. One straightforward way to calculate these time derivatives is to
differentiate directly bk expressed in the fixed basis thus obtaining @t b1 D @t b2 ;
@t b2 D @t b1 ; @t t b1 D @t t b2 .@t /2 b1 ; @t t b2 D @t t b1 .@t /2 b2 :
Alternatively, Poisson’s formulas may be employed according to @t bk D ! bk
with ! D @t e 3 : The derivation of the time rate of change of the basis vectors is
shown rigorously in the context of three-dimensional theory.
Let r W D r o C u1 b1 C u2 b2 so that, by using the above expressions for the time
derivatives, the acceleration in the local basis can be obtained. Thus, the ensuing
component form of the equations of motion is
@s N Q C f1b D %AŒ@t t u1 .@t /2 u1 2@t u2 @t u2 @t t ; (5.36)

@s Q C N C f2 D %AŒ@t t u2 .@t / u2 C 2@t u1 @t C u1 @t t ;
b 2
(5.37)
@s M C Q N C c D %J @t t (5.38)
where fkb WD f bk , k D 1; 2.
Note that there is coupling between tension and shear forces due to the finite
bending curvature : For example, in (5.36) the time variation of linear momentum
in the b1 direction is balanced by the gradient of the tension N and also by the
projection of the shear force Q in the b1 -direction. It is the curvature that makes
the shear force change direction in the actual deformed curved configuration thus
causing an increment of shear force Qds from the cross section at s to that at
s C ds.
On the other hand, letting r D r o C ue 1 C ve 2 in the fixed basis gives the
following component form of the equations of motion:
.@s N Q/ cos .@s Q C N / sin C f1 D %A@t t u; (5.39)

.@s N Q/ sin C .@s Q C N / cos C f2 D %A@t t v; (5.40)
@s M C Q N C c D %J @t t (5.41)
where fk WD f e k , k D 1; 2.
Constitutive equations. Constitutive equations describing the material behavior
are necessary to close the formulation of the dynamic problem of beams. The
direct constitutive equations give the contact force and couple in terms of the strain
variables and their time derivatives. For a simple viscoelastic material, n.s; t/ D
O ; ;
n.; P s/ and M.s; t/ D MO .; ; ;
P ; P ;
P s/. For the ideal case of a purely
elastic beam, the tension, shear force, and bending moment depend constitutively
only on the actual values of the strain variables
N.s; t/ D NO .; ; ; s/; O ; ; s/;
Q.s; t/ D Q.; M.s; t/ D MO .; ; ; s/:
(5.42)
For an indefinitely elastic material (for which yielding phenomena or phase
transformations are not considered), the strain variables can take arbitrary values
subject to the restriction that total compressions and extreme shearing of the cross
sections do not occur in compliance with (5.18).
The constitutive functions must satisfy additional restrictions arising from
phenomenological evidence. It is well known from experience that, starting from
a prestressed condition, a beam can be elongated more only by increasing the
magnitude of the exerted force; the same applies to the shearing and bending
deformations.
For the sake of simplicity, consider a state of pure stretching. The tension
exhibits a monotonically increasing behavior with increasing only if the partial
derivative of the tension with respect to the stretch is positive. This quantity is the
tangent elastic stiffness; thus, L./ W D NO > 0: This condition is referred to as the
monotonicity condition. The generalization to a state of stress involving all strain
variables, .; ; /; is achieved by requiring the positive-definiteness of the tangent
elastic stiffness matrix to be constructed with the partial derivatives of the forces
with respect to the strain variables. Thus, the matrix
2 3
NO NO NO
L.; ; ; s/ WD 4 QO QO QO 5 (5.43)
O O
M M M O
must be positive definite for all strain variables within their domain of definition.
Another important physical property of the material behavior is that an infinite
tension is required to produce (ideally) an infinite stretching or a total compression
of the beam. By the same arguments, an infinite shear force is needed to produce
a total shearing of the cross section and an infinite bending couple is necessary to
induce an extreme flexural curvature.
The inverse constitutive equations are assumed to exist in the form
.s; t/ D .N;
O Q; M; s/; .s; t/ D .N;
O Q; M; s/; .s; t/ D .N;
O Q; M; s/:
(5.44)
It is known from the Saint-Venant theory of elastic cylinders that, when the
section-fixed axes are collinear with the principal axes of inertia and the origin is
in the center of mass, the linearized constitutive equations for elastic beams have
the following decoupled form [252]:
N.s; t/ D EA.s/Œ.s; t/ 1; Q.s; t/ D GA .s/ .s; t/;

M.s; t/ D EJ.s/.s; t/ (5.45)
where E and G represent Young’s modulus and the shear modulus, respectively; A
is the area of the cross section while A is its shear area; J is the area moment of
inertia about the principal axis of inertia collinear with b3 :
The formulation of the constitutive equations of simple nonlinearly viscoelastic
beams is carried out in full consonance with (4.181) of Chap. 4 about the decompo-
sition of the stress into a part related to the equilibrium response function (denoted
by the superscript E) and a dissipative part (denoted by the superscript D). Hence, the
resultants N and Q and the bending moment M are decomposed into equilibrium
response functions and dissipative parts according to
N.s; t/ D NO E .; ; ; s/ C NO D .; ; ; t ; t ; t ; s/;
Q.s; t/ D QO E .; ; ; s/ C QO D .; ; ; t ; t ; t ; s/;
M.s; t/ D MO E .; ; ; s/ C MO D .; ; ; t ; t ; t ; s/ (5.46)
where the elastic parts are derivatives of the stored-energy function W
NO E .; ; ; s/ D W .; ; ; s/; QO E .; ; ; s/ D W .; ; ; s/;
MO E .; ; ; s/ D W .; ; ; s/ (5.47)
and the dissipative parts are such that
NO D .; ; ; 0; 0; 0; s/ D 0; QO D .; ; ; 0; 0; 0; s/ D 0;
MO D .; ; ; 0; 0; 0; s/ D 0: (5.48)
A strong dissipativity condition is enforced [23] requiring that when the material is
not elastic, that is, when .NO D ; QO D ; MO D / ¤ .0; 0; 0/; there is a positive constant cD
such that
2 D D D 32 3
NO P NO P NO P w1
6 OD OD OD 74 5
Œ w1 w2 w3 4 QP Q P QP 5 w2 > cD .w21 C w22 C w23 /; 8 wi 2 R (5.49)
MO PD MO PD MO PD w3
b2
f(s,t)
e2 b1
u k
O
e1 s P(t)
m
l
Fig. 5.4 Planar motion of an elastic beam hinged at one end and resting on an elastically restrained
roller support at the other end
from which the following is obtained:

w21 NO PD C w22 QO DP C w23 MO PD C w1 w2 .NO PD C QO DP / C w2 w3 .QO DP C MO PD /
C w3 w1 .NO PD C MO PD / > cD .w21 C w22 C w23 /; 8 wi 2 R:
Boundary conditions. The geometric boundary conditions are given by (5.4)

while the mechanical boundary conditions are discussed next. On the beam ends
where no kinematic conditions are prescribed, mechanical boundary conditions are
enforced. Assume, for example, that the left beam end is free to move under a
prescribed force f 1 .t/, then the balance of linear momentum must be enforced. The
contact force is equal to the opposite of the external force, n.0; t/ D f 1 .t/ if there
is no end mass. Similarly, if the end cross section is not prescribed a rotation but is
acted upon by a rotary actuator exerting the couple c1 , then the bending moment has
to satisfy the condition M.0; t/ D c1 .t/.
In practical engineering applications, the boundary conditions can be rather
complex as a result of the variety of available actuators and kinematic mechanisms.
A few simple examples are illustrated next for the sake of discussion.
Cantilever beam. The boundary conditions at the left cantilevered end are r.0; t/ D
o and .0; t/ D 0; while at the right end, they read n.l; t/ D o and M.l; t/ D 0:
The component form of these conditions is u.0; t/ D 0 D v.0; t/; .0; t/ D 0;
N.l; t/ D 0 D Q.l; t/; and M.l; t/ D 0:
Simply supported beam. For a simply supported beam, with one end hinged (at s D
0) and the other end on a roller support (at s D l), the kinematic boundary conditions
are r.0; t/ D o and r.l; t/ e 2 D 0: On the other hand, the mechanical boundary
conditions allow moment-free rotations at the hinged end and free sliding of the
frictionless roller support. Thus, M.0; t/ D 0; n.l; t/ e 1 D 0; and M.`; t/ D 0:
Simply supported beam with elastically restrained support. A more complex
situation arises when the beam is hinged at one end while it rests on a roller support
attached to a grounded linear spring of constant k at the other end (see Fig. 5.4).
This beam end is also acted upon by a force f 2 .t/ D P .t/e 1 : The kinematic
boundary conditions are r.0; t/ D o and r.l; t/ e 2 D 0 which, in component
form, become u.0; t/ D 0, v.0; t/ D 0, and v.l; t/ D 0 if u D ue 1 C ve 2 . The
moment-free boundary conditions are the same as in the preceding case. However,
the dynamic boundary condition at s D l enforces the balance of linear momentum
of mass m as
N cos C Q sin ku C P .t/ D m @t t u at s D l (5.50)
where N cos Q sin DW n.l; t/ e 1 in force of n D N b1 C Qb2 .

The planar elastodynamic problem and the linearization. The equations of
planar motion for compact beams are given by (5.36)–(5.38) or (5.39)–(5.41).
Their form depends on the basis chosen to project the vector-valued equations of
motion (5.33) and (5.34). These equations are supplemented by the appropriate
boundary conditions. The equations are completely formulated in terms of kine-
matic unknowns (displacement method) once the generalized strain-displacement
relationships are substituted into the direct constitutive equations, represented
by (5.42) for elastic beams or by (5.46) for viscoelastic beams. In turn, the
resulting equations are substituted into the above-mentioned equations of motion
and boundary conditions.
Within the present kinematic formulation, the initial position and velocity of the
base curve are denoted by .r o .s/; vo .s// while the initial angle and angular velocity
of the cross sections are denoted by .o .s/; !o .s//. The initial conditions are thus
expressed as
P 0/ D vo .s/; .s; 0/ D o .s/; P .s; 0/ D !o .s/:

r.s; 0/ D r o .s/; r.s; (5.51)
These initial data must be compatible with the boundary conditions.
The simplest constitutive model is that of linearly elastic material behavior which
may serve as a baseline/threshold model for comparisons with more sophisticated
nonlinear constitutive behaviors. Linearly elastic constitutive equations such as
those described by (5.45) are adopted and substituted into (5.39)–(5.41).
A nondimensionalization of (5.39)–(5.41) is carried out by introducing the
following nondimensional variables and parameters: s WD s= l; u WD u= l; v WD
v= l; t WD !o t; !o WD ŒEJ =%Al 4 1=2 ; ˛ WD .EA l 2 =EJ /1=2 ; ˇ WD GA l 2 =EJ;
f WD fl 3 =EJ , c WD cl 2 =EJ . According to the relevant definitions,p ˛ is the
ratio between the radius of gyration of the cross section (i.e., r WD J =A) and
the beam span l, a ratio sometimes called the beam slenderness. First, note that
the rotary inertia is scaled by ˛ 2 which indicates that, for slender beams, the
rotary inertia term is indeed small. The parameter ˇ regulates the ratio between
the shear stiffness and bending stiffness. The nondimensional form of (5.39)–(5.41)
for uniform linearly elastic beams becomes
2
˛ @s ˇ @s cos ˇ@s C ˛ 2 . 1/@s sin C f1 D @t t u; (5.52)
2
˛ @s ˇ @s sin C ˇ@s C ˛ 2 . 1/@s cos C f2 D @t t v; (5.53)
@ss C ˇ ˛ 2 . 1/ C c D @t t =˛ 2 ; (5.54)
where the stars are dropped for ease of notation.

The linearization of the equations governing the initial-boundary-value problem

can be carried out by the standard method which consists of introducing the small
parameter " and taking the mechanical data and initial conditions to be of the order
of " W f.s; t/ D "f (1) .s; t/ and c.s; t/ D "c (1) .s; t/: Similarly, the initial conditions
are prescribed according to r.s; 0/ D r o .s/ C "uo .s/; r.s; P 0/ D "vo .s/; and
.s; 0/ D "o .s/; .s;P 0/ D "!o .s/: The position vector and the basis vectors
fb1 ; b2 g are expanded in Taylor series up to first-order terms of " to give r D
r o +"u(1) , b1 D e 1 +" (1) e 2 , b2 D e 2 " (1) e 1 : Moreover, n."/ D ".N (1) e 1 C
Q(1) e 2 / C O."2 / and .."/ n."// e 3 D "Q(1) where N (1) WD @" N."/j"D0 and
Q(1) WD @" Q."/j"D0 . The linearized equations of motion thus become
@s N (1) C f (1) e 1 D %A@t t u(1) ; (5.55)
@s Q C f e 2 D %A@t t v ;
(1) (1) (1)
(5.56)
@s M (1) C Q(1) C c (1) D %J @t t (1) (5.57)
where u(1) D u(1) e 1 C v (1) e 2 . The final equations of the linearized elastodynamic
problem are obtained by considering the constitutive equations of elastic beams in
linearized form
N (1) D NO .1; 0; 0; s/ (1); Q(1) D QO .1; 0; 0; s/ (1) ; M (1) D MO .1; 0; 0; s/(1) :
(5.58)
In agreement with the results of the Saint-Venant theory for homogeneous isotropic
linearly elastic cylinders, NO .1; 0; 0; s/ D EA.s/, QO .1; 0; 0; s/ D GA .s/,
MO .1; 0; 0; s/ D EJ.s/ represent the axial, shear, and bending stiffness, re-
spectively. The linearized strain–displacement relationships (5.6) are substituted
into (5.58), then the resulting forces and moment into the linearized equations of
motion (5.55)–(5.57). By dropping the superscript .1/, the governing equations
become
@s ŒEA.s/@s u C f e 1 D %A.s/@t t u; (5.59)

@s ŒGA .s/.@s v / C f e 2 D %A.s/@t t v; (5.60)
@s ŒEJ.s/@s C GA .s/.@s v / C c D %J.s/@t t : (5.61)
Equations (5.59)–(5.61) are often referred to as the equations of motion of the
Timoshenko Beam Theory. The same steps have to be taken to obtain the linearized
kinematic and mechanical boundary conditions. Note the remarkable consequence
of the linearization that uncouples (5.59) from (5.60) and (5.61). This implies that
the longitudinal motion u is uncoupled from the transverse motion described by
.v; / which, on the other hand, is affected by coupling between shearing and
bending.
The role of shearability in the beam response. The nonlinear equations of
motion (5.39)–(5.41) or their linearized versions, given by (5.59)–(5.61), can be
discretized according to various discretization schemes such as those based on the
method of weighted residuals, the finite element or finite difference methods, etc.
One of the drawbacks is that the discretized versions of (5.39)–(5.41) or (5.59)–

(5.61) invariably exhibit the so-called shear locking phenomenon. There are dif-
ferent forms of locking effects encountered in the literature on finite elements,
such as transverse shear locking in beams, or in-plane shear locking in plane-
strain problems, and membrane locking or volumetric locking in three-dimensional
elasticity problems. In all of them, the phenomenon is characterized by a severe
underestimation of the displacements resulting from an excessive estimation of
stiffness and is signaled in the computations by slow rates of convergence and a
consequent need to refine the mesh up to extremum values. Several studies have
been directed toward the formulation of locking-free elements.
From a mathematical point of view, locking manifests itself as an ill-conditioning
of the underlying mechanical problem. The crucial aspect is the presence of a
large (or small) parameter which is better appreciated by nondimensionalizing the
governing equations (5.60)–(5.61). By assuming, for simplicity, that the beam is of
uniform cross section, the nondimensional equations of motion become
ˇ 2 .vss s / C f2 D vt t ; (5.62)
ss C ˇ .vs / C c D t t =˛
2 2
(5.63)
where f2 WD f e 2 and the stars are dropped for ease of notation. To grasp the orders
of magnitude of the various nondimensional parameters, consider, for example, a
rectangular cross section of width b and thickness h for which the shear area A is
the area of the cross section times the shear factor : Hence, ˇ 2 D 12G=E.l= h/2 :
Slender beams are characterized by large ratios l= h. Thus, ˇ 2 is a large parameter.
The problem is ill-conditioned in the sense that the coefficient of the shear term
that exhibits the highest-order derivatives in (5.62) grows with the order of .l= h/2
compared to the bending term which is of order 1. However, in the actual solution
of the elastic problem, the bending term dominates the solution as l= h approaches
infinity, that is, the beam becomes infinitely slender. Thus, small errors in the shear
energy lead to extremely large errors in the solution of the problem.
Ad hoc computational strategies such as reduced integration allow the shear
locking problem to be overcome but these are not discussed here. One way to
mitigate the problem is to reduce (5.60) and (5.61) to one single partial-differential
equation of higher differential order. To this end, (5.61) is differentiated with respect
to s and the resulting equation is combined with (5.60) to obtain
%Avt t C .EJ s /ss f2 C cs D .%J t t /s : (5.64)
Furthermore, (5.61), solved for vs , yields vs D C Œ%J t t .EJ s /s c=.GA /

which, combined with (5.64), furnishes the governing equation in the form [23]

%J =GA t t t t C t t .EJ t t s /s =GA .%J t t /s =%A s C .EJ s /ss =%A s

D f2 =%A s cs =%A s C ct t =GA : (5.65)
Equations of constrained motions for unshearable beams. The equations of

motion are transformed into higher differential order when internal kinematic
constraints are enforced. Consider the case of unshearable beams. The material
constraint D 0 is introduced into (5.38) which, solved for the reactive shear force
Q, yields
Q D .@s M C c %J @t t /=: (5.66)
The shear force is then substituted into (5.36) and (5.37) which together become the
equations of constrained motion for unshearable beams
%AŒ@t t u1 .@t /2 u1 2@t u2 @t @t t u2 C =%J @t t

@s N .=/@s M D f1b C .=/c; (5.67)
%AŒ@t t u2 .@t /2 u2 C 2@t u1 @t C @t t u1 @s .%J @t t =/

C@s .@s M =/ N D f2b @s .c=/: (5.68)
By adopting uniform linearly elastic constitutive equations, and the fixed basis
for the projections, the nondimensional component form of the equations of motion
becomes
˚
@t t u ˛ 2 @s C @s .@ss @t t =˛ 2 /= cos @s .@ss @t t =˛ 2 /=

˛ 2 . 1/@s sin D f1 ; (5.69)
˚
@t t v ˛ 2 @s C @s .@ss @t t =˛ 2 /= sin C @s .@ss @t t =˛ 2 /=

˛ 2 . 1/@s cos D f2 (5.70)
where fk WD f e k (k D 1; 2), c D 0, and the stars are dropped for ease of notation.
The equations of motion for unshearable, inextensible beams. The two internal
kinematic constraints enforcing inextensibility and unshearability (i.e., D 0
and D 1) of the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory imply that the problem can be
formulated in terms of one unknown function. The kinematic unknown can be
chosen as the transverse flexural displacement or the rotation of the cross sections.
From a dynamic point of view, both the shear force and tension (hence, the whole
contact force vector n) become reactive contact forces, hence they cannot be
prescribed constitutively. The reactive contact force n.s; t/ is obtained from the
balance of linear momentum (5.33) and substituted into the balance of angular
momentum (5.34). Hence, integrating (5.33) yields
Z l Z l
n.s; t/ D n.l; t/ .%A@t t r/d C fd : (5.71)
s s
The contact force n.l; t/ at the right boundary can be obtained from a combination
of the mechanical boundary conditions at l and the balance of linear and angular
momentum of the overall beam. The internal kinematic constraints D 0 and D
1 are substituted into (5.38) with n.s; t/ given by (5.71). The ensuing governing
integral–partial–differential equation of motion is
Z l Z l
@s M C b2 n.l; t/ C b2 fd C c D %J @t t C b2 %A@t t rd : (5.72)
s s
It can be more straightforward to obtain the condensed equation of motion by

integration of the equation of motion in the b1 -direction, given by (5.67). Therefore,
the space integration of
@s N C .=/@s M C f b1 C .=/c D %A@t t r b1 C .=/%J @t t (5.73)
yields the tension as

Z l Z l Z l
N.s; t/ D N.l; t/ C .=/@ M d C f b1 d C .=/cd
s s s
Z l Z l
%A@t t r b1 d .=/%J @t t d (5.74)
s s
where was not put to 1 for broader generality of the expressions. The tension
N.l; t/ at the right end is obtained by substituting Q given by (5.66) into (5.50)
(without the elastic spring, k D 0) thus yielding
ˇ
N.l; t/ D Œ.@s M C c %J @t t / tan = .m @t t u P / sec ˇsDl : (5.75)
The sought governing equation of motion is expressed by (5.68) with D 1, namely,
%A@t t r b2 @s .%J @t t / C @ss MO N D f b2 @s c (5.76)
where the tension N is given by (5.74) and (5.75) and the bending moment is
expressed as M.s; t/ D MO .; ;
P s/ in the context of simple viscoelastic beams.
The nonlinear response of uniform beams. The role of shearability in the
nonlinear response of straight beams can be assessed by computing the equilibrium
paths of some exemplary beams for which shearability is accounted for or is
neglected.
The simplest constitutive model is that of linearly elastic material behavior
which may serve as a baseline model for comparisons with more sophisticated
nonlinear constitutive behaviors. Linearly elastic constitutive equations such as
those described by (5.58) are adopted.
By introducing the same nondimensionalization employed in the previous sec-

tion, the equations of equilibrium can be obtained from the equations of motion
by dropping the time derivatives. The simplest form is derived from (5.36)–
(5.38) which yield, for uniform shearable beams subject to the uniform transverse
downward load f D f2 e 2 , the following equations:
˛ 2 @s ˇ 2 @s D f2 sin ; (5.77)
ˇ @s C ˛ . 1/@s D f2 cos ;
2 2
(5.78)
@ss C ˇ 2 ˛ 2 . 1/ D 0: (5.79)
On the other hand, the nondimensional equations of equilibrium for uniform

unshearable beams are obtained from (5.67) and (5.68) as
˛ 2 @s C @s @ss = D f2 sin ; (5.80)

@s .@ss =/ ˛ . 1/@s D f2 cos :
2
(5.81)
The response of linearly elastic shearable beams depends on .˛; ˇ/ while that
of linearly elastic unshearable beams depends only on the slenderness ratio ˛: To
outline the nonlinear coupling between tension and shear force, axially restrained
(hinged–hinged) beams are considered. The kinematic and mechanical boundary
conditions read: u.0/ D 0 D v.0/; u.1/ D 0 D v.1/; s .0/ D 0 D s .1/: Path-
following analyses of (5.77)–(5.79) and (5.80)–(5.81) are carried out by increasing
the load multiplier f l 3 =EJ . The nondimensional displacement at the mid-span
section is considered as a representative response quantity. The considered range of
variation of ˛ 2 is Œ0:3; 4:8 103 : The beams are made of rectangular cross section of
thickness h and width b: The lowest admissible span-to-thickness ratio is l= h D 5
which corresponds to ˛ 2 D 0:3 103 while ˛ 2 D 4:8 103 corresponds to l= h D 20:
For the given cross section, the shear factor is D 5=6. The Poisson ratio of the
material is equal to 0:25I consequently, ˇ 2 D ˛ 2 =3:
First, the equilibrium paths of nonlinear unshearable beams (solid lines) and
those of unshearable linear beams (dashed lines) are shown in Fig. 5.5. The nonlin-
ear paths are calculated for different values of the slenderness ratio ˛: They share the
same tangent stiffness at the origin which is not affected by ˛ due to the uncoupling
between the small-amplitude longitudinal and transverse motions. The nonlinear
responses feature remarkable positive stiffness variations when increasing the load
multiplier. The beam thus exhibits a hardening-type nonlinearity. The fact that the
stretched beam in the deformed configuration becomes increasingly stiffer is due
to the increasing tension that contributes a positive geometric stiffness. The level of
tension increases with the load, hence the beam stiffness increases gradually with the
load. As the beam slenderness increases, the beam behavior tends to mimic that of
a string whence the “infinite” flexibility is such that the bending moment and shear
force vanish and the load is carried only by tension (i.e., n D N b1 ), the so-called
10
f
A
l/2 l/2
2 3
α = 4.8 10
3
2.4 10
1.2 103
2
6 10
2
3 10
0 -2
0 5 10
Fig. 5.5 Linear (dashed line) and nonlinear equilibrium paths (solid lines) of unshearable hinged–
hinged straight beams with various slenderness ratios ˛
10
f
A
l/2 l/2
α2 = 4.8 10 3
3
2.4 10
1.2 103
2
6 10
3 10 2
-2
0 5 10
Fig. 5.6 Nonlinear equilibrium paths of shearable (dashed line) and unshearable (solid lines)
hinged–hinged straight beams for various slenderness ratios ˛
funicular load-bearing mechanism. Note that the nondimensional load depends on

the slenderness according to ˛ 2 f l=EA. Thus if the nondimensional load is kept
constant while ˛ is increased implies that the actual load f l=EA is decreased.
The paths of nonlinear unshearable beams (solid lines) and those of shearable
beams (dashed lines) are shown in Fig. 5.6. Shearable beams are more flexible
as they possess the additional flexibility that allows the cross sections to shear
relative to one another. To picture this phenomenology, the beam cross sections
can be thought of as a collection of sliding cards with internal resistance (i.e., the
shear stiffness). As shown in Fig. 5.6, the role of shearability becomes increasingly
important for nonslender beams. Therefore, the study of large-amplitude motions
of nonslender beams cannot neglect shearing effects. These effects may become
crucial at the onset of bifurcations.
Problem 5.1 (Elastica equation). For a simply supported unshearable, inexten-

sible beam, subject to an end compressive force P; show that the equilibrium
equation is
Ms C P sin D 0: (5.82)
In particular, when the beam is linearly elastic, the equilibrium equation reduces to
the well-known elastica equation [433]
ŒEJ.s/s s C P sin D 0: (5.83)
Problem 5.2 (Mathieu–Hill equation for a beam subject to a pulsating end

force). For a simply supported unshearable, inextensible beam, subject to a time-
varying end force P .t/, show that the equation of motion, in terms of the
displacement components u and v, can be written as
Z l
MO s C P .t/ sin D %J t t Œmu.l; t/t t C %Aut t d sin
s
(Z Z )
l l
1
C %Avt t d Œl C u.l; t/ %AŒ.s C u/vt t vut t ds/ cos :
s 0
(5.84)
In particular, the linearized version of (5.84) for an elastic beam is the following
Mathieu–Hill-type equation:
%Avt t .%J vst t /s C ŒEJ.s/vss ss C P .t/vss D 0: (5.85)
Problem 5.3 (Simply supported beam with a horizontal elastic constraint at the
roller support). Consider an unshearable beam hinged at one end while the other
end rests on a roller support attached to a linear spring.
(a) Show that the equations of motion in the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 g are obtained, by
substituting (5.66) into (5.39) and (5.40) as
ŒNO s C .=/MO s cos C Œ.MO s =/s NO sin C .c=/s sin C c= cos

C f1 D %Aut t C .%J t t /= cos C %J t t = sin ;
s
(5.86)
.NO s C .=/MO s / sin Œ.MO s =/s NO cos .c=/s cos C =c sin
C f2 D %Avt t C .%J t t /= sin .%J t t =/s cos :
(5.87)
(b) Show that by neglecting the rotary inertia which is often an order of magnitude
smaller than the translational inertia, the equations of motion reduce to
ŒNO s C .=/MO s cos C Œ.MO s =/s NO sin C f1 D %Aut t ; (5.88)
ŒNO s C .=/MO s sin Œ.MO s =/s NO cos C f2 D %Avt t : (5.89)

e2
A m
B P(t)
O
e1
s1 A’
l
h1
A-A’ h
b h1
Fig. 5.7 Simply supported elastic beam controlled by piezoelectric actuators. Reprinted with
permission [247]
(c) Show that, besides the geometric boundary conditions r.0; t/ D o and r.l; t/
e 2 D 0, and the moment-free boundary conditions M.0; t/ D 0 D M.l; t/; the
dynamic boundary condition that enforces the balance of linear momentum of
mass m at s D l is given by
N cos C Ms sin = C .c=/ sin C ku P .t/

D m ut t C %J t t = sin at s D ` (5.90)
where P .t/ is the end load (see Fig. 5.4).

Example 5.4 (Simply supported beam subject to an end thrust and to piezoelectric
actuators). In [247] a nonlinear vibration control strategy was proposed to suppress
the parametric resonance of the first skew-symmetric mode of a simply supported
uniform elastic beam subject to a time-varying end thrust. The control input
consisted of the bending couples applied by two pairs of piezoelectric actuators
located symmetrically with respect to the midspan, driven by the same voltage,
thus delivering symmetric control forces. The piezoelectric actuators exert bending
couples on the beam. Consider the kth pair of equal piezoceramic patches of length
lk attached to the beam lower and upper surfaces at sk ; the latter being the coordinate
of the midspan axis of the patch (see Fig. 5.7). In the limit case of perfect bonding
between the patches and the beam, the mechanical effect of a pair of piezoceramic
patches results in two bending couples, of opposite direction exerted at the edges of
the patches; hence, the piezoelectric-induced bending couples can be expressed as
X
2 h i
c.s; t/ D Ck .t/ ı.s sk / ı.s skC / (5.91)
kD1
where ı.s/ indicates the Dirac delta function, sk WD sk 12 llk ; and Ck .t/ is the
magnitude of the bending moments delivered by the actuators
EJ
Ck .t/ D ck Vk .t/; ck D Ek .h C hk / b d31k : (5.92)
2EJ C Ek Jk
Here, ck is the bending couple per unit Volt of the kth pair of patches; Vk .t/
is the applied time-varying voltage; b is the width of the beam and patches; hk
is the thickness of a single patch and Jk is the moment of inertia of a pair of
piezoceramic patches with respect to the neutral axis of the assembly; Ek and d31k
are Young’s modulus and the transverse charge constant of the kth piezoelectric
pathc respectively. The governing equation of motion is given by (5.76) which, after
some substitutions, becomes
h iˇˇ
Mss C Ms tan C c tan C .m uR P .t// sec ˇˇ
O O
sDl
Z l Z l Z l
MO s d C cs .c/ d f b1 f b2
s s s
Z l Z l
D %Ar t t b2 C .%J t t /s %Ar t t b1 d %J t t d (5.93)
s s
where c.s; t/ represents the control couples given by (5.91) and (5.92) and the sign
of P .t/ has been changed to account for the fact that the end thrust is initially
compressive. Moreover, all quantities in (5.93) can be expressed in terms of v as
in (5.21). The rotation and curvature are given by (5.21) while the trigonometric
functions of are q
sin D vs and cos D 1 vs2 :
5.1.1 Weak Form of the Equations of Planar Motion
The weak form of the governing equations is obtained by introducing the test (or
weighting) functions .w; / assumed to be sufficiently smooth in .0; l/ and to
vanish at the boundary of the beam denoted by @Cuo ; where the geometric boundary
conditions are prescribed: .w; / D .o; 0/ on @Cuo : Both members of (5.33) are
multiplied by w and the resulting functions are integrated over Œ0; l: The same
integration procedure is applied to (5.34) multiplying it by . The resulting integral
identities are summed to yield the following (primitive) weak form of the equations
of motion:
Z l Z l
Œ@s n w C .@s M / C ..@s r n/ e 3 /ds C .f w C c /ds
0 0
Z l
D Œ.%A@t t r/ w C .%J @t t / ds: (5.94)
0
This weak form can be employed for the minimization of the residual unbalanced
forces within the domain of the beam; however, it does not retain any information
from the boundary conditions. Equation (5.94) is integrated by parts to give
Z Z
l l
%A@t t r w C .%J @t t / ds C n @s w C M.@s / ..@s r n/ e 3 / ds
0 0
Z l ˇl ˇl
D .f w C c /ds C Œn wˇ0 C ŒM ˇ0 ; 8.w; /: (5.95)
0
ˇl ˇl
The boundary terms Œn wˇ0 C ŒM ˇ0 incorporate the geometric boundary
conditions through .w; / D .o; 0/ 2 @Cuo together with the mechanical boundary
conditions. The terms @s w and @s are the test stretch vector and test curvature.
5.1.2 Ad hoc Mechanical Models of Unshearable Beams
There are various computational implementations of the Special Cosserat Theory

of beams. Among them, finite element formulations have been proposed to ad-
dress both nonlinear elastostatic and elastodynamic problems. Besides numerical
techniques, analytical or semi-analytical treatments, often based on perturbation
techniques, have also been employed to study static and dynamic beam problems
[36, 124, 145, 283, 331, 339].
Analytical and semi-analytical approaches are usually based on ad hoc mechan-
ical models which account for geometric and inertial nonlinearities by resorting to
variational formulations based on truncated kinematic models. There are two main
groups of works on planar motions of unshearable beams. One is devoted to hinged–
hinged (axially restrained) beams for which only the hardening effect arising from
beam axis stretching is considered to be the dominant nonlinearity. These studies
[145, 243, 331] have been mostly inspired by the work of Mettler [316].
A few other studies have dealt with modeling the nonlinear dynamic behavior of
beams without axial restraints for which the most important nonlinearities are the
nonlinear inertia forces and finite bending curvature effects [36, 124]. In particular,
the nonlinear signatures of the beams of the first group were recognized for the
first time in [36] to be different from those of the second group. Namely, the lowest
mode of beams without axial restraints was shown to exhibit a softening nonlinearity
in contrast with that of axially restrained beams which are of the hardening
type. Longitudinal inertia was thus singled out as the dominant nonlinearity in
the first case. This problem was revisited by a more systematic approach in
[283]. By constructing two truncated kinematic models and exploiting Hamilton’s
extended Principle, the nonlinear features of the beams of the two groups were
investigated. The first and third modes of the beam with various boundary conditions
were considered.
An ad hoc nonlinear beam model was also proposed in [125] to account for
stretching, curvature, and inertial nonlinearities. The stretching effect was shown to
be dominant for axially restrained beams.
Notwithstanding the widespread nature of these studies, there seems to be a lack
of internal consistency in the way the truncated models of nonlinear beams are
obtained by means of ad hoc kinematic approximations. There is also a limited
number of experimental studies targeted to the validation of the fidelity of these
models. In the following section, the general problem of a systematic approach to
truncated mechanical models for the finite planar dynamics of beams with general
boundary conditions is addressed. The theoretical results obtained by the proposed
models are contrasted with those obtained by the Mettler theory applicable to
axially restrained beams. The main theoretical predictions are also compared with
experimental results toward the end of the section.
Axially restrained elastic beams. The equations of motion due to Mettler [316]
are obtained here by means of an approach that differs substantially from the
original path. Instead of using the linearized bending theory together with ad hoc
kinematic and mechanical assumptions, the equations are deduced directly from the
geometrically exact equations of motion for unshearable beams (5.67) and (5.68).
Assume that (a) f b1 D 0 and c D 0, 8s 2 .0; l/; (b) the rotations of
the cross sections are sufficiently small, jj << 1; (c) the bending curvature
is well described by the linearized version D vss ; (d) the rotary inertia is
negligible. One direct consequence of hypothesis (a) is that, under the prevailing
assumption of axially restrained motion, the longitudinal inertia term .%Ar t t b1 /
is negligible in (5.67).6 Moreover, the load-bearing contribution associated with
the shear force, Ms =; is of higher order with respect to the tension gradient
in (5.67). Thus, (5.67) yields Ns D 0 whose consequence is that the tension is
constant throughout the beam, within the range of validity of the stated assumptions.
An explicit expression of the tension can be found once the constitutive equation
for a linearly elastic beam is expressed in the form N.s; t/ D EA (2) .s; t/ where
(2) .s; t/ is the following second-order approximation of the elongation (2) .s; t/ D
us C 1=2vs2 . The uniformity of N allows its computation as an average over the
domain Œ0; l:
Z Z
1 l
1 l
1
NO .t/ D NO ds D EA us C vs2 ds
l 0 l 0 2
Z l
EA EA 1 2
D Œu.l; t/ u.0; t/ C v ds (5.96)
l l 0 2 s
6
The assumption f b1 D 0 may be relaxed by considering longitudinal forces f b1 ¤ 0 so long
as they are away from a resonance condition with the elastic axial modes of vibration.
where uniform properties of the beam are considered (i.e., EA D const) and
u.l; t/ u.0; t/ is prescribed as a kinematic boundary condition.
The next step is to consider the equation of motion in the transverse direction by
introducing the following approximations:
MO .s; t/ D EJ vss ; .Ms =/s Mss D .EJ vss /ss ;
f b2 f e 2 D f2 ; %Ar t t b2 %Avt t ; and N vss NO :
The resulting approximate equation of motion is the following integral–partial–

differential equation:
Z l
EA EA
%Avt t C EJ vssss vss Œu.l; t/ u.0; t/ vss vs2 ds D f2 : (5.97)
l 2l 0
Equation (5.97) was first proposed by Mettler [316]. Due to its simplicity, this
equation has been employed in a rich diversity of studies in nonlinear structural
dynamics, also thanks to the fact that some closed-form solutions can be obtained
in a few cases by treating the integral term as an additional unknown.
This equation, however, has a limited range of validity, mostly restricted to
linearly elastic beams that are: (a) axially restrained at the boundaries, (b) not loaded
by resonant longitudinal forces, and (c) loaded by moderate transverse forces f2 so
that the resulting flexural motions are of moderately large amplitude in agreement
with hypotheses (b) and (c) and with the second-order kinematic truncation of the
elongation.
A unified formulation for unshearable beams. ad hoc models are presented for
the planar motion of nonuniform unshearable beams. These models are suitable
to describe axially constrained and unconstrained motions for general boundary
conditions such as those of Fig. 5.4. The elastic restraint exerted by the spring and
the lumped mass at the roller support allow the limiting case of an immovable hinge
to be obtained. If the nondimensional lumped mass m=.%Al/ or the nondimensional
spring constant .k l 3 /=EJ is large, the end horizontal reaction force acts to restrict
the horizontal motion of the beam end. The consequence is that the beam axis
is subject to stretching. In the limiting case of an infinitely large spring constant
or mass, the right boundary condition becomes that of an immovable hinge. The
ensuing motion is axially constrained.
On the other hand, if the mass and the spring are of the same order of magnitude
as the beam mass and flexural stiffness, respectively, or if these quantities are com-
paratively small, the horizontal motion of the beam end is weakly constrained. If, in
addition, there are no external loads in the longitudinal direction, the beam behaves
as an inextensible medium. A kinematically constrained model, incorporating the
inextensibility constraint, is preferable from a computational standpoint. However,
the ad hoc equations obtained from (5.67) and (5.68) with the stated boundary
conditions are valid in all regimes.
To obtain such equations, the geometrically exact equations of motion (5.67)

and (5.68) together with the boundary conditions are perturbed about the reference
configuration B o by considering the Taylor expansion up to third order. The third
perturbation of the equations can be obtained through a systematic formal process
which resorts to the parametrization of all functions appearing in the equations of
motion with the small parameter ": All functions are thus expanded in series of "
arresting the expansion at third order.
A different, ad hoc approach is to expand the strain–displacement relationships,
substitute the expansions into the linearly elastic constitutive equations and further
expand the geometric terms in the equations of motion. To this end, the elongation
and bending curvature are expressed in Taylor series of the displacement gradients
as follows:
1 1
(3) D us C vs2 us vs2 ;
2 2

(3) D vss us vs s vs2 vss C u2s vs s : (5.98)
These truncated strains are substituted into the constitutive equations for a linearly
elastic material: NO (3) D EA (3) and MO (3) D EJ(3) : The rotary inertia is neglected
and no external distributed couples are considered. The ensuing truncated equations
of motion are given by
1
A ut t .EA us /s .EAvs2 /s C .EAus / vs 2 s .EJ vss /s vs s
2
˚
C EJ.us vs /s s vs s C 2 .EJ vss /s .us vs / s D f1 ; (5.99)

%Avt t C .EJ vss /ss .EJ vss /s us s EJ.us vs /s ss
˚
C EJ.us vs /s s us s C .EJ vss /s .u2s vs2 / s C EJ.u2s vs /s ss

EJ vs2 vss ss .EAus vs /s C .EAu2s vs /s 12 EAvs 3 s D f2 : (5.100)
The Taylor expansion of the mechanical boundary conditions MO .0; t/ D0D

MO .l; t/ and (5.90) gives

EJ vss .us vs /s vs2 vss C .u2s vs /s D 0; at s D 0; l;
1
m ut t C k u C EAus C EAvs2 EAus vs2
2

C .EJ vss /s vs .EJ vss /s us vs EJ.us vs /s s vs D 0; at s D l: (5.101)
The adopted constitutive equations are those of a purely elastic material. Mate-
rials always exhibit some form of internal dissipation arising from viscoelasticity
and hysteresis but, for wide classes of engineering materials, these effects turn out
to be negligible. Moreover, other external dissipative forces may resist the motion
and are sometimes larger than those due to material viscoelasticity. These forces
mostly arise from air drag and dissipation in the constraints due, for example,
to nonideal lubrication conditions. In these instances, it is not computationally
advisable to employ viscoelastic constitutive laws for the material itself and
constitutive laws for the air drag and lumped dissipation in the constraints because
of the inherent difficulty in identifying and describing these forces individually.
Secondly, the computational burden increases significantly if these dissipative forces
are incorporated in the equations of motion. One commonly adopted strategy is
to consider linear viscous terms proportional to the time rate of change of the
associated displacement component. For example, in (5.99) and (5.100), the additive
viscosity effects are considered through the terms c1 ut and c2 vt ; respectively.
In the literature, it has been a common practice to derive the governing equations
of motion (cf., e.g., [124,283,339]) using Hamilton’s extended principle which reads
Z t2
ıH D ı.T W / C ıW dt D 0 (5.102)
t1
where T and W indicate the kinetic and stored-energy functions, respectively, and
ıW denotes the virtual work of the nonconservative forces such as the distributed
time-dependent forces f.s; t/ and the dissipative parts of the contact force and
contact couple, denoted by nD .s; t/ and mD .s; t/, respectively. The kinetic energy
T is given by
Z l 1
T D 1
2 %A u2t C vt2 /ds C mu2t .l; t/: (5.103)
0 2
On the other hand, the stored-energy function up to fourth-order terms has the form
Z
1 l 1
W D EA u2s C us vs2 u2s vs2 C vs4 ds
2 0 4
Z
1 l 2
C EJ vss 2.uss vs vss C us vss
2
/ C vs2 u2ss C 3u2s vss
2
2 0
1
C 6us uss vs vss 2vs2 vss
2
ds C ku.l; t/2 : (5.104)
2
Of course, if the kinematic model described by the strain–displacement relation-
ships (5.98) is adopted, the variational process guided by Hamilton’s extended
principle yields (5.99) and (5.100) together with the boundary conditions.
Ad hoc model for extensible, unshearable beams. A constrained model
of extensible beams can be constructed under the assumption that there are no
longitudinal loads (i.e., f b1 D 0 and P .t/ D 0) or, if there are such loads,
they are away from resonance conditions with the elastic axial modes of vibration.
Thus the longitudinal inertia force can be considered of higher order with respect
to other forces in the b1 -direction. Furthermore, rotary inertia terms are negligible.
Incorporating these assumptions into (5.74) and (5.75) yields the tension in the form
ˇ
N D tan Ms = C sec .mut t C ku/ ˇsDl
Z l Z l
C M =d %Ar t t b1 d : (5.105)
s s
Equation (5.105) is substituted into (5.68) to give

ˇ
Mss = s Ms = 2 C tan .Ms =/ C sec mut t C ku ˇsDl
Z l Z l
M .=/d f b2 C %Ar t t b2 C %Ar t t b1 d D 0: (5.106)
s s
The longitudinal motion can be expressed in terms of the transverse motion by

solving the stretch–displacement relationship given by (5.20)1 with respect to us ;
expanding the result in Taylor series, and discarding higher-order terms to obtain
q
us D 1 ˙ 2 vs2 12 vs2 (5.107)
where the elongation D 1 D N=EA is given by the inverse constitutive

equation.
Moreover, the functional dependence of the tension N on the transverse motion
v is determined by first expanding N to second order so as to have terms of like
order in (5.107). Since r t t b1 D ut t cos C vt t sin D vs vt t C o.u; v/ by virtue
of the smallness of the axial acceleration jut t j Do.jvt t vs j/ due to the fact that the
external axial loads are away from resonance conditions with the longitudinal modes
of vibration. Therefore, neglecting the longitudinal end acceleration and substituting
the second-order expansion of N into (5.107) yields
1 2 h iˇˇ
us D vs .EA/ .EJ vss /s vs C ku ˇˇ
1
2 sDl
hZ l Z l i
.EA/1 %Avt t v d v .EJ v / d (5.108)
s s
whose integration, together with u.0; t/ D 0; gives the longitudinal motion u.s; t/:
The end axial motion u.l; t/ can thus be calculated as
Z l ( Z
1 1 l 2 ˇ
u.l; t/ D 1 C k 1
.EA/ ds vs ds C Œvs .EJ vss /s ˇsDl
0 2 0
Z Z " Z Z # )
l l l l
.EA/1 ds C %Avt t v d v .EJ v / d =EAds
0 0 s s
(5.109)
where indicates, in this context, multiplication by the last term on the preceding
line. By accounting for the computed gradients us and uss ; the third-order bending
curvature is found in the form
1 ˇ
Dvss C vs2 vss C .EA/1 vs s vs .EJ vss /s C k u ˇsDl
2
Z Z l
˚ l
C .EA/1 vs %Avt t v d v .EJ v / d s : (5.110)
s s
Note that the expression obtained for the curvature is somewhat richer than the
linearized curvature of the Mettler model because of the presence of third-order
corrections.
By substituting (5.110) into the constitutive equation M.s; t/ D MO .; s/ D
EJ.s/; and the result into (5.106), the governing equation of motion is obtained
in the form

Z l

1
%A vt t vt t vs2 ut t vs C vss %A ut t C vt t v d
2 s
h Z l i 1h i
C .EA/1 .EJ vss /s %Avt t v d C .EJ vss /ss C EJ vs2 vss
s s 2 ss
Z l n h Z l io
vss .EJ v / v d C EJ .EA/1 vs %Avt t v d
s s s ss
n h Z l io h
C EJ .EA/1 vs .EJ v / v d .EA/1 .EJ vss /s
s s ss
Z l i h iˇˇ nh i
.EJ v / v d C ku C .EJ vss /s vs ˇˇ EJ .EA/1 vs s
s s sDl ss
h i o
C .EA/1 .EJ vss /s C vss C mut t .l; t/vss D f2 (5.111)
s
where ut t .s; t/ and ut t .l; t/ are obtained by differentiating twice the longitudinal
motion resulting from (5.108) and (5.109), respectively. The dissipative forces are
not included in (5.111) for the sake of conciseness.
The case of an immovable or nearly immovable end can be obtained as the
limiting case of the elastically constrained beam with an arbitrarily large end spring
constant. In this limiting process, inertial and curvature nonlinearities can be taken
to be of higher order due to the constrained nature of the resulting motion. By letting
the spring constant k approach infinity [125], the limiting spring reaction force can
be obtained from (5.109) as
Z
EA l 2
k u.l; t/ D v ds: (5.112)
2l 0 s
Therefore, neglecting the higher-order terms in the bending curvature leads to the
Mettler equation of motion (5.97).
Ad hoc models for inextensible, unshearable beams. Axially unrestrained

or weakly restrained beams do not experience appreciable stretching. In these
instances, it is computationally convenient to enforce the inextensibility constraint,
D 1 or D 0, as follows:
.us ; vs / WD .1 C us /2 C vs2 1 D 0: (5.113)
Solving (5.113) with respect to us yields (5.21)1 which, expanded up to second-order

s D 1=2 vs : By further consideration of the geometric boundary
2
terms, delivers u(2)
condition u.0; t/ D 0; the longitudinal motion is obtained as
Z
1 s 2
u D
(2)
v d : (5.114)
2 0
The exact bending curvature, given by (5.21)3; to within third-order terms, furnishes
1
(3) D vss C vs2 vss : (5.115)
2
The trigonometric functions of the rotation are sin D vs and cos 1 1=2 vs2:
The tension can be obtained from (5.105) with D 1 while the governing
equation is obtained from (5.106). Substituting D 1 into (5.106) yields
ˇ Z l
ˇ
Mss C ŒMs tan C sec .mut t C ku/ˇˇ M d
sDl s
Z l
f b2 D %Ar t t b2 %Ar t t b1 d : (5.116)
s
Once the longitudinal motion (5.114) is substituted into (5.116), together with
the constitutive equation for the bending moment, the equation of motion becomes
Z s Z l

%A vt t C vs .v t /2 C v v t t d 12 vt t vs2 mvss .vst2 C vs vst t /ds
0 0
Z l Z s
vss %A v vt t C .v 2t C v v t t /d ds
s 0
Z l
1
C EJ vss C vs2 vss ss vss v EJ v d
2 s
( Z l )
ˇ
C vss Œ.EJ vss / vs ˇ 1ks v 2 ds D f2 :
sDl 2 s (5.117)
0
The truncated mechanical boundary conditions are

1
EJ vs C vs2 vss D 0; at s D 0; l: (5.118)
2
Hamilton’s extended principle may be employed alternatively to obtain the

equation of motion and the mechanical boundary conditions. The inextensibility
constraint is added to the Hamiltonian via a Lagrange multiplier and its minimiza-
tion leads to
Z Z
t2 ˚ l
ıH D ı.T W / C ıW C 12 ı .us ; vs /ds dt D 0 (5.119)
t1 0
where indicates the inextensibility constraint (5.113) and is the Lagrange mul-
tiplier. The kinetic and stored-energy functions are given, respectively, by (5.103)
and by
Z
1 l 2 1
W D EJ vss C 2us vss
2
2vs vss uss ds C ku.l; t/2 : (5.120)
2 0 2
Existing models of inextensible beams (cf., e.g., [124, 283]) are based onslightly
different truncated kinetic and stored energy functions.
5.1.3 Analytical Solutions, Comparisons with Existing

Theories and Experimental Results
This section illustrates the approximate analytical solutions of extensible and

inextensible beams subject to base excitations causing a primary resonance of one
of the beam bending modes. This occurs when the frequency ˝ of the harmonic
excitation is close to the frequency of one of the bending modes. Let .!n ; (n) .s//
denote the frequency and mode shape of the nth bending mode, respectively. The
analytical solutions are obtained by employing the method of multiple scales, a
perturbation method which has been applied to a rich variety of weakly nonlinear
mechanical and physical systems by Nayfeh and coworkers (cf. [330, 332]).
Extensible beams. Equations of motion (5.99) and (5.100) together with the
boundary conditions are employed in the context of the relaxed model of extensible
beams. A suitable nondimensional form of the equations of motion and boundary
conditions can be obtained by scaling lengths by the span l and time by the charac-
teristic time 1=!o WD .%Al 4 =EJ /1=2 . The following nondimensional variables and
parameters arise in the nondimensionalization:
t WD !o t; s WD s= l; u WD u= l; v WD v= l;
p EAl 2 fi l 3
cj WD cj l 2 = .EJ /.%A/; ˛ 2 WD ; fi WD :
EJ EJ
By dropping, for ease of notation, the asterisk in the nondimensional displacements,

the arclength, time, and the nondimensional parameters, the resulting nondimen-
sional equations of motion become
ut t C c1 ut ˛ 2 .uss C vs vss vs 2 uss 2 us vs vss /
vss vsss vs vssss C 2 uss vss
2
C 4 vs vss usss
C 5 vs uss vsss C 3 us vss vsss C vs 2 ussss C 3us vs vssss D f1 ; (5.121)
vt t C c2 vt C vssss ˛ 2 . vs uss C us vss 2us vs uss us 2 vss C 32 vs 2 vss /

3vss usss vs ussss 2 us vssss 4uss vsss C 7vs uss usss
C 8u2ss vss 2vss
3
C 9us vss usss C 12us uss vsss
8 vs vss vsss C 3us vs ussss C .3us 2 2vs 2 / vssss D f2 (5.122)
with the mechanical boundary conditions
vss .us vs /s vs2 vss C .u2s vs /s D 0; at s D 0; 1;

m=.%Al/ut t C kl =EJ u C ˛ .us C
3 2 1 2
v
2 s
us vs2 /
C vsss vs us vs vsss Œ.us vs /s s vs D 0; at s D 1: (5.123)
A uniform harmonic base acceleration in the e 2 -direction, yt t D Y ˝ 2 cos ˝t;

is considered to be near the primary resonance of the nth bending mode when it is
away from internal resonances with any other mode. The base excitation causes an
apparent force f2 WD %Ayt t whose nondimensional form is f2 WD Y ˝ 2 cos ˝t
where ˝ has been rescaled by !o and Y by the span l, respectively.
In devising the asymptotic treatment of (5.121)–(5.123), it is postulated that
either the nondimensional stiffness or mass or both are large. Consequently, the
nondimensional longitudinal motion u turns out to be of higher order with respect
to the transverse motion. The details of the perturbation treatment can be found in
[246].
Frequency-response equation and effective nonlinearity coefficient. The pertur-
bation treatment yields the motion to within leading order as
1 2
u.s; t/ a .s/ C .s/ cos 2.˝t C 'n / ; v.s; t/ a cos.˝t C 'n /
2
(5.124)
where the functions .; / are solutions of the following boundary-value problems:
˛ 2 ss D .˛ 2 s(n) ss

(n)
C ss
(n) (n)
sss C s(n) ssss
(n)
/; (5.125)
˛2 ss C 4!n2 D .˛ 2 s(n) ss
(n)
C ss
(n) (n)
sss C s(n) ssss
(n)
/ (5.126)
with the boundary conditions .0/ D 0 D .1/; .0/ D 0 D .1/ for hinged–
hinged beams.
The frequency ˝ is related to the amplitude a of the motion at leading order by

the so-called frequency-response equation expressed as
˚ 2 1=2
˝ D !n n a2 ˙ .Y = l/=.2!n a/ n2 (5.127)
where n is the damping ratio associated with the transverse motion, n is called
the effective nonlinearity coefficient which describes the overall nonlinear stiffness
that is exhibited in flexural motions that reduce to the nth bending mode as the
amplitude becomes increasingly smaller. The frequency-response curves, obtained
from (5.127), show a softening- or hardening-type behavior depending on whether
n is positive or negative, respectively. Besides the fact that n regulates the
qualitative aspects of the nonlinear frequency-response functions, n also affects
quantitatively the variation of the nonlinear modal frequency corrections with the
oscillation amplitude.
The effective nonlinearity coefficient is obtained as a direct summation of two
terms, one associated with the longitudinal motion, n(u) , and the other associated
with the transverse motion denoted by n(v) : Thus, n D n(u) C n(v) with
hZ 1 (n) i
n(u) D ˛ 2 2ss s(n) C ss s(n) C 2 s ss
(n)
C s
(n)
ss ds
0
Z Z
1 (n) 1
C3 (n)
2sss ss C sss
(n)
ss ds C 2 ssss s(n) C ssss s(n) (n) ds
0 0
Z Z
1 (n) 1 (n)
C2 (n)
2s ssss C s
(n)
ssss ds C 4 (n)
2ss sss C ss
(n)
sss ds;
0 0
Z 1
9 2
n(v) D ˛ (n)
ss .s(n) /2 (n) ds
2 0
Z 1
(n)
C 6.ss / C 24s(n) ss
(n) 3
sss C 6.s(n) /2 ssss
(n) (n) (n)
ds: (5.128)
0
The coefficient n(u) captures contributions from the longitudinal motion through the
functions ..s/; .s// while n(v) relates to the effects of the transverse motion.
p For hinged–hinged uniform beams, the eigenpair is !n D n and .s/ D
2 2 (n)
2 sin ns; n D 1; 2; : : : . Due to the self-adjointness of the linear unforced un-

damped problem, the mode shapes (n) are mutually orthogonal and are normalized
R1
according to 0 (m) (n) ds D ımn where ımn denotes the Kronecker delta. The
functions .; / can be expressed in closed form as

1 n2 2 1 .2n2 2 ˛ 2 /
.s/ D n 1 2 2 sin 2ns; .s/ D n 2 2 sin 2ns:
4 ˛ 4 .n ˛ 2 /
(5.129)
a b
10-3 510-2
m
a a
0 1 Ω/ω1 0 1 Ω/ω1
Fig. 5.8 Frequency-response curves of the first mode of (a) hinged–hinged beams with ˛ D
1:948 103 ; 1 D 0:06; and Y = l D 1:2 105 I (b) simply supported beams with m D
8:1.%Al/; Y = l D 1:1 103 : The dashed lines indicate unstable periodic solutions. Reprinted
The computations yield the following expressions of n(u) and n(v) :

1 4 4 .2n2 2 3˛ 2 /.2n2 2 ˛ 2 /2 9 4 4
n(u) D n ; n(v) D n .2n2 2 ˛ 2 /:
4 ˛ 2 .n2 2 ˛ 2 / 4
(5.130)
In the context of the selected examples, it is convenient to consider the nondimen-
sional properties of the test beam used in the experimental results illustrated in
[246]. The specimen length, width, and thickness are, respectively, 450 mm, 10 mm,
and 0.8 mm. The material mass density and Young’s modulus are 8,890 kg/m3 and
116 GPa, respectively.
In Fig. 5.8a, a typical frequency-response curve is shown for the hinged–hinged
beam with ˛ D 1:948 103 ; 1 D 0:06; and Y = l D 1:2 105 : The calculated
effective nonlinearity coefficient of the lowest mode is 1 D 5:548 108 ; with
1(u) D 2:77 108 and 1(v) D 8:32 108 : The fact that 1(u) > 0 entails that the
contribution from the longitudinal motion is of the softening type. However, because
1 < 0; the resulting frequency-response curve is of the hardening type. A close
analysis of (5.130) allows to ascertain that all modes are of the hardening type in the
range of physically admissible slenderness ratios, i.e., ˛
30: On the other hand,
for the same test beam but with simply supported boundary conditions and with a
tip mass m D 8:1.%Al/, the effective nonlinearity coefficient is 1 D 1:55 105 .
The frequency-response curve corresponding to 1 D 0:06 and Y = l D 1:1 103
is shown in Fig. 5.8b. As expected, due to the dominating inertial nonlinearity, the
curve is of the softening type.
Comparisons between the results of the present relaxed model and those obtained
using Mettler’s theory are presented next. In the context of Mettler’s theory, the
perturbation treatment of (5.97) with u.0; t/ D 0 D u.1; t/ leads to the effective
nonlinearity coefficient, denoted by nM ; in the form
nM D 32 ˛ 2 n4 4 (5.131)
80
n=5
60
%Γn
n=4
40
n=3
20
n=2
n=1
0 x 102
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
α
Fig. 5.9 Variation of the percent relative difference of nM with respect to n vs. the slenderness
ratio ˛ for the lowest five modes of a hinged–hinged beam. Reprinted with permission [246]
where the superscript M indicates Mettler’s theory. For slender beams (i.e., ˛ ! 1),
the effective nonlinearity coefficient obtained with the relaxed theory, expressed
by (5.130), converges to (5.131) obtained employing Mettler’s theory. Therefore,
within the regime of moderately large oscillation amplitudes, the relaxed solution
converges to Mettler’s solution for sufficiently slender beams whose effective axial
stiffness is order of magnitude larger than the bending stiffness. This circumstance
makes the geometric stretching nonlinearity the leading nonlinearity. However, for
nonslender beams, the discrepancies may become significantly larger as shown in
Fig. 5.9. Variation of the percent difference in the effective nonlinearity coefficients
obtained with the two models versus the slenderness ratio ˛ shows that (a) the
difference increases with the mode number and/or with decreasing slenderness
ratios; (b) the effective nonlinearity coefficient obtained using Mettler’s theory
can overestimate the actual coefficient by as much as 70 % for the fifth mode of
nonslender beams or between 5 % and 40 % for lower modes. It is to be noted that,
for nonslender beams, the model should be further relaxed to account for shear
deformations.
The relative differences between the elongation fields calculated according to
Mettler’s theory and to the relaxed theory are evaluated for closer analysis. The
elongations to within second order are given by
Z 1
1 2
M .t/ D a Œ1 C cos 2.˝t C 'n / .s(n) /2 ds; (5.132)
2 0
1 h 1 2 1 2
i
.s; t/ D a2 s .s/ C s(n) .s/ C . s .s/ C s(n) .s/ / cos 2.˝t C 'n / ;
2 2 2
(5.133)
where 'n is the phase of the motion with respect to the excitation.
Note that the elongation (5.132) of the Mettler theory is space-wise uniform and
turns out to be an average of the elongation expressed by (5.133) which, on the
other hand, exhibits a variation across the beam span with a number of half-waves
equal to twice the mode number associated with the excited mode shape. The space
variation of the elongation along the span is governed by the functions .; / and
the squared mode shape which altogether describe a stretching effect smaller than
that predicted by the more constrained Mettler theory.
Inextensible beams. The governing equation of motion of the ad hoc theory for
inextensible beams is given by (5.117) while the mechanical boundary conditions
are expressed by (5.118). The perturbation solutions are obtained by applying the
method of multiple scales [330] directly to (5.117). By exploiting the general results
reported in [243], the frequency-response equation is again given by (5.127) in
which the effective nonlinearity coefficient is now expressed as n D 3nG C nI
where
Z 1 Z
(n) (n) ˇ 1 3 1 (n) (n)
G ˇ
n WD sss s sD1 kl =EJ (n) 2
.s / ds ss ds
2 0 0
Z Z 1 Z 1
1 1 (n) (n) 2 (n)
.s / ss ss ds C (n)
.ss (n) (n)
ss (n)
sss d /ds;
2 0 0 s
h Z 1 Z 1 Z 1 Z s
nI WD !n2 m=.%Al/ (n)
ss (n) ds .s(n) /2 ds .s(n) n (n) 2
. s / d /ds
0 0 0 0
Z 1 Z 1Z i h Z 1 Z 1
C (n)
.ss (n) . (n) /2 dd /ds 3!n2 m=.%Al/ (n)
ss (n) ds .s(n) /2 ds
0 s 0 0 0
Z 1 Z s Z 1 Z 1
.s(n) (n) ds . s / d /ds
(n) 2 (n)
.ss (n) ds (n)
s (n) d /ds
0 0 0 s
Z 1 Z 1 Z i
C (n)
.ss (n) .(n)s /2 dd /ds : (5.134)
0 s 0
Coefficient nG ; given by (5.134)1, is the contribution arising from the geometric and
curvature nonlinearities while nI ; given by (5.134)2, is the contribution arising from
the inertial nonlinearities. The results of the computations for the simply supported
beam are
3
nG D n4 4 .kl 3 =EJ C 3n2 2 /;
2

19 1
nI D n6 6 C n2 2 .1 C 6 m=.%Al// : (5.135)
8 3
By calculating the effective nonlinearity coefficient of the lowest mode of the same
test beam (slenderness ratio ˛ D 1:948 103 and mass ratio m=.%Al/ D 8:1), the
following values were obtained [246]: 1 D 1:55 105 with 1G D 4:33 103 and
1I D 1:59 105 : The frequency-response curve corresponding to 1 D 0:06 and
x 10-2
4
f cosΩt
m
Mb
3
f3
a
f2
2
f1
f cosΩt
1
0
0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6
Ω/ω1
Fig. 5.10 Frequency-response curves of a simply supported beam with the tip mass m D 8:1.%Al/
on the roller support (softening) contrasted with those of a hinged–hinged beam (hardening) when
the nondimensional excitation amplitudes are .f1 ; f2 ; f3 / D .0:0375; 0:075; 0:15/, ˛ D 109:55;
D 0:02 (c D 0:39468). Solid and dashed lines refer to stable and unstable periodic solutions,
respectively; a is the maximum nondimensional displacement of the periodic solution at the
midspan. The curves are obtained by continuation of the geometrically exact theory of beams.
Y = l D 1:1 103 is shown in Fig. 5.8b. As expected, due to the prevailing inertia
nonlinearity, the curve is of the softening type.
If the truncated equations of motion described in [283] are employed, the
effective nonlinearity coefficient has the following (slightly different) expression:
n D 1
12 .8 n2 2 45/n6 6 32 kl 3 =EJ n4 4 C 2 n8 8 m=.%Al/: (5.136)
The percent relative difference of the effective nonlinearity coefficient expressed

by (5.135) with respect to that given by (5.136) can be computed to assess the
relative accuracy. The latter overestimates the effective nonlinearity coefficient with
an increasing rate for smaller mass ratios by up to as much as 50%.
A confirmation of the different nonlinear behaviors exhibited by axially con-
strained extensible beams with respect to simply supported beams with a tip mass
was also pursued in [27,164]. The frequency-response curves were obtained using a
continuation toolbox [128] coupled with the general-purpose finite element platform
COMSOL Multiphysics. The frequency-response curves shown in Fig. 5.10 are the
result of continuation of the geometrically exact equations of motion (5.52)–(5.54)
valid for shearable/extensible/flexible beams subject to harmonic transverse loads.
The details are given in Sect. 11.7. The nondimensional mechanical boundary
condition at the roller support is derived from (5.50) putting P .t/ D 0 and k D 0
thus obtaining
m=.%Al/@t t u C ˛ 2 . 1/ cos ˇ 2 sin D 0: (5.137)

Strain gauge
Fig. 5.11 A schematic view of the experimental setup. Reprinted with permission [246]
Experimental results and comparison with the theory. The experimental results
of [246] together with the results obtained according to the ad hoc theories are
summarized in this section. The experimental setup, shown in Fig. 5.11, consists
of the test specimen and the supporting base subject to a harmonic displacement
controlled by an electromagnetic shaker (EMIC: 371-A, maximum excitation force
of 98 N). The test specimen is a uniform beam with rectangular cross section made
of phosphor bronze (l D 450 mm, b D 10 mm, h D 0:8 mm), supported by hinges
made of radial bearings (JIS 6200). One of the hinges is rigidly clamped onto the
base. The other hinge is mounted on top of a sliding linear bearing (IKO Ball Slide
Unit, Model BSU 44-50 A) to realize the axially movable roller support. When the
sliding linear bearing is mechanically locked, the beam ends are both hinged and
immovable. Thus this experimental setup allows both boundary conditions to be
tested.
Two laser sensors were used to measure the displacements of the beam and
the base excitation, respectively: a KEYENCE LB-01 (resolution of 40 m and
sampling time of 20 ms) and a KEYENCE LC-2430 (resolution of 0:02 m and
sampling time of 20 ms). A strain gauge was attached to the midspan of the beam
to measure the elongations in the simply supported (axially movable) configuration.
To generate frequency-response curves, the time traces and frequency contents of
the displacements and strains of the beam were monitored using a portable signal
analyzer (ONO SOKKI: DS2100).
The hinged–hinged beam was tested first. The measured lowest natural frequency
turned out to be 6.47 Hz while the identification of the damping ratio was obtained
2.0
1.5
a[mm]
1.0
0.5
0.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
f[Hz]
Fig. 5.12 Experimentally (circles) and theoretically (solid lines) obtained frequency-response
curves of the lowest mode of the hinged–hinged test beam when Y D 0:017 mm. Filled (unfilled)
circles indicate forward (backward) sweeps. The dashed-dotted line indicates the theoretical
backbone of the lowest mode. Reprinted with permission [246]
from measures of the logarithmic decrement in the time history of the free response
of the midspan section (ı D 0:3659). The damping ratio was determined to be
n D 6 102 : Then, by considering the same excitation amplitude as that used for
calculating the theoretical frequency-response curve shown in Fig. 5.8a (i.e, Y D
0:017 mm), forward and backward frequency sweeps were performed around the
lowest natural frequency. The experimentally obtained frequency-response curve is
superimposed on the theoretically obtained curve in Fig. 5.12. The filled (unfilled)
circles indicate the forward (backward) frequency sweeps. The arrows indicate the
jumps in the response. As expected, the lowest mode is of the hardening type. The
fact that the downward jump occurs at a lower amplitude than that theoretically
predicted indicates a possible premature jump due to the fact that, at high oscillation
amplitudes on the upper resonant branch of stable periodic responses, the stable and
unstable motions are very close and, hence, small perturbations, mostly caused by
finite step changes in the excitation frequency, can cause jumps in the low-amplitude
nonresonant motion whose basin of attraction is much larger than that of the large-
amplitude resonant attractor. These premature jumps cannot be easily avoided in
spite of the great care exercised during the experiments. Each complete frequency
sweep took on average about 10 h. The overall agreement shown clearly denotes
the high fidelity of the proposed theory, expressed by (5.121)–(5.123), within the
investigated amplitude range.
The simply supported inextensible (axially unrestrained) beam was tested under
the same excitation conditions as those used to compute the theoretical frequency-
response curve in Fig. 5.8b (i.e., Y D 0:5 mm). The ratio of the mass of the
sliding bearing to the mass of the beam is 8:1: The experimentally obtained
60
40
a[mm]
20
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
f[Hz]
Fig. 5.13 Experimentally (circles) and theoretically (solid lines) obtained frequency-response
curves of the first mode of the simply supported test beam when Y D 0:5 mm. Filled (unfilled)
circles indicate backward (forward) sweeps. The dashed-dotted line indicates the theoretical
backbone. Reprinted with permission [246]
frequency-response curve is superimposed on the theoretically predicted curve in

Fig. 5.13 which shows a good agreement between the theoretical predictions and
the experimental results.
Comparison between the exact theory and the Mettler theory. Three theories
are compared in the dynamic response of uniform linearly elastic beams: the geo-
metrically exact theory (for shearable/extensible/flexible beams), the unshearable
beam theory (here referred to as the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory for extensi-
ble/flexible beams), and the Mettler theory (for extensible/flexible beams). Two p
limiting cases of slenderness are considered: nonslender beams with ˛ D 10 3
(˛ 2 D 3 102 ) and slender beams with ˛ D 109:55 (˛ 2 D 1:2 104 ). Recall that the
constitutive parameter by which the nondimensional tension is scaled is ˛ 2 .
The frequency-response curves were obtained using a continuation method [128]
coupled with a finite element discretization platform whose details are given in
Sect. 11.7. The geometrically exact equations of motion are given by (5.52)–(5.54),
those for unshearable beams are given by (5.69)–(5.70), while the Mettler equation
is (5.97) which, in nondimensional form, becomes
Z l
@t t v C @ssss v 1 2
2 ˛ @ss v .@s v/2 ds D f cos.˝=!1 t/: (5.138)
0
Figure 5.14 shows the comparison between the frequency-response curves obtained
by the three theories. A low value of the parameter ˛ (and, consequently, a low
x 10-1
f2 f2
1.0
0.8
f1
0.6 f1
a
0.4
0.2
0
0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
Ω/ω1
Fig. 5.14 Frequency-response curves, obtained using a finite element discretization [164] of the
Mettler theory (dashed lines), the Euler–Bernoulli theory (thin solid lines), and
p the geometrically
exact theory (thick solid lines) for a nonslender beam with ˛ D 10 3 and .f1 ; f2 / D
.0:1875; 0:375/. Note that the frequency of the lowest flexural mode of unshearable beams is
!1 D 2 . Reprinted with permission [164]
value of ˇ) entails that shear deformability can play a significant role in the beam
response. There is a hierarchy of flexibility moving from the Mettler to the Euler–
Bernoulli to the geometrically exact theory: the higher flexibility of the shearable
beam model is reflected in the fact that the associated frequency-response curves
are shifted to the left relative to those arising from the two unshearable beam
models. Moreover, the Euler–Bernoulli model manifests a more flexible behavior
with respect to the Mettler model.
The effects of the axial and shear deformability becomes much less evident when
considering higher slenderness ratios. Figure 5.15 shows the frequency-response
curves obtained by the three different models for the slender beam with ˛ D 109:55.
For the given excitation amplitudes, such models yield indistinguishable results.
5.2 The Theory of Beams in Space
The reference (stress-free) configuration B o of a beam in space, denoted by B o , can

be straight or curved. In this chapter, only straight reference configurations B o are
considered while the theory of curved beams/arches in space is treated in Chap. 7.
The reference frame is the fixed frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / in Fig. 5.16.
The selected base curve of B o , denoted by C o , is described by r o .s/ D se 3 where
s is the arclength parameter along C o . To identify the orientation of the cross section
5.2 The Theory of Beams in Space 329
x 10-2
4
f cosΩt f2
1
f1
0
0.75 1.0 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.0 2.25
Ω/ω1
Fig. 5.15 Frequency-response curves, obtained [164] using the Mettler theory (solid line), the
Euler–Bernoulli theory (circles), and the geometrically exact theory (crosses) when ˛ D 109:55
and .f1 ; f2 / D .0:075; 0:225/
Fig. 5.16 Reference configuration Bo and current configuration B of the beam with its main
kinematic descriptors
S o at s in the reference configuration, two material fibers are considered and are
described by the orthonormal vectors .bo1 ; bo2 /, sometimes referred to as directors
[23]. The local triad of orthonormal vectors is completed by the third unit vector
bo3 D r os D e 3 which is normal to the cross section at s: For convenience, C o is
often taken to coincide with the centerline. Moreover, (bo1 ; bo2 ) are often chosen
collinear with the principal axes of inertia of the cross section so that with the
above choices the intrinsic reference frame .C o ; bo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 / constitutes the principal
e1
p(s,t) x(s,t)
r(s,t) C
e2 e3 p0(s) S
x0(s)
r0(s)
0
C
S
0 C
C
0
Fig. 5.17 The base curve C o .s/ and the material section S o .s/ together with the associated actual
baseline C .s; t / and actual section S .s; t /
inertia reference frame of the cross section. The reference configuration can thus be
described by three vector-valued functions .r o .s/; bo1 .s/; bo2 .s// as follows: B o D
fpo .s/ D r o .s/ C xN o .s/; xN o .s/ WD x1o .s/bo1 C x2o .s/bo2 ; s 2 Œ0; lg where xN o is the
vector spanning the cross section S o and l denotes the length of the beam in the
reference configuration B o , here the beam natural state.
The theory of deformation: extension, flexure, shear, and twisting. The actual
configuration B of the beam is described by the actual position of the base curve
C.s; t/ and the actual orientation in space of the cross section S.s; t/ (see Fig. 5.17).
The former is described by the position vector r.s; t/ while the actual orientation of
the material cross section S.s; t/ is described by the unit vectors .b1 .s; t/; b2 .s; t//:
Thus B D fp.s; t/ D r.s; t/C x.s;N t/; x.s;
N t/ D x1 .s/b1 .s; t/Cx2 .s/b2 .s; t/; s 2
Œ0; l; t 2 Œ0; 1/g: The rigidity of the cross sections entails x1 .s/ D x1o .s/ and
x2 .s/ D x2o .s/. A thorough treatment of the theory of deformation in space is
presented in the next section with a full justification of the choice of the generalized
strains.
Generalized strains in the three-dimensional theory of deformation. Let
R.s; t/ denote the orthogonal tensor which describes the rigid rotations suffered
by the material section S o .s/: The vector bok is rotated by R into bk D R bok :
The orthogonal tensor R satisfies the equality R R | D I: Differentiating this
equality with respect to the arclength coordinate s yields @s R R | C R @s R | D O:
Hence, @s R R | D R @s R | which implies that the tensor WD @s R R |
is skew-symmetric and its action can be described by the associated axial vector
denoted here by : Thus, by considering @s bk D @s R bok D @s R I bok D
@s R .R | R/ bok D bk D bk ; the following relationship is obtained:
@s bk D bk : (5.139)
To determine suitable strain measures for the special Cosserat theory of beams, the
(transposed) deformation gradient is calculated as
h @ @ @ i
F| D r p D e 1 C e2 C e3 Œr.s; t/ C x1 b1 .s; t/ C x2 b2 .s; t/
@x1 @x2 @x3
D e 1 b1 C e 2 b2 C .e 3 /.@s r/ C x1 .e 3 /.@s b1 / C x2 .e 3 /.@s b2 /
which leads to
F D b1 e 1 C b2 e 2 C .@s r/.e 3 / C . x/e

N 3: (5.140)
To gain insight into the deformation process, it is illuminating to see how

longitudinal material fibers collinear with bo3 D e 3 are stretched as a consequence of
an arbitrary deformation in space. The stretch vector associated with the unit vector
bo3 is calculated as
3 D F e 3 D @s r C x:
N (5.141)
Thus, the longitudinal material fiber, whose trace within the reference cross section
at s is described by xN o ; suffers a stretch that depends on @s r and : In particular,
the stretch of the fiber collinear with the base curve C o (i.e., xN o D o) reduces to
o3 WD 3 .xN o D o/ D @s r. On the other hand, the stretch vector of material fibers
away from C o is
3 D o3 C x:
N (5.142)
To interpret the kinematic meaning of ; assume 3 D 0. Hence, the vector N WD
N N lies in the plane of the actual cross section S.s; t/ (bN b3 D 0). Furthermore,
b
consider the case o3 D b3 which corresponds to taking the fiber collinear with the
base curve to be in a neutral (unstretched) state. This is the reason why it is called a
neutral fiber. The stretch vector (5.142) thus becomes
3 D b3 C b
N N x;
N 3 D 1 C 1 x2 2 x1 (5.143)
from which the elongation of the longitudinal fiber is expressed as
3 D 3 1 D .
N x/
N b3 D .b
N 3 bN / xN D b
N F xN D x
N N (5.144)
where xN WD bF xN with bF D b3 bN is the distance of the considered fiber from the

axis collinear with bN and passing through the base point C [288]. Equation (5.144)
implies that the fibers whose traces on the current cross section are along bN are not
subject to elongations, hence, they are called neutral fibers and the axis collinear
with bN WD =j N j N through C is referred to as the neutral axis. Moreover, the
elongation of the longitudinal fibers is proportional to the magnitude of the curvature
vector N and the distance of the fibers from the neutral axis bN :
According to (5.139), the vector N quantifies the rate of variation of the cross
section orientation with s. This fact together with the fact that the longitudinal fibers
are stretched proportionally to j j N justifies regarding N as the bending curvature
vector. On the other hand, if N D o; then the vector D 3 b3 is normal to
the actual cross section S.s; t/ and is called the torsional or (twisting) curvature
vector.
The shear strains between longitudinal material fibers (i.e., collinear with bo3 D
e 3 ) and transverse material fibers are calculated next. First, consider the shear strains
between a longitudinal material fiber and the material fibers collinear with bo1 D e 1
and bo2 D e 2 whose position on S o is described by xN o : The shear strains 31 and 32
are calculated as sin 31 D 3 1 =3 and sin 32 D 3 2 =3 : Due to the rigidity
of the cross sections, any material fiber that lies in the material cross section S does
not suffer elongation, hence, 1 D 1 D 2 : The stretch vector 3 , given by (5.141),
is dotted with the two stretch vectors 1 D F e 1 D b1 and 2 D F e 2 D b2 thus
giving 3 1 D @s r b1 C . x/ N b1 and 3 2 D @s r b2 C . x/ N b2 .
Consequently, the shear strains are expressed as
sin 31 D Œ@s r b1 C . x/

N b1 =3 ; sin 32 D Œ@s r b2 C . x/ N b2 =3 :
(5.145)
In particular, the shear strains on the base curve (i.e., xN o D o) have the forms
sin 31 D .@s r b1 /=j@s rj; sin 32 D .@s r b2 /=j@s rj (5.146)
since 3 .xN o D o/ D o3 D @s r.
One rational choice of generalized strains by which the deformations can be
effectively parametrized is the following:
WD @s r b3 ; 1 WD @s r b1 ; 2 WD @s r b2 (5.147)
describes the beam stretch or dilatation which does not coincide with the stretch
3o of the longitudinal base fiber since ¤ j o3 j. On the other hand, . 1 ; 2 / represent
the beam shear strains. According to (5.146), the (generalized) shear strains become
1 D j@s rj sin 31 D 3o sin 31 and 2 D j@s rj sin 32 D 3o sin 32 : (5.148)
The relationship between the generalized strains and the true stretch 3o is
q
3o D 2 C 21 C 22 : (5.149)
The beam (generalized) strains can be expressed in compact form as
WD @s r D 1 b1 C 2 b2 C b3 ; (5.150)
@s bk D bk : (5.151)
The vector D 1 b1 C 2 b2 C 3 b3 is the curvature vector whose in-

plane components (1 ; 2 ) are the bending curvatures about the b1 and b2 axes,
respectively, while the normal component 3 is the torsional curvature.
The velocity of an arbitrary material point po .s/ D r o .s/ C xN o .s/ which at time
t occupies the position p D r.s; t/ C x.s;
N t/ can be calculated as
@t p D @t r C ! xN (5.152)
where xN D x1 b1 C x2 b2 D R xN o and ! is the angular velocity vector given by

Poisson’s formula (see Appendix I for the proof) as
@t bk D ! bk : (5.153)
The angular velocity vector ! is the axial vector of the skew-symmetric tensor
˝ WD @t R R | .
As a consequence of the Schwarz Theorem, by applying the identity @s @t bk D
@t @s bk to (5.151) and (5.153), the following important compatibility equation
between and ! is obtained:
@t . bk / D @s .! bk /: (5.154)
There are several different ways of prescribing spatial motions of the terminal
sections of a beam. If the rotation tensor R is adopted to describe the orientation
of the cross sections, the prescription of the kinematic boundary conditions is
enforced as
N 1 .t/; r.l; t/ D rN 2 .t/; R.l; t/ D R

r.0; t/ D rN 1 .t/; R.0; t/ D R N 2 .t/: (5.155)
The initial position and velocity of the base curve are given by r o .s/ and vo .s/,
respectively, while the initial rotation matrix and angular velocity of the cross
sections are described by R o .s/ and !o .s/ so that the initial conditions become
r.s; 0/ D r o .s/; @t r.s; 0/ D vo .s/; R.s; 0/ D R o .s/; !.s; 0/ D !o .s/:

(5.156)
These initial data must be compatible with the kinematic boundary condi-
tions (5.155).
Alternative representations and special forms of the rotation tensor. In
consonance with the definition of the (algebraic) strain vector
of the planar
kinematic formulation, given by (5.24), the above definition is extended to the
spatial case as follows:

D R| @s r @s ro : (5.157)
In particular, if the displacement vector u is introduced in its component repre-

sentation in the fixed basis, u.s; t/ D Œu1 .s; t/; u2 .s; t/; u3 .s; t/| ; then r.s; t/ D
Œu1 .s; t/; u2 .s; t/; s C u3 .s; t/| and the spatial gradient of r becomes
@s r D Œ@s u1 .s; t/; @s u2 .s; t/; 1 C @s u3 .s; t/| : (5.158)
To obtain the orthogonal tensor that transforms .bo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 / D .e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / into
.b1 ; b2 ; b3 /; the following sequence of rotations is considered: 1 ! 2 ! 3
by which it is meant that the basis is first rotated about e 1 by 1 leading to
fb(1)
1 ; b2 ; b3 g. Subsequently, this basis is rotated around b2 by 2 thus obtaining the
(1) (1) (1)
new basis fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g which, by a further rotation of angle 3 about b(2)

(2) (2) (2)
3 , attains
the final orientation fb(3) 1 ; b(3)
2 ; b(3)
3 g D fb1 ; b 2 ; b3 g: The components of the ensuing
orthogonal matrix are:
R11 D cos 2 cos 3 ; R12 D cos 2 sin 3 ; R13 D sin 2 ;

R21 D cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 C cos 1 sin 3 ;
R22 D cos 1 cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 sin 3 ; R23 D cos 2 sin 1
R31 D sin 1 sin 3 cos 1 cos 3 sin 2 ;
R32 D cos 3 sin 1 C cos 1 sin 2 sin 3 ; R33 D cos 1 cos 2 : (5.159)
The insertion of (5.159) into (5.157) yields the strain components in the form
1 D cos 2 cos 3 @s u1 C .cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 C cos 1 sin 3 /@s u2

C .sin 1 sin 3 cos 1 cos 3 sin 2 /.@s u3 C 1/;
2 D cos 2 sin 3 @s u1 C .cos 1 cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 sin 3 /@s u2
C .cos 3 sin 1 C cos 1 sin 2 sin 3 /.@s u3 C 1/;
D sin 2 @s u1 cos 2 sin 1 @s u2 C cos 1 cos 2 .@s u3 C 1/ 1: (5.160)
The bending curvatures .1 ; 2 / and the twisting curvature 3 ; given by (5.139)
and based on the rotation matrix (5.159), are expressed as
1 D @s 1 cos 2 cos 3 C @s 2 sin 3 ;

2 D @s 1 cos 2 sin 3 C @s 2 cos 3 ;
3 D @s 3 C @s 1 sin 2 : (5.161)
On the other hand, the angular velocity vector ! has the following components:
!1 D @t 1 cos 2 cos 3 C @t 2 sin 3 ;

!2 D @t 1 cos 2 sin 3 C @t 2 cos 3 ;
!3 D @t 3 C @t 1 sin 2 : (5.162)
The linearization of (5.160), (5.161), and (5.162) furnishes the following lin-
earized strain–displacement and angular velocity–rotation relationships of the beam
theory:
1 D @s u1 2 ;
(1) 2 D @s u2 C 1 ;
(1) (1) D @s u3 ; (5.163)
1 D @s 1 ;
(1)
2 D @s 2 ;
(1)
3 D @s 3 ;
(1)
(5.164)
!1(1) D @t 1 ; !2(1) D @t 2 ; !3(1) D @t 3 : (5.165)
Unshearable beams: the Euler–Bernoulli beam model in space. Slender beams

undergoing planar motions were shown to suffer negligible shearing effects. The
same considerations apply to spatial motions. When dealing with slender beams, it
is computationally preferable to consider an internally constrained model by fully
inhibiting the shear strains regardless of the loading conditions. The unshearability
is enforced according to the two internal kinematic constraints 1 .s; t/ D 0 D
2 .s; t/: If the constraints obtained from (5.160)1 and (5.160)2 are solved for @s u1
and @s u2 ; the following gradients are obtained:
@s u1 D sec 1 tan 2 .1 C @s u3 /; @s u2 D tan 1 .1 C @s u3 / (5.166)
which, substituted into the elongation (5.160)3, yield cos 1 cos 2 D .1 C @s u3 /=:
By virtue of the constraints 1 D 0 D 2 ; the gradient of r is @s r D b3
with @s r D @s u1 e 1 C @s u2 e 2 C .1 C @s u3 /e 3 . Hence, by using b3 D R e 3 D
sin 2 e 1 cos 2 sin 1 e 2 C cos 1 cos 2 e 3 ; the following kinematic relationships
are obtained: @s u1 D sin 2 ; @s u2 D cos 2 sin 1 ; 1 C @s u3 D cos 1 cos 2 .
The latter can be solved to yield the rotation angles 1 and 2 and the stretch as

@s u2 h @s u1 i
1 D arctan ; 2 D arctan p ; (5.167)
1 C @s u3 .@s u2 /2 C .1 C @s u3 /2
p
D .@s u1 /2 C .@s u2 /2 C .1 C @s u3 /2 : (5.168)
5.2.1 Equations of Motion
The equations of motion in space are obtained by enforcing the balance of linear
and angular momentum on any arbitrary part of the beam. The linear momentum
per unit reference length is
Z Z
l WD @t pdA D .@t r C ! x/dA
N D %A@t r C ! %i (5.169)
S S
where
Z Z
%i WD N
xdA D .x1 b1 C x2 b2 /dA D %I2 b1 C %I1 b2 (5.170)
S S
is the vector of the first mass moments of the cross-sectional domain with respect to
the reference frame .C; b1 ; b2 / where C is the intersection of the cross section with
the base curve, often chosen to coincide with the center of mass or the shear center.
I2 is the first mass moment about b2 and I1 is the first mass moment about b1 ;
respectively. On the other hand, the angular momentum per unit reference length is
given by:
Z Z
h WD p @t pdA D .r C x/ N .@t r C ! x/dA
N
S S
D r Œ%A@t r C .! %i / C %i @t r C %J ! (5.171)
where
Z Z
xN .! x/dA
N D Œ.xN x/!
N .xN !/xdA
N D %J !: (5.172)
S S
Let tensor %J WD %Jij bi bj be the positive-definite inertia tensor of the cross

section with
Z Z Z
%J11 WD x2 dA; J22 WD
2
x1 dA; J33 WD .x12 C x22 /dA;
2
S S S
Z
J12 WD x1 x2 dA; %J13 D 0 D %J23 : (5.173)
S
The components .%J11 ; %J22 ; %J33 / are the mass moments of inertia about
fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g; respectively, and %J12 ; %J13 , and %J23 are the mixed (or centrifugal)
mass moments of inertia.
If the base curve is chosen to coincide with the centerline, the base point
on the cross section coincides with the center of mass thus implying %i D o:
Consequently, (5.169) and (5.171) deliver the following simplified expressions of
linear and angular momentum:
l D %A@t r; h D %Ar @t r C %J !: (5.174)
Furthermore, if .b1 ; b2 / are collinear with the principal axes of inertia of the cross
section, the centrifugal moment of inertia vanishes, and the inertia tensor becomes
diagonal having the diagonal elements corresponding to the principal moments of
inertia.
The data of the spatial dynamic problem. The definition of the mechanical data
of the dynamic problem is facilitated by some introductory remarks. According to
the Saint-Venant theory of linearly elastic cylindrical slender bodies, surface forces
f˛ (˛ D 1; 2) are applied only on the two terminal sections of the body. The solution
of the elastic problem in the inner region of the body away from the boundary layers
near the beam ends does not depend on the surface force distribution but on the force
and moment resultants. Conversely, within the boundary layers near the beam ends,
the solution does depend on the local surface force densities. This property of the
solution was actually postulated by Saint-Venant and is known as the Saint-Venant
Principle. The principle has been later proved to be a property of the elastic solution
for slender bodies with compact cross sections for which the length of the boundary
layers is small compared to the length of the body.
The remarkable consequence of the Saint-Venant Principle is that the mechanical
data of the problem are simply represented by the force and moment resultants on
the two beam ends; that is,
Z Z
f ˛ WD f˛ dA and c ˛ WD xN f˛ dA; ˛ D 1; 2 (5.175)
S S
where xN D x1 .s/b1 C x2 .s/b2 is the position vector of material points of the cross-
sectional domain S with respect to the base point C of S.
In the context of the (reduced) one-dimensional theory, the loading by volume
forces b and surface forces fM on the beam mantel @B M (lateral boundary of the
cylinder) is accounted for as follows.
The generalized force resultants are defined as the resultant forces and couples
per unit reference length. Consider the boundary of the cross-sectional domain S;
denoted by @S; and an origin with an arclength coordinate along @S. The force per
unit reference length is the summation of the resultant of the mantel surface forces
fM on the boundary @S and the resultant of the volume forces b:
I Z
f.s; t/ WD fM .x1 ./; x2 .//d C b.x1 ; x2 /dA: (5.176)
S S
The resultant moment of the mantel surface forces and volume forces is accordingly
defined as the resultant moment of fM and b with respect to C
I Z
c.s; t/ WD N
x./ f ./d C
M
xN b.x1 ; x2 /dA: (5.177)
S S
Thus the mechanical data in the special Cosserat theory of beams are represented
by the following system of resultant forces (see Fig. 5.18): .f 1 ; c 1 / and .f 2 ; c 2 /
prescribed on the beam ends at s D 0 and l and the force and couple per unit
reference length, .f.s; t/; c.s; t//, s 2 .0; l/:
The solution of the intrinsic theory under the generalized resultant force system
will differ slightly (under suitable conditions) from the exact solution of the
spatial problem with surface and volume forces whose resultants coincide with the
generalized resultants of the intrinsic theory.
Fig. 5.18 The force and couple per unit reference length, f and c; in B and the boundary forces
and couples (f i ; c i ), i D 1; 2
Equations of motion. The overall balance of linear and angular momentum of the
beam (see Fig. 5.18) is enforced as
Z l Z
d l
f1 C f2 C f.s; t/ds D l ds;
0 dt 0
Z l Z l Z
d l
c1 C c2 C r fds C cds C r.l; t/ f 2 D hds (5.178)
0 0 dt 0
where the linear and angular momentum per unit reference length l and h are,
respectively, given by (5.169) and (5.171).
Consider an arbitrary inner part of the beam whose end cross sections are
at s1 and s with Œs1 ; s .0; l/ (see Fig. 5.19). Within the context of the
mechanical formulation of the beam theory, the stress and moment resultants of
the cross section—referred to as contact force and contact couple—are defined,
respectively, as
Z Z
n.s; t/ WD tdA D T bo3 dA;
So So
Z Z
m.s; t/ WD xN tdA D xN .T bo3 /dA (5.179)
So So
where t D T bo3 is the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress vector referred to material points
of the cross section S o (whose outward unit normal is bo3 D e 3 ). The balance of
linear and angular momentum of the beam part Œs1 ; s is enforced as follows:
Z s Z
d s
n.s1 ; t/ C n.s; t/ C fd D l d ;
s1 dt s1
r.s1 ; t/ n.s1 ; t/ C r.s; t/ n.s; t/ m.s1 ; t/ C m.s; t/
Z s Z s Z
d s
C cd C r fd D hd :
s1 s1 dt s1
− n(s1,t)
− m(s1,t) f(s,t)
e1
r(s1,t) c(s,t)
n(s,t)
r(s,t)
e2 e3
r0(s1) C m(s,t)
0
C
r0(s)
Fig. 5.19 The contact force n.s; t / and the contact couple m.s; t / in the actual configuration B
By applying the integration-by-part rule and invoking the arbitrariness of Œs1 ; s 2

.0; l/, the equations of motion are thus obtained in the following local form:
@s n C f D %A@t t r C @t ! %i C ! .! %i /; (5.180)
@s m C n C c D %i @t t r C %J @t ! C ! .%J !/: (5.181)
Equations (5.180) and (5.181) represent the classical or strong form of the equations
of motion.
The component form of the equations of motion is obtained once the contact
force and contact couple are given their natural component representation in the
local basis fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g. To this end, in (5.179) the Piola–Kirchhoff stress vector
is expressed in the local basis as t D t1 b1 C t2 b2 C t3 b3 so that the local stress
components .t1 ; t2 / have the intrinsic meaning of shear stresses in the b1 and b2
directions, respectively, while t3 has the meaning of normal stress. The components
of the stress and moment resultants are thus obtained as
Z Z Z
Q1 .s; t/ WD t1 dA; Q2 .s; t/ WD t2 dA; N.s; t/ WD t3 dA;
So So So
Z Z
M1 .s; t/ WD x2 t3 dA; M2 .s; t/ WD x1 t3 dA;
So So
Z
T .s; t/ WD .x1 t2 x2 t1 /dA: (5.182)
So
.Q1 ; Q2 / are the shear forces in the b1 and b2 directions, respectively; N is

the tension or axial force; .M1 ; M2 / are the bending moments about b1 and b2 ;
respectively, and T is the torque or twisting moment.
Therefore, by substituting
n.s; t/ D Q1 .s; t/b1 .s; t/ C Q2 .s; t/b2 .s; t/ C N.s; t/b3 .s; t/;
m.s; t/ D M1 .s; t/b1 .s; t/ C M2 .s; t/b2 .s; t/ C T .s; t/b3 .s; t/ (5.183)
into (5.180) and (5.181) in which the assumption is incorporated that the base curve
be coincident with the centerline (i.e., the base point of the cross section coincides
with the center of mass C ), and by dotting the equations with the unit vectors bk
(k D 1; 2; 3), the following component form is obtained:
@s Q1 C 2 N 3 Q2 C f b1 D %A.s/@t t r b1 ; (5.184)
@s Q2 1 N C 3 Q1 C f b2 D %A.s/@t t r b2 ; (5.185)
@s N 2 Q1 C 1 Q2 C f b3 D %A.s/@t t r b3 ; (5.186)
@s M1 C 2 T 3 M2 Q2 C 2 N C c b1
D .%J C .s/ @t !/ b1 C Œ! .%J C .s/ !/ b1 ; (5.187)
@s M2 1 T C 3 M1 C Q1 1 N C c b2
D .%J C .s/ @t !/ b2 C Œ! .%J C .s/ !/ b2 ; (5.188)
@s T 2 M1 C 1 M2 C 1 Q2 2 Q1 C c b3
D .%J C .s/ @t !/ b3 C Œ! .%J C .s/ !/ b3 (5.189)
where %J C is the tensor of second mass moments with respect to the center of mass
of the cross section.
Mechanical boundary conditions and initial conditions. This short section
is devoted to a brief discussion of the mechanical boundary conditions. Assume,
for example, that the left terminal section is free to move (hence, r.0; t/ is not
prescribed to follow a given motion) under a prescribed force f 1 .t/, then the balance
of linear momentum is enforced by requiring the contact force to be equal to the
opposite of the external force, n.0; t/ D f 1 .t/, if there is no lumped mass at the
beam end. Similarly, if the section is not prescribed any rotation, then the resultant
moment m.0; t/ has to satisfy m.0; t/ D c 1 .t/ where c 1 .t/ is the couple effected,
for example, by a rotary motor.
The boundary conditions in practical engineering applications can be signif-
icantly more complex. Only a few simple examples are shown for illustrative
purposes. The boundary conditions of a cantilevered beam, with the clamp at the left
end read: r.0; t/ D o and R.0; t/ D I; while at the right end they are n.l; t/ D o
and m.l; t/ D o: By invoking the displacement components, the component form of
these boundary conditions is: u1 .0; t/ D u2 .0; t/ D u3 .0; t/ D 0; 1 .0; t/ D 2 .0; t/
D 3 .0; t/ D 0; Q1 .l; t/ D Q2 .l; t/ D N.l; t/ D 0 and M1 .l; t/ D M2 .l; t/ D
T .l; t/ D 0:
For spatial motions, the prescription of the torsional rotation is achieved through
the torsional constraint 3 D 0: Therefore, in a simply supported beam with
torsional constraints at both ends, the boundary conditions are: r.0; t/ D o;
3 .0; t/ D 0; M1 .0; t/ D 0 D M2 .0; t/: On the other hand, the boundary conditions
of a sliding roller support with a torsional restraint (free to move in the e 1 -direction)
are r.l; t/ e 2 D 0; 3 .l; t/ D 0; M1 .l; t/ D 0 D M2 .l; t/; and n.l; t/ e 1 D 0:
Linearization of the equations of motion. The linearization of the initial-

boundary value problem (5.184)–(5.189) can be carried out letting " denote a
small parameter and assuming the mechanical data to be of the order of " W f.s; t/
D "f (1) .s; t/ and c.s; t/ D "c (1) .s; t/: Similarly, the initial conditions are taken
to be: r.s; 0/ D r o .s/ C "uo .s/ and @t r.s; 0/ D "vo .s/; R.s; 0/ D I C "R o .s/;
and !.s; 0/ D "!o .s/: The position vector and the base vectors are expanded
in Taylor series, up to first-order terms in ", as r.s; tI "/ D r o .s/ C "u(1) .s; t/; and
b1 .s; tI "/ D e 1 CO."/; b2 .s; tI "/ D e 2 CO."/; b3 ."/ D e 3 CO."/: Moreover, the
contact force and couple n.s; tI "/ and m.s; tI "/ together with .s; tI "/ n.s; tI "/
are expanded in Taylor series of " to give n ".Q1(1) e 1 C Q2(1) e 2 C N (1) e 3 /,
m ".M1(1) e 1 C M2(1) e 2 C T (1) e 3 /, and n ".Q1(1) e 2 Q2(1) e 1 /:
By using (5.162), the Taylor expansion of the angular velocity becomes !."/
".@t 1(1) e 1 C @t 2(2) e 2 C @t 3(3) e 3 /: With the choice that the base curve be taken to
coincide with the centerline and that .b1 ; b2 / be collinear with the principal axes of
inertia of the cross section, the linearized equations of motion are obtained as
@s N (1) C f3(1) D %A.s/@t t u(1)

3 ; (5.190)
@s Q1 (1) C f1(1) D %A.s/@t t u(1)

1 ;
@s Q2 (1) C f2(1) D %A.s/@t t u(1)

2 ; (5.191)
@s M1 Q2 C c1 D %J11 .s/@t t 1 ;
(1) (1) (1) C (1)
@s M2 (1) C Q1(1) C c2(1) D %J22

C
.s/@t t 2(1) ;
@s T (1) C c3(1) D %J33

C
.s/@t t 3(1) (5.192)
where fi(1) D f (1) e i , ci(1) D c (1) e i ; u(1) D u(1) e 1 C u(1)

2 e 2 C u3 e 3 .
(1)
Equations (5.190) and (5.192) are uncoupled from (5.191). Equation (5.190)
governs axial (longitudinal/extensional) vibrations while (5.192) describes torsional
vibrations. Equations (5.191) govern transverse bending/shearing vibrations.
Equations of motion for unshearable beams. The unshearability constraints
1 D 0 D 2 are substituted into (5.187) and (5.188) which are solved with respect
to Q1 and Q2 to obtain
h
Q1 D @s M2 C 1 T 3 M1 c b2 C .%J C .s/ @t !/ b2
i
C b2 Œ! .%J C .s/ !/ =;
h
Q2 D @s M1 C 2 T 3 M2 C c b1 .%J C .s/ @t !/ b1
i
b1 Œ! .%J C .s/ !/ =: (5.193)
Equations (5.193) are then substituted into (5.184)–(5.186) to give the final govern-
ing equations
@s fŒ@s M2 C 1 T 3 M1 =g C 2 N 3 =
Œ@s M1 C 2 T 3 M2 C f b1 @s . 1 c b2 / 3 =.c b1 /
˚
D %A.s/@t t r b1 @s 1 .%J C .s/ @t !/ b2 C 1 b2 Œ! .%J C .s/ !/
˚
3 = .%J C .s/ @t !/ b1 C Œ! .%J C .s/ !/ b1 ; (5.194)
˚
@s @s M1 C 2 T 3 M2 = 1 N C 3 =
Œ@s M2 C 1 T 3 M1 C f b2 C @s Œ 1 c b1 3 =c b2
˚
D %A.s/@t t r b2 C @s 1 .J .s/ @t !/ b1 C 1 b1 Œ! .%J C .s/ !/
˚
3 = .%J C .s/ @t !/ b2 C Œ! .%J C .s/ !/ b2 ; (5.195)
@s N 2 fŒ@s M2 C 1 T 3 M1 =g
C1 Œ@s M1 C 2 T 3 M2 = C f b3 C 2 =c b2 C 1 =c b1
D %A.s/@t t r b3 C 1 Œ%J C .s/ @t ! C ! .%J C !/ .2 b2 C 1 b1 /;
(5.196)
@s T 2 M1 C 1 M2 C c b3 D Œ%J C .s/ @t ! C ! .%J C .s/ !/ b3 :
(5.197)
The linearization of (5.194) and (5.195) yields the two uncoupled second-order
equations for the transverse problem
%A.s/@t t u1 @s Œ%J22
C
.s/@t t 2 C @2s M2 D f1 @s c2 ; (5.198)
%A.s/@t t u2 C @s Œ%J11 .s/@t t 1
C
@2s M1 D f2 C @s c1 ; (5.199)
where 1 and 2 are found applying the unshearability conditions to (5.164)1 and
(5.164)2, respectively, as 1 D @s u2 and 2 D @s u1 . Equations (5.198) and (5.199)
are the equations of motion of the linear Euler–Bernoulli theory with the addition of
rotary inertia terms which are, however, often neglected in slender beams.
Constitutive equations. Beams made of simple viscoelastic materials are charac-
terized by direct constitutive equations in the form: n.s; t/ D n.;
O P ;
; ; P s/ and
m.s; t/ D m.;O P ;
; ; P s/: On the other hand, beams made of purely elastic
materials are characterized by n.s; t/ D n.;
O ; s/ and m.s; t/ D m.;
O ; s/. In
component form, the stated nonlinear direct constitutive equations for purely elastic
beams are
N.s; t/ D NO .; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; s/; Qj .s; t/ D QO j .; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; s/;

Mj .s; t/ D MO j .; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; s/; T .s; t/ D TO .; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; s/
(5.200)
for j D 1; 2. For an indefinitely elastic material, ideally, the strain variables can
take arbitrary values so long as total compressions and extreme shearing of the cross
sections do not occur.
The form of the constitutive functions cannot be arbitrary since they have to be
invariant under rigid motions and have to satisfy physical restrictions. One of the
baseline properties is that, starting from a prestressed condition, an incremental
stretching of the beam can only be obtained by exerting an incremental force,
the same applies to shearing and bending deformations. This requirement on the
constitutive functions translates into the so-called requirement of a monotonicity
condition.
The generalization of the monotonicity condition to a state of stress
involving all strain variables .; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 / is achieved by requiring
the positive-definiteness of the tangent elastic stiffness matrix, denoted by
L.; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 /; constructed with the partial derivatives of the contact forces
and contact couples with respect to the strain variables. Another physical property
of the material behavior is associated with the fact that an infinite tension is ideally
required to produce an infinite stretching or a total compression of the beam. In
the same way, an infinite shear force must be exerted to produce a total shearing
of the cross sections and an infinite bending couple must be imposed to induce an
extremal flexural curvature (i.e., the curvature that induces a total compression of
the material fibers that are farthest from the neutral axis).
As a consequence of the monotonicity condition, the inverse constitutive equa-
tions are assumed to exist in the form
.s; t/ D .N;
O Q1 ; Q2 ; M1 ; M2 ; T; s/; : : : (5.201)
By extending the results of the Saint-Venant theory of beams, and by taking the
base curve to be coincident with the line of shear centers (for simplicity, assume
uniform elastic and mass properties within the cross section) and the section-fixed
axes collinear with the principal axes of inertia, the linearized constitutive equations
for linearly viscoelastic beams can be expressed in the following decoupled
form [252]:
NO .; /
P D EA. 1/ C EAD ;
P
QO 1 . 1 ; P 1 / D GA1 1 C GAD1 P 1 ; QO 2 . 2 ; P 2 / D GA2 2 C GAD2 P 2 ;
MO 1 .1 ; P 1 / D EJ1 1 C EJ1D P 1 ; MO 2 .2 ; P 2 / D EJ2 2 C EJ2D P 2 ;
TO .3 ; P 3 / D GJ3 3 C GJ3D P 3 (5.202)

where E and G represent Young’s modulus and the shear modulus, respectively;
A is the area of the cross section, Ak is the shear area of S in the bk -direction,
%Jk denotes the principal mass moment of inertia about bk , and the superscript D
indicates the viscosity moduli. The constitutive parameters can be space-varying for
nonuniform beams.
In consonance with (4.181) of Chap. 4 about the decomposition of the stress
in elastic and dissipative parts, the generalized stress and moment resultants,
.N; Q1 ; Q2 / and .M1 ; M2 ; T /, are decomposed into equilibrium response functions
and dissipative parts. That is,
N.s; t/ D NO E .; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; s/
C NO D .; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; ;
P P 1 ; P 2 ; P 1 ; P 2 ; P 3 ; s/; etc: (5.203)
where the equilibrium response functions, denoted by the superscript E, are deriva-
tives of the stored-energy function W
NO E .; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; s/ D W .; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; s/;
QO 1E .; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; s/ D W 1 .; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; s/; etc: (5.204)
and the dissipative parts are such that
NO D .; 1 ; 2 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0; s/ D 0; etc:
A strong dissipativity condition is also enforced by extending the condition (5.49)

formulated for the planar case to the present spatial setting.
The spatial elastodynamic problem and the linearization. The equations of
motion of beams in space are given by (5.184)–(5.189) when the vector-valued
equations of motion (5.180) and (5.181) are projected into the section-fixed local
basis fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g: These equations are supplemented with the boundary conditions.
The generalized strain–displacement relationships are substituted into the direct
constitutive equations, (5.200) for elastic beams or (5.203) and (5.204) for viscoelas-
tic beams. In turn, the obtained generalized stress resultants are substituted into the
above-mentioned equations of motion and boundary conditions.
The equations of the linearized elastodynamic problem may be obtained through
either a formal linearization process of the previous equations or, alternatively,
one can resort to the linearized equations of motion (5.190)–(5.192). With the
second approach, the linearized strain–displacement relationships (5.163)–(5.164)
are substituted into the linearized constitutive equations of elastic beams obtained
from (5.202) thus arriving at
Q1 D GA1 .s/.@s u1 2 /; Q2 D GA2 .s/.@s u2 C 1 /; N D EA.s/@s u3

M1 D EJ1 .s/@s 1 ; M2 D EJ2 .s/@s 2 ; T D GJ3 .s/@s 3 : (5.205)
Equations (5.205) are substituted into (5.190)–(5.192) to obtain
@s ŒEA.s/@s u3 C f3 D %A.s/@t t u3 ; (5.206)
@s ŒGA1 .s/.@s u1 2 / C f1 D %A.s/@t t u1 ;

@s ŒGA2 .s/.@s u2 C 1 / C f2 D %A.s/@t t u2 ;
(5.207)
@s ŒEJ1 .s/@s 1 GA2 .s/.@s u2 C 1 / C c1 D %J1 .s/@t t 1 ;
@s ŒEJ2 .s/@s 2 C GA1 .s/.@s u1 2 / C c2 D %J2 .s/@t t 2 ;
@s ŒGJ3 .s/@s 3 C c3 D %J3 .s/@t t 3 : (5.208)
Equations (5.206)–(5.208) are referred to as the linear Timoshenko beam equa-
tions. The system of equations (5.207) govern linear bending/shearing spatial
motions in the transverse direction. Equation (5.206) regulates linear longitudinal
motions while (5.208) governs linear torsional vibrations. The uncoupling of (5.207)
from (5.206) and (5.208) highlights the full uncoupling of linear longitudinal
vibrations u3 .s; t/ from linear transverse vibrations described by u1 .s; t/; u2 .s; t/,
1 .s; t/; and 2 .s; t/.
If the equations of transverse motion (5.207) are discretized according to the
method of weighted residuals, the finite element method, or any other discretization
scheme, the resulting discretized equations may exhibit the so-called shear-locking
phenomenon. As already pointed out, the crucial fact that signals the potential
appearance of shear locking is the presence of large (or small) parameters within
the equations. This circumstance is clearly highlighted by nondimensionaliz-
ing (5.206)–(5.208) according to a rescaling of lengths by l and time by the
characteristic time 1=!o WD .%Al 4 =EJ2 /1=2 . The forces and couples are scaled by
EJ2 = l 3 and EJ2 = l 2 . The following nondimensional parameters are introduced:
˛i2 WD EA l 2 =EJi ; ˇ12 WD GA1 l 2 =EJ2 ; ˇ22 WD GA2 l 2 =EJ2 ; (5.209)
where i D 1; 2; 3: If the beam has uniform properties, the nondimensional equations

of motion become
˛22 @ss u3 C f3 D @t t u3 ; (5.210)
ˇ12 .@ss u1 @s 2 / C f1 D @t t u1 ; ˇ22 .@ss u2 C @s 1 / C f2 D @t t u2 ;
.˛2 =˛1 /2 @ss 1 ˇ22 .@s u2 C 1 / C c1 D @t t 1 =˛12 ; (5.211)
@ss 2 C ˇ12 .@s u1 2 / C c2 D @t t 2 =˛22 ;
1 ˛22
@ss 3 C c3 D @t t 3 =˛32 (5.212)
2.1 C /
N ˛32
p
where N denotes here Poisson’s ratio. Since rk WD Jk =A representsp the radius of
gyration of the cross section with respect to bk (k D 1; 2) while r3 WD J3 =A is the
polar radius of gyration, then ˛i D l=ri are the beam slenderness ratios with respect
to bending and twisting. Note that ˛i appears with the inverse power of 2 in front
of the angular accelerations, a circumstance that indicates that, for slender beams,
the rotary inertia terms are small and often negligible. The parameters ˇ12 and ˇ22
express the ratios between the shear stiffness in the two directions and the bending
stiffness about b2 . Consider, for example, a rectangular cross section of width b and
thickness h: Then, the shear area Ai is the area of the cross section times the shear
factor i : Hence, ˇi2 D 12i G=E.l= h/2 : Slender beams exhibit large ratios l= h:
Consequently, both ˇ12 and ˇ22 are large parameters. The problem is ill-conditioned
in the sense that the coefficients of the shear terms grow with the order of .l= h/2
compared to the bending terms which are of order 1. However, it is known that, in
the actual solution of the problem, the bending terms dominate the solution as .l= h/
becomes sufficiently large.
5.3 Weak Form of the Equations of Motion
The weak form is obtained by introducing two sufficiently smooth test functions
.w.s/; .s// in Œ0; l, chosen such that they vanish at the boundary of the beam,
denoted by @Cuo ; where the geometric boundary conditions are prescribed so that
.w; / D .o; o/ on @Cuo : Both sides of (5.180) are multiplied by w (the base curve is
assumed to coincide with the centerline by which %i D o) and integrated over Œ0; l:
Moreover, both sides of (5.181) are multiplied by and integrated over the domain.
The resulting identities are summed up thus yielding the following primitive weak
form of the equations of motion:
Z l Z l
Œ@s n w C @s m C . n/ ds C .f w C c /ds
0 0
Z l
D f%A.s/@t t r w C .%J C @t !/ C Œ! .%J C !/ gds: (5.213)
0
The weak form of the equations of motion is obtained by integrating (5.213) by

parts so as to move derivatives from n and m onto the test functions thus arriving at
Z l
f%A@t t r w C .%J C @t !/ C Œ! .%J C !/ gds
0
Z l
C Œn @s w C m @s .@s r n/ ds
0
Z
ˇl ˇl l
D Œn wˇ0 C Œm ˇ0 C .f w C c /ds: (5.214)
0
ˇl
The geometric boundary conditions are accounted in the boundary terms Œn wˇ0 C
ˇl
Œm ˇ through .w; / D .o; o/ on @C o .
0 u
5.3 Weak Form of the Equations of Motion 347
If the test functions .w.s/; .s//; for s 2 Œ0; l, are chosen as a set of generalized
virtual displacements (namely, virtual displacement of the base curve w D ıu D
ıui bi and virtual rotation of the cross sections D ı D ıi bi ) or virtual velocities
(namely, virtual velocity of the base curve w D ıv D ıvi bi and virtual angular
velocity of the cross sections D ı! D ı!i bi ), the weak form (5.214) corresponds
to the Principle of Virtual Work or the Principle of Virtual Power, respectively.
For the virtual displacements, @s ıu DW ı and @s ı DW ı represent the virtual
incremental stretch vector and virtual incremental curvature vector. For the virtual
velocities, @s ıv DW @t ı and @s ı! represent the time rate of change of the virtual
incremental stretch vector and space gradient of the virtual incremental angular
velocity.
Moreover, if the test functions are taken as the beam generalized velocities
(namely, w D @t r and D !), the energy equation is obtained in the form
Z
d h1 l i
%Aj@t rj2 ds C ! %J C ! ds
dt 2 0
Z l
C Œn @t C m @s ! . n/ !ds
0
Z
ˇl ˇl l
D Œn @t rˇ0 C Œm !ˇ0 C .f @t r C c !/ds (5.215)
0
Example 5.5. Consider two cantilevered beams (beam 1 and beam 2). The free
terminal section of beam 1 is subject to the shear conservative force f 2 D P e 1 :
On the other hand, beam 2 is subject to a follower force, f 2 D F .t/b1 : By putting
w D w1 b1 C w2 b2 C w3 b3 ; the boundary terms in (5.214) for beam 1 and beam 2,
upon incorporation of the mechanical boundary conditions, reduce, respectively, to
ˇl ˇl ˇ
Œn wˇ0 C Œm ˇ0 D P Œw1 e 1 b1 C w2 e 1 b2 C w3 e 1 b3 ˇl (5.216)
and
ˇl ˇl
Œn wˇ0 C Œm ˇ0 D F .t/w1 .l/: (5.217)
The justification of (5.216) and (5.217) is given in the following. Both can-
tilevered beams exhibit geometric boundary conditions which prescribe u.0; t/ D o
and 1 .0; t/ D 2 .0; t/ D 3 .0; t/ D 0 at the clamp at s D 0. Hence, the geometric
boundary conditions are imposed on the test functions w and as w.0; t/ D o and
.0; t/ D o: On the other hand, one of the mechanical boundary conditions at the
ˇl
free end is m.l; t/ D o: Thus, for both beams, it is Œm ˇ0 D 0: For beam 1 subject
to the conservative force P e 1 , the mechanical boundary conditions are obtained
from n.l; t/ D P e 1 which yields Q1 .l; t/ D P e 1 b1 ; Q2 .l; t/ D P e 1 b2 ; and
ˇl
N.l; t/ D P e 1 b3 : The latter boundary condition is incorporated into Œn wˇ0
ˇl
by letting w D w1 b1 C w2 b2 C w3 b3 ; thus obtaining Œn wˇ0 D P e 1 w.l/ D
ˇ ˇl ˇl
P .w1 b1 C w2 b2 C w3ˇb3 / e 1 ˇl : Therefore, Œn wˇ0 C Œm ˇ0 D P Œw1 e 1 b1 C
w2 e 1 b2 C w3 e 1 b3 ˇl :
Beam 2 is subject to the follower force F .t/b1 and, in addition to the other
mechanical condition m.l; t/ D o; the other mechanical boundary conditions are
obtained from n.l; t/ D F .t/b1 ; which gives N.l; t/ D 0 D Q2 .l; t/; and
ˇl ˇl ˇ
Q1 .l; t/ D F .t/: Thus Œn wˇ0 C Œm ˇ0 D Œw1 n b1 C w2 n b2 C w3 n b3 ˇl D
F .t/w1 .l/:
The special Cosserat theory vs. nonlinear three-dimensional theory. There is
a theoretical and practical interest toward the assessment of the accuracy of the one-
dimensional reduced theories of beams, among which is the special Cosserat theory.
One viable approach is purely numerical through comparisons of the predictions
of the Cosserat theory with those of the fully nonlinear three-dimensional theory.
There are a few theoretical studies on this aspect making use of sophisticated tools
of functional analysis (e.g., cf. [23]). Traditionally, two methods have been used
to derive an approximation of a thin elastic body from three-dimensional theory
(e.g., cf. [20]). The first approach resorts to asymptotic analysis, which usually
consists of expanding the solution and the equations using powers of some small
parameter representing the ratio between the cross section dimension and the span
of the beam. The second method, sometimes called the projection-constraint method
(cf. [20]), is a Galerkin-type method which has been used quite extensively. In [176]
it was shown how to obtain the Kirchhoff elastic rod model as a limit of a three-
dimensional St. Venant–Kirchhoff material by employing the Poisson bracket.
An actual numerical comparison can be obtained, for example, in the context
of a finite element discretization of a beam problem with a given cross section
and material properties exhibiting a possibly high strength-to-mass ratio. For these
beams it is possible to appreciate the geometric nonlinearities at strain and stress
levels below their elastic limit values.
For this reason, a titanium alloy is selected for the present example, namely
6Al-4V (Grade 5). The material properties are: Young’s modulus E D 110 GPa,
Poisson’s ratio N D 0:34, shear modulus G D 43 GPa, mass density D
4; 420 kg/m3 , tensile yield strength Sy D 828 MPa, and ultimate tensile strength
Su D 1; 030 MPa. This titanium alloy is stronger, softer, and lighter than steel. This
is why it is typically used for inner aircraft parts.
The spatial domain of the beam is discretized into MF D 3:1105 tetrahedral finite
elements with quadratic Lagrangian polynomial interpolants as shape functions
while the one-dimensional domain of the special Cosserat theory is discretized into
MF D 1; 024 finite elements with quartic Lagrangian polynomials.
The beam is subject to a uniform volume force field given by b D ge 2 .
The boundary conditions are hinged–hinged in the context of the one-dimensional
theory. In the spatial three-dimensional problem, the material points aligned with
the principal axis of inertia bo1 D e 1 are fixed so as to reproduce a free rotation
of the terminal sections about e 1 . Figure 5.20 shows the equilibrium path for the
displacement of the center of mass of the midspan cross section. Within the elastic
range ( < 102 ) there is a full agreement. The agreement is also good on a nonlinear
5.4 The Theory of Rotating Beams in Space 349
2
8 x 10
λ 4
0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035
Fig. 5.20 Equilibrium paths of a hinged–hinged beam under a uniformly distributed load as
obtained by a finite-element discretization based on three-dimensional theory (thick line) and the
Cosserat theory (thin line). The cross section is a square of lengthph D 0:1 m, thep
span is l D 3 m,
and the material is a titanium alloy. The slenderness ratio is ˛ D 12l= h D 60 3; is the ratio
between the load and the beam weight per unit reference length; u2 is the vertical displacement of
the center of mass of the midspan cross section
portion of the path ( < 2 102 ). Only when higher load multipliers are considered
( > 2 102 ), the Cosserat theory predicts a slightly stiffer response than that
exhibited by the three-dimensional theory, as expected. The elastic limit point is
reached at about D 7 102 above which the St. Venant–Kirchhoff (linearly elastic)
constitutive laws become meaningless.
The convergence of the two solutions has been tested by considering the lowest
two frequencies of the deformed beam subject to a prestress load with D 102 .
Increasingly more refined meshes have been considered in both theories (see
Fig. 5.21). The convergence results are summarized in Table 5.1. While conver-
gence in the three-dimensional theory is reached when the number of tetrahedral
finite elements is above 3 105 , a few tens of finite elements are sufficient to achieve
convergence in the one-dimensional theory.
Variations of the frequencies of the lowest two vibration modes about the
prestressed equilibrium states versus the prestress load level are portrayed in
Fig. 5.22 where the increasing trend of the frequencies with the load multiplier is
due to the increasing hardening of the beam caused by its gradual tensioning.
5.4 The Theory of Rotating Beams in Space
Rotating blades are usually very slender beams used as rotating parts of more com-
plex structures and machines such as helicopters or wind turbines (see Fig. 5.23).
Due to the inherent flexibility and light damping, rotating blades are prone to
a b
13.37 13.85
13.8
13.35
13.75
13.33
13.7
ω1
13.31 13.65
13.6
13.29
13.55
13.27 13.5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
F 5 F 2
M x 10 M x 10
c d
40.55 44
40.54 43.5
40.53 43
40.52 42.5
ω2
40.51 42
40.5 41.5
40.49 41
40.5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
F 5 F 2
M x 10 M x 10
Fig. 5.21 Convergence of the lowest two frequencies of a prestressed titanium bar with the number
of finite elements MF within three-dimensional theory (left) and the Cosserat theory of beams
(right)
vibrations and dynamic instabilities. The investigation into the dynamic perfor-
mance and stability of these structures is thus an essential component of the
design process, especially when dealing with the design of control and condition
monitoring systems. This justifies the need for refined nonlinear models which do
not neglect important aspects of the geometry of deformation and material behavior
in the equations of motion.
The majority of previous studies on rotating blades are based on Euler–Bernoulli
beam models for which the geometric nonlinearities are described by the von
Kármán-type strain–displacement relationships which neglect shear deformations
and feature linearized expressions for the elastic curvatures. Only a few authors have
dealt with refined models of blades. The first work based on a geometrically exact
approach to the formulation of the equations of motion of rotating blades is [75].
The equations of motion for rotating asymmetric, long, straight, slender, homo-
geneous, isotropic beams with a variable pretwist angle and a small precone angle
were derived in [192] by using Hamilton’s Principle and the Newtonian method.
An ordering scheme was employed according to which the squares of the bending
Table 5.1 Convergence of the lowest two frequencies of a prestressed titanium bar obtained by
finite elements within the three-dimensional nonlinear theory and by the special Cosserat theory of
beams
3D elasticity theory 1D Cosserat theory
MF !1 % diff. MF !1 % var.
1; 977 13:365 – 2 13:848 –
5; 190 13:349 0:117 4 13:562 2:06 100
14; 666 13:324 0:192 8 13:542 1:52 101
39; 623 13:304 0:146 16 13:540 1:26 102
117; 596 13:283 0:157 32 13:540 9:70 104
326; 115 13:274 0:067 64 13:540 0
3D elasticity theory 1D Cosserat theory
MF !2 % diff. MF !2 % var.
1; 977 40:532 – 4 43:639 –
5; 190 40:522 0:0243 8 41:016 6:01 100
14; 666 40:508 0:0349 16 40:648 8:98 101
39; 623 40:498 0:0255 32 40:614 8:34 102
117; 596 40:487 0:0265 64 40:611 5:90 103
326; 115 40:481 0:0132 128 40:611 3:80 104
a 24 b 47
22 46
20 45
18 44
ω1 ω2
16 43
14 42
12 41
10 40
8 39
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
λ λ
Fig. 5.22 Variation of the lowest two frequencies of a prestressed titanium bar with the load
multiplier as obtained by a finite element discretization within three-dimensional theory (thick
line) and the Cosserat theory (thin line)
rotations, the torsional deformation, and the chord-to-radius and the thickness-
to-radius ratios are negligible with respect to unity. The strain–displacement
relationships were developed from an exact transformation between the deformed
and undeformed coordinate systems. Hamilton’s principle was employed in [123]
to derive the equations of motion of a general rotating beam with a pre-cone angle
and a variable pitch angle. Higher-order nonlinearities and aerodynamic forces were
considered. Again, Hamilton’s principle was used to derive the equations of motion
in [42] for rotating slender cantilever beams with arbitrary cross sections having
the shear center different from the mass center. The interaction between flexural
Fig. 5.23 Examples of formidable slender rotating beams: the blades of (left) helicopters and
(right) wind turbines
and torsional vibrations was investigated within the linear and nonlinear models.
Recently, the equations of motion for linearly elastic, isotropic rotating beams with
arbitrary cross sections were obtained in [28, 261] by employing a geometrically
exact approach which accounts for all geometric terms without any restriction on
the geometry of deformation.
This section illustrates the fundamental steps that lead to the formulation of a
geometrically exact theory of rotating beams following along the lines of [261].
The theory of deformation. Both Total and Updated Lagrangian Formulations are
employed to describe the geometry of deformation and the equations of motion of
the rotating blade. The inertial frame is denoted by .O; i 1 ; i 2 ; i 3 / where i 1 is the
unit vector collinear with the axis of the rotor about which the blade rotates with
angular velocity ˝.t/ and the origin O lies on this axis (see Fig. 5.24).
A body-fixed rotating frame, denoted by .C; e 1 ; e 2 .t/; e 3 .t//, is considered with
fe 1 ; e 2 .t/; e 3 .t/g collinear at time t D 0, respectively, with fi 1 ; i 2 ; i 3 g. Unit vector
e 3 is always collinear with a longitudinal base fibre of the blade considered rigidly
rotating about i 1 . The arclength s is chosen to parametrize the positions of the blade
cross sections along the base line. C is the center of mass of the root cross section
through which the blade is connected to the rotor.
A schematic representation of a cross section is shown in Fig. 5.25 where the
eccentricity between the shear center, denoted by C E , and the mass center C is
described by the coordinates .c1E ; c2E / along the .e 1 ; e 2 / directions, respectively.
The orientation of the (undeformed) cross section is defined by fa1 ; a2 ; a3 g with
(a1 , a2 ) collinear with the principal inertia axes of the cross section with respect
to C E and a3 D a1 a2 . Assume, without lack of generality, e 2 to be collinear
with the chord of the blade cross section in a convenient initial orientation so that
the principal axes of inertia (a1 , a2 ) are rotated with respect to (e 1 , e 2 ) by an angle
i1
d
i2 e1 a1
i3 O
e2 C
e3
a3
a2
Fig. 5.24 The rotating blade in two configurations: one is the stress-free configuration (dashed
lines) while the other is rigidly rotating about i 1 (solid lines). fi 1 ; i 2 ; i 3 g denotes the inertial
frame while fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g is the rotating reference frame
e1
a1
e2 C
C
a2
Fig. 5.25 The blade cross section and the reference frames
denoted here by o .s/. The cross section is further pre-twisted by the angle o .s/ so
that the principal axes of inertia are rotated by 3 .s/ WD o .s/ C o .s/.
The rigidly rotating (stress-free) configuration (see Fig. 5.26) is expressed as
Bo D fpo .s; t/ D r Eo .t/ C r o .s; t/ C x o .s; t/, x o .s; t/ D x1 .s/a1 .s; t/ C
x2 .s/a2 .s; t/, s 2 Œ0; L, t 2 Œ0; 1/g where L is the undeformed span of the blade,
@t ak .s; t/ D !o .s; t/ ak .s; t/ and !o .s; t/ D ˝.t/e 1 is the prescribed angular
velocity vector. r Eo .t/ D r Co .t/ C x E is the position of the elastic center of the root
cross section with respect to the origin O and r o .s; t/ D s a3 .t/ D s e 3 .t/ is the
position vector of the shear center of the cross section at s along the base line at time
t. The position of the center of mass C of the root cross section with respect to O is
r Co .t/ D d D d2 e 2 .t/ C d3 e 3 .t/. The position of a material particle with respect to
C E of the cross section at s is described by x o .s; t/ at time t.
b1
i1
bo1 x b3
p r b2 u
i2 o
i3 ro bo3
C
Od a1 uo
ro bo2
o
a3
a2
Fig. 5.26 The rotating blade in various configurations: initially stress-free configuration (dotted
lines), rigidly rotating configuration Bo (dashed lines), prestressed Bo (dashed-dotted lines) and
actual configuration B (solid lines)
The prestressed effects induced by the centrifugal forces on the rotating blade
cause an equilibrium configuration (with respect to the rotating frame, see Fig. 5.26)
described by B o D fpM o .s; t/ D r Eo .t/Cr o .s; t/Cx o .s; t/; x o .s; t/ D x1 .s/bo1 .s; t/C
x2 .s/bo2 .s; t/; s 2 Œ0; L, t 2 Œ0; 1/g, where r o .s; t/ is the position vector of
the shear center of the cross section at s in the prestressed configuration with
respect to the shear center of the root cross section at time t. The unit vectors
fbo1 .s; t/; bo2 .s; t/; bo3 .s; t/g describe the orientation of the cross section in B o and
are related to ak .s; t/ through the orthogonal tensor R o .s; t/ according to bok .s; t/ D
R o .s; t/ak .s; t/. The curvature vector is obtained by differentiation of bok .s; t/ with
respect to s as @s bok .s; t/ D o .s; t/ bok .s; t/. On the other hand, the strains are
obtained as the components of the following stretch vector:
o .s; t/ D @s r o .s; t/ D o1 .s; t/bo1 .s; t/C o2 .s; t/bo2 .s; t/C o .s; t/bo3 .s; t/ (5.218)
where o1 and o2 are the shear strains in the bo1 and bo2 directions, respectively,
and o is the stretch. The displacement from Bo to B o is introduced as uo WD
r o .s; t/ r o .s; t/ with uo conveniently expressed in the rotating frame as uo .s; t/ D
uo1 .s; t/e 1 C uo2 .s; t/e 2 .t/ C uo3 .s; t/e 3 .t/.
The actual configuration is described by B D fp.s; M t/ D r Eo .t/Cr.s; t/Cx.s; t/,
x.s; t/=x1 .s/b1 .s; t/ C x2 .s/b2 .s; t/, s 2 Œ0; L, t 2 Œ0; 1/g where r.s; t/ is the
actual position vector of the shear center C E (see Fig. 5.26) with respect to that of
the root cross section, and x.s; t/ D x1 .s/b1 .s; t/ C x2 .s/b2 .s; t/ is the position of
the material point with respect to C E of the cross section at position s and time t. The
unit vectors fb1 .s; t/; b2 .s; t/; b3 .s; t/g, with b3 .s; t/ D b1 .s; t/b2 .s; t/, constitute
the cross section-fixed reference frame describing the actual orientation of the cross
sections. Differentiating bk .s; t/ with respect to s yields the total curvature vector
M according to @s bk .s; t/ D .s;

M t/ bk .s; t/. On the other hand, the total stretch
vector is obtained as .s;M t/ D @s r.s; t/ D M 1 .s; t/b1 .s; t/ C M 2 .s; t/b2 .s; t/ C
M t/b3 .s; t/, where M 1 and M 2 are the total shear strains in the b1 .s; t/ and b2 .s; t/
.s;
directions, respectively, while M is the total stretch.
To move toward a description of the geometry of deformation as an incremental
process from B o to B, the unit vectors of the current configuration are expressed in
terms of the body-fixed unit vectors of the prestressed configuration by means of
the incremental orthogonal tensor R.s; t/ according to which bk .s; t/ D R.s; t/
bok .s; t/. By letting u.s; t/ D u1 .s; t/e 1 C u2 .s; t/e 2 .t/ C u3 .s; t/e 3 .t/ denote the
incremental displacement from B o to B, then the position vector of the material
points of the base curve in B is given by r.s; t/ D r o .s; t/ C u.s; t/.
Time rates of change of linear and angular momentum, the angular velocity
and curvature vectors. The statements of the balance of linear and angular
momentum require the calculation of the velocities which in turn involves the time
rates of change of the rotating unit vectors given by @t bok .s; t/ D !o .s; t/ bok .s; t/
and @t bk .s; t/ D !.s;
M t/ bk .s; t/, where !o and ! M are, respectively, the angular
velocity vectors in B o and in B.
Subsequently, the velocity and acceleration of the material points of the cross
section in the prestressed configuration can be expressed as
@t pM o .s; t/ D @t uoL .s; t/ C !

M R .t/ rM o .s; t/ C !o .s; t/ x o .s; t/;
@t t pM o .s; t/ D @t t uoL .s; t/ C 2!
M R .t/ @t uoL .s; t/ C ! M R .t/ rM o .s; t/
M R .t/ Œ!
M R .t/rM o .s; t/ C @t !o .s; t/x o .s; t/ C !o .s; t/Œ!o .s; t/x o .s; t/
C @t !
where rM o .s; t/ WD r Eo .t/ C r o .s; t/ C uo .s; t/ is the position vector of the shear
center of the cross section at s with respect to theP origin O in B o at time t; !
M R .t/
is the angular velocity vector, and @t u .s; t/ WD 3kD1 @t uok .s; t/e k .t/ is the local
oL
velocity vector (i.e., velocity relative to the rotating frame).

The velocity and acceleration of the material points in the current configuration
can be expressed as
M t/ D@t uM L .s; t/ C !
@t p.s; M R .t/ r.s;
M t/ C !.s;
M t/ x.s; t/;
M t/ D@t t uM L .s; t/ C 2!
@t t p.s; M R .t/ @t uM L .s; t/ C !
M R .t/ Œ.!
M R .t/ r.s;
M t/
M R .t/r.s;
C@t ! M t/C@t !.s;
M t/x.s; t/ C !.s;
M t/ Œ!.s;
M t/ x.s; t/;
M t/ D r Eo .t/ C r.s; t/ and u.s;

where r.s; M t/ D uo .s; t/ C u.s; t/.
The time rates of change of linear and angular momentum in the prestressed and
actual configurations are, respectively, defined as
Z Z
M o
@t l WD @t t pM .s; t/dA; @t h WD
o M o
pM o .s; t/ @t t pM o .s; t/dA;
S S
Z Z
@t lM WD M t/dA;
@t t p.s; @t hM WD M t/ @t t p.s;
p.s; M t/dA: (5.219)
S S
Their explicit expressions are
@t lM D %A.s/@t t uoL C 2%A.s/!

o
M R .t/ @t uoL C %A.s/!
M R .t/ .!
M R .t/ rM o /
M R .t/ rM o C @t !o %i So .s/ C !o .!o %i So .s//; (5.220)
C %A.s/@t !
@t hM o D rM o @t lM C %i So .s/ @t t uoL C 2%i So .s/ .!

o
M R .t/ @t uoL /
C %i So .s/ .! M R .t/ rM o // C %i So .s/ .@t !
M R .t/ .! M R .t/ rM o /
C %J So @t !o C !o .J So !o / (5.221)
where %J So D %JijS boi boj is the tensor of the second mass moments of the cross
section with respect to .C E ; bo1 .s; t/; bo2 .s; t// and
Z
%i So .s/ D .x1o bo1 .s; t/ C x2o bo2 .s; t//dA D %I2S bo1 .s; t/ C %I1S bo2 .s; t/ (5.222)
S
where %i So .s/ D %I2S bo1 .s; t/ C %I1S bo2 .s; t/ is the vector of the first mass moments
of the cross section with respect to .C E ; bo1 .s; t/; bo2 .s; t//.
The time rates of change of linear and angular momentum in the actual
configuration are given by
@t lM D %A.s/@t t uM L C 2%A.s/!
M R .t/ @t uM L C %A.s/!
M R .t/ .!
M R .t/ r/
M
C %A.s/@t !
M R .t/ rM C @t !
M %i S .s/ C !
M .!
M %i S .s//;
@t hM D rM @t lM C %i S .s/ @t t uM L C 2%i S .s/ .!

M R .t/ @t uM L /
C %i S .s/ .!
M R .t/ .!
M R .t/ r//
M C %i S .s/ .@t !
M R .t/ r/
M
C %J S @t !
M C!
M .J S !/:
M
The components of the angular velocity vector, for constant angular speed !R
and symmetric cross sections, are expressed as
!M 1 D sin 3 @t 2 C cos 3 cos 2 @t 1 C !R cos 3 cos 2 ;

!M 2 D cos 3 @t 2 sin 3 cos 2 @t 1 !R sin 3 cos 2 ;
!M 3 D@t 3 C @t 1 sin 2 C !R sin 2 ; (5.223)
while those of the total curvature vector are
M 1 D sin 3 @s 2 C cos 3 cos 2 @s 1 ;

M 2 D cos 3 @s 2 sin 3 cos 2 @s 1 ; M 3 D @s 3 C @s 1 sin 2 : (5.224)
Equations of motion. The local statements of the balance of linear and angular
momentum in the prestressed configuration yield the equations of motion in the form
@s no .s; t/ C f o .s; t/ D @t lM .s; t/;

o
(5.225)
@s mo .s; t/ C o .s; t/ no .s; t/ C c o .s; t/ D @t hM o .s; t/ (5.226)
where no and mo are the contact force and contact couple, respectively (i.e., the
stress and moment resultants over the cross section), defined as
Z Z
no .s; t/ WD t o dA; mo .s; t/ WD .x o t o /dA
So xo
where t o denotes the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress vector over the cross section normal
to a3 .t/. The component representations of the contact force and couple are no D
Q1o bo1 C Q2o bo2 C N o bo3 and mo D M1o bo1 C M2o bo2 C T o bo3 where .Q1o ; Q2o / are the
shear forces, N o is the tension, .M1o ; M2o / are the bending moments, and T o is the
torque. The vectors f o and c o are the external force and couple resultants per unit
reference length acting in B o .
On the other hand, the balance of linear and angular momentum in the current
configuration is stated as
@s n.s; M t/ D @t lM .s; t/;

M t/ C f.s; (5.227)
M
@s m.s; t/ C .s;
M t/ n.s; M t/
M t/ C cM .s; t/ D @t h.s; (5.228)
where nM D QM 1 b1 C QM 2 b2 C NM b3 and m M D MM 1 b1 C MM 2 b2 C TM b3 are the total

stress and moment resultants in the current configuration B while fM and cM are the
total force and couple resultants per unit reference length acting in B.
To obtain the incremental equations of motion, the following natural decom-
M t/ D no .s; t/ C n.s; t/ and
positions are considered in (5.227) and (5.228): n.s;
M t/ D mo .s; t/ C m.s; t/, f.s;
m.s; M t/ D f o .s; t/ C f.s; t/ and cM .s; t/ D c o .s; t/ C
c.s; t/. The vectors n.s; t/ and m.s; t/ are thus the incremental contact force and
incremental contact couple, respectively, while f.s; t/ and c.s; t/ are the incremen-
tal force and couple per unit reference length, respectively. By incorporation of the
equations of motion (5.225) and (5.226) referred to the prestressed configuration
B o , (5.227) and (5.228) give the incremental form of the equations of motion as:
o
@s n.s; t/ C f.s; t/ D @t lM .s; t/ @t lM .s; t/; (5.229)
@s m.s; t/ C .s;
M t/ n.s; t/ C @s u.s; t/ no .s; t/
M t/ @t hM o .s; t/:
C c.s; t/ D @t h.s; (5.230)
The linearized equations of motion. The nonlinear equations of motion are

linearized about the prestressed configuration B o . For symmetric blades, for which
the mass and shear centers coincide, the only strain induced by the angular motion
about i 1 in the prestressed configuration is the stretch which, in linearized form, is
o D 1 C @s uo3 . In the prestressed (tensile) equilibrium, the shear forces vanish, the
curvature vector is zero and !1o D !R . The only nontrivial equilibrium equation is
@s N o .s/ D %A!R2 Œd3 C s C uo3 .s/ (5.231)
where %A is the mass per unit reference length.

Equation (5.231) is formulated in terms of the longitudinal displacement uo3 only
when the constitutive equation is given as N o .s/ D NO o . o ; s/. If the blade is
made of a linearly elastic isotropic material, the linearized version of the elastic
equilibrium is
@s ŒEA@s uo3 C %A!R2 .d3 C s C uo3 / D 0 (5.232)
whose solution for N o is

N o .s/ D EA cos !Ra Ls sec !Ra 1 C.%ALd3 !Ra / sin !Ra 1 Ls sec !Ra (5.233)
where E is Young’s modulus, and !Ra WD !R =!a with !a WD ŒEA=.%AL2 /1=2 :

The linearized equations of motion are obtained in a straightforward fashion by
considering the components of the linearized angular velocity and curvature vectors
which read
!M 1(1) D @t 1 C !R ; !M 2(1) D @t 2 !R 3 ; !M 3(1) D @t 3 C !R 2 ; (5.234)
M (1)
1 D @s 1 ; M (1)
2 D @s 2 ; M (1)
3 D @s 3 : (5.235)
Thus the linearized equations of motion reduce to
@s Q1 .s; t/ D %A@t t u1 .s; t/; (5.236)

@s Q2 .s; t/ D %A@t t u2 .s; t/ 2%A!R @t u3 .s; t/ %A!R2 u2 .s; t/; (5.237)
@s N.s; t/ D %A@t t u3 .s; t/ C 2%A!R @t u2 .s; t/ %A!R u3 .s; t/;
2
(5.238)
@s M1 .s; t/ o Q2 .s; t/ C @s u2 .s; t/N o .s/ D %J11
S
@t t 1 .s; t/; (5.239)
@s M2 .s; t/ C o Q1 .s; t/ @s u1 .s; t/N o .s/ D %J22
S
@t t 2 .s; t/
2%J22
S
!R @t 3 .s; t/ %J22
S 2
!R 2 .s; t/; (5.240)
@s T .s; t/ D %J33
S
@t t 3 .s; t/ C 2%J22
S
!R @t 2 .s; t/ .%J22
S
%J11
S
/!R2 3 .s; t/
(5.241)
S S S
where .%J11 ; %J22 ; %J33 / are the principal mass moments of inertia of the cross
section with respect to the principal inertia axes fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g having origin in the
shear center.
Unshearable rotating blades. The slenderness of typical blades in applications
such as helicopter blades or wind turbines allows the blades to be regarded as
unshearable regardless of the loading conditions.
Two internal kinematic constraints are enforced by requiring the two shear strains
to vanish: o1 D 0 D o2 . The linearized version of the material constraints leads to
the following expressions for the rotations of the cross sections:
1 D @s u2 = o ; 2 D @s u1 = o : (5.242)
These rotations can be differentiated to yield the linearized bending curvatures.

Solving (5.239) and (5.240) for the shear forces Q1 and Q2 yields
h
Q1 .s; t/ D %J22
S
@t t 2 .s; t/ 2%J22
S
!R @t 3 .s; t/ %J22 S 2
!R 2 .s; t/
i
@s M2 .s; t/ C @s u1 .s; t/N o .s/ = o ; (5.243)
h i
Q2 .s; t/ D @s M1 .s; t/ C @s u2 .s; t/N o .s/ %J11 S
@t t 1 .s; t/ = o :
Substituting (5.243) into (5.236)–(5.238) and (5.241) furnishes the four equa-
tions governing axial, flapping, lagging, and torsional vibrations in the form
%A@t t u3 C 2%A!R @t u2 %Au3 !R2 @s N D 0; (5.244)

%A@t t u1 @s .%J22
S
@t t 2 2%J22S
!R @t 3 %J22
S 2
!R 2 /= o
(5.245)
C @s .@s M2 @s u1 N o /= o D 0;

%A@t t u2 2%A!R @t u3 %Au2 !R2 C @s .%J11 S
@t t 1 /= o
(5.246)
@s .@s M1 C @s u2 N o /= o D 0;
S
%J33 @t t 3 C 2%J22
S
!R @t 2 .%J22
S
%J11
S
/!R2 3 @s T D 0: (5.247)
If the blade is made of a linearly elastic isotropic material, linear constitutive laws
are considered in the form:
NO D EA. (1) 1/; MO 1 D EJ11 1 ; MO 2 D EJ22

S (1)
2 ; TO D GJ33
S (1) S (1)
3 (5.248)
where G is the shear modulus.
Appendix I: Space and Time Differentiation of Moving

Frames
A set of orthogonal unit vectors of IE3 , denoted by fb1 .s; t/; b2 .s; t/; b3 .s; t/g, is
considered to be a function of arclength s 2 Œ0; l and time t 2 Œ0; 1/. This set of
unit vectors can be regarded as a moving frame. The actual orientation of the moving
frame can be obtained as a result of a proper rotation of a fixed set of orthogonal unit
vectors fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g. The rotation is described by a proper orthogonal tensor R.s; t/
so that bk .s; t/ D R.s; t/ bok : The following orthogonality condition holds:
R.s; t/ R | .s; t/ D I; 8 s 2 Œ0; l; 8 t 2 Œ0; 1/: (5.249)
Differentiating the orthogonality condition (5.249) once with respect to s yields

@s R R | C R @s R | D O: Hence, the identity @s R R | D R @s R | implies that
the tensor
.s; t/ WD @s R.s; t/ R | .s; t/ (5.250)
is skew-symmetric. is known as the curvature tensor. Its associated axial vector
is denoted by and is called the curvature vector. Thus, by considering
@s bk D @s R bok D @s R I bok D @s R .R| R/ bok D bk D bk ; (5.251)
the following relationship is obtained:
@s bk .s; t/ D .s; t/ bk .s; t/: (5.252)
Similarly, differentiating (5.249) once with respect to time t yields @t R R | C

R @t R | D O: As a consequence of @t R R | D R @t R | ,
˝.s; t/ WD @t R.s; t/ R | .s; t/ (5.253)
is a skew-symmetric tensor called the spin tensor. Its associated axial vector is
denoted by ! and is called the angular velocity vector. Thus, by considering
@t bk D @t R bok D @t R I bok D @t R .R | R/ bok D ˝ bk D ! bk ; (5.254)
the following (Poisson’s formula) is obtained:
@t bk .s; t/ D !.s; t/ bk .s; t/: (5.255)
Appendix II: Parametrization of the Rotations in Space
There are various types of parametrization of the rotations in space. Here, the
Euler–Rodrigues formula [34, 384] is reviewed first due to its generality. This
formula is then used to derive rotations obtained as the result of a sequence of three
rotations about three axes. Finally, the parametrization in terms of the Euler angles
is illustrated.
The Euler–Rodrigues formula. Let n denote a unit vector collinear with the
rotation axis and be the rotation angle about such axis. If R.; n/ denotes the
orthogonal tensor describing the above-mentioned rotation, the Euler–Rodrigues
formula [357, 384] can be used to give a representation of R as
R.; n/ D I C sin P C .1 cos /P 2 ; with Pij D ij k nk (5.256)

where ij k is the Levi–Civita permutation tensor and nk (k D 1; 2; 3) are the

direction cosines of n in a chosen fixed basis. The component representation of
the skew-symmetric tensor P is the matrix P with entries
2 3
0 n3 n2
P D 4 n3 0 n1 5 : (5.257)
n2 n1 0
An arbitrary vector u subject to the finite rotation described by R is transformed

into R u. If fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g denotes a triad of unit vectors collinear with the axes
of a fixed reference frame, the component representation of R is R D RLM e L e M .
Thus, given the representation of u as u D uN e N , the rotated vector is expressed as
R u D .RLM e L e M / uN e N D RLM uN e L ıMN , hence the Lth component of u is RLN uN
which implies that the algebraic representation of the rotated vector is obtained by
the matrix multiplication R u where u is the algebraic vector Œu1 ; u2 ; u3 | and R is
the rotation matrix R D ŒRLM .
By letting fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g denote the unit vectors of the frame which is the result of
the rotation of fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g by R, the relationships between the rotated unit vectors
and those of the fixed basis are: bk D RLk e L . In other words, the components of the
rotation matrix R in the original basis are the entries of the following matrix:
b1 b2 b3
e1 R11 R12 R13
e2 R21 R22 R23
e3 R31 R32 R33
A straightforward way of finding the components of the vector that results from
the rotation of u D uk e k is to apply R on the component representation of u in the
original basis fe k g: R u D uk R e k D uk RLk e L . Thus the Lth component of the
rotated vector is RLk uk .
Two general properties of finite rotations deserve to be mentioned. The first
property is expressed by the following identity: R n D n. The identity states that
the unit vector n collinear with the rotation axis is an eigenvector of the orthogonal
tensor R and the associated eigenvalue is 1. The commutativity property does not
hold for finite rotations while it holds for infinitesimal rotations. If R (i) WD R.i ; ni /
denotes the finite rotation i about axis ni while R (j) WD R.j ; nj / describes the
finite rotation j about axis nj , the non-commutativity of the two finite rotations
means that R (i) R (j) ¤ R (j) R (i) :In other words, the final orientation depends on the
sequence of the finite rotations.
Rotations resulting from a sequence of three rotations. As mentioned, among
the different ways of parametrizing an arbitrary rotation in space, one way is to
conceive a sequence of three consecutive rotations about the three axes of a given
reference frame. For example, the rotation of angle 1 about axis e 1 is obtained
from (5.256) and (5.257) putting .n1 ; n2 ; n3 / D .1; 0; 0/ and D 1 thus yielding
2 3
1 0 0
R(1) D 4 0 cos 1 sin 1 5 : (5.258)
0 sin 1 cos 1
In the same way, the rotation matrices, respectively, about axes e 2 and e 3 are
2 3 2 3
cos 2 0 sin 2 cos 3 sin 3 0
R D
(2) 4 0 1 0 5 4
; R D sin 3 cos 3
(3)
05: (5.259)
sin 2 0 cos 2 0 0 1
One possible parametrization is obtained by considering the sequence of finite

rotations 1 ! 2 ! 3 . Let the rotated unit vectors resulting from R(1) be denoted
by fb(1)
1 ; b2 ; b3 g so that bk D RLk e L . Thereafter, unit vectors fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g are
(1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
rotated about n D b2 by angle D 2 whose associated rotation matrix is R . The

(1) (2)
resulting rotated unit vectors are now denoted by fb(2) 1 ; b2 ; b3 g with bj D Rkj bk .
(2) (2) (2) (2) (1)
Finally, let the unit vectors fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g be rotated about n D b3 by angle

(2) (2) (2) (2)
D 3 whose associated rotation matrix is R(3) . The final rotated unit vectors are
fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g D fb(3)
1 ; b2 ; b3 g with bl D Rjl bj . The resulting composite rotation
(3) (3) (3) (3) (2)
can be obtained by substituting bk into bj and this into b(3)

(1) (2)
l
. The result is
l D Rjl Rkj RLk e L D RLl e L

b(3) (3) (2) (1)
(5.260)
whence
RLl D RLk
(1) (2) (3)
Rkj Rjl ; R D R(1) R(2) R(3) : (5.261)
The resulting matrix entries are
R11 D cos 2 cos 3 ; R12 D cos 2 sin 3 ; R13 D sin 2

R21 D cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 C cos 1 sin 3 ; R22 D cos 1 cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 sin 3 ;
R23 D cos 2 sin 1 ; R31 D sin 1 sin 3 cos 1 cos 3 sin 2 ;
R32 D cos 3 sin 1 C cos 1 sin 2 sin 3 ; R33 D cos 1 cos 2 :
(5.262)
If the tensor-valued expressions are used for the rotations, the sequence of
rotations is expressed as
k D R
b(1) ek ; k D R b(1) k D R b(2)
(1)
b(2) (2)
k ; b(3) (3)
k : (5.263)
Therefore, the ensuing composite orthogonal tensor is
R D R (3) R (2) R (1) : (5.264)

b1(1) b1(2)
(1)
e1 = b1 b1(2)
b1(3)
(1) (2)
b3 b3
e3
b3(1) b3(2)= b3(3)
b2(1)
e2 b2(1)= b2(2) b2(2)
b2(3)
Fig. 5.27 Sequence of rotations: 1 ! 2 ! 3
If (5.264) is compared with (5.261), it can be concluded that when the composite
rotation tensor is expressed in matrix form, the rotation matrices are multiplied
in reversed order with respect to the sequence of rotations, starting from the last
rotation matrix and premultiplying it by the preceding rotations in succession.
Rotations adopted in the special Cosserat theory of beams. In the kinematics of
the special Cosserat theory of beams, the beam cross sections undergo bending or
twisting rotations. Therefore, it is reasonable to introduce a sequence of rotations of
the same type. Let the fixed basis be fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g with e 3 collinear with the normal to
the cross sections in the reference configuration in consonance with the assumptions
of Sect. 5.2. The sequence of rotations consists of the two flexural rotations followed
by the twisting rotation (see Fig. 5.27). That is,
– Flexural rotation of angle 1 around e 1 . The rotated basis is fb(1)
1 ; b2 ; b3 g with
(1) (1)
b1 D e 1 .
(1)
2 : The rotated basis is fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g with

– Flexural rotation of angle 2 around b(1) (2) (2) (2)
b2 D b2 .
(2) (1)
3 : The rotated basis is fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g D

– Twisting rotation of angle 3 around b(2) (3) (3) (3)
fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g with b3 D b3 .
(3) (2)
The overall rotation matrix R is given by R D R(1) R(2) R(3) : The rotation matrix
R has the following component form:
2 3
cos 2 cos 3 cos 2 sin 3 sin 2
R D 4cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 C cos 1 sin 3 cos 1 cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 sin 3 cos 2 sin 1 5 :
sin 1 sin 3 cos 1 cos 3 sin 2 cos 3 sin 1 C cos 1 sin 2 sin 3 cos 1 cos 2
(5.265)
The orthonormal vectors fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g are expressed in terms of the fixed-basis

vectors fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g as
e3
e3 b3
b3
q p b2
e2 q p
e1 n
n n b1
Fig. 5.28 The Euler angles
Fig. 5.29 Finite rotation of e3

fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g according to b3
b2
Euler’s rotations
O
e2
b1
e1
b1 D cos 2 cos 3 e 1 C .cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 C cos 1 sin 3 /e 2

C .sin 1 sin 3 cos 1 cos 3 sin 2 /e 3 ;
b2 D cos 2 sin 3 e 1 C .cos 1 cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 sin 3 / e 2
C .cos 3 sin 1 C cos 1 sin 2 sin 3 /e 3 ;
b3 D sin 2 e 1 cos 2 sin 1 e 2 C cos 1 cos 2 e 3 :
Euler angles. Another approach to the parametrization of the rotations of a fixed

basis is based on Euler angles . ; ; /. The composite rotation of fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g into
fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g is thus obtained through the following three counterclockwise rotations
(see Figs. 5.28 and 5.29):
– Rotation about e 3 which rotates the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g into fn; q; e 3 g,
where n is the line of nodes.
– Rotation about the nodal axis n, which takes fn; q; e 3 g into fn; p; b3 g.
– Rotation about b3 which takes fn; p; b3 g into the final basis fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g.
The rotation about e 3 ; 2 Œ0; 2, is known as the precession angle. The rotation
about the line of nodes n; 2 Œ0; , is called the nutation angle. The rotation
angle about b3 ; 2 Œ0; 2, is called the intrinsic rotation.
The three rotation matrices are thus described as follows:

2 3 2 3 2 3
cos sin 0 1 0 0 cos sin 0
6 7 6 7 6 7
R( ) D 4 sin cos 0 5 ; R() D 4 0 cos sin 5 ; R() D 4 sin cos 05:
0 0 1 0 sin cos 0 0 1
The overall rotation matrix R is given by the product R D R( ) R( ) R() which

reads
2 3
cos cos cos sin sin cos sin cos cos sin sin sin
6 7
R D 4 cos cos sin C cos sin cos cos cos sin sin cos sin 5 :
sin sin cos sin cos
The explicit expressions of fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g in terms of fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g are:
b1 D .cos cos cos sin sin / e 1

C .cos cos sin C cos sin / e 2 C sin sin e 3 ;
b2 D . cos sin cos cos sin / e 1
C .cos cos cos sin sin / e 2 C cos sin e 3 ;
b3 D sin sin e 1 cos sin e 2 C cos e 3 :
Problems
5.6 (Stretch vector in the spatial beam problem).

Show that the stretch vector of longitudinal material fibers away from C o is
given by
3 D Œ.@s rM1 3 rM2 C 2 rM3 / 3 x2 b1 C Œ.@s rM2 C 3 rM1 1 rM3 / C 3 x1 b2
C Œ.@s rM3 2 rM1 C 1 rM2 / C 1 x2 2 x1 b3 (5.266)
where r D rM1 b1 C rM2 b2 C rM3 b3 and D 1 b1 C 2 b2 C 3 b3 :

5.7 (Special form of the inertia forces in the planar beam problem).
Show that the right-hand sides of (5.180) and (5.181) correspond to the right-
hand sides of (5.31) and (5.32) when the beam Ris assumed to undergo a planar
deformation process for which ! D @t e 3 ; iM WD S xdAM D %I b2 considering b2
collinear with the current orientation of the cross section and b1 normal to it.
5.8 (Energy equation in the planar beam problem).
Show that the energy equation (5.215) for the planar beam problem becomes
b2(2)
b2(3) b2(2) = b2(3)
e2 b2(1)
b1(3) b1(2)
e1 b1(3) b1(1)= b1(2)

b3(3)
b3(2)
e3= b3(3) b3(2)
b3(1)
Fig. 5.30 Sequence of rotations: 3 ! 2 ! 1

( Z ) Z
d 1 l l
%Aj@t rj ds C %J.@t / ds C
2 2
Œn @t C M @t ds
dt 2 0 0
Z Z
l ˇl ˇl l
.Q N /@t ds D Œn @t rˇ0 C ŒM @t ˇ0 C .f @t r C c@/ds
0 0
(5.267)
where .N; Q; M / are the tension, shear force, bending moment, .; ; / are the
stretch, shear strain, and bending curvature, and %J is the mass moment of inertia
of the cross section with respect to the principal axis collinear with e 3 about which
the cross sections rotate.
5.9 (Boundary conditions in the weak formulation of the beam problem with a
tip mass and thrust).
Show that the boundary terms in (5.95) for the case of Fig. 5.4 reduce to
ˇl ˇl ˇ
Œn wˇ0 C ŒM ˇ0 D .mRu C k u P .t//w1 ˇsDl (5.268)
where the test function w is expressed in the fixed basis as w D w1 e 1 C w2 e 2 :

5.10 (Rotation matrix in the three-dimensional beam problem).
(a) Obtain the rotation matrix R considering the sequence of rotations 3 ! 2 !
1 by letting fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g be the fixed basis with e 1 collinear with the normal
to the cross sections in the reference straight configuration. The sequence of
rotations features the two flexural rotations .3 ; 2 / followed by the twisting
rotation 1 (see Fig. 5.30). Show that the rotation matrix R is given by
" #
cos 2 cos 3 cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 cos 1 sin 3 cos 1 cos 3 sin 2 C sin 1 sin 3
RD cos 2 sin 3 cos 1 cos 3 C sin 1 sin 2 sin 3 cos 1 sin 2 sin 3 cos 3 sin 1 :
sin 2 cos 2 sin 1 cos 1 cos 2
(5.269)
(b) Obtain the strain–displacement relationships of the beam theory in space.

Chapter 6
Elastic Instabilities of Slender Structures
Chapter 2 dealt with the general problem of stability and bifurcation of systems and
structures. A number of paradigmatic one- and two-dof structures shed light on the
mechanical meaning of the bifurcation scenarios subsequent to a loss of stability.
This chapter addresses the static and dynamic loss of stability of slender beam-
like structures, including frames and aircraft wings. In particular, the Eulerian
buckling problem is discussed for uniform and nonuniform beams with compact
cross sections subject to conservative destabilizing loads. In addition, the loss of
stability of the straight equilibrium state of slender beams with open thin-walled
cross sections into bent/twisted buckled configurations is addressed both in general
terms and through examples.
Slender beams subject to parametric excitations such as pulsating end forces
causing dynamic instabilities called parametric resonances are studied both theoret-
ically and experimentally. The perturbation method that can deliver a closed-form
approximation of the dynamic instability is generalized to arbitrary one-dimensional
distributed-parameter conservative systems with linear damping. The same ap-
proach is employed in the next chapter for buckled beams subject to time-varying
harmonic end loads and rings subject to pulsating pressures.
The chapter closes with the discussion of a fully nonlinear model of wings
subject to steady airflows undergoing the Hopf bifurcation called flutter. The model
described is amenable to studies of the post-flutter response.
6.1 The Buckling Problem of Compact Beams
Several monographs address the general aspects of stability, static bifurcation,

and postcritical behavior of elastic structures (cf., e.g., [59, 363]). A relatively
comprehensive review of the main exact solutions for buckling of beams can be
found in [457]. An illuminating discussion of the nodal structure of the buckling and
postbuckling problem of straight beams, including theoretical results from global
bifurcation theory, can be found in [23].
368 6 Elastic Instabilities of Slender Structures
The more general buckling problem of compressed beams elastically supported

at the ends and at several intermediate points was studied extensively in a series of
works (for buckling of uniform beams with several elastic supports, cf. [232, 433]).
The treatment of the buckling and postbuckling behavior of beams and frames is
deeply rooted in the so-called elastica theory [433] which is the special Cosserat
theory for inextensible, unshearable beams. This is due to the fact that the
extensibility and shearability introduce higher-order effects in the buckling problem
when the beams are sufficiently slender.
The elastica problem. The full nonlinear planar theory of beams subject to an
end compressive force and to distributed forces is summarized here. The beam is
made of either compact cross sections or closed thin-walled sections so that the
Eulerian bending buckling appears as the lowest elastic instability causing the beam
to buckle along the weakest plane of bending into either one of two mirror buckled
configurations. Torsional-flexural instabilities, which are typical of open thin-walled
beams, will be considered in Sect. 6.2.
Consider a simply supported beam that is straight in its reference stress-free
configuration (see Fig. 6.1). Let fe 1 ; e 2 g identify the plane in which the beam lies in
its reference configuration B o and s be the coordinate identifying material sections
along the base line collinear with e 1 : Let the beam be subject to the planar forces
f.s/ D f1 .s/e 1 C f2 .s/e 2 (force per unit reference length) and to the end force
P e 1 applied to the roller support.
A planar deformation process is considered for which the position vector that
identifies the position of the base line in the current configuration B is r.s; t/ D
se 1 C u.s; t/ where u D ue 1 C ve 2 is the displacement. No restrictions are placed
on the deformation besides the fact that the beam behaves as inextensible and
unshearable regardless of the loading conditions.
A local basis attached to the cross section, denoted by fb1 .s; t/; b2 .s; t/g, de-
scribes its orientations where b1 is the unit vector normal to the current cross section
which makes the angle .s; t/ with e 1 . The straindisplacement relationships
are expressed as .s; t/WDr s .s; t/ with .s; t/D.s; t/b1 .s; t/ C .s; t/b2 .s; t/ and
.s; t/WDs .s; t/; where and are the stretch and shear strain, respectively; and
is the bending curvature. The internal kinematic constraints enforcing inextensibility
and unshearability are in the form D 1 and D 0 .8 s 2 Œ0; l/, which give
D b1 :
Let n.s; t/ D N.s; t/b1 .s; t/ C Q.s; t/b2 .s; t/ and m.s; t/ D M.s; t/e 3 denote
the beam generalized stress resultants (the tension and shear forces, respectively)
and moment resultant (the bending moment) defined for the beam cross section at s
and time t.
The balance of linear and angular momentum in local form yields the following
set of partial differential equations:
ns C f D %Ar t t ; (6.1)
ms e 3 C . n/ e 3 D %J t t (6.2)
6.1 The Buckling Problem of Compact Beams 369
b2 f
e2 b1
B
v u
O P
e1 s u B
0
Fig. 6.1 The straight beam subject to the forces f per unit reference length and to the end
compressive force P . fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g is the fixed basis, with e 3 D e 1 e 2
where the base line is taken to coincide with the centerline; %A is the mass per unit
reference length; %J is the mass moment of inertia of the cross section with respect
to the principal axis collinear with e 3 : The kinematic and mechanical boundary
conditions for the beam problem in Fig. 6.1 are
r.0; t/ D o; r.l; t/ e 2 D 0; (6.3)

M.0; t/ D 0 D M.l; t/; n.l; t/ e 1 C P D 0: (6.4)
Equation (6.4)1 forces the bending moments to vanish at the terminal cross sections
which are free to rotate. Equation (6.4)2 enforces the balance of linear momentum
for the roller support in the horizontal direction.1
Because the beam is inextensible and unshearable, the contact force n is a
reactive force that must be eliminated from the equilibrium equations thus obtaining
only one equation in the bending moment M , which is constitutively related to the
bending curvature :
The equilibrium problem is considered by imposing r t t D o and t t D 0 in (6.1)
and (6.2). Integrating (6.1) yields
Z l
n.s/ D n.l/ C fd (6.5)
s
where n.l/ D P e 1 C V e 2 : The reaction force V (see Fig. 6.2) is obtained by

imposing the moment balance of the whole beam about O as
Z l Z l
1
r.l/ V e 2 C r fds D o H) V D .r1 f2 r2 f1 /ds (6.6)
0 r1 .l/ 0
1
In (6.4)2 , n.l; t / P e 1 C V e 2 is the sum of all forces acting on the roller support (see Fig. 6.2),
P e 1 is the compressive force and V e 2 is the vertical reaction force. Equation (6.4)2 can be
written in component form as N.l; t / cos .l; t / Q.l; t / sin .l; t / D P:
f
e2 V
r(s) u(s)
O P
e1 s
fR
Fig. 6.2 The set of forces in the elastica problem: f and P are the external forces, f R is the
reaction force at the left hinge, and V is the vertical reaction at the right roller support
where r.s/ D r1 .s/e 1 C r2 .s/e 2 D Œs C u.s/e 1 C v.s/e 2 and f.s/ D f1 .s/e 1 C

f2 .s/e 2 .
Substitution of V together with the component form of r and f into (6.5) yields
Z l ! "Z Z l #
l
1
n.s/ D P C f1 d e 1 C f2 d .r1 f2 r2 f1 /ds e 2 : (6.7)
s s r1 .l/ 0
The further substitution of (6.7) into the balance of angular momentum (6.2),
together with the constraint equation D b1 , yields
(Z Z l )
l
1
Ms C cos f2 d Œ.s C u.s//f2 v.s/f1 ds
s l C u.l/ 0
Z !
l
C sin P f1 d D 0; s 2 .0; l/: (6.8)
s
The constitutive equation MO for the bending moment (e.g., M.s/ D MO ..s/; s/
for a nonlinearly elastic beam) is substituted into (6.8). A linearly elastic constitutive
law in the form MO D EJ; suggested by the Saint–Venant theory of elastic
cylinders, is typically adopted in the classical elastica theory [433].
The three kinematic unknowns .u; v; / in (6.8) are related by the two internal
kinematic constraints D 1 and D 0 which allow all variables to be solved for
in terms of vs arriving at the expressions in (5.21). The equilibrium equation of the
elastica problem thus becomes
" # Z l ! (Z
d vss q l
EJ p C vs P f1 d C 1 vs 2 f2 d
ds 1 vs2 s s
"Z Z Sq # Z lq !)
l
.f2 1 v d f1 v/ds =
2
1 vs2 ds D 0 (6.9)
0 0 0
which is a generalization of the classical elastica problem for the addition of the
forces f1 .s/ and f2 .s/.
Linearization of the equilibrium equation (6.8) about the reference configuration

leads to the following two-point second-order boundary-value problem in :
Z l Z l Z l
ŒEJ.s/s s C P f1 d D 1
l
sf2 .s/ds f2 d ; (6.10)
s 0 s
EJ s .0/ D 0 D EJ s .l/: (6.11)
The equation is nondimensionalized by letting s WD s= l; B WD EJ =EJ m where

EJ m is the maximum bending stiffness in Œ0; l, fj WDfj l 3 =EJ m (j D 1; 2), and
WD P l 2 =EJ m . Henceforth, the asterisk is dropped for ease of notation and all
variables and parameters are tacitly assumed to be nondimensional in the stated
sense. Equation (6.10) together with the boundary conditions (6.11) can thus be
rewritten as
Z
1
B.s/s s
C f1 d D f .s/; (6.12)
s
Bs .0/ D 0 D Bs .1/: (6.13)
where f .s/ is the nondimensional version of the right-hand side of (6.10).
6.1.1 Buckling of Elastic Beams
The equilibrium equation governing the inextensible and unshearable finite config-
urations of general nonuniform elastic beams subject to a compressive end force P
is given in dimensional form as [23, 433]
Ms .s/ C P sin .s/ D 0 (6.14)
with the boundary conditions M D 0 or D 0: The constitutive equation for

nonlinearly elastic beams that undergo pure bending is expressed as
M.s/ D MO ..s/; s/ D VE (6.15)
where V E is the stored-energy function per unit reference length and VE indicates
the derivative of V E with respect to . The constitutive function is assumed to
have as many derivatives as appear in the analysis. For linearly elastic nonuniform
beams, the constitutive law resulting from the linearization of (6.15) is MO .; s/ D
EJ.s/.s/ where E is Young’s modulus of elasticity and J.s/ is the area moment
of inertia of the cross section at s: Equation (6.14) is written in nondimensional
form as
Ms .s/ C sin .s/ D 0; (6.16)
where the bending moment is made nondimensional by dividing it by the max-

imum bending stiffness EJ m , and the asterisk is dropped for ease of notation.
Equation (6.14) for linearly elastic beams reduces to (6.12) without distributed
forces (i.e., f1 D 0 D f2 ) and becomes the following Sturm–Liouville eigenvalue
problem:

B.s/s s C D 0 (6.17)
together with the boundary conditions s .0/ D 0 D s .1/. The function B.s/ is the
nondimensional bending stiffness B.s/ WD EJ.s/=EJ m .
The linearized boundary-value problem (6.17) governs the onset of buckling of
linearly elastic beams. To obtain the current beam configuration, the solution for
is substituted into the following kinematic relations: us Dcos 1 and vs Dsin
whose linearization yields us D0 and vs D:
The eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the boundary-value problem (6.17) with
the associated boundary conditions are the buckling loads and buckling mode
shapes.
The SturmLiouville theory ensures that: (a) the eigenvalues om (m D 1; 2; : : :)
are simple and positive; (b) lim om D 1 as m ! 1; and (c) the eigenfunction
#m .s/ corresponding to om possesses exactly m zeros in Œ0; 1; each simple (i.e.,
#m .s0 / D 0; #m0 .s0 / ¤ 0).
For more general boundary conditions, such as those for which the displacement
is enforced, the buckling problem is formulated in terms of the transverse displace-
ment v: Dropping the forces per unit length in (6.10) and differentiating the resulting
equation with respect to s yield the following fourth-order two-point boundary-value
problem:
ŒEJ.s/vss ss C P vss D 0 (6.18)
whose nondimensional form is
ŒB.s/vss ss C vss D 0 (6.19)
where s and v have the meaning of arclength and deflection divided by the span.
As for the orthogonality and normalization of the buckling mode shapes, consider
the dimensional problem given by (6.18) and substitute the eigenvalue Pj and
corresponding eigenfunction j .s/ thus obtaining
ŒEJ.s/j00 00 C Pj j00 D 0 (6.20)
where the prime indicates differentiation with respect to the dimensional arclength
s: Premultiplying (6.20) by j , integrating by parts over the domain Œ0; l, incorpo-
rating the boundary conditions, and solving for Pj yield
Z ! Z !
l l
Pj D j00 EJ.s/j00 ds = j0 j0 ds : (6.21)
0 0
If the eigenfunctions are normalized with respect to the geometric stiffness, then
Z l Z l
0 0
j j ds D 1; Pj D j00 EJ.s/j00 ds: (6.22)
0 0
By expressing the elastic and geometric stiffness operators in abstract operator form,
and by letting the displacement field be described by the algebraic vector u.s/, then
the buckling problem is formulated as
LE u.s/ C LG u.s/ D o (6.23)
so that the normalization condition and its consequence are rewritten as

Z l Z l
j LG j ds D 1; j D j LE j ds
0 0
where the notation L u here indicates matrix multiplication. The Rayleigh quotient
associated with (6.23) for a trial function .s/ is written as
Z ! Z !
l l
RŒ.s/ D V E ./=V G ./ D LE ds = LG ds (6.24)
0 0
where V E and V G denote the elastic potential energy and the (geometric) potential
energy per unit load multiplier, respectively.
Example 6.1 (The Rayleigh quotient for buckling of beams).
By considering (5.21)1 obtained from the inextensibility constraint, the lowest
approximation of us is
1
us D vs2 ;
2
thus, the potential energy of the end compressive force is the opposite of the
work of P
Z l
1
W D P u.l/ D P vs2 ds: (6.25)
2 0
The potential energy V G per unit load is obtained by setting P D 1 in (6.25). On

the other hand, the elastic stored energy (due to pure bending) is
Z Z
1 l O 1 l
VE D M ds D vss .EJ vss /ds: (6.26)
2 0 2 0
Hence, according to (6.24), the Rayleigh quotient is
Z ! Z !
l l
RŒv D vss EJ vss ds = vs vs ds : (6.27)
0 0
Fig. 6.3 Straight beam resting on a point-wise spring (top) and on an elastic foundation (bottom)
As an example, consider a simply supported beam subject to a compressive force

on the roller support and restrained by a vertical linear spring of constant k at the
midspan (see Fig. 6.3 top). The Rayleigh quotient becomes
Z ! Z !
l l
RŒ D 00 EJ 00 ds C k.l=2/2 = 0 0 ds : (6.28)
0 0
Another interesting example is that of a beam resting on an elastic foundation of

constant k (see Fig. 6.3 bottom) for which
Z Z ! Z !
l l l
00 00 0 0
RŒ D EJ ds C 2
k ds = ds : (6.29)
0 0 0
Buckling loads and mode shapes of uniform elastic beams. For uniform beams,
the bending stiffness is constant across the span (i.e., B D 1). By substitution of
v.s/ / eˇs ;pthe characteristic equation ˇ 4 C ˇ 2 D 0 delivers the eigenvalues
ˇ D .0; ˙i /, in which the zero has multiplicity two. Therefore, the general
solution is p p
v.s/ D c1 cos s C c2 sin s C c3 s C c4 : (6.30)
By prescribing the four boundary conditions, four linear algebraic equations are
obtained in .c1 ; c2 ; c3 ; c4 /: The characteristic equation in is obtained by imposing
the determinant of the coefficient matrix to vanish.
6.1.2 Buckling Loads and Mode Shapes of Beams and Framed

Structures
The method is based on the solution of the following homogeneous problem cast in
dimensional and nondimensional form, respectively, as
EJ vssss C P vss D 0; v 0000 C v 00 D 0 (6.31)

Qj
Mi P
D D
P
l Mj
vi vj Qi
Fig. 6.4 The kinematics of a beam element (left) and the adjacent equilibrium (right)
where WD P l 2 =EJ . The kinematic data are prescribed on the beam end sections i
and j in terms of the rotations i and j and of the relative transverse displacement
WD vj vi . The left end is identified by i and the right end by j (see Fig. 6.4).
The prime indicates differentiation with respect to the space coordinate s rendered
nondimensional by dividing it by the beam span.
The elastic restoring moments and shear forces are computed accordingly. In
consonance with a traditional convention, the rotations (and the moments) are taken
to be positive in the clockwise direction. The kinematic boundary conditions are
thus cast as follows:
v.0/ D vi = l; v 0 .0/ D i ; v.1/ D vj = l; v 0 .1/ D j : (6.32)
After obtaining the solution v.s/ of (6.31) and (6.32), the bending moments
are expressed as M.0/ D EJ = lv 00 .0/ and M.1/ D EJ = lv 00 .1/ from which
the reaction moments are obtained through the boundary equilibrium as Mi D
EJ = lv 00 .0/ and Mj D EJ = lv 00 .1/: To express the shear force denoted by Q,
the overall equilibrium of the beam is imposed in the adjacent configuration (see
Fig. 6.4). The transverse equilibrium implies Q D Qi D Qj while the moment
equilibrium, solved for Q, delivers
Q D .Mi C Mj /= l P= l: (6.33)
The solution can be found by enforcing all the combined kinematic data
given by (6.32). Alternatively, each individual boundary-value problem with one
nontrivial kinematic boundary condition out of the four in (6.32) is solved. The
Principle of Superposition is thus invoked to combine them into the solution. For
example, if v.0/ D v.1/ D v 0 .1/ D 0 and v 0 .0/ D i ; the solution is
Mi D EJ
l bi ; Mj D cMi ; (6.34)
p p p p p p
cos /
.sin sin
b WD p p p ; c WD p p p : (6.35)
2 2 cos sin sin cos
On the other hand, with v.0/Dv.1/Dv 0 .0/D0 and v 0 .1/Dj ; the moments are
Mi D cMj and Mj D EJ = lbj : Therefore, the Principle of Superposition yields
Mi D EJ
l b.i C cj /; Mj D EJ
l b.ci C j /:
By considering the kinematic data altogether, the terminal moments and shear
force turn out to be
N N
Mi D EJ
l .bi C bcj C bl /; Mj D EJ
l .bci C bj C bl /;
N N b
QD EJ
l . bl i C bl j C l2
/ (6.36)
where bN WD b.1 C c/ and b WD 2bN . In matrix form,

2 3 2 N l 3 2 i 3
Mi b bc b=
4Mj 5 D EJ 4 bc b b= N l 5 4 j 5 (6.37)
l
Q N l b=
b= N l b =l2

where the matrix

2 N l 3
b bc b=
K./ WD EJ 4 bc b b= N l 5 (6.38)
l
N l b=
b= N l b= l 2
is the beam elasto-geometric matrix. An expansion of the matrix in Taylor series

about D 0 up to second-order terms allows the elastic and geometric stiffness
effects to be singled out as
2 11 2 1 13 2
b D 4 ; bc D 2 C C ;
15 6300 30 12600
1 1 2 6 1 2
bN D 6 ; b D 12 (6.39)
10 1400 5 700
which leads to
Ke WD EJ
l ŒKE KG 2 KG2 C O.3 / (6.40)
where
2 3 22 1 3 2 1 3
4 2 6= l 15
30
1
10l
11
6300
12600
13
1400l
K WD
E 4 5
4 6= l ; K WD
G 4 2 1 5
; KG2 WD 4 11 1 5
:
15 10l 6300 1400l
6 1
12= l 2 5l 2 700l 2
(6.41)
Note that the multiplicative factor of KG is EJ = l D P l while that of KG2 is

EJ = l2 D P 2 l 3 =EJ .
This solution method is the so-called displacement method by which the
unknowns are the active nodal rotations and the relative transverse displacements
of the beams constituting a framed structure. These active degrees of freedom are
collected in a generalized displacement vector q: The moments and shear forces
for each single beam element are calculated through the beam element matrix Ke ,
given by (6.40) and (6.41). Thereafter, the nodal equilibrium equations are imposed
to obtain the overall stiffness matrix K./. The resulting eigenvalue problem and its
linearization are thus cast as
K./ q D o; .KE KG / q D o: (6.42)
While the exact buckling load multipliers are the roots of the characteristic equation
det K./ D 0, an estimate that also serves as an initial guess for Newton’s method
is given by the roots of the characteristic equation detŒKE KG D 0.
For each beam, a different load multiplier is defined since different compressive
forces may be present, hence ij WD Pij lij2 =EJij where i and j are the nodes of a
generic beam of the frame so that the subscripts ij denote any quantity referred to
the beam element from node i to node j .
This method can be applied to nonuniform beams by discretizing the beam in
a sufficiently large number of beam elements, each made of uniform stepped cross
sections.
Example 6.2 (Buckling of single- and two-span beams).
A few examples on buckling of beams are illustrated in the following. In particular, a
single-span beam with simply supported or clamped-supported boundary conditions
and a two-span clamped-supported beam are considered.
Simply supported beam. A single-span simply supported beam is subject to a
compressive force P at the right end. The buckling loads can be calculated by
solving the eigenvalue problem given by (6.31) or using the method described
above. The eigenvalue problem (6.31) leads to the general solution given by (6.30).
The boundary conditions are: v.0/ D 0 D v.1/ and v 00 .0/ D 0 D v 00 .1/: The
characteristic equation obtained p by imposing the determinant of the 2coefficient
matrix to be zero leads to sin D 0 whose solutions are p j D j ; j D
2
1; 2; : : : ; 1: The associated buckling mode shapes are j .x/ D 2 sin jx.

With the displacement method, there are two degrees of freedom: the rotation of
the left and right ends, denoted by q1 and q2 : The moment equilibrium equations are
M12 D 0 and M21 D 0 where M12 D EJ = l.b q1 Cb c q2 / and M21 D EJ = l.b q2 C
b c q1 /: Therefore, the beam matrix is

1c
KDb : (6.43)
c1
The characteristic equation is .1 c 2 / D 0 whose solutions are j D j 2 2 .

Clamped-supported beam. The left end is clamped, while the right end is simply
supported. Let the left node be denoted by 1 and the right node by 2. The load
multiplier is D P l 2 =EJ . The only degree of freedom is q WD 2 : The bending
moment at node 2 must vanish, hence,
M21 D EJ
l
b12 q D 0
P
1 l 2
Fig. 6.5 The lowest two buckling mode shapes of the clamped-supported uniform beam. The
critical buckling mode shape is represented by the thicker line
from which, according to (6.35),
2 11 2 1
b12 ./ D 4 3 C O.4 / D 0:
15 6300 27000
The exact solution of the lowest buckling load (critical load) is D 20:19 (i.e.,
Po D 2:045 2 EJ = l 2 ) while the linearization gives D 30 which is off by
48.58 %. On the other hand, the second-order and third-order approximations give
23:05 and 21:34, respectively, with a significant improvement in accuracy. The
critical buckling mode shape together with the second buckling mode shape is
shown in Fig. 6.5.
Two-span clamped-supported beam. This example considers the same beam as
in the previous example with the addition of an intermediate support. Let the nodes
be numbered 1, 2, and 3 starting from the left clamp. Let l23 D al; l12 D .1
a/l: The compressive force applied at the right support causes a compressive axial
force in the whole beam so that 12 D P l12 2
=EJ12 and 23 D P l23 2
=EJ23 . There
are two degrees of freedom, the rotation at the intermediate support denoted by q1
and the rotation at the right support denoted by q2 . The equilibrium equations are
M21 C M23 D 0 at node 2 and M32 D 0 at node 3 where M21 D .EJ12 = l12 /b12 q1 ;
M23 D .EJ23 = l23 /.b23 q1 C b23 c23 q2 /; M32 D .EJ23 = l23 /.b23 q2 C b23 c23 q1 /. The
stiffness matrix is thus given by
" #
EJ12
b
l12 12
C EJ23
b
l23 23
EJ23
b c
l23 23 23
KD EJ23 : (6.44)
l23 b23
The coefficients bij are given in terms of ij , although both 12 and 23 can be
expressed in terms of D P l 2 =EJ . When the intermediate support is at the
midspan a D 1=2; the lowest two buckling loads are Po WD P1 D 6:40 2 EJ = l 2
and P2 D 9:78 2 EJ = l 2 . The critical buckling mode shape is shown in Fig. 6.6.
Therefore, the addition of an intermediate support implies an increase in the critical
buckling load of about 213 %.
1 2 3 P
l/2
Fig. 6.6 The lowest buckling mode shape of a two-span uniform beam
6.1.3 Buckling and Postbuckling of Tapered Elastic Beams
Slender structural parts with variable cross sections are common in buildings,
bridges, aircraft structures, or in machines. A growing interest has been directed
towards microelectromechanical devices such as resonators fabricated in the form
of nonuniform composite beam-like structures [274] or carbon nanotubes [394].
The stability of these structural members subjected to compressive forces is
of great importance in design. Besides the onset of the elastic instability, the
postbuckling performance is also technically important in several engineering
applications featuring slender elements such as aircraft wings, MEMS, and NEMS.
In some components, the postbuckling range may be allowed to occur under suitable
conditions. For example, in MEMS, the postbuckling range is exploited as a tuning
mechanism for the relatively high sensitivity of the frequencies with respect to the
load magnitude past the divergence bifurcation [44,379]. Together with the problem
of determining the critical condition due to buckling, a vast area of research is that
of devising suitable strategies for controlling or delaying the instabilities (see, e.g.,
[469]). However, as mentioned, these elastic members often exhibit tapered profiles.
An analytical procedure was proposed in [270] to investigate the elastic stability of a
column with elastic supports at the ends under uniformly distributed follower forces
by approximating the nonuniform column by a number of stepped uniform sections.
A great deal of research work has been done in the first half of the last century to
find the buckling load of axially compressed beams with varying cross sections.
Closed-form solutions for buckling of tapered beams are often difficult to find.
Exact solutions exist only for simple cases, such as tapered beams subject to
a concentrated axial force or cuneiform columns under their own weight. The
pioneering work is due to Euler [150] and was later followed by many other
contributions such as those presented in [136, 137, 148, 327, 432], to cite but a
few.
More complicated cases, such as buckling of columns under variably distributed
axial loads, were investigated in [445]. A semi-analytical procedure for buckling
of elastic columns with step-varying thickness was presented in [25]. Analytical
solutions for buckling of one-step and multi-step bars with varying cross sec-
tions under the action of concentrated and variably distributed axial loads were
found in [276–279] for particular shapes of tapered cantilever bars without lateral
restraints.
Many studies dealt with the shapes of tapered cantilever members and the
distributions of axial forces which give closed-form solutions. Along these lines, by
exploiting the idea of Engesser [148], closed-form solutions for a class of tapered
beams were found in [146, 147]. By choosing certain functions that satisfy the
boundary conditions, such as the fundamental buckling modes, and substituting
them into the equation governing the buckling problem, the associated moment of
inertia and buckling loads were obtained in closed form. A large body of works deals
with combined finite element and asymptotic methods to address postbuckling.
A good review about computational asymptotic postbuckling analysis of slender
elastic structures can be found in [96].
Results on buckling and postbuckling of nonuniform beams obtained in [253] by
an asymptotic method are summarized in the next sections.
The buckling problem of beams with stepped cross sections. Let the beam be
made of N segments with piece-wise constant flexural stiffness. The j th segment
of the undeformed beam, whose bending stiffness is Bj ; spans the sub-domain
Œsj 1 ; sj : Therefore, the overall flexural stiffness is a piece-wise function that can
be expressed as
X
N

B.s/ D Bj H.s sj 1 / H.s sj / (6.45)
j D1
where s0 D 0, sN D 1, and H.:/ is the Heaviside function. Since the linearized

equilibrium equation for the j th segment is
Bj j00 .s/ C j .s/ D 0; (6.46)
by setting j WD =Bj , the general solution can be expressed as

p p
j .s/ D c2j 1 cos j s C c2j sin j s: (6.47)
Consequently, the buckling mode shape is given in the form
X
N
p p
.s/ D c2j 1 cos j s C c2j sin j s H.s sj 1 / H.s sj / :
j D1
(6.48)
The constants cj and the buckling loads are obtained by imposing the boundary
conditions together with the continuity of rotations and bending moments at the
stepped cross sections. In particular, the boundary conditions at the beam ends
require
p p
c2 D 0; c2N 1 sin N c2N cos N D 0; (6.49)
a 1.0 b
b=1.0
s1 =3/4 b=0.75
0.8
0 b=0.5
λ1/π 2 s1 =1/2
b=0.25
0.5 s1 =1/4 b=0.1
λ
0.3
0 s1 1
0.0
0 0.2 0.4 b 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 s 0.6 0.8 1
Fig. 6.7 (a) Variation of the buckling load with the bending stiffness ratio b for various s1 and
(b) the buckling mode shapes for various b when s1 D 1=2: Reprinted with permission [253]
while the other 2.N 1/ continuity equations are

p p
c2j 1 cos j sj C c2j sin j sj
p p
c2j C1 cos j C1 sj c2j C2 sin j C1 sj D 0;
p p p
Bj j c2j 1 sin j sj C c2j cos j sj
p p p
CBj C1 j C1 c2j C1 sin j C1 sj c2j C2 cos j C1 sj D 0; (6.50)
for j D 1; : : : ; N 1. The buckling loads are found as the roots of the characteristic
equation obtained by imposing the coalescence to zero of the determinant of the
coefficient matrix obtained from (6.49) and (6.50).
For a two-span beam with B1 D 1 in Œ0; s1 / and B2 D b in .s1 ; 1, the
characteristic equation is
p p p p p
b cos. s1 / sinŒ =b.s1 1/ cosŒ =b.s1 1/ sin. s1 / D 0: (6.51)
When s1 D 1, the beam becomes uniform with p B D 1 and the characteristic

equation, as expected, is simplified into sin D 0 yielding the well-known
buckling loads of a simply supported beam, om D m2 2 :
An example of a two-segment beam is given in Fig. 6.7a which shows the lowest
buckling load o1 versus the stiffness b of the weaker segment for various positions
of the stepped cross section, namely, s1 D .1=4; 1=2; 3=4/: When the stronger
beam segment is short, the critical buckling load varies almost linearly with b:
In contrast, when the length is one-half or three-quarters of the total span, the
variation is superlinear and, in particular, it becomes strongly nonlinear when this
length becomes three-quarters. In Fig. 6.7b, the critical buckling mode shapes are
shown for various b with s1 D 1=2: When b D 1; the beam is uniform and the
lowest buckling mode shape is o D cos s: As b decreases, the highest curvatures
are localized in the weaker segment because the stronger segment opposes an
increasingly higher stiffness.
The buckling problem of tapered beams. There is extensive literature on exact

solutions of the Sturm–Liouville buckling eigenvalue problem when the bending
stiffness is represented by special functions (e.g., exponential, polynomial, frac-
tional). For stepped cross sections, the closed-form solutions of the previous section
can be employed as the basis for the nonlinear postbuckling solutions. For general
beam profiles, closed-form solutions are not available. Semi-analytical approaches
are useful to determine the buckling loads as well as the buckling mode shapes.
For example, the buckling mode shapes can be obtained by employing the
Galerkin method. To this end, the solutions of (6.17) are expressed as
X
N
.s/ D qj j .s/ (6.52)
j D1
where N is the number of trial functions j .s/ chosen from a complete set of
functions. For simply supported boundary conditions, an example of a possible set
is given by the trigonometric functions j .s/ D cos js; j D 1; 2; : : :
For beams with smoothly varying cross sections, the trial functions are con-
tinuously differentiable in Œ0; 1: However, for beams with piece-wise continuous
or more general discontinuous bending stiffnesses, the continuity of the bending
moments across the stepped cross sections at sk cannot be guaranteed because such
condition requires
lim ŒBk j0 .sk "/ BkC1 j0 .sk C "/ D 0;

"!0
where the linear constitutive law M.s/ D B.s/ 0 .s/ is adopted. The moment
continuity can be satisfied only if the trial functions exhibit 0-continuity, that is,
j 2 C o Œ0; 1. Although this condition is a mechanical condition to be satisfied at
the isolated points sk 2 .0; 1/; a slow convergence is expected if j 2 C o Œ0; 1:
By substituting (6.52) into (6.17) and applying the Galerkin method, the alge-
braic eigenvalue problem .KE KG / q D 0 is obtained with
Z Z
1 0 1
Kj k D
E
j Bk0 ds; Kj k D
G
j k ds: (6.53)
0 0
R1
Integrating (6.53)1 gives KjEk D 0 j0 Bk0 ds. The same stiffness matrices are
obtained by employing the energy formulation of Ritz since the problem is self-
adjoint. Namely, putting MO D B 0 and cos 1 12 2 ; the second-order
expansion of the total potential energy is
Z 1 Z 1
1 1
V D B. 0 /2 ds 2 ds: (6.54)
2 0 2 0
For simply supported beams, j .s/ D cos js from which

Z 1
1
KjEk D j k 2 .sin js/B.s/.sin ks/ds; KjGk D ıj k
0 2
where ıj k is the Kronecker delta.
The mth buckling load is the mth root of the characteristic equation det.KE
KG /D0: The associated mth eigenvector qm defines the mth linear buckling
mode shape #m .s/ normalized with respect to the geometric stiffness according to
R1
0 #m #m ds D 1 from which qm K qm D 1:
G
Postbuckling branches by the method of strained parameters. The postbuck-

ling solutions are obtained by the method of strained parameters [253]. According
to [23], B.s/ is assumed to be continuous and everywhere positive, each solution
branch emanating from om is nonterminating in the state-control space spanned
by .; ; M /. Furthermore, the disposition of the solution branches is qualitatively
similar to that exhibited by uniform beams. By seeking a three-term uniform
expansion of the rotation and load as
X
2
.s; "/ "2kC1 2kC1 .s/; ."/ 0 C "2 2 C "4 4 ;
kD0
the bending curvature becomes .s; "/ "10 .s/ C "3 30 .s/ C "5 50 .s/ where " is a
small dimensionless number used as an ordering parameter. The moment, taken as
an odd function of the curvature, is expanded in a Taylor series as
MO ./ B.s/ C 1
3Š B3 .s/
3
C 1 5
5Š B5 .s/ : (6.55)
The curvature is substituted into (6.55) and, in turn, the resulting moment is
substituted into (6.16) and into the boundary conditions. The coefficients of like
powers of " are equated to zero thus yielding the following hierarchy of linear
boundary-value problems:
Order "
0
B.s/10 C 0 1 D 0; (6.56)
3
Order "
0 1 1 0
B.s/30 C 0 3 D 0 13 2 1 B3 .s/.10 /3 ; (6.57)
6 6
Order "5

0 1 2 1 5 1 3
B.s/50 C 0 5 D 0 3 2 3 1
2 1 120 1 6
1 0 1 0
4 1 B5 .s/.10 /5 B3 .s/.10 /2 30 : (6.58)
120 2
For simply supported beams, the boundary conditions at all orders require
Bj0 .s/ D 0 at s D 0 and 1.
By assuming that the generic postbuckling solution branch emanates from the
mth buckling mode, the solution of the first-order problem is the mth buckling mode
shape with 0 D om and is given by
1 .s/ D am #m .s/ (6.58)

where am is the amplitude of the postbuckling solution to be determined in
the subsequent steps. Solving the perturbation scheme in succession [253], the
following solution is obtained:
2 N 4 N
D om C am 2.m/ C am 4.m/ (6.59)
where the subscript .m/ indicates the postbuckling solution arising from the mth
divergence bifurcation, and
Z 1 Z 1
0 3 0
N2.m/ D 1 o #m ds
4
B3 .s/ #m / #m ds (6.60)
m
6 0 0
( Z 1 Z 1
1 1
N 4.m/ D om #m3 ˚3 ds #m6 ds
12 0 120 0
Z 1 Z 1 Z 1
1 0
om #m4 ds B3 .s/.#m0 /3 #m ds #m ˚3 #m4 ds
36 0 0 0
Z 1 Z 1 )
1 0 1
B5 .s/.#m0 /5 #m ds B3 .s/.#m0 /2 ˚30 0 #m ds ; (6.61)
120 0 12 0
where the function ˚3 .s/ is expressed in the basis of the buckling mode shapes
f#j .s/; j D 1; 2; : : :g instead of the set of trial functions ‚j .s/: By exploiting the
orthonormality of the buckling mode shapes, ˚3 .s/ is given by
X
N Z Z
1 1 0
˚3 .s/ D
1 #m3 #j ds 1
om
B3 .s/.#m0 /3 #j ds #j .s/:
1oj =om 0 0
j D1;j ¤m
(6.62)
The two-term expansions of the rotation and displacement fields of the mth
buckling solution are obtained in the basis of the buckling mode shapes #j .s/ as
1 3 X
N
1
.s/ am #m .s/ C am
oj

6
j D1;j ¤m 1 o
m
Z Z
1
1 1 0
#m3 #j ds o B3 .s/.#m0 /3 #j ds #j .s/; (6.63)
0 m 0
Z s Z s Z s
1 2 1 1 4
u.s/ am #m2 ds C am
# ds
4
#m ˚3 ds ; (6.64)
2 0 4 0 m
6 0
Z s Z s Z s
1 3
v.s/ am #m ds C am ˚3 ds #m3 ds (6.65)
0 6 0 0
where the kinematic boundary conditions for simply supported beams, u.0/ D 0 D
v.0/; are accounted for.
On the other hand, the bending moment is obtained by integrating the equilibrium
equation (6.16) or by the constitutive function, respectively, as
Rs
M.s/ D 0 sin . /d ;

MO am B.s/#m0 .s/ C 16 am
0
3
B.s/˚30 .s/ C B3 .s/#m3 .s/ : (6.66)
Supercritical versus subcritical pitchfork bifurcations. The compressive force is

given by (6.59). Provided that N 2.m/ ¤ 0; the type of bifurcation at D om is
determined by the sign of the second-order stiffness term N 2.m/ : The bifurcation
is supercritical or subcritical depending on whether N 2.m/ is positive or negative,
respectively. According to (6.60), N 2.m/ D .N G2.m/ C N E2.m/ /=6 is the summation of a
geometric stiffness contribution N G2.m/ and a nonlinear elastic stiffness contribution
N E2.m/ given, respectively, by
Z 1 Z 1
N G2.m/ WD om #m4 ds > 0; N E2.m/ WD B3 .s/.#m0 /4 ds (6.67)
0 0
where the latter was obtained by integration by parts. For linearly elastic beams, the
nonlinear stiffness is purely geometric and strictly positive for all mI consequently,
the pitchfork bifurcations of linearly elastic compressed beams are always super-
critical.
On the other hand, the behavior of the postcritical solutions of nonlinearly
elastic beams in the neighborhood of the divergence bifurcations is governed by
the following property. The bifurcation at om is supercritical if and only if, for
N 2.m/ ¤ 0,
R1
N N j 0 B3 .s/.#m0 /4 dsj
R1
E E
either 2.m/ > 0 or 2.m/ < 0 and < om : (6.68)
# 4 ds
0 m
The bifurcation is subcritical if and only if
R1
j B3 .s/.#m0 /4 dsj
N E2.m/ < 0 and 0
R1 > om : (6.69)
4
0 #m ds
When the bifurcation is subcritical, there is a multi-valued load range where three
stable equilibria coexist with two unstable equilibria. The multi-valued range and
the amplitude of the postbuckling solution at the two fold bifurcations are given by
" # s
N 22.m/ N 2.m/
2 m o o
; m ; am D ˙ ; if N 4.m/ ¤ 0: (6.70)
2N 4.m/ 2N 4.m/
A special case occurs if N 2.m/ D 0. This implies that the signature of the
bifurcation is determined by N 4.m/ : To prove the statements, it is essential to note
that N G2.m/ > 0; 8 m.
The following examples treat beams for which B3 .s/ D b3 B.s/ and B5 .s/ D b5
R1 R1
B.s/; with bj 2 R: Since N E2.m/ D b3 0 B.s/.#m0 /4 ds and 0 B.s/ .#m0 /4 ds > 0;
the second-order elastic modal stiffness N E2.m/ is positive or negative depending on
whether b3 is positive or negative. Then, the bifurcation is supercritical if b3 > 0
and is subcritical if
R1
om #m4 ds
b3 < 0 and jb3 j > R 1 0
: (6.71)
0 B.s/.#m0 /4 ds
The convergence study of the Galerkin procedure conducted in [253] on

smoothly tapered beams for which the exact solutions are available has shown
that about ten functions are sufficient for convergence to the exact buckling load
o1 D 8 in the case of beams whose flexural stiffness is given by B.s/ D 4s.1 s/
[148].
For the postbuckling studies, linearly elastic beams are considered with linearly
varying stiffness B.s/ D .b 1/s C 1 or with polynomially varying stiffness. The
case b D 1 corresponds to a uniform beam with B D 1 whose lowest buckling load
is 2 : Therefore, to make the results meaningful, the ratio of the lowest buckling
loads of the nonuniform beams to the critical load of the uniform beam is introduced
as o1 = 2 : Similarly, in the nonlinear load range, the load is expressed as = 2 :
In Fig. 6.8a, the bifurcation diagrams for linearly elastic beams are shown
when their flexural stiffness exhibits polynomial variation. According to [146] and
[148], exact solutions of the buckling problem can be obtained by assuming, as
buckling mode shapes of the tapered beams, the deflection of a uniform beam
subject to a distributed load with a polynomial variation along the span given
by p D p0 s n . Since the buckling problem in terms of the deflection can be
formulated as B.s/v 00 .s/ C 0 v.s/ D 0; then the flexural stiffness can be obtained
as B.s/ D 0 v=v 00 :
The fundamental buckling mode shape with the associated buckling load and the
flexural stiffness are, respectively, given by
3.0 3.0
λ a b
2.0 2.0
1.0 1.0
a b=0.1 0.25 0.50
a n=4
n=2
0.75
0.0 0.0
n=0
-1.0 -1.0
-2.0 -2.0
-3.0 -3.0
0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
2
3.0
λ/π λ/π2
3.0
c w
d
2.0 2.0 s1 s2
b=0.1 w=1/10
1.0 0.25 1.0
a 0.50 0.75
1.0 a
0.0 0.0
-1.0 -1.0
w=1/3
-2.0 -2.0 w
-3.0 -3.0
0.0 0.3 0.5 0.8 1.0 1.3 1.5 0.5 0.8 1.0 1.3 1.5
λ/π2 λ/π2
Fig. 6.8 Bifurcation diagrams of linearly elastic beams with (a) linear flexural stiffness,
(b) polynomial flexural stiffness [146, 148], (c) piece-wise bending stiffness (two-stepped beam),
(d) piece-wise bending stiffness in a three-stepped beam with (solid lines) B1 D 1; B2 D b D 0:5
and (dashed lines) B1 D 1; B2 D 1:5: The thicker solid line denotes the linearly elastic uniform
beam with B D 1: Reprinted with permission [253]
48 4 2
n D 0 W v.s/ / s 4 2s 3 C s ; o1 D ; BD s C s C 1 ;
5 5
15 4 C 4s s 2 s 3 s 4
n D 2 W v.s/ / s 6 5s 3 C 4s ; o1 D ; BD ;
2 4 .s 2 C s C 1/

28 3 25 168 50 C 56s 2 6s 7
n D 4 W v.s/ / s s C s ; o1 D
8
; BD :
3 3 25 50.s 5 1/
By taking N D 15 trial functions in the Galerkin solution, the convergence is

fully achieved as shown in Fig. 6.8b. In Fig. 6.8c, the bifurcation diagrams of a two-
stepped beam are shown for various ratios b of the weaker to the stronger bending
stiffness.
Moreover, three-stepped beams (symmetric with respect to the midspan) are
considered in Fig. 6.8d with the inner segment having length w: In the first case,
the stiffness distribution is B1 D 1 D B3 and B2 D bI in the second case (dashed
lines), B1 D 1 D B3 and B2 D 1 C b: In Fig. 6.8d, the beam with a smaller inner
0.8
0.6
S2
0.4 S1
0.2
L
a 0.0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
λ
-0.8
0.647 0.648 0.649 λ 0.650 0.651 0.652
Fig. 6.9 Bifurcation diagrams with (L) linear, (S1) (b3 D 0:099, b5 D 0:1) and (S2) (b3 D
0:099, b5 D 0:05) softening elastic materials. Reprinted with permission [253]
segment, likely representative of a damaged beam, exhibits a higher buckling load

with respect to the beam with a longer inner segment, as expected. The same trend
is observed in the second case although the buckling loads are appreciably smaller
than in the first case. The postbuckling behavior is more sensitive to the length of the
weaker segment than the buckling load is. The presence of a stiffer inner segment
causes a significant increase in the buckling load while the postbuckling stiffness
increases only slightly.
Nonlinearly elastic tapered beams. The role of the constitutive function on the
postbuckling behavior is investigated on a two-stepped beam made of a nonlinearly
elastic material. The range of b3 was determined according to (6.71) in the
constitutive function for the bending moment so that the bifurcation turns out to be
subcritical. Two curves are calculated corresponding to two different values of b5 :
As shown in Fig. 6.9, the bifurcation is subcritical and the load range of coexisting
solutions increases with decreasing b5 because the coefficient N 4.m/ decreases,
hence, the fold bifurcation points shift to the left of the subcritical bifurcation point
according to (6.70). The constitutive functions for the considered values of b3 and
b5 are both softening. The decrease in the postbuckling stiffness caused by the
softening elastic restoring moment overcomes the increase in the geometric stiffness
when the beam buckles, thus, resulting in locally unstable buckled solutions and in
the sudden jumps to far-away buckled configurations.
6.2 Flexural–Torsional Buckling of Open Thin-Walled Beams 389
6.2 Flexural–Torsional Buckling of Open

Thin-Walled Beams
An outline of the basic elements of the theory of elastic stability of thin-walled open-
section beams is presented. To this end, the fundamentals of the Saint–Venant theory
of uniform torsion are recollected before moving towards an outline of the theory of
nonuniform torsion of Vlasov [452]. A variational formulation is employed to obtain
the linearized equations of equilibrium for thin-walled open-section beams under
diverse loading conditions: end load, bending couples, shear forces, and distributed
forces. However, the reader only interested in the equations governing the flexural–
torsional equilibrium problem of thin-walled beams can defer the reading of these
in-depth outlooks and move to Sect. 6.3. Several interesting cases of global flexural–
torsional buckling are discussed while treatments of local buckling can be found in
dedicated monographs (e.g., cf. [97, 364]).
Uniform torsion of beams. A variety of formulations and computational ap-
proaches to the Saint–Venant problem are discussed in [252]. Here, the formulation
for uniform torsion of elastic cylinders is based on treating the torsional rotation 3
and the warping function w as the leading kinematic variables. Let x D x3 denote
the coordinate along the e 3 -axis and .x/ D 3 .x/e 3 be the infinitesimal torsional
rotation about e 3 . If the torsional rotation is considered to occur about the beam cen-
terline, the displacement of the beam [288] can be expressed as uQ D uN C u3 e 3 with
uN D x;
N N D 3 w.x/
u3 .x/ N with D 3 xe 3 (6.72)
where 3 D 30 (the prime indicates differentiation with respect to x) describes

the torsional curvature and w is the warping function per unit torsional curvature,
referred to the center of mass of the cross section. uN and u3 are the in-plane and
out-of-plane displacements of the material points of the beam cross section whose
position is given by x D xN C x3 e 3 .
The nontrivial components of the stress tensor S D Sij e i e j can be obtained
from the constitutive laws for linearly hyperelastic, isotropic materials as S13 D
G13 and S23 D G23 , where 13 and 23 are the shear strains between material
fibers collinear with .e 1 ; e 3 / and .e 2 ; e 3 /; respectively. Since uN 0 D 30 e 3 xN D
3 e 3 x;
N the shear straindisplacement relationships can be written as
13 D @1 u3 C u01 D 3 .r w C e 3 x/
N e1; (6.73)
23 D @2 u3 C u02 D 3 .r w C e 3 x/
N e2 (6.74)
where @˛ ./ WD @./=@x˛ and r is the del vector.

The cross-sectional stress vector t D S13 e 1 C S23 e 2 C S33 e 3 can be expressed
as t D C S33 e 3 where is the shear stress vector D S13 e 1 C S23 e 2 D
G3 .r w C e 3 x/;
N so that the equilibrium equation r D 0 together with
the boundary condition m D 0 (m is the unit vector normal to the contour @S
Fig. 6.10 Cross section of a x2

thin-walled beam: center of
torsion, sectorial areas O
referred to the center of mass
C and to the center of s
torsion C T
T
C xT C x1
x
ds dΩ
dΩT
b(s)
s=a
of the cross-sectional domain S) leads to the following Neumann problem for the
warping function w.x1 ; x2 / W
r 2 w D 0; xN 2 S
@w
D .m x/
N e 3 D m1 x2 m2 x1 ; xN 2 @S (6.75)
@m
where m D m1 e 1 C m2 e 2 and @w=@m D r w m is the directional derivative of w

along m. The coordinates of the center of torsion are obtained as
Z Z
1 1
x1T WD w.x1 ; x2 / x2 dA; x2T WD w.x1 ; x2 / x1 dA: (6.76)
J1 S J2 S
For thin-walled open-section beams, the relatively small thickness allows vari-
ations of the warping function w across the thickness to be neglected. Hence, by
considering the centerline C of the cross-section domain (see Fig. 6.10) and the
arclength coordinate s along C; the warping function per unit curvature turns out
to depend only on s: Since the shear stress vanishes on the centerline,
D G3 .r w C e 3 x/
N D o; (6.77)
the gradient of w along the centerline can be expressed accordingly as
dw D r w ads D .e 3 x/
N ads D .xN ads/ e 3 D r.s/ds D 2d˝ (6.78)
6.2 Flexural–Torsional Buckling of Open Thin-Walled Beams 391
where dsa is the arclength element in the tangential direction a to C at s, d˝ is the

sectorial area spanned by the vector xN when its end point traces ads: The warping
function can be expressed to within an arbitrary constant as w.s/ D 2˝.s/:
Therefore, by letting dA D b.s/ds, the center of torsion can be calculated as
Z Z
2 2
x1T WD ˝.s/ x2 .s/b.s/ds; x2T WD ˝.s/ x1 .s/b.s/ds: (6.79)
J1 C J2 C
The warping function per unit curvature is more conveniently expressed by
employing the center of torsion xN T as base point. The in-plane displacement is
uN D .xN xN T /I hence,
dwT D Œ.xN xN T / ads e 3 D rT .s/ds D 2d˝ T (6.80)
where wT denotes the warping function referred to the center ofR torsion, obtained as
wT D 2˝ T C wo : The constant wo can be chosen such that S wT dA D 0 (i.e., it
amounts to choosing a suitable origin for the arclength coordinate); thus the warping
function becomes
wT D 2.˝N T ˝ T / (6.81)
where ˝N T denotes the average value of the function ˝ T on S.
Nonuniform torsion. There are situations in which the warping of the cross
section is prevented or there are cases in which distributed torques are applied
along the beam axis causing nonuniform torsion. In these cases, a self-equilibrated
longitudinal stress arises and, due to the longitudinal equilibrium, a secondary shear
stress (2) is generated. Since the torsional curvature is no longer uniform, the out-
of-plane displacement u3 .x; s/ D 30 .x/wT .s/ varies with x and this gives rise to
longitudinal elongations and normal stresses expressed as
E33 D 300 .x/wT .s/; S33 D E300 wT : (6.82)
The equilibrium in the e 3 -direction leads to the following expression of the

secondary shear force per unit length:
Z s Z s
0 00 0
q(2) D
(2) b D S33 bd D .E3 / wT b d : (6.83)
0 0
A secondary torque (reduced to the center of torsion and assuming uniform beam
properties) is then obtained as
Z Z
T(2) D .xN xN T / q2 ads e 3 D q2 rT ds D E 3000 ; (6.84)
C C
where a is the length of the cross-section centerline C spanned by the arclength s

and the constant known as the warping rigidity is given by
Z
D ŒwT .s/2 dA: (6.85)
S
By summing the elastic torque due to uniform torsion and the torque due to
nonuniform torsion, the resultant torque is expressed2 as
T D GJ3 30 E 3000 : (6.86)
Warping rigidity. For a beam subject to couples c per unit reference length, the
first-order moment equilibrium T 0 C c D 0 about the beam axis yields
E 30000 GJ3 300 D c: (6.87)
For uniform torsion, the warping-related term in (6.87) is dropped and the boundary
conditions prescribe either 3 D0 (fixed torsional rotation) or GJ3 30 D 0 when the
torsional rotation is free.
When nonuniform torsion occurs, additional boundary conditions are needed.
A constraint that prevents torsional rotation but allows the out-of-plane warping
is known as the torsional restraint. The boundary conditions require the torsional
rotation and normal stress to vanish, thus 3 D0 and E 300 D0. The additional
stiffness introduced by the warping rigidity is appreciated by integrating the
governing equation (6.87) of a beam subject to uniform twisting couples c and
torsional restraints at the ends as shown in the next example.
Example 6.3 (Beam with torsional restraints subject to uniform twisting couples).
In this example, the importance of warping rigidity is quantified in the case of
a uniform beam with torsional restraints and subject to uniform twisting couples.
Equation (6.87) is integrated with D 0 thus obtaining

1 cl 2 x x2
(1)
3 D 2 : (6.88)
2 GJ3 l l
The integration of (6.87), with the boundary conditions 3 D 0 and 300 D 0, yields
cl 2 h pT x p x
i p
3 D 3(1) C e l C e T .1 l / =.1 C e T / (6.89)
GJ3 T
where T WD GJ3 l 2 =.E / quantifies the torsional slenderness.
2
Note that in applications Young’s modulus seldom varies across the span, hence this term becomes
.E 300 /00 .
6.3 The Equations for Flexural–Torsional Buckling 393
a b
0.08 80
C 310x31
0.06 60
%
0.04 40
CT C
0.02 20
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 0 20 40 60 80 100
x λT
Fig. 6.11 (a) Torsional rotation of a C-shaped (310 x 31) beam (span l D 4 m) subject to
torsional couple c D 500 Nm/m without the warping rigidity (thin line) and with the warping
rigidity (thick line); (b) percent difference of the rotation at the midspan calculated by considering
the warping rigidity with respect to that calculated without warping rigidity. Beam properties:
GJ3 D 10699 Nm2 ; E D 6098 Nm4 , and T D 43:9
The effects of the greater torsional stiffness are such that the rotations are smaller
with respect to those calculated by the theory of uniform torsion. The ratio between
3 and 3(1) at the midspan section is

p 2
p
3 =3(1) D 1 .8=T / e T =2 1 = 1 C e T < 1: (6.90)
In Fig. 6.11a, the torsional rotation is shown for a steel beam (C 310 x 31) subject
to a torsional couple c D 500 Nm/m. In Fig. 6.11b, the percent ratio 3 =3(1) at the
midspan vs. T is shown. The torsional rotation is 83 % of that calculated assuming
uniform torsion. For beams with high torsional slenderness, the effect of warping
rigidity becomes practically negligible.
6.3 The Equations for Flexural–Torsional Buckling
The prestress state in the beam is induced by an end compressive force P; bending
couples m.x/ D M1 .x/e 1 C M2 .x/e 2 ; and forces f.x/ per unit reference length
whose line of action goes through an arbitrary point denoted by Q.
The linearized equilibrium can be shown to be governed by the following
boundary-value problem:
.EJ2 u001 /00 C P .u01 C x2T 30 /0 C .M1 3 /00 D 0; (6.91)
.EJ1 u002 /00 C P .u02 x1T 30 /0 C .M2 3 /00 D 0; (6.92)

.E 300 /00 .GJ3 30 /0 C P ŒrT2 30 C x2T u01 x1T u02 0
ŒM1 .C1 30 /0 C .M1 3 /00 C1 ŒM2 .C2 30 /0 C .M2 3 /00 C2

CM1 u001 C M2 u002 C .x1Q x1T /f1 C .x2Q x2T /f2 3 D 0 (6.93)
together with the pertinent boundary conditions. In (6.91)(6.93), .u1 ; u2 / are the
components of the deflection uN T of the center of torsion, a deflection which is fully
coupled with the torsion 3 . The superscript T is dropped for ease of notation. On
the other hand, .x1Q ; x2Q / are the coordinates of Q through which the external forces
f are applied.
The coefficients C1 and C2 , referred to as shape coefficients of the cross section,
are defined according to
Z Z
1 1
C1 WD x2T C .xN x/x
N 2 dA; C2 WD x1T .xN x/x
N 1 dA (6.94)
2J1 S 2J2 S
p C
while rT WD J3 =A C xN T xN T is the torsional radius of gyration.
Derivation of the governing equations from the energy. The flexural/torsional
coupling effects are taken into account by considering the change from the reference
configuration to the adjacent configuration and calculating the associated total
energy [363]. The prestress state is given by
P M1 .x/ M2 .x/
o
S33 D C x2 x1 ; o D S13
o
e 1 C S23
o
e2: (6.95)
A J1 J2
The
strain state
is described by the Green–Lagrange strain tensor E D
.r u/| C r u =2 C r u .r u/| =2 whose first-order part is the infinitesimal
strain tensor having as the only nontrivial component the longitudinal elongation
(1) WD E33(1)
due to bending and nonuniform torsion:
(1) D . N 3 C300 wT D 2 x1 C1 x2 C300 wT D u001 x1 u002 x2 C300 wT : (6.96)

N x/e
The linearized straindisplacement relationships for the bending curvatures of an

unshearable beam have been employed in the form: 1 D u002 and 2 D u001 . The
second-order part of E is
.2/ 1 @Quk @Quk
Eij D (6.97)
2 @xi @xj
where uQ is the three-dimensional displacement field expressed as uQ D u.
N x;
N x/ C
N x/e 3 with
u3 .x;
Q x;
u. N x/ D uN C .xN xN T /; N x/ D 30 wT :
u3 .x; (6.98)
Recall that uN is the deflection of the center of torsion in the .e 1 ; e 2 /– plane.

The components of the second-order part of the Green–Lagrange deformation

tensor are
1 1
(2)
E11 D .Qu021 Cu Q 02
2 Cu Q 02
3 /; E13 (2)
D .Qu01 @1 uQ 1 C uQ 02 @1 uQ 2 C uQ 03 @1 uQ 3 /;
2 2
1
(2)
E23 D .Qu01 @2 uQ 1 C uQ 02 @2 uQ 2 C uQ 03 @2 uQ 3 /: (6.99)
2
The gradients with respect to x of the longitudinal displacement, compared with
those of the in-plane displacements, are considered of higher order. Moreover, let
.2/ .2/
the shear strain ij D 2Eij so that
1 02
(2) .Qu C uQ 02
2 /;
(2)
13 uQ 01 @1 uQ 1 C uQ 02 @1 uQ 2 ; 23
(2)
uQ 01 @2 uQ 1 C uQ 02 @2 uQ 2 : (6.100)
2 1
The nonlinear straindisplacement relationships, in terms of the generalized
N
displacements .u.x/; .x//, are obtained by substituting (6.98) into (6.100).
Total potential energy. The total potential energy V is expressed as V D V E C
V G W where V E and V G are the elastic and the geometric potential energies,
respectively, while W is the work of the conservative loads. The elastic energy is
Z Z
1 1 l
V D
E
E. / dV C
(1) 2
GJ3 302 dx
2 B 2 0
Z
1 lh i
D EJ2 u002 002 00 2
1 C EJ1 u2 C E 3 C GJ3 3 dx
02
(6.101)
2 0
where (1) is given by (6.96).
The geometric potential energy is the work of the prestresses in the second-order
components of the strain tensor expressed as
Z Z Z
VG D Sijo Eij(2) dV D o
S33 (2) dV C o (2) dV
B B B
Z l
D VN G ŒS33
o
C VN G . o / dx (6.102)
0
where (2) D 13

(2)
e 1 C23 (2)
e 2 ; VN G ŒS33o
is the potential energy per unit reference length
associated with the longitudinal prestress S33 o
while VN G Œ o is the potential energy
per unit reference length associated with the shear stresses o . Consequently,
Z Z

1
VN G ŒS33
o
D S33o
(2) dA D PA C MJ1 .x/ x 2 M2 .x/
J2
x1
S 2 S 1
n h
u02 1 C u 02
2 C . 0 2
3 / .x 1 x T 2
1 / C .x 2 x2
T 2
/ C 2 0 0
3 u2 .x1 x1 /
T
io
u01 .x2 x2T / dA D P2 u02 02 0 2 2 0 0 T
1 C u2 C .3 / rT C 23 .u1 x2 u2 x1 /
0 T

CM1 30 C1 30 u01 C M2 30 C2 30 u02 : (6.103)
The potential energy per unit reference length associated with o becomes
Z n
o
VN G Œ o D
1o 3 u02 C 30 .x1 x1T /
2o 3 u01 30 .x2 x2T / dA: (6.104)
S
The integral equilibrium conditions at the end cross sections, the local equilibrium
without distributed couples together with the boundary and global equilibrium
conditions:
Z Z
0
S13 dA D Q1 D M2 ;
o o
S23 dA D Q2 D M10 ;
S S
0
r D .S33 / on S;
o o
o m D 0 on @S (6.105)
are used to solve (6.104). Q1 and Q2 are the shear forces in the e 1 and e 2 directions,
respectively. Consequently, (6.104) becomes
Z
VN G Œ o D 3 .u01 M10 Cu02 M20 /C3 30 .x1T M20 x2T M10 /C3 30 o xdA:
N (6.106)
S
The last integral in (6.106) is reduced making use of the following identity:
1 1
o xN D r Œ.xN x/
N o .xN x/r
N o: (6.107)
2 2
By applying the Divergence Theorem, the equilibrium condition at the beam end
o 0
together with r o D .S33 / D M10 =J1 x2 C M20 =J2 x1 and with (6.94), gives
Z Z Z
1 1 o 0
o xdA
N D .xN x/.
N o
m/ds C .xN x/.S
N 33 / dA
S 2 @S 2 S
Z
1 o 0 0 0
D .xN x/.S
N 33 / dA D M1 .C1 C x2 / C M2 .C2 x1 /:
T T
(6.108)
2 S
The latter equation is then substituted into (6.106) to obtain

VN G Œ o D M10 .C1 30 u01 / C M20 .C2 30 u02 / 3 : (6.109)
Finally, the overall potential energy per unit length can be expressed as

VN G D P2 u02 02 02 2 0 0 T 0 T
1 C u2 C 3 rT C 23 .u1 x2 u2 x1 /
C.M1 3 /0 ŒC1 30 u01 C .M2 3 /0 ŒC2 30 u02 : (6.110)
The sum of the elastic and geometric parts of the potential energy, V D V E C V G ,
thus becomes
Z l
V D 1
2 EJ2 u002 002 002 02
1 C EJ1 u2 C E 3 C GJ 3 dx
0
Z l
12 P u02 02 02 2 0 0 T 0 T
1 C u2 C 3 rT C 23 .u1 x2 u2 x1 / dx
0
Z l ˚
C .M1 3 /0 ŒC1 30 u01 C .M2 3 /0 ŒC2 30 u02 dx: (6.111)
0
The work of the forces f.x/ reduced to the centerline is expressed as

Z l
W D f uN Q dx (6.112)
0
where uN Q is the displacement of the point Q through which the external forces are
applied. If x Q is the position vector of Q with respect to C , then the position vector
of Q with respect to the center of torsion C T is xN Q D x Q xN T . Point Q moves to
the new position QM under the rotation 3 of the cross section about C T so that the
associated displacement is uN Q D xM Q xN Q where xM Q is the position vector of point
QM with respect to C T . By considering the two-dimensional rotation tensor

cos 3 sin 3
R.x/ D ; (6.113)
sin 3 cos 3
the displacement uN Q D .R I/ xN Q has the following components:
uQ1 D .cos 3 1/.x1Q x1T / sin 3 .x2Q x2T /;

uQ2 D sin 3 .x1Q x1T / C .cos 3 1/.x2Q x2T /: (6.114)
The work of the external forces is obtained through the Taylor expansion of (6.114)
up to second-order terms as
Z l
Q
W (2) D 12 .x1 x1T /f1 C .x2Q x2T /f2 32 dx: (6.115)
0
The stationarity of the potential energy V D V E C V G W leads to (6.91)(6.93).
6.3.1 Types of Flexural–Torsional Buckling for Open-Section

Thin-Walled Beams
There are various scenarios of flexural/torsional buckling for open-section thin-

walled beams depending on the loading condition and shape of the cross sections.
Two significant loading cases are considered: compressive terminal force and
bending couples applied to the beam ends.
6.3.1.1 Compressive Terminal Force
For uniform beams, (6.91)(6.93) with M1 D0DM2 and f D o become
EJ2 u0000 00 T 00
1 C P .u1 C x2 3 / D 0; EJ1 u0000 00 T 00
2 C P .u2 x1 3 / D 0;
E 30000 GJ3 300 C P ŒrT2 300 C x2T u001 x1T u002 D 0: (6.116)
Simply supported beams with torsional restraints at the supports are considered
for which the boundary conditions are
u1 D 0 D u2 ; EJ1 u002 D 0 D EJ2 u001 ; 3 D 0 D E 300 : (6.117)
A general solution of (6.116) and (6.117) can be expressed as
u1 D U1 sin.nx= l/; u2 D U2 sin.nx= l/; 3 D U3 sin.nx= l/: (6.118)
By substituting (6.118) into (6.116), the following (symmetric) algebraic eigenvalue

problem is obtained:
2 32 3 2 3
P2(n) P 0 P x2T U1 0
4 0 P1 P
(n) T
P x1 5 4 U2 5 D 4 05 (6.119)
P x2 T
P x1 .P P /rT
T (n) 2
U3 0
where
EJ1 2 2 EJ2 n2 2 E = l 2 C GJ3

P1(n) WD n2 2 ; P2
(n)
WD n ; P
(n)
WD : (6.120)
l2 l2 rT2
The critical buckling load is expected to occur for n D 1: Let .P1 ; P2 ; P /

denote the values that .P1(n) ; P2(n) ; P(n) / take when n D 1: .P1 ; P2 / represent the
critical buckling loads which can induce a purely bending buckling in the .e 2 ; e 3 /-
and .e 1 ; e 3 /-planes, respectively.
Nontrivial solutions of (6.119) exist if and only if the determinant of the
coefficient matrix becomes zero, a condition that leads to the characteristic equation
F .P / D .P1 P /.P2 P /.P P /

2 2
x1T =rT .P2 P /P 2 x2T =rT .P1 P /P 2 D 0: (6.121)
The critical load, denoted by Po ; is the smallest root of (6.121).

For bisymmetric cross sections, (6.121) reduces to
F .P / D .P1 P /.P2 P /.P P / D 0 (6.122)

since the center of torsion coincides with the center of mass (i.e., x1T D0Dx2T ). Thus
bending/torsional uncoupling occurs. There is a purely bending or purely torsional
buckling mode at each individual load level P1 ; P2 ; or P , respectively. The critical
load Po DminfP1 ; P2 ; P g corresponds to the Eulerian load since P > Pk for
k D 1; 2. Thus bending buckling occurs along the weakest inertia plane.
For a generic, nonsymmetric cross section, bending/torsional coupling triggers
a mixed bending/torsional buckling at a critical load which turns out to be smaller
than the Eulerian critical load of the purely bending mode since it can be shown that3
Po <minfP1 ; P2 ; P g: The critical load depends on the degree of bending/torsional
coupling. To calculate the critical buckling mode shape, the eigenvector .U1 ; U2 ; U3 /
is obtained from (6.119) with P D Po .
Monosymmetric cross sections. The center of torsion of monosymmetric cross
sections lies on the axis of symmetry. Thus x1T D 0 or x2T D 0: If x2 is the axis of
symmetry, the characteristic equation (6.121) is factorized according to
2
F .P / D .P1 P / .P2 P /.P P / x2T =rT P 2 D 0 (6.123)
whose solutions are

h p i
P D P1 ; P1 D .P2 C P / .P2 C P /2 4KP2 P =.2K/ (6.124)
2
where K WD 1 x2T =rT is the bending/torsional coupling factor. The coupling
refers to the bending effect about the axis of symmetry e 2 (the plane of deflection
corresponds to the .e 1 ; e 3 /-plane) and torsion. Similarly, it can be shown that Po <
minfP2 ; P g for the coupled problem. The critical buckling mode shape can be
expressed as
x2T Po
u1 .x/ D a sin x= l; u2 .x/ D 0; 3 D a sin x= l (6.125)
P2 Po
where a is a constant that can be determined by the normalization condition.

However, if P1 D minfP1 ; P2 ; P g; the critical load becomes Po D P1 (bending
buckling), and the corresponding mode is a purely bending mode in the .e 2 ; e 3 /-
plane of symmetry. This happens if the axis of symmetry corresponds to the
strongest inertia axis. This phenomenon is illustrated in Example 6.4.
2 2
3
Note that F .0/ D P1 P2 P ; F .P1 / D x1T =rT .P1 P2 /P12 ; F .P2 / D x2T =rT .P1 P2 /P22 :
Thus, if the case P1 < P2 is considered, since F .0/ > 0 and F .P1 / < 0; it follows that Po < P1 :
On the other hand, if P2 < P1 ; as a consequence of F .0/ > 0 and F .P2 / < 0; it follows that
Po < P2 :
Fig. 6.12 Buckling frontier M2

of a beam whose cross
section has an axis of
symmetry collinear with x1
F
M2o Q+o
O
M1o M1
Q−o
6.3.1.2 Terminal Bending Couples
The governing equations for the case of end couples and uniform beam proper-
ties are
EJ2 u0000 00
1 C M1 3 D 0; EJ1 u0000 00
2 C M2 3 D 0;
E 30000 .GJ3 C 2C1 M1 C 2C2 M2 /300 C M1 u001 C M2 u002 D 0: (6.126)
The solution of a simply supported beam with torsional restraints has the form
(6.118). The eigenvalue problem for n D 1 becomes
2 32 3 2 3
P2 0 M1 U1 0
4 0 P1 M2 5 4 U2 5 D 4 0 5 (6.127)
M1 M2 2.C1 M1 C C2 M2 / C rT P2
U3 0
whose associated characteristic equation is
M12 M2
F .M1 ; M2 / D C 2 2C1 M1 2C2 M2 rT 2 P D 0: (6.128)
P2 P1
This equation describes an ellipse in the .M1 ; M2 /-plane (see Fig. 6.12), which
is called the buckling frontier, with the principal axes parallel to M1 D0 and
M2 D0: In general, given the destabilizing couple mDM1 e 1 C M2 e 2 ; whose axis
is m=jmj, this loading condition is mapped into the point Q of the .M1 ; M2 /-
plane. If the intensity of the couple increases while the moment axis is kept
fixed, the critical condition is reached when the line OQ intersects the buckling
frontier at points Q˙ ˙
o which correspond to the couples mo : In general, the critical
bending/torsional buckling mode with .u1 ; u2 ; / ¤ .0; 0; 0/ occurs in the form of
Fig. 6.13 U-shaped beam of a b

Example 6.4: (a) critical x2
buckling mode shape (purely
flexural) and (b) second
t
(bending/torsional) buckling
mode
w C C
d
x1
bending buckling along a deviated bending plane and twisting about the torsional
axis. Since U2 =U1 D .J2 =J1 /.M2 =M1 /; the angle between the bending plane and
the x1 axis is arctanŒ.J2 =J1 /.M2 =M1 /:
The intersections of the buckling frontier with the axes M1 and M2 give the
critical couples .M1o ; M2o / which represent the buckling couples about the principal
axes and which induce plane bending accompanied by twisting. The critical
couples are
q q
M1o D C1 P2 ˙ C12 P22 C rT 2 P2 P ; M2o D C2 P1 ˙ C22 P12 C rT 2 P1 P :
(6.129)
For monosymmetric cross sections, one of the shape coefficients vanishes. For
example, consider the axis of symmetry x2 ; then C2 D 0 and the critical moment
becomes
q

M2o D ˙ EJ1 2 =l 2 E C GJ3 : (6.130)
l
Moreover, by neglecting (as for the case of L- and T-shaped cross sections), the
critical moment becomes that given by Prandtl’s formula:
p
M2o D ˙ EJ1 GJ3 : (6.131)
l
Example 6.4 (Flexural/torsional buckling of a U-shaped beam).
Consider a simply supported (torsionally restrained) steel U-shaped beam
(UPN160) (see Fig. 6.13) with a span l D 5 m and the following material and
geometric properties: E D 210 GPa, D 0:3, d D 160 mm, b D 65 mm,
t D 10:5 mm, w D 7:5 mm. The buckling loads and mode shapes are computed for
the cases of compressive force and bending couples applied on the beam ends. The
computations of the geometric cross section properties give: A D 2:407 103 mm2 ;
J1 D 9:25 106 mm4 ; J2 D 0:85 106 mm4 ; J3 D 6:84 104 mm4 ; x1C D 18:4 mm,
x1T D 38:4 mm, rT D 75:4 mm. The cross-sectional warping rigidity and the shape
coefficients are D 3:76 109 mm6 ; C1 D 0, and C2 D 82:93 mm.
Useful approximate formulas for the computations of the polar moment of
inertia, the warping rigidity and the center of torsion are
1 3
J3 D 2b t C d w3 ; b D b w=2;
3
1 1 1
D .d /2 .b /3 t .1 3/ C 2 1 C d w=.b t/ ;
6 2 6

D 1= 2 C .d w/=.3b t/ ; x1 D x C b w=2; d D d t:
T C
(6.132)
An accurate calculation of the shear center, the warping rigidity, and shape
coefficients was carried out by computing via finite elements the warping functions,
respectively, referred to the center of mass and to the shear center. In particular, the
warping function referred to the center of mass is calculated according to (6.75)
which is then used in (6.76) to obtain the coordinates of the center of torsion. These
coordinates are thus used to compute the shape coefficients and the torsional radius
of gyration according to (6.94). Moreover, by employing the warping function wT
referred to the center of torsion, the straightforward integration of .wT /2 yields
the warping rigidity as in (6.85). The results of these computations are: x1T D
39:59 mm, rT D 76:44 mm, C2 D 82:49 mm, D 3:86 109 mm6 :
Compressive force. For this beam, the calculation of .P1(1) ; P2(1) ; P(1) / yields P1(1) D
776:87 kN; P2(1) D 70:55 kN, P(1) D 1025:75 kN. The characteristic equation is
.70:55 P /Œ.776:87 P /.1025:75 P / 0:259 P 2 D 0 (6.133)
which gives the three roots P D .70:55; 580:53; 1853:37/ kN.

The critical buckling load Po is the lowest of the three, hence 70.55 kN, which
coincides with P2 ; that is the buckling mode with bending in the .e 1 ; e 3 /-plane of
symmetry. The buckling mode is u1 .x/=U1 sin x= l , u2 .x/ D 0, .x/ D 0: The
second buckling mode is a bending/torsional mode attained for P D 580:53 kN.
Terminal bending couples. The characteristic equation is
M12 M22
C C 0:166M2 5:832 D 0: (6.134)
70:55 776:87
The critical moments about e 1 are M1o D ˙20:283 kNm while the critical moments
about e 2 are: M2o D 157:598 kNm and M2o D 28:746 kNm. The buckling frontier
is made nondimensional by dividing the moments by the critical moment M1o D
20:283 kNm thus obtaining the ellipse in the (M1 , M2 )-plane of Fig. 6.15a.
Example 6.5 (Flexural/torsional buckling of an I-shaped beam).

The material and geometric features of the I-shaped beam (see Fig. 6.14a) with span
l D 5 m are as follows: E D 210 GPa, D 0:3, b1 D 150 mm, s1 D 10 mm,
b2 D 50 mm, s2 D 7 mm, h D 200 mm, t D 5 mm. The area properties
are: A D 2765 mm2 , J1 D 1:5198 107 mm4 ; J2 D 2:8854 106 mm4 , J3 D
.b1 s13 C b2 s23 C h t 3 /=3 D 6:3342104 mm4 , rT D 97:367 mm, C1 D 81:26 mm,
D .h2 b23 s2 /=12 D 2:606 109 mm6 where D 1=Œ1 C .b2 =b1 /3 s2 =s1 D 0:97
and h D h .s1 C s2 /=2. The distance of the shear center from the lower flange
turns out to be
P3 i i
i D1 EJx2 x2
x2 D P3
T
D 193:07 mm
i D1 EJx2
i
where Jx12 ; Jx22 ; Jx32 are the second area moments of the various rectangles com-
posing the I-shaped domain with respect to x1 , collinear with the lower flange.
The distance of the center of mass from the lower flange is 138:85 mm, hence the
coordinate of the center of torsion with respect to C is x2T D 54:22 mm.
The finite element computations of the center of torsion, torsional radius of
gyration, the shape coefficients, and the warping rigidity give: x2T D 51:23 mm,
rT D 95:73 mm, C1 D 78:23 mm, and D 2:64 109 mm6 .
Compressive force. The calculations yield P1 D 1258:78 kN, P2 D 239:13 kN,
and P D 562:43 kN. The characteristic equation (6.128) gives the critical load
P o D 203:40 kN < minfP1(1) ; P2(1) ; P(1) g D 239:13 kN: (6.135)
The critical buckling mode shape is a bending/torsional mode with .u1 ; 3 / ¤ .0; 0/
shown in Fig. 6.14b and in Fig. 6.14c.
Terminal bending couples. For the case of generic orientation of the couple m;
the characteristic equation (6.128) becomes
M12 M22
C C 0:162M1 5:33 D 0: (6.136)
239:13 1258:78
The critical moments, calculated by the approximate formulas, are M2o D
˙81:92 kNm about e 2 while the critical moments about e 1 are: M1o D
60:08 kNm and M1o D 21:22 kNm. The same critical moments calculated by
finite elements are M2o D ˙80:55 kNm about e 2 while the critical moments about
e 1 are: M1o D 58:49 kNm and M1o D 21:07 kNm. The approximate formulas
overestimate the critical moment by about 1 %.
The buckling frontier is made nondimensional by dividing the moments by the
critical moment M1o D 21:22 kNm thus obtaining the ellipse in the (M1 , M2 )-plane
of Fig. 6.15b.
Special loading conditions. There are special loading conditions for which the
solutions can be found in dedicated monographs. Figure 6.16a shows the case of
a x2
b1
s1
x1
t h
s2
c
b2
b
Fig. 6.14 (a) Geometry of an I-beam with unequal flanges, (b) two-dimensional and (c) three-
dimensional view of the critical bending/torsional mode shape
M2 M2
a M2o
2
b
4
M2o
-M1o M1o M1
-2 -1 1 2
M2
2
-2
M1o M1o M1
-3 -2 -1 M1o 1
-4
-2
-6
-M2o
-4
o
8 M2
Fig. 6.15 Buckling frontiers in the .M1 ; M2 /-plane for the U- and I-shaped beams of Exam-
ples 6.4 and 6.5
6.4 Parametric Resonance of Beams 405
a d
l
b e
Fig. 6.16 Special loading cases and boundary conditions of technical interest: (a) terminal
bending couples, (b) uniform load, (c) point force at the midspan, (d) end point force, (e) uniform
load. In parts ac, the beam is simply supported with torsional restraints, in parts de, the beams
are cantilevered
a simply supported beam with torsional restraints at the supports. In this case,
p bending is restrained. The critical moment, neglecting , is
the out-of-plane
Mo D 2= l EJ2 GJ3 . Consequently, the Prandtl critical moment is doubled
once the bending constraint is added. Figure 6.16b–e show loading cases which
lead to variable prestress moments across the span. Hence, these cases are rep-
resented by boundary-eigenvalue problems with variable coefficients which have
a significantly more complex solution. For these cases, nonelementary functions,
such as the Bessel functions,
p are used accordingly. The solutions are always given
as Mo D ¦.T /=l 2 EJ2 GJ3 where the factor ¦ is given as a function of the
torsional slenderness T for different application points of the force and for various
constraints.
6.4 Parametric Resonance of Beams
The phenomenon of parametric resonance occurs in physical systems when the

coefficients of the governing partial differential equations of motion exhibit suitable
periodic variations. In the specific context of mechanics, the parametric resonance
of beams has been studied by a significant number of authors (e.g., cf. [386]).
The parametric resonance of a column under time-dependent axial loading was
studied in [151]. In a series of theoretical and experimental studies on parametrically
excited cantilever beams it was shown that inertia and curvature nonlinearities have
a significant influence on the nonlinear characteristics of the frequency-response
function. The geometric nonlinearities give rise to a hardening effect, whereas the
inertia nonlinearities induce a softening effect [334, 471]. In particular, the effects
of a tip mass and air drag (quadratic damping) on parametrically excited cantilever
b2 b1
e2 e2o B
r(s,t)
ro(s,t) B P (t)
O e1 e1o s m
uo (t)
Fig. 6.17 Stress-free configuration B and deformed configuration BM under the end thrust P .t / and
base excitation uo .t /
beams were investigated in theoretical and experimental works such as [16, 470],
which showed that, without the tip mass [16], there is no overhang in the frequency-
response curve because quadratic damping has a large effect. On the other hand,
when the tip mass is relatively heavy, there is overhang due to the attenuated
influence of quadratic damping: two saddle-node bifurcations appear where the
jumps occur.
The nonlinear characteristics of simply supported elastic beams with a tip mass
subject to the principal parametric resonance of the lowest bending modes were
investigated both theoretically and experimentally in [205, 247]. In particular, the
effect of a tip mass on the nonlinear characteristics of the frequency-response curves
was considered. Moreover, the parametric resonance of the lowest skew-symmetric
bending mode was studied in [247] where a nonlinear active control strategy was
devised to suppress the dynamic instability.
Equations of motion. Before delving into the study of parametric resonance,
some interesting modeling aspects are discussed such as the fact that if a relaxed
(extensible, shearable, flexible) model of beams is considered, the time-varying
thrust force does not appear as a time-dependent coefficient of the governing
equations of motion. This gives rise to the fundamental question as to how it is
possible to recognize the potential for instabilities from the mere chosen form of the
equations of motion [260]. The equations of planar motion for a relaxed beam are
ns .s; t/ D %Ar t t .s; t/; ms .s; t/ C .s; t/ n.s; t/ D %J t t e 3 (6.137)
where .s; t/ D r s .s; t/, n.s; t/ D N.s; t/b1 .s; t/ C Q.s; t/b2 .s; t/ and m.s; t/ D
M.s; t/e 3 , respectively, denote the contact force and contact couple at the beam
section s and time t. The unit vectors .b1 ; b2 / are collinear with the normal and
transverse directions of the deformed beam cross section.
For a simply supported beam with a tip mass m at the roller support acted upon
by the end thrust force P .t/e 1 and subject to the base motion uo .t/e 1 (see Fig. 6.17),
let r o .s; t/ D Œs C u.s; t/e 1 C v.s; t/e 2 be the position vector of material sections
with respect to the moving frame fe o1 ; e o2 g so that the corresponding position vector
with respect to the fixed frame becomes r.s; t/ D uo .t/e 1 C r o .s; t/.
u.0; t/ D 0 D v.0; t/; v.l; t/ D 0;

M.0; t/ D M.l; t/ D 0; n.l; t/ e 1 P .t/ D mŒuot t .t/ C ut t .l; t/: (6.138)
For such unconstrained extensional/flexural/shearing motions, the governing equa-

tions do not exhibit time-varying coefficients and the time-varying force P .t/
and base motion uo .t/ appear as direct excitation terms in the boundary condi-
tions (6.138)4 .
If the beam is assumed to be inextensible and unshearable as per the kinematic
constraint D b1 , by neglecting the rotary inertia, the equation of motion is given
by (6.208) (see Problem 6.10). This equation exhibits explicit parametric time-
varying coefficients and is in the form
Z l
%Avt t cos %Aut t sin C %AŒut t cos C vt t sin d
s
Z l
C mut t .l; t/ sec .l; t/ C Mss C tan .l; t/Ms .l; t/ M d
s
hZ l i
C A cos uot t d C m uot t .t/ sec .l; t/
s
A sin uot t .t/ C sec .l; t/P .t/ D 0 (6.139)

p p
where cos = 1 vs2 , sin = vs , and = vss = 1 vs2 .
The horizontal motion u is obtained by integrating the constraint WD b1 D 1
which gives
Z sq
u.s; t/ D s C 1 v 2 d : (6.140)
0
By differentiating (6.140) twice with respect to time and substituting the result
into (6.139), the obtained horizontal acceleration together with the nonlinearly
viscoelastic constitutive law M.s; t/ D MO .; t ; s/ yield an integro-partial-
differential equation in the transverse deflection v with time-varying coefficients.
The following nondimensionalization is employed to render the equation nondi-
mensional:
s v m P l2
t WD !b t; s WD ; v WD ; m WD ; "2 P WD ;
l l %Al EJ
cv l 2 uo
"2 c WD p ; "2 uo WD ; (6.141)
EJ%A l
p
where !b WD EJ =%Al 4 ; the asterisk indicates nondimensional variables, and " is
a small nondimensional number (i.e., j"j 1) used as ordering parameter. For ease
of notation, the asterisk is dropped as superscript of the nondimensional variables,
the prime indicates differentiation with respect to the nondimensional s and the
overdot represents differentiation with respect to nondimensional time.
Expanding the equations of motion (considering both the end thrust and the base
excitation) and retaining terms up to third order yield the following nondimensional
equations of motion [205]:
Z
0
s 1
02 00 00
vR C v .vP 02 C v 0 vR 0 /ds 12 vv
R 02 C "2 c vP C v 0000 C 2v v
0
Z s Z 1
00 0 000 00 00 000 00
C v Œv v jsD1 C v v v ds m v .vP 02 C v 0 vR 0 /ds
1 0
Z s Z s
C v 00 v 0 vR C .vP 02 C v 0 vR 0 /d ds
1 0
Œv .1 s C m /v 00 "2 uR o .t/ C "2 P .t/v 00 D 0

0
(6.142)
together with the nondimensional boundary conditions
v.0; t/ D v 00 .0; t/ D v.1; t/ D v 00 .1; t/ D 0: (6.143)
The Mettler equations of motion for a parametrically excited beam. Mettler

[316] considered linearly elastic unshearable, extensible, flexible beams undergoing
small rotations and subject to a prescribed horizontal motion of one of the supports.
The shear force is first obtained from the balance of angular momentum and then
substituted into the balance of transverse linear momentum. By neglecting the rotary
and longitudinal inertia and considering the projected shear force s Ms of higher
order in the balance of longitudinal linear momentum, the two equations of motion
are simplified into
Ns D 0; Mss C s N D %Avt t : (6.144)
Only the first-order term in the curvature and a second-order Taylor expansion of
the stretch are considered:
s vss ; 1 C us C 12 vs2 : (6.145)
Linearly elastic constitutive laws are introduced as

N D EA. 1/ EA us C 12 vs2 ; M D EJ EJ vss : (6.146)
Equation (6.144)1 entails that the tension is uniform across the beam span.
Consequently, space integration of (6.146)1 yields the nonlinear expression of the
tension as
Z
Z
1 l
1 EA o EA l 2
N D EA us C vs2 ds D u .t/ C v ds (6.147)
l 0 2 l 2l 0 s
where uo .t/ is the prescribed longitudinal support motion. The following integro-
partial-differential equation with periodic time-varying coefficients is obtained:
Z l
EA o EA
%Avt t C .EJ vss /ss u .t/vss vss vs2 ds D 0: (6.148)
l 2l 0
This equation of motion has been employed extensively for studies about the
parametric resonance of straight beams; a similar version exists for shallow arches
described in Chap. 7 [239, 316].
Nonlinear analysis and approximate solution. Consider the principal parametric
resonance of the kth mode of a straight beam subject to the base motion uo .t/ D
U o cos ˝t without the end thrust P .t/. The detuning from the exact resonance
condition is expressed as
˝ D 2!k C "2 (6.149)
where is a detuning parameter. The method of multiple scales [333] is employed to
treat asymptotically the equation of motion (6.142). The following time scales are
introduced: t0 WDt and t2 WD"2 t: The uniform expansions of the solution of (6.142)
are sought in the form
v "v1 .s; t1 ; t2 / C "3 v3 .s; t1 ; t2 /: (6.150)
After substitution of (6.150) into (6.142) with P .t/ D 0, equating coefficients of

like powers of " yields
O."/ W @0 2 v1 C v10000 D 0; (6.151)

Z s
O."3 / W @0 2 v3 C v30000 D 2@0 @2 v1 v10 .@0 v102 C v10 @20 v10 /ds
0
Z
1 s
C 12 v102 @20 v1 2@0 v1 02 00 00 00
2 v1 v1 / v1 v100 v1000 ds
1
Z 1
v100 Œv10 v1000 jsD1 C m v100 .@0 v102 C v10 @20 v10 /ds
0
Z s Z s
v100 v10 @20 v1 C .@0 v102 C v10 @20 v10 /d ds
1 0
4U o
!k2 Œv10 C .s m 1/v100 cos ˝t0

(6.152)
where @n := @=@tn . The boundary conditions are
vj D 0 D vj00 at s D 0; 1 for j D 1; 3: (6.153)
The solution of (6.151) is more conveniently expressed in the complex-valued form
v1 D ŒA.t2 /ei!k t0 C cck .s/ (6.154)
where cc denotes the complex conjugate of the preceding term, the circular
frequency
p of the kth mode is !k D k 2 2 and the associated mode shape is k .s/ D
2 sin ks. The complex-valued amplitude A is to be determined in the subsequent
steps. By considering the boundary conditions (6.153) and substituting (6.154)
into (6.152), the following solvability condition is enforced to make the problem
solvable:
2i!k .@2 A C A/ C k A2 AN C 2U o k !k2 ei t2 AN D 0 (6.155)
where the nondimensional damping coefficient is WD c =2 (the kth damping ratio
is k WD k =!k ), the effective parametric resonance coefficient is
Z 1
k D k Œk0 C .s m 1/k00 ds; (6.156)
0
and the effective nonlinearity coefficient k is expressed as k D 3kG C 2kI with

Z 1 Z 1
1
kG Dk0 .1/k000 .1/ k00 k ds C k .k02 k00 /00 ds
0 2 0
Z 1 Z s
C k00 k k00 k000 d ds; (6.157)
0 1
Z 1 Z s Z Z
3 1 2 02
kI D !k2 k00 k k02 d d ds ds
0 1 0 4 0 k k
Z 1 Z s Z Z s
3 1 00
C .k0 k k02 d /ds .k k k0 k d /ds
0 0 2 0 1
Z 1 Z 1
m k00 k ds k02 ds : (6.158)
0 0
The term kG relates to the contribution from the geometric and curvature nonlinear-
ities whereas kI captures nonlinear inertia effects including those associated with
the nondimensional tip mass. The calculations give

3 2
k D k 4 4 5k 2 2 k 8 8 .3m C 1/: (6.159)
4 3
Substituting the transformation A D B.t2 /ei t2 =2 together with the polar form
B D 1=2aei'.t2/ into (6.155) yields the real-valued form of the modulation
equations
@2 a D a C ak U o !k sin 2'; (6.160)

1 1
@2 ' D C a2 k =!k C k U o !k cos 2': (6.161)
2 8
The first-order expansion of the solution is in the form
1
v.s; t/ a cos ˝t C ' k .s/ (6.162)
2
where the slow time variations of a and ' are expressed by (6.160) and (6.161). By
further solving for the fixed points of the real-valued modulation equations (6.160)
and (6.161), the following frequency-response equation and phase leg condition are
obtained:
h 8! 1 p i
1=2
k
aD ˙ .U k !k /
o 2 2 (6.163)
k 2

1 1
tan 2' D = a2 k =!k : (6.164)
2 8
The kth Mathieu instability region is obtained as

1=2
˝ D 2!k ˙ 2 .U o k !k /2 2 : (6.165)
A systematic approach to determine the stability of the trivial solution (i.e.,

the straight equilibrium) is to consider the solutions of the linearized form of the
modulation equation (6.155). Letting A D .aR C iaI /ei t2 =2 , and separating the real
and imaginary parts yield

daR 1
D aR C !k ak U C aI ;
o
dt 2

daI 1
D aI C !k ak U o aR : (6.166)
dt 2
The eigenvalues are the roots of the following characteristic equation:

h 1 i
2 C 2 C .U o !k k /2 2 2 D 0: (6.167)
4
Consequently, a trivial solution is stable if < 0 and otherwise it is unstable. The

curves in the .˝; U o /-plane described by the loci of the trivial eigenvalues D 0
are the transition curves (6.165) bounding the Mathieu instability regions.
a -3 b -2
x10
1 x10 2.0
0.8 1.6
m*=2.4
m*=4.2
0.6 1.0
m*=7.4
Uo a
0.4 0.8
m*=2.4
0.2 m*=4.2 0.4
m*=7.4
0 0
1.8 1.9 2 2.1 2.2 1.84 1.88 1.92 1.96 2 2.04
Fig. 6.18 (a) Instability regions of the lowest symmetric mode of a simply supported beam for
different values of the tip mass when 1 D 0:04 (the damping ratio is 1 WD 1 =!1 D 0:405 %)
and (b) frequency-response curves of the principal parametric resonance when U o D 1:33 104 .
Figure 6.18a shows the instability regions of the lowest mode k D 1 for D
0:04 and for three different values of the nondimensional tip mass, namely m D
.2:8; 4:2; 7:4/. When the excitation amplitude U o is constant, as the tip mass is
increased, the width of the unstable region becomes larger. This is due to the fact that
the effective parametric force increases with the tip mass. The observed behavior is
contrary to the behavior of cantilever beams whereby the tip mass has a stabilizing
effect on the parametric resonance of the first mode [470].
To determine the stability of the nontrivial solutions, the linear variational
equation about the nontrivial solution .ao ; 'o / is obtained by letting
a D ao C a; ' D 'o C ' (6.168)
where a and ' are small perturbations.

Substituting (6.168) into (6.160) and (6.161) yields

d a 0 2!k U o k cos.2'o / a
D : (6.169)
dt ' ao k =.4!k / 2!k U k sin.2'o / '
o
The eigenvalues governing the stability of the steady-state solutions are obtained
from
2 C 2 C ao k =.4!k /Œao2 k =.4!k / D 0: (6.170)
Figure 6.18b shows the influence of the tip mass on the frequency-response of the
inextensible beam when the damping ratio is D 0:04 and the dimensionless
excitation amplitude is U o D 1:33 104 . In Fig. 6.18b, the solid (dashed) lines
show the stable (unstable) branches. As the tip mass is increased, the frequency-
response curves are increasingly bent to the left. By increasing the tip mass, the
Fig. 6.19 Experimental 2.4

(circles) and theoretical (solid
line) transition curves for the 2
principal parametric
resonance of the lowest 1.6
skew-symmetric mode of a
P [N]
simply supported beam when 1.2
the modal damping ratio is
D 0:05: Reprinted with 0.8
permission [247]
0.4
0
22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
f [Hz]
nonlinearity of the lowest mode becomes more softening, while in the case of a
parametrically excited cantilever beam, increasing the tip mass makes the mode
hardening [470].
Experiments on parametric resonances of beams. The theoretical predictions of
the principal parametric resonance of simply supported beams subject to a pulsating
end force were compared with experimental investigations in [247]. The transition
curves were obtained by treating asymptotically the equation of motion (6.139)
with the end force P .t/ alone by the method of multiple scales. These curves
were computed for the principal parametric resonance of the lowest skew-symmetric
mode, an instability sought to be suppressed by linearly noncollocated active control
inputs in [247].
The test specimen employed in the experimental investigations was a uniform
beam with a rectangular cross section made of phosphor bronze: the length, width,
and thickness were, respectively 450 mm, 10 mm, and 0.5 mm; the mass density was
9.2103 kg/m3 and Young’s modulus was 116 GPa.
The apparatus consisted of the test specimen with its hinges made of radial
bearings. The width direction of the beam was placed in a vertical plane to overcome
the presence of initial curvature due to gravity. One of the hinges was rigidly
clamped onto an aluminum slab. The other hinge was mounted on top of a sliding
linear bearing (IKO Ball Slide Unit, Model BSU 44-50 A). On the lateral end of the
linear bearing, a linear motor (Showa–Densen–Denran Model 26-02R) applied the
dynamic axial force. A TOA Electronics waveform synthesizer model FS-2201 fed
the sinusoidal signal to a KIKUSUI power amplifier model BIPOLAR PBX40-10
which, in turn, drove the linear motor. A KEYENCE LB-01 (resolution of 180 m
and sampling time of 0.7 ms) laser sensor was used to measure the displacement of
the beam at one-quarter of the beam span.
The natural frequency of the second mode was measured to be 15.10 Hz which is
in close agreement with the theoretical prediction of 15.38 Hz. Figure 6.19 shows the
theoretical and experimental transition curves plotted in the plane of the excitation
frequency (Hz) and amplitude (N).
a b
0.4 0.4
W
0.2 0.3
P [N]
0.0 0.2
-0.2 0.1
-0.4 0.0
c d
0.2
0.15
v[mm]
0.1 W
0.10 2
0.0
0.05
-0.1
0.0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0 20 40 60 80
t [sec] f [Hz]
Fig. 6.20 (a) Time history and (b) FFT of the excitation force when P D 0:42 N; (c) time history
and (d) FFT of the beam response at x D `=4: Reprinted with permission [247]
The experimental procedure for determining the transition curve consisted of

fixing the frequency at twice the natural frequency of the second mode and
increasing the end load amplitude from a low value until activating the resonance at
its critical value. The procedure was repeated changing the excitation frequency.
The agreement between theory and experiments is good both qualitatively and
quantitatively.
The (postcritical) parametrically excited motion was investigated to highlight
the type of nonlinearity of the mode and the accuracy of the prediction of the
bifurcations delimiting the unstable region. A set of frequency-response curves was
acquired. Figure 6.20a,b show the time history and the FFT of the excitation force of
magnitude P D 0:42 N at ˝ D 32 Hz while parts (c) and (d) show the time history
and FFT of the beam response with the dominant peak at the beam nonlinear natural
frequency ˝=2: The theoretical and experimental frequency-response curves for a
force which is nearly twice the threshold force for the activation of the principal
parametric resonance are shown in Fig. 6.21.
The lowest skew-symmetric mode is a softening mode. For a tip mass ratio
m D 9:8; the calculated effective nonlinearity coefficient turned out to be 2 D
4:83 107 : The trivial solution exhibits a supercritical pitchfork bifurcation at about
32.1 Hz and a subcritical pitchfork bifurcation at about 29.8 Hz. The agreement is
very good for the bifurcations and for the postcritical response at low amplitudes,
as expected. A higher-order asymptotic expansion, with up to at least quintic
polynomial nonlinearities for the beam forces, is necessary to describe the response
with sufficient accuracy at slightly larger amplitudes in the postcritical range.
2
v [mm]
0
24 26 28 30 32 34
f [Hz]
Fig. 6.21 Experimentally and theoretically obtained frequency-response curves of the principal
parametric resonance of the second mode when P D 0:64 N and the modal damping ratio is
D 0:05: The circles (crosses) indicate backward (forward) frequency sweeps. The solid (dashed)
line denotes stable (unstable) solutions. Reprinted with permission [247]
6.5 Parametric Resonances of Conservative Systems

with Linear Damping
Parametrically excited distributed-parameter systems are treated asymptotically in a

generalized framework following [235]. The corresponding parametric resonances,
which are valid for a broad class of spatially continuous systems, are expressed by
semi-analytical formulas. For example, in Chap. 7, the theory is applied to curved
beams such as buckled beams and rings. The nondimensional equations of motion,
expanded in Taylor series up to third order, are cast as
vR C C vP C Lv C P .t/b.v/ D N2 .v; v/ C I2(1) .v;

P v/
P C I2(2) .v; v/
R
CI3(1) .v;
P v;
P v/ C I3(2) .v; v; v/
R C N3 .v; v; v/ (6.171)
subject, without loss of generality, to the linear homogeneous boundary conditions
B1 v D 0 at s D 0 and B2 v D 0 at s D 1 (6.172)
where s 2 Œ0; 1 is the arclength coordinate along a base curve of the system
in its reference configuration (nondimensionalized with respect to the span); the
overdot indicates differentiation with respect to nondimensional time tI v.s; t/ is
the nondimensional deflection; the nondimensional linear inertia operator is made
unitary; L is a linear homogeneous, self-adjoint and positive-definite differential
or integral-differential operator of order 2p; C is the nondimensional linear
damping operator; N2 and N3 are quadratic and cubic (elastic and geometric)
stiffness operators, respectively; (I2(1) ; I2(2) ) and (I3(1) ; I3(2) ) are quadratic and cubic
inertia operators, respectively; P .t/b.v/ is the space- and time-varying parametric
excitation term; Bi are linear and homogeneous differential boundary operators
of order less than or equal to 2p 1. In general, the nonlinear operators do not
commute, that is, N2 .u; v/ ¤ N2 .v; u/:
By virtue of the self-adjoint nature of the linear stiffness operator with given
boundary conditions on the appropriate domain with compact inverse, the linear
unforced undamped problem is self-adjoint; hence, the eigenfunctions m .s/ are
mutually orthogonal and are normalized according to
Z 1 Z 1
m .s/n .s/ds D ımn ; m Ln ds D !n2 ımn (6.173)
0 0
where ımn is the Kronecker delta. The eigenvalue problem for the frequencies and
the mode shapes defines the linear operator M as
M ŒI ! D .L ! 2 I / (6.174)
where I is the identity operator.

The method of multiple scales [333] is employed to obtain both the onset of
the parametric resonance of the nth mode and the postcritical response. No internal
resonances engage this mode with any other mode. A uniform asymptotic expansion
of the postcritical periodic motion is sought by introducing the following time
scales:
t0 WD t; t1 WD "t; t2 WD "2 t (6.175)
where " is a small dimensionless number. The time scale t0 accounts for the
rapidly varying part of the motion and the stretched time scales t1 and t2 account
for the slowly varying part of the motion. Provided that the data are sufficiently
differentiable, asymptotic expansions of the solutions are sought in the form
v.s; t; "/ "v1 .t; t1 ; t2 / C "2 v2 .t; t1 ; t2 / C "3 v3 .t; t1 ; t2 / (6.176)
where the functions vk .s; t0 ; t1 ; t2 / are to be determined. The following notational

convention is adopted for simplicity:
@ @2
@k WD ; @k @l WD :
@tk @tk @tl
The assumed sinusoidal forcing function is in the form P .t/ D P cos t with
D 2!n C " and is ordered "P as is also the damping term.
P t; "/ and v.s;
Substituting the expansion of v.s; t; "/, v.s; R t; "/ into (6.171)
and (6.172), using the independence of the time scales, and equating coefficients
of like powers of " yield
Order ":
F v1 WD @20 v1 C Lv1 D 0; (6.177)
Order "2 :
F v2 D 2@0 @1 v1 C @0 v1 P b.v1 / cos t0 C N2 .v1 ; v1 /

CI2(1) .@0 v1 ; @0 v1 / C I2(2) .v1 ; @20 v1 /; (6.178)
Order "3 :
F v3 D 2@0 @1 v2 2@0 @2 v1 @21 v1 C .@0 v2 C @1 v1 / P b.v2 / cos t0

CN2 .v1 ; v2 / C N2 .v2 ; v1 / C I2(1) .@0 v1 ; @0 v2 / C I2(1) .@1 v1 ; @1 v1 /
CI2(2) .v1 ; @20 v2 / C 2I2(2) .v1 ; @0 @1 v1 / C I2(2) .v2 ; @20 v1 /
CI3(1) .@0 v1 ; @0 v1 ; v1 / C I3(1) .v1 ; v1 ; @20 v1 / C N3 .v1 ; v1 ; v1 /: (6.179)
The boundary conditions at all orders are given by
B1 vj D 0 at s D 0 and B2 vj D 0 at s D 1; for j D 1; 2; 3: (6.180)
Because the nth mode is directly excited and no internal resonances are activated,
the generating solution at order " is assumed as

v1 D An .t1 ; t2 /ei!n t0 C ANn .t1 ; t2 /ei!n t0 n .s/ (6.181)
where the overbar indicates the complex conjugate. Substituting (6.181) into (6.178)
and (6.180) yields the following inhomogeneous problem at second order:
F v2 D 2i!n .@1 A C n A/ei!n t0 n .s/ 12 PAb.n /ei.C!n /t0

N n /ei.!n /t0 C h
12 P Ab. 2 2i!n t0
n .s/An e C hC N
n .s/An An C cc (6.182)
together with the boundary conditions (6.180). In (6.182), the notation cc stands for
R1
the complex conjugate of the preceding terms, 2n WD 0 n C nds, and
h
n .s/ D N2 .n ; n / !n ŒI2 .n ; n / C I2 .n ; n /;
2 (1) (2)
hC
n .s/ D N2 .n ; n / C !n ŒI2 .n ; n / I2 .n ; n /:
2 (1) (2)
(6.183)
The right-hand side of (6.182) contains the following terms that can cause an
unbounded growth in time of the solution at order "2 :
N n /ei!n t0 ei t1 :
2i!n .@1 A C n A/ei!n t0 n .s/ 12 P Ab. (6.184)
A solvability condition is imposed by multiplying (6.184) by the solution of the

adjoint problem, n .s/ exp.i!n t0 /, and integrating the resulting equation over
the space domain Œ0; 1. The result is the following complex-valued modulation
equation for the amplitude An :
N i t1
2i!n .@1 A C n A/ D Pn Ae (6.185)
where
Z 1
n WD 1
2
n b.n /ds (6.186)
0
is called the effective parametric resonance coefficient of the nth mode.
To obtain the real form of (6.185), the polar transformation A D 1=2aei. t1=2C /
is substituted into (6.185) which thus furnishes
Pn
@1 a D n a C 1
2 a sin 2;
!n
(6.187)
Pn
@1 D 12 C 1
2
cos 2:
!n
The critical solution on the transition curves corresponds to the steady-state
solution of (6.5), namely, @1 a D 0 D @1 . Solving for sin 2 and cos 2, summing
the squares to exploit the fundamental trigonometric identity, and considering the
detuning condition ˝ D 2!n C " yield the transition curves of the principal
parametric resonance as
q
D 2!n ˙ P 2 2n =!n2 4n2 : (6.188)
The parametric resonance instability is activated if the excitation amplitude is

above the critical force magnitude given by
Pno D 2n !n =n (6.189)
where n is given by (6.186). Note that the modal damping coefficient n in terms
of the modal damping ratio is expressed as n D !n n while the squared modal
frequency can be written as the ratio between the modal stiffness Kn and the modal
mass Mn , namely, !n2 D Kn =Mn. Thus the critical force in terms of the damping
ratio becomes
2 n Kn
Pno D (6.190)
Mn n
which shows that the critical force is proportional to the damping ratio and to the
modal stiffness while it is inversely proportional to the modal mass and effective
parametric force coefficient n .
The substitution of the polar form into (6.181) yields the one-term approximation
of the motion as
v.s; t/ a cos. 12 t C /n .s/: (6.191)
6.6 Nonlinear Model for Flutter and Post-flutter of Wings 419
To obtain the postcritical motion, the solution of the second perturbation problem
is substituted into the third perturbation problem whose solvability captures the
resonant effects of the nonlinear forces due to the elastic, geometric, and inertia
forces. By employing the method of reconstitution to express AP as AP D "@1 A C
"2 @2 A C ; the bifurcation equation reads:
2i!n .AP C n A/ D Pn ei t AN C S A C n A2 AN (6.192)
where n is the effective nonlinearity coefficient of the nth mode while S is a linear
frequency shift.
6.6 Nonlinear Model for Flutter and Post-flutter of Wings
Airfoils are used in many parts of an airplane such as in its wings, in the horizontal
and vertical stabilizers of the empennage with the associated control surfaces (i.e.,
ailerons for the wings, elevators for the horizontal stabilizers and rudders for the
vertical stabilizer) as shown in Fig. 6.22a–c (see, e.g., [66]). There is a rich collection
of diverse dynamic instabilities to be considered when designing aircraft: panel
flutter, galloping flutter, stall flutter, limit cycle oscillations (LCO), and propeller
or engine whirl flutter. There can also be flutter due to the stores mounted on the
wings.
An open problem of nonlinear aeroelasticity is the understanding of how struc-
tural and aerodynamic nonlinearities affect the system dynamics [66]. For example,
High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) aircraft have wings with very high aspect
ratios (see Fig. 6.22d) so as to increase the specific mission performance with
high aerodynamic efficiency. They are being explored for flight missions including
environmental monitoring, military reconnaissance, and telecommunication relay,
c d
Fig. 6.22 Airfoils that can undergo flutter in aircraft: wings (a), horizontal stabilizers (b), and
vertical stabilizer (c). Panel (d) shows a High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) aircraft wing
to name but a few. The inherent flexibility is such that large deflections and rotations
are possible during normal flight operations which include slow maneuvers at high
altitudes and low speeds. Under these conditions, operation at angles of attack close
to stall may lead to aeroelastic instabilities associated with dynamic stall.
These aircraft are thus prone to dynamic instabilities, such as flutter, which can
excite large-amplitude LCOs. However, the aeroelastic instabilities may be exhib-
ited both above and below the flutter speed predicted by linear theory [358,424,425]
when the Hopf bifurcation is subcritical and higher-order structural/aerodynamic
terms are considered. This motivates the use of nonlinear theories of aircraft wings
which incorporate full nonlinearities together with a careful use of bifurcation
analysis tools. These theories can be useful for the design of systems capable
of suppressing or delaying flutter. Some of these strategies have already been
investigated in the literature (e.g., cf. [185]).
The nonlinear theory of deformation of wings. The three-dimensional nonlinear
parametric model presented in [29–31] is based on a geometrically exact semi-
intrinsic theory formulated in the context of an updated Lagrangian formulation
(see Chap. 5).
A fixed inertial reference frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / is set with its origin in the elastic
center of the root wing section, denoted by C E , and its axis e 2 that points in the
opposite direction to gravity.
The airstream at speed U1 is taken in the opposite direction to e 1 while the airfoil
is at an angle denoted by ˛w , which represents the angle by which the chord line of
the root wing section is rotated with respect to e 1 . Let e w 1 D cos ˛w e 1 C sin ˛w e 2
be the unit vector collinear with the chord-wise direction and let e w 2 D e3 e1 .
w
The reference (stress-free) configuration of the wing is described by the position

vector r D se 3 of the elastic line taken as a base curve and s is the arclength
coordinate. The intrinsic reference frame .C E ; b1 ; b2 ; b3 / is employed to describe
the orientation of the wing cross sections; fb1 ; b2 g are collinear with the principal
axes of inertia of the wing section and are rotated by '3 with respect to fe w 1 ; e2 g
w
while b3 is collinear with e 3 (see Fig. 6.23).

Two wing configurations are considered: the (prestressed) equilibrium induced
by the static loads and the current configuration due to the aerodynamic loads and
to initial conditions. For the equilibrium configuration, denoted by B o , let r o .s/ D
r.s/ C uo .s/ be the position vector of the wing elastic line while the orientation of
the cross sections is described by the unit vectors fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g. On the other hand,
the current dynamic configuration BM is described by the position vector r.s; M t/ D
r o .s/ C u.s; t/ and by the local frame fbM 1 ; bM 2 ; bM 3 g giving the orientation of the wing
cross sections.
The unit vectors of the local principal inertia frame fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g are expressed in
terms of the unit vectors of the fixed frame according to bi D R N e i where R N is
the orthogonal tensor that describes the rotation ˛w C '3 about e 3 . Let R .s/ denote o
the rotation tensor that takes bi into boi so that bi .s/ D R o .s/ R.s/ N e i . Moreover,
o M
let the rotation of bi into bi be described by the incremental rotation tensor R.s; t/,
N
thus bM i .s; t/ D R.s; t/ R o .s/ R.s/ ei .
b1
b2
a
b3
0 0
e2 b2 b1
B 0
b3
E
e1 0 C
B
e3
U∞
d c
fL S
dL w
b S
αr
A -vW
e2 αr C wr
b2 dD
fD
b1 eW
1
B
ϕ3 αW
A
e1 C U∞
W C
E
C
C
dW dE
dA b/ 2
2b
Fig. 6.23 (a) Nonlinear deformations of a wing under a uniform airstream at an angle: B, Bo , and
BM represent the reference, prestressed, and current configurations, respectively. (b) Cross section
in the reference configuration B at an angle with respect to the free-stream velocity. (c) Definition
of the instantaneous angle of attack ˛r . (d) Drag and lift forces. Reprinted with permission [29]
The (total) generalized strain parameters are defined for both the equilibrium (B o )
and dynamic (B)M configurations according to:
o WD @s r o bo3 ; o1 WD @s r o bo1 ; o2 WD @s r o bo2 ; @s bok D o bok

(6.193)
M WD @s rM bM 3 ; M 1 WD @s rM bM 1 ; M 2 WD @s rM bM 2 ; @s bM k D
M bM k :
M and the shear strains . o1 ; o2 / and . M 1 ; M 2 /

The wing strains are the stretches o and ,
in B and B,
o M respectively. The components of the curvature vectors in the local
M D M 1 bM 1 CM 2 bM 2 CM 3 bM 3 , denote the twist cur-
bases, o D o1 bo1 Co2 bo2 Co3 bo3 and
vatures (o3 and M 3 ) and the bending curvatures (o1 ; o2 ) and (M 1 ; M 2 ), respectively.
Equations of motion for wings. By enforcing the balance of linear and angular
momentum, the equations governing the aeroelastic equilibrium are obtained in
the form
@s no .s/ C f o .s/ D o;
@s mo .s/ C o .s/ no .s/ C c o .s/ D o (6.194)
where o .s/ WD @s r o .s/ and no .s/ and mo .s/ denote the stress and moment resultants
in B o . The external forces f o .s/ and couples c o .s/ include the wing weight, the
stores weight, and the static part of the aeroelastic loads. Stores, such as fuel tanks,
pod with logistic payload, missiles, etc., can be located in various span-wise and
chord-wise wing positions. The position vector of the stores possessing mass mP is
denoted by r P D xN P C sP e 3 where the vector xN P D x1P e 1 C x2P e 2 describes the center
of mass of the store with respect to the elastic center of the wing. Thus the force per
unit reference length due to dead loads is f o D Œ%Ag C mP g ı.s sP /e 2 where
ı./ is the Dirac delta function. The couples per unit reference length due to dead
loads reduced to the elastic center are
c o D dE .R o e w
1 / .%Ag e 2 / .R x
o
N P / ŒmP g ı.s sP /e 2 :
The balance of linear and angular momentum leads to the equations of motion
for the wing (referred to the elastic center C E ) in the form
M t/ D %A@t t u C @t ! %iM C ! .! %iM /;
M t/ C f.s;
@s n.s;
M t/ C .s;
@s m.s; M t/ C cM .s; t/ D %J E @t ! C %iM @t t u C ! .%J E !/
M t/ n.s;
(6.195)
where .s;M t/WD@s r.s;M t/ is the total stretch vector, n.s; M t/ and m.s;M t/, respectively,
denote the total stress and moment resultants in B; M %iM and %J E are, respectively,
the vector listing the first mass moments and the tensor of second mass moments
of the wing cross sections with respect to the local frame .C E ; bM 1 ; bM 2 ; bM 3 / (see
Fig. 6.23); ! is the angular velocity vector of the wing sections defined according to
@t bM k D ! bM k ; f.x;
M t/ and cM .x; t/, respectively, denote the total forces and couples
per unit length acting in the current configuration of the wing. Linear and angular
momentum are modified to take into account the fact that the elastic center does not
coincide with the center of mass of the wing section.
It is reasonable to assume linearly elastic constitutive equations for the study of
the critical condition at flutter and the bifurcation equation including geometric and
aerodynamic nonlinearities. The wing is considered as a cantilevered beam so as to
model the clamping condition to the aircraft body.
The governing equations together with the boundary conditions are cast p in nondi-
mensional form by using the wingspan l as characteristic length and %Al 4 =EJ1
as characteristic time, where %A is the mass of the wing per unit reference length,
E is Young’s modulus, and J1 the moment of inertia about the local axis b1 . The
equivalent nondimensional distributed mass that includes the stores can be written
as m.NN s/ D 1 C m N P ı.Ns sNP / where m N P WD mP =.%Al/. Moreover, the equivalent
span-wise varying structural damping coefficients can be expressed as

dNk .Ns / D 2k !k JNm C JNmP ı.Ns sNP /
where k is the critical damping ratio of the kth mode of the wing with the stores, !k
is its associated nondimensional frequency, JNm is the nondimensional mass moment
of inertia of the wing, and JNmP is the equivalent nondimensional mass moment of
inertia of the store.
Inextensible, unshearable wings. Wings with high aspect ratios such as HALE
wings are very slender structural members, thus the shear strains are negligible.
Moreover, as a consequence of the aerodynamic loading conditions and the fact
that the wing axial stiffness is order of magnitude larger than the flexural stiffness,
the span-wise stretching effects can also be neglected. A constrained model is thus
obtained by forcing the shear strains to vanish and the stretch to be unity in any
loading condition. To this end, constraints are imposed on the strains arising in the
equilibrium configuration as well as on the incremental dynamic strains according to
o1 D 0 D o2 ; o D 1; M 1 D 0 D M 2 ; M D 1:
Let the rotation tensor R o .s/ be parametrized by the flexural rotation angles
.1 ; 2o / and the twist rotation 3o . Similarly, let R.s; t/ be parametrized by the incre-
o
mental flexural rotation angles .1 ; 2 / and the twist rotation 3 . In both equilibrium
and dynamic problems, the active kinematic variables are the bending displacements
and the twist angles: .uo1 ; uo2 ; 3o / and .u1 ; u2 ; 3 /. In fact, the constraint equations can
be solved for the slave variables .1o ; 2o ; uo3 / and .1 ; 2 ; u3 / in terms of the active
kinematic variables.
The reactive shear forces and tension are eliminated from the equations of
motion. The shear forces are obtained from the balance of angular momentum
about the bending axes and substituted into the equation for the balance of linear
momentum in the local directions .bM 1 ; bM 2 /. The balance of linear momentum in
the bo3 and bM 3 directions is solved to give the tension which is substituted into the
remaining balance equations. This process yields the three reduced equations of
motion in terms of the active generalized moments represented by the two bending
moments and the twisting moment.
The governing equations of motion, including the aeroelastic loads, can be solved
by a variety of methods such as the method of weighted residuals in the form due to
Faedo–Galerkin [29].
Quasi-steady aerodynamic model and flutter analysis. A quasi-steady aerody-
namic model is considered for the lift, drag and aerodynamic moment. The total
forces and couples per unit reference length are fM D f o C f and cM D c o C c where
f o and c o are the static loads and couples, f.s; t/ D D.s; t/dM D C L.s; t/dM L is the
aerodynamic force comprising the drag (D) and lift (L) forces in the current drag
direction denoted by dM D and lift direction denoted by dM L , respectively. On the other
hand, if MA denotes the aerodynamic moment reduced to the aerodynamic center
C A and dA indicates the distance between the elastic and aerodynamic centers,
c D ME bM 3 D .MA C dA L/bM 3 is the aerodynamic couple reduced to the elastic

center.
Let w D U1 e 1 be the free-stream velocity field of the air flow. The aero-
dynamic forces depend on the component of the relative flow velocity lying in
the plane of the airfoil cross section. Let wS and vSw be the flow velocity and the
downwash velocity lying in the current cross-sectional plane, thus expressed as
wS WD w .w bM 3 /bM 3 D U1 Œe 1 .e 1 bM 3 /bM 3 ;

(6.196)
vSw WD v .v bM 3 /bM 3 dw @t 3 eM 2
where v WD @t u is the velocity of the elastic center, dw is the distance between the
elastic center C E and C W (usually taken at the three-quarter chord point from the
N e 2.
leading edge), @t 3 is the twist angular velocity, and eM 2 D .R (2) R (1) R o R/
(1) (2)
The orthogonal tensors R and R describe the two incremental (finite) flexural
rotations of angles 1 and 2 , respectively. Thus, the cross-sectional flow velocity
relative to the wing is expressed as
wr D wS vSw DW Ur dM D (6.197)
from which the (current) drag and lift directions are obtained as
wr
dM D WD ; dM L WD dM D bM 3 : (6.198)
jwr j
The instantaneous angle of attack can thus be expressed as
!
.wS wr / bM 3
˛r D arctan (6.199)
wS wr
whose linearization furnishes
˛r D Œ@t u2 .s; t/ C dw @t 3 .s; t/=U1 : (6.200)
The effective angle of attack ˛ is obtained by summing the initial angle of attack
˛w C 3o .s/, the incremental twist angle 3 .s; t/, and the instantaneous angle of
attack ˛r .s; t/ as
˛.s; t/ D ˛w C 3o .s/ C 3 .s; t/ C ˛r .s; t/: (6.201)
The drag and lift dimensional forces are then expressed as

1 1
f D .s; t/ WD .2b/Ur2 CD .˛/dM D ; f L .s; t/ WD .2b/Ur2 CL .˛/dM L (6.202)
2 2
where is the air density, 2b is the chord, and CD and CL are the drag and lift
coefficients, respectively. The aerodynamic moment reduced to the aerodynamic
center is given by
1
c A .s; t/ D .2b/2 Ur2 CM .˛/bM 3 : (6.203)
2
The flutter condition is found by computing the eigenvalues of the perturbed
problem about the prestressed equilibrium under the overall weight and the static
part of the aerodynamic loads. The free-stream speed U1 at which the eigenvalues
cross the imaginary axis is thus determined for the onset of flutter. It is necessary
to employ continuation tools to find the critical condition since the precritical
equilibrium path is nonlinear as shown in the following example.
Example 6.6 (NACA6315 lifting surface).
The lifting surface called NACA6315 of the NACA4 series [210] is considered as
a case study [29] together with the structural characteristics of the experimental
wing in [423–425]. The lift, moment, and drag coefficients of such an airfoil [189]
are presented in Fig. 6.24a–c. The nonlinear equilibrium load paths for flapping
and twisting are shown in Fig. 6.24d,e together with a comparison with the paths
obtained by linear theory (dashed lines). These results show that the wing is
deformed nonlinearly before experiencing flutter at 40.1 m/s.
The paths of the eigenvalues D R ˙ i I , corresponding to the lowest flapping,
lagging, and torsional mode, are shown in Fig. 6.25. The transverse crossing of
the imaginary axis occurs at a speed of 40:1 m/s. If the flutter speed is computed
neglecting the nonlinear precritical path by straightforward linearization of the
equations about the stress-free configuration, the flutter speed turns out to be lower
than the nonlinear prediction by 23:4 %. Thus linear theory for the prediction of
flutter in structures such as wings exhibiting nonlinear precritical behaviors yields
inaccurate estimates of this limit state.
In Fig. 6.26, the three-dimensional aeroelastic wing equilibrium states are shown
at different free-stream speeds below flutter (namely, 10 m/s, 20 m/s, and 30 m/s) and
at the flutter speed. Moreover, the flutter mode shape superimposed on the nonlinear
equilibrium is portrayed in part e.
Problems
6.7 (A two-dimensional multi-story frame subject to compressive forces). Con-

sider the steel frame shown in Fig. 6.27.
4
NACA stands for National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
1.6
CL(φ3) -0.06 CM(φ3) CD(φ3)
1.2
a b 0.3 c
-0.08
0.8 0.2
-0.1
0.4 0.1
-0.12
0
-0.14 0
-0.4
-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
φ3 φ3 φ3
0.26 1
d e
0.8
0.18
0.6
u2o[m]
φ3 [deg]
0.1 0.4
o
0.2
0.02
0
-0.06 -0.2
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
U∞[m/s] U∞[m/s]
Fig. 6.24 NACA6315 lifting surface: (a) lift coefficient, (b) moment coefficient, and (c) drag
coefficient. Equilibrium paths under the static aeroelastic loads for a root angle of attack ˛w D 0ı
and when the store mass is at the wing tip: (d) tip flapping displacement uo2 and (e) torsional angle
3o vs. free-stream speed. The dashed lines indicate results obtained by linear theory while the solid
lines indicate results obtained by nonlinear theory. Reprinted with permission [29]
(a) Organize the generalized coordinates associated with the 16 degrees of freedom
in vector q| D Œ | ; | where
D Œ1 : : : 11 | D Œ1 ; : : : ; 5 | : (6.204)
k (k D 1; : : : ; 11) denote the rotations of the cross sections (nodes) where

the columns and beams are joined and k (k D 1; : : : ; 5) are the horizontal
displacements of the floors.
(b) Calculate the buckling loads and mode shapes assuming ˛ D .0; 101 ; 1/ and
neglecting the axial deformability of all members. Show that the equilibrium
equations written in matrix form as K q D 0 yield the linearized form
E
K KG q D 0
where is the load multiplier. For the beams called IPE (UNI 5398-78), the
moment of inertia is J D 1:317 103 cm4 . For the columns called HEA (UNI
5397-78), the two principal moments of inertia are J1 D 3:692 103 cm4 and
J2 D 1:326 103 cm4 , while for the columns called HEB (UNI 5397-78), the
moments are J1 D 5:696 103 cm4 and J2 D 2:003 103 cm4 . Compute the
buckling loads for the two values of the principal moments of inertia of the
columns.
0.5
-0.5
σR
-1
-1.5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
U∞ [m/s]
Fig. 6.25 Paths of the real parts of the eigenvalues of the lowest flapping mode (dashed-dotted
line), lowest lagging mode (dashed line), and lowest torsional mode (solid line). The gray zone
indicates the flutter region. Reprinted with permission [29]
Fig. 6.26 NACA6315 lifting surface with the store mass at the wing tip: equilibrium configura-
tions at different free-stream velocities U1 : (a) 10 m/s, (b) 20 m/s, (c) 30 m/s, (d) 40.1 m/s (onset
of flutter). Part (e) shows the flutter mode shape superimposed on the equilibrium configuration of
part (d) at the flutter speed
6.8 (Approximate methods for buckling).

Compute the buckling loads of the beams in Fig. 6.28 using the Rayleigh–Ritz
method choosing appropriate trial functions. Consider two types of elastic foun-
dation: a uniform foundation with k D k0 and a nonuniform foundation with
k.s/ D k0 C k1 .1 s= l/ : Besides the two schemes (cantilevered and clamped–
simply supported), consider a uniform and a tapered beam: one has uniform moment
a Q Q b Q Q
IPE 180
O 17 P O P
HEA 200
HEA 200
15 16
M IPE 180 N M N
14
HEA 200
HEA 200
12 13
I IPE 180 L I L
11
HEA 200
HEA 200
9 10
G IPE 180 H G H
8
HEA 200
HEA 200
6 7
αQ
D IPE 180 E IPE 180 F D E F
4 5
HEB 200
HEB 200
HEB 200
1 2 3
A B C A B C
5 4
Fig. 6.27 Two-dimensional multi-story elastic steel frame: (a) reference configuration and (b)
critical buckling mode shape when ˛ D 0 and the columns are oriented with the least bending
rigidity
Fig. 6.28 Buckling of beams s

resting on elastic foundations P
k(s)
of inertia J0 while the other has a varying moment of inertia given by J.s/ D
J0 C J1 1 s 2 =l 2 .
6.9 (Equation of motion of the elastica problem).

Show that the equation of motion of the two-dimensional elastica subject to the end
thrust force P .t/ and its linearization can be written as
Z l Z l ! (Z Z l
l
Ms C sin P f1 d C %Aut t d C cos f2 d %Avt t d
s s s s
"Z Z Z # )
l l l
C %Ar r t t ds e 3 C %J t t ds r fds e 3 =r1 .l; t/
0 0 0
Cm sin ut t .l; t/ D %J t t ; (6.205)

Z
Z
l
s 1 l
%J vst t C %Avt t 1 ds %J vst t ds .EJ vss /s
0 l l 0
Z l ! Z Z l
1 l s
vs P f1 ds vf1 ds D f2 1 ds (6.206)
s l 0 0 l
p
where cos D 1 vs2 ; qsin D vs , r.s; t/ D Œs C u.s; t/e 1 C v.s; t/e 2 and
Rl
r1 .l; t/ D l C u.l; t/ D 0 1 v 2 d .
Moreover, show that the linear inertia, elastic, and geometric stiffness operators are,
respectively, expressed as
Z l Z
@2 @ @2 1 l @2 @
I./ WD %J 2 ./ C %A 1 sl 2
./ds %J 2 ./ds;
@t @s 0 @t l 0 @t @s
Z Z
@h @2 i h l i@ 1 l
LE ./ WD EJ 2 ./ ; LG ./ WD P f1 d ./ f1 ./ds:
@s @s s @s l 0
(6.207)
6.10 (Equation of motion of the elastica problem with an end thrust and base
excitation).
(a) Show that the equation of motion of the two-dimensional elastica (neglecting
rotary inertia) subject to the end thrust force P .t/e 1 and base excitation uo .t/e 1
can be expressed as
Z l
%Avt t cos %Aut t sin C %AŒut t cos C vt t sin d
s
Z l
C m ut t .l; t/ sec .l; t/ C Mss C tan .l; t/Ms .l; t/ M d
s
Z l
CŒuot t .t/ A cos d C m uot t .t/ sec .l; t/ A sin uot t .t/
s
Z l
C sec .l; t/P .t/ D f1 ds C f2 ; (6.208)
s
(b) Show that the linearization of (6.208) yields
%Avt t C .EJ vss /ss C fŒ%A.l s/ C mB vss C Avs guot t .t/ C vss P .t/
Z l
D vss f1 C f2 (6.209)
s
where cos 1; sin vs , and the position vector is expressed as
r.s; t/ D Œuo .t/ C s C u.s; t/e 1 C v.s; t/e 2 :
6.11 (Variational formulation of the elastica problem).

(a) Show that the exact Lagrangian L D T V of the elastica problem is obtained
from the following expressions for the kinetic energy T and potential energy
V D V E W where V E is the stored-energy function and W is the work of the
external conservative loads:
20 12 3
Z l Z s Z
1 6B vP v C 7 1 l
T D %A 4@ q d A C vP 2 5 ds C %J P 2 ds;
2 0 0 1 v 2 2 0
Z l
1
V D
E
s EJ.s/s ds; (6.210)
2 0
" Z lq # Z lh Z sq
i
W DP l 1 vs2 ds C f1 s C 1 v 2 d C f2 v ds
0 0 0
(6.211)
where the overdot denotes differentiation with respect to time.

(b) Show that the Lagrangian function expanded up to second-order terms is
given by
Z Z l
1h l
LD .%AvP C %J vPs /ds
2 2 2
EJ vss ds
2 0 0
Z l Z l Z s i
CP vs2 ds C .f1 v 2 d C 2f2 v/d : (6.212)
0 0 0
Equation (6.212) provides the Lagrangian function to be used for deriving the
discretized form of the continuous problem employing variational methods such
as the Ritz method.
6.12 (Parametrically excited cantilevered beam).
A cantilevered rod is subject to a support vertical motion uo .t/e 1 where the fixed
basis fe 1 ; e 2 g is chosen with e 1 collinear with the vertically placed rod axis.
Show that
(a) The boundary conditions are
r.0; t/ D uo .t/e 1 ; .0; t/ D 0; N.l; t/ D 0 D Q.l; t/; M.l; t/ D 0:
(b) If the equations of motion (without internal kinematic constraints) are projected
in the fixed basis or in the rod section-fixed basis, fb1 ; b2 g; respectively, they
have the form
.Ns s Q/ cos .Qs C s N / sin D %A.ut t C uot t /
.Ns s Q/ sin C .Qs C s N / cos D %Avt t

Ms C Q N D %J t t : (6.213)
Ns s Q D %A.ut t C uot t / cos C %Avt t sin
Qs C s N D %A.ut t C uot t / sin C %Avt t cos : (6.214)
The boundary conditions are u.0; t/ D 0; v.0; t/ D 0; .0; t/ D 0; N.l; t/ D

0 D Q.l; t/; M.l; t/ D 0: A constrained version of these equations is
used in the literature enforcing the beam inextensibility and unshearability.
The equation of motion of the constrained beam turns out to be an integro-
partial-differential equation of motion with the support motion appearing as a
time-varying coefficient.
Chapter 7
The Nonlinear Theory of Curved Beams
and Flexurally Stiff Cables
Arches are curved beams used to span an opening or to support other structures such
as bridge decks, water/oil/gas tanks, roofs, to mention but a few. In applications
where the applied loads have radial distributions, the beam ends are welded to
one another to form a closed beam in the shape of a circular or elliptical annulus.
Closed curved beams are called rings. For example, the supporting inner frame of
an aircraft fuselage is made of longitudinal straight rods called longerons which are
transversally linked to a sequence of rings called formers. This structure supports
the external cylindrical shell called the skin of the aircraft (see Fig. 7.1).
The geometric curvature exhibited by curved beams or rings is the unique feature
that allows them to resist transverse loads mostly by compressional stresses and only
marginally by flexural stresses.
Natural materials such as stone or marble, or man-made materials such as bricks
or concrete, can resist high compressional stresses but are very weak in resisting
tensile and shear stresses: the tensile strength is typically less than or equal to one-
tenth of the compressional strength. Arches made of natural materials thus turn out
to be eminently strong structural members. There are beautiful examples of natural
arches in the USA and around the world.
One drawback is that an arch pushes outward at its base, and the thrust forces
need to be resisted either by heavy sides and friction (e.g., buttresses in old churches)
or angled cuts into bedrock or by introduction of chains. For these reasons, arches
allowed major progress to be made in the architecture of ancient civilizations
such as the Roman civilization. However, their use was infrequent and mostly
confined to underground structures such as drains where the problem of lateral
thrust is greatly reduced. It was during the Roman Empire that, first arches, then
vaults and domes, became fundamental structures in bridges, aqueducts, gates, and
triumphal arches. Today, arch and ring structures are used extensively in a wide
range of engineering applications including aircraft structures, arch bridges, roof
structures, and turbomachinery blades, to mention but a few. As the new materials
make tremendous progress in terms of strength and stiffness enhancements, these

434 7 Curved Beams and Flexurally Stiff Cables
Fig. 7.1 Typical fuselage

structure with the longerons
(straight rods), formers
(rings), and the cylindrical
shell
structural members are and will be increasingly employed in future structures with
an ever-growing demand for static and dynamic performance also in the nonlinear
regime.
This chapter, focused on the nonlinear theory of curved beams with compact
cross sections, mimics the path of Chap. 5 moving from the planar to the spatial
setting within which more complex motions can occur.
A closely related topic is the richer theory of cables that exhibit flexural
resistance, particularly within boundary layers in the proximity of the supports or
in the vicinity of regions where point-wise loads are applied. The resulting states
of stress cannot be neglected for an accurate assessment of the cables’ fatigue life.
The dynamic formulation of cables suffering axial stretching and flexural curvature
is presented within the geometrically exact framework of prestressed compact
curved rods.
7.1 The Planar Theory of Curved Beams
In this and the following sections, the assumptions together with the steps that led
to the theory of straight beams are suitably modified to account for an initially
curved stress-free configuration. The internal kinematic constraints holding for
straight beams, such as preservation of the rigidity of the cross sections, are directly
extended to curved beams.
Thus, the reference (stress-free) configuration B o is assumed to be curved. The
triad fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g is chosen as the Newtonian fixed basis with origin O. A reference
material curve in B o is chosen as the base curve [23] and is denoted by C o . The base
curve is described by r o .s/ where s is the arclength parameter along C o : The vector
r os is collinear with the unit vector tangent to the base curve at s, henceforth denoted
by bo1 : The orientation of the cross section S o at s in the reference configuration
(orthogonal to the base curve) is identified by the two unit vectors .bo2 ; bo3 / taken
7.1 The Planar Theory of Curved Beams 435
b02
0
b1 0
s 0
0 B
b2 b1
r0(s)
B
0
b02
b2 b1
e2
r(s,t) b01
0
O e1
l
Fig. 7.2 Planar motion of a curved beam: C o and C denote the base curves in the reference and
actual configurations, respectively
as collinear with two material fibers lying in the plane of the cross section; hence,
bo1 D bo2 bo3 .1 The reference configuration can thus be described as
B o D fpo .s/ D r o .s/ C xN o .s/; xN o .s/ WD x2 bo2 C x3 bo3 ; s 2 Œ0; Lg (7.1)
where the vector xN o .s/ spans the cross section S o and L denotes the length of the
base curve of the undeformed curved beam.
The curved beam or ring is said to be planar if the base curve r o .s/ is a plane
curve and the plane that intersects B o through the base curve C o ; denoted by ˘ o
spanned by fe 1 ; e 2 g; is a plane of symmetry of the curved beam. For a planar curved
beam, the unit vectors (bo1 ; bo2 ) always lie in the plane ˘ o : Let o .s/ denote the
angle that bo1 .s/ makes with e 1 : Thus the unit vectors (bo1 ; bo2 ) can be expressed as
bo1 D cos o e 1 C sin o e 2 and bo2 D sin o e 1 C cos o e 2 :
Kinematics. A planar motion occurs when the actual configuration C of the base
curve C o lies in the plane ˘ o (referred to as the plane of deformation) and the
rotations of all material cross sections take place about an axis orthogonal to ˘ o ,
thus collinear with e 3 : Let r.s; t/ denote the position vector of C and let the actual
cross section S be described by .b2 .s; t/; b3 .s; t// with b3 D e 3 (see Fig. 7.2).
The reference frame intrinsic to the actual cross section S is .C; b1 ; b2 ; b3 / where
C indicates the origin coinciding with the base point. By virtue of the internal
kinematic constraint that enforces the rigidity of the cross sections, the position
vector of the material points of S with respect to C is x.s;N t/ WD x2 .s/b2 .s; t/ C
x3 .s/b3 .s; t/.
1
With the choice of C o coincident with the centerline and (bo2 ; bo3 ) collinear with the principal axes
of inertia of the cross section, the intrinsic reference frame .C o ; bo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 / represents the principal
inertia reference frame of the cross section with origin in the center of mass C o of S o :
Assume that the cross section, orthogonal to bo1 in the reference configuration B o ;
undergoes a rotation of angle in the actual configuration B. Thus the unit vector
b1 makes the angle .s; t/ with bo1 , an angle that represents the incremental rotation
of directors fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g to fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g. Consequently, the actual configuration of
the curved beam is
B.t/ D fp.s; t/ D r.s; t/ C x.s;

N t/; xN D x2 b2 C x3 b3 ; s 2 Œ0; Lg;
where the unit vectors .b1 .s; t/; b2 .s; t// can be expressed in terms of (bo1 ; bo2 ) as
b1 D cos bo1 C sin bo2 and b2 D sin bo1 C cos bo2 :
The kinematic unknowns are r.s; t/ and .s; t/: The displacement vector
u.s; t/ WD r.s; t/ r o .s/ of the base curve can be used as an alternative kinematic
descriptor. If r is given its component representation in the local basis, r.s; t/ D
r1 .s; t/bo1 .s/ C r2 .s; t/bo2 .s/; the position vector p D r1 bo1 C r2 bo2 C x2 b2 C x3 b3 of
the material points of the cross section becomes
p.s; t/ D Œr1 .s; t/ x2 .s/ sin .s; t/bo1 .s/

CŒr2 .s; t/ C x2 .s/ cos .s; t/bo2 .s/ C x3 .s/e 3 : (7.2)
Generalized strains for curved beams. A three-dimensional justification for

the choice of the generalized strains of the curved beam problem is provided next.
To calculate the deformation gradient associated with the motion from B o to B; for
convenience, the following fictitious straight reference configuration is considered:
B D fx D r C .s/ C x; N r C .s/ D se 1 ; xN D x2 e 2 C x3 e 3 ; s 2 Œ0; Lg2 where
r .s/ is the baseline of the straight configuration that is curved into r o : Then, the
C
actual motion from B o to B may be conceived as the difference of two motions: the
motion from B to B o and the motion from B to B.
Recall that the configuration B o is described by the base curve r o .s/ and by the
cross section S o .s/ spanned by x o D x2 bo2 .s/ C x3 bo3 .s/: The deformation gradient
of the motion from B to B o is Fo D @p o =@x D .r po /| given by
h
i|
Fo D e 1 @x1 C e 2 @x2 C e 3 @x3 .r o .s/ C x2 bo2 C x3 bo3 /
D cos o .1 o x2 /bo1 bo1 C cos o bo2 bo2 sin o .1 o x2 /bo1 bo2

C sin o bo2 bo1 C bo3 bo3 ; (7.3)
2
B may be conceived as the rectified version of the stress-free configuration Bo : A way to obtain
a prescribed curved configuration without internal stresses is to take a formwork with the profile of
Bo , pour material in its fluid state (steel, metallic alloy, concrete, etc.) and let it solidify. Another
way is to construct segments of the curved beam and join them by suitable connections to form the
final arched structure.
with @=@x1 D @=@s and

o WD @s o (7.4)
represents the geometric curvature of the base curve r o :
The deformation gradient of the motion from B to B is given by F D @p=@x D
.r p/| D .@s r/.e 1 / x
M 2 b1 e 1 C b2 e 2 C b3 e 3 where @s b2 D b
M 1 with
M WD o C and WD @s : (7.5)
To obtain the deformation gradient expressed in the basis fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g, let
r.s; t/ D r1 .s; t/bo1 .s/ C r2 .s; t/bo2 .s/ from which @s r D .@s r1 o r2 /bo1 C .@s r2 C
o r1 /bo2 . The deformation gradient is thus obtained as
F D fcos o Œ.@s r1 o r2 / x
M 2 cos sin o sin gbo1 bo1
C fsin o Œ.@s r2 C o r1 / C x
M 2 sin C cos o cos gbo2 bo2
C fsin o Œ.@s r1 o r2 / C x
M 2 cos cos o sin gbo1 bo2
C fcos o Œ.@s r2 C o r1 / x
M 2 sin C sin o cos gbo2 bo1 C bo3 bo3 : (7.6)
Note that
@p @p @p o
F D D D F Fo (7.7)
@x @p o @x
where F WD @p=@po is the deformation gradient sought and associated with the
motion B o ! B: According to (7.7), the deformation gradient associated with the
motion B o ! B is
F D F .Fo /1 (7.8)
where
.Fo /1 D cos o =.1 o x2 /bo1 bo1 C cos o bo2 bo2 sin o =.1 o x2 /bo2 bo1
C sin o bo1 bo2 C e 3 e 3 : (7.9)
By carrying out the computations according to (7.8) and (7.9), after significant
simplifications, the deformation gradient becomes
.@s r1 o r2 / x
M 2 cos o o
FD b1 b1 C cos bo2 bo2 sin bo1 bo2
1 o x2
.@s r2 C o r1 / x
M 2 sin o o
C b2 b1 C bo3 bo3 : (7.10)
1 o x2
Note that, by letting the geometric curvature be zero in (7.10) (i.e., o D 0), the
deformation gradient F reduces to that valid for planar motions of straight beams
given by (5.8).
To ensure that planar motions of the curved beam be admissible (in the sense that
they preserve the orientation of the reference configuration), the positivity of the
determinant of the deformation gradient (i.e., det F > 0) is enforced thus obtaining
cos .@s r1 o r2 / C sin .@s r2 C o r1 / x

M 2
det F D > 0: (7.11)
1 x2
o
In accord with the definition of the stretch vector, n WD F n, the stretch vector of
a material fiber at p.s; t/ originally collinear with bo1 in B o is calculated as
.@s r1 o r2 / x
M 2 cos o .@s r2 C o r1 / x
M 2 sin o
1 D F bo1 D b1 C b2 :
1 x2o 1 x2o
(7.12)
The magnitude of 1 is the (true) stretch of the material fiber collinear with bo1 which
takes the form
n
1 D j1 o x2 j1 .@s r1 o r2 /2 C .@s r2 C o r1 /2
o1=2
CM 2 x22 2x
M 2 Œcos .@s r1 o r2 / C sin .@s r2 C o r1 / : (7.13)
In particular, the stretch, denoted by 1C , of the material fiber on the base curve C o
(with x2 D 0) becomes
h i1=2
1C D .@s r1 o r2 /2 C .@s r2 C o r1 /2 D j@s rj: (7.14)
On the other hand, if the stretch is calculated for any material fiber lying in the
cross section at s, this stretch turns out to be identically 1 due to the kinematic
constraint that enforces the rigidity of the cross sections. For example, 2 D Fbo2 D
sin bo1 C cos bo2 and 3 D bo3 ; hence, 2 D 1 D 3 :
The shear strain between a material fiber collinear with bo1 and any material line
of the cross section (for example, the fiber collinear with bo2 ) can be calculated
according to 1 2 D 1 sin 12 where 12 denotes the shear strain between the
material fibers bo1 and bo2 at p o . The computation of the dot product leads to the
shear strain 12 in the form
sin .@s r1 o r2 / C cos .@s r2 C o r1 /

sin 12 D : (7.15)
1 .1 o x2 /
In particular, the shear strain between a material fiber collinear with the tangent to
the base curve and a material line collinear with bo2 is found to be
C
sin 12 D j@s rj1 Œ sin .@s r1 o r2 / C cos .@s r2 C o r1 /: (7.16)
The vector WD @s r (collinear with the tangent to the deformed base curve C)
is called the stretch vector. Through its projections onto the unit vectors .b1 ; b2 /,
intrinsic to the cross section at s; it gives rise to the generalized stretch and shear
strain, respectively, given by
WD b1 D cos .@s r1 o r2 / C sin .@s r2 C o r1 /;

WD b2 D sin .@s r1 o r2 / C cos .@s r2 C o r1 /: (7.17)
Note that ¤ 1C : Moreover, since b2 D j@s rj sin 12 ; the following relation-
ships are obtained:
q
D 1C sin 12 ; D b1 D 1C cos 12 D .1C /2 2 : (7.18)
According to (7.18), the stretch represents the true stretch 1C of the base fiber
multiplied by the cosine of the shear strain while the shear strain is the sine of the
shear strain multiplied by the stretch 1C : The pair .; / represents the generalized
strain variables in the theory of curved beams undergoing planar motion.
The third strain variable, which appears explicitly in the deformation gradi-
ent (7.10), is defined as the rate of change of the rotation angle with respect to
the arclength parameter s; namely,
.s; t/ WD @s .s; t/: (7.19)
represents the bending (or flexural) curvature which is different from the
geometric curvature of the deformed base curve. The latter is conversely given by
M s where M WD o C C is the angle that r s makes with e 1 and sM is
M G WD @=@M
the arclength along the deformed base curve C: By considering dMs =ds D j@s rj and
the Chain Rule, the geometric curvature of the deformed base curve becomes
@M ds @s o C @s C @s o C C @s
M G D D D (7.20)
@s dMs j@s rj 1C
where o is the geometric curvature of the base curve of the reference configuration
C o : The variation of geometric curvature from C o to C; namely M G o ; is
proportional to the bending curvature according to M G o D =1C only for
vanishing shear strains or for spatially uniform shear strains (i.e., @s D 0). In
addition, when the true stretch of the base curve is 1, M G o D :
The strain–displacement relationships for the planar curved beam can be

concisely written as
@s r.s; t/ DW .s; t/b1 .s; t/ C .s; t/b2 .s; t/; .s; t/ WD @s .s; t/: (7.21)
The kinematic (or geometric) boundary conditions are in the form:
r.0; t/ D rN 1 .t/; r.L; t/ D rN 2 .t/; .0; t/ D N1 .t/; .L; t/ D N2 .t/: (7.22)
The boundary conditions that prescribe the positions of the base points of the
curved beam ends can be written in terms of the displacement vector as u.0; t/ D
uN 1 .t/ and u.L; t/ D uN 2 .t/ where uN 1 .t/ and uN 2 .t/ are the prescribed motions of the
base points of the terminal sections.
By letting u D ue 1 C ve 2 and considering @s r D @s r o C @s u, the strain–
displacement relationships for the stretch and the shear strain can be expressed as
.s; t/ D cos C cos. o C /@s u C sin. o C /@s v;

(7.23)
.s; t/ D sin sin. o C /@s u C cos. o C /@s v:
The linearization of the strain–displacement relationships (7.23) can be carried

out by considering a small parameter " such that r.s; t/ D r o .s/ C "u(1) .s; t/ and
.s; t/ D " (1) .s; t/: For any function f; the notation f (1) WD f" j"D0 is adopted.
The first-order Taylor expansions in " of the strains turn out to be: D 1 C " (1) ;
D " (1) ; and D "(1) ; with
(1) D cos o @s u(1) C sin o @s v (1) ;

(1) D sin o @s u(1) C cos o @s v (1) (1) ; (1) D @s (1) (7.24)
where u(1) WD u(1) e 1 and v (1) WD u(1) e 2 .

Internally constrained curved beams. The shearing effects turn out to be inappre-
ciable for sufficiently slender curved beams or rings. For computational purposes, it
is better to enforce the internal kinematic constraint according to which the shear
strains are identically zero no matter what the loading and boundary conditions
are. The imposition of unshearability is enforced by D 0 which, when u D
u1 bo1 C u2 bo2 ; leads to the following kinematic relationships: @s r D b1 and
cos D .1 C @s u1 o u2 /=; sin D .@s u2 C o u1 /=; (7.25)

!
@s u2 C o u1
D arctan ; (7.26)
1 C @s u1 o u2
together with the strain–displacement relationships

p
D .1 C @s u1 o u2 /2 C .@s u2 C o u1 /2 ; (7.27)
n
D Œ@ss u2 C @s .o u1 /.1 C @s u1 o u2 /
o
Œ@ss u1 @s .o u2 /.@s u2 C o u1 / = 2 : (7.28)
The main consequence of the unshearability condition D 0 is that b1 .s; t/ is

parallel to @s r.s; t/, 8s 2 Œ0; L; 8t 2 Œ0; 1/: Therefore, the cross sections rotate
by an angle such that they always maintain the orthogonality to the deformed base
curve r.s; t/:
Due to special loading and boundary conditions, it may also be the case that
the curved beam does not exhibit appreciable stretching effects, besides being
unshearable. Thus the motion can be further constrained through the inextensibility
constraint D 1; where is given by (7.27). If the inextensibility constraint is
expressed in the fixed basis, solving D 1 with respect to us and D b1 with
respect to yields
p
@s u D cos o ˙.cos o /2 @s v 2 2@s v sin o ; (7.29)
!
sin o C @s v
D arctan p o: (7.30)
.cos / @s v 2@s v sin
o 2 2 o
Equation (7.29) can be integrated to obtain the horizontal motion as

Z s Z sq
u.s; t/ D u.0; t/ cos d C
o
.cos o /2 @ v 2 2@ v sin o d
0 0
(7.31)
where only the plus sign has been retained in (7.29).

The obtained kinematic relationships show that the problem can be formulated in
terms of vertical deflection v only. The ensuing model is the Euler–Bernoulli model
of curved beams.
The linearized rotation and curvature can be obtained directly by imposing
the unshearability and inextensibility constraints in the linear strain–displacement
relationships (7.24):
(1) D sec o @s v (1) ; (1) D sec o .@ss v (1) C o tan o @s v/: (7.32)
Alternative kinematic representations. There is an alternative derivation of

the kinematic relationships. The proper orthogonal tensor that describes the rotation
of the cross sections about e 3 is introduced through its algebraic representation in
the basis fbo1 ; bo2 g

cos sin
RD : (7.33)
sin cos
Moreover, in consonance with the definition of elongation in the three-dimensional

theory, the beam elongation in terms of the beam stretch is WD 1: The strain
vector
and the curvature tensor N (in IE2 ) can be defined as

D R| rs ros ; N D R| Rs : (7.34)
Substituting the gradients of ros .s/ and rs .s; t/ given in the basis fbo1 ; bo2 g by
ros D Œ1; 0| and rs D Œ1 C u1;s o u2 ; u2;s C o u1 | , respectively, into (7.34)
yields

1 0

D ; N D ; WD s :
0
Equations of motion. The linear and angular momentum per unit reference length
of the curved beam are given by the same corresponding formal expressions valid
for straight rods, given by (5.26) and (5.27), respectively. Both linear and angular
momentum are based on the velocity of the material points of the cross section at s
given by @t p.s; t/ D @t r.s; t/ C x2 @t b2 .s; t/:
Let n.s; t/ WD N.s; t/b1 .s; t/ C Q.s; t/b2 .s; t/ and m.s; t/ D M.s; t/e 3 denote
the generalized stress resultant and moment resultant, respectively. The vectors
n.s; t/ and m.s; t/ are also referred to as the contact force and contact couple (or
bending moment), respectively, at the cross section at position s and at time t. The
component of n normal to the displaced cross section, denoted by N; is the tension
(or axial force) whereas the component tangential to the cross section, denoted by
Q; is the shear force; M , the component of the bending couple m D M e 3 is called
the bending moment.
By letting f and c D ce 3 be the applied force and couple per unit reference
length s, respectively, the balance of overall linear and angular momentum pos-
sessed by the curved beam is enforced according to (5.29).
On the other hand, the balance of linear and angular momentum for the curved
beam subpart Œs1 ; s .0; L/ is enforced by (5.30). Finally, the local form of the
balance of linear and angular momentum looks the same as (5.31). These equations
of motion are rewritten here for convenience:
@s n C f D %A@t t r C %I @t t b2 ; (7.35)
@s m C n C c D %I b2 @t t r C %J b2 @t t b2 (7.36)
where @t t b2 D @t t b1 .@t /2 b2 and b2 @t t b2 D @t t e 3 :

If the base curve is taken to be coincident with the centerline of the curved beam
in B o , the equations of motion reduce to the following simpler form:
@s n C f D %A@t t r; (7.37)
@s M C . n/ e 3 C c D %J @t t : (7.38)

equations of motion depends on the choice of the basis onto which (7.35) and (7.36)
or (7.37) and (7.38) are projected. The simpler form given by (7.37) and (7.38) is
considered next for the sake of illustration. There are at least three choices: the local
basis fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g in the actual configuration B, the local basis fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g in the
reference configuration B o ; and the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g:
First, the local basis fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g is chosen and the following relationships are
used: @s b1 D b M 2 and @s b2 D b M 1 where M D o C :
The calculation of the acceleration @t t r entails differentiation of the basis vectors
with respect to time according to @t bk D ! bk with ! D @t e 3 :
Let r WD r o C u1 b1 C u2 b2 denote the position of the base curve in the local
basis. The acceleration can be computed accordingly to give the following form of
the equations of motion:
@s N Q
M C f b1 D %AŒ@t t u1 .@t /2 u1 2@t u2 @t u2 @t t ; (7.39)
@s Q C N
M C f b2 D %AŒ@t t u2 .@t /2 u2 C 2@t u1 @t C u1 @t t ; (7.40)
@s M C Q N C c D %J @t t : (7.41)
On the other hand, by employing the basis fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g; let r.s; t/ D
r .s/ C u1 .s; t/bo1 .s/ C u2 .s; t/bo2 .s/ from which @t t r.s; t/ D @t t u1 .s; t/bo1 .s/ C
o
@t t u2 .s; t/bo2 .s/: Consequently, the component form of the equations of motion
becomes
.@s N Q/
M cos .@s Q C N
M / sin C f bo1 D %A@t t u1 ; (7.42)
.@s N Q/
M sin C .@s Q C N
M / cos C f bo2 D %A@t t u2 ; (7.43)
@s M C Q N C c D %J @t t : (7.44)
The advantage inherent in the choice of the basis fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g is the great
simplification of the inertial forces. The choice of the current basis fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g
entails inertial nonlinearities which result from the fact that the basis is a moving
frame. On the other hand, the choice of the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g, in which
r.s; t/ D r o .s/ C u.s; t/e 1 C v.s; t/e 2 ; leads to the following component form:
.@s N Q/
M cos M .@s Q C N
M / sin M C f e 1 D %A@t t u; (7.45)
.@s N Q/
M sin M C .@s Q C N
M / cos M C f e 2 D %A@t t v; (7.46)
@s M C Q N C c D %J @t t (7.47)
where M D o C .
For some curved beam geometries and boundary conditions, the coordinate x
along the horizontal axis may be more convenient than the arclength coordinate s.
To this end, the following relationship is considered:
d d dx d
./ D ./ D cos o ./:
ds dx ds dx
Constrained motions. In close parallelism with the exposition of Chap. 5, the

special forms taken by the equations of motion are discussed when sets of internal
kinematic constraints are enforced. The case of unshearable curved beams is treated
first. The associated kinematic constraint D 0 is enforced in (7.41) which is solved
for the reactive shear force Q:
Q D .@s M C c %J @t t /=: (7.48)
The shear force (7.48) is then substituted into (7.39) and (7.40) which thus become
the equations of constrained motion:
@s N C .=/@
M s M C f b1 C .=/c
M D %A@t t r b1 C .=/%J
M @t t ; (7.49)
@s .@s M =/ N
M f b2 C @s .c=/ D %A@t t r b2 C @s .%J @t t =/: (7.50)
In the majority of engineering applications, distributed forces are the primary

mechanical data, more infrequently curved beams are subject to distributed couples;
moreover, rotary inertia is often neglected due to the fact that this is order of
magnitude smaller than translational inertia. The equations of motion thus reduce to
@s N C .=/@
M s M C f b1 D %A@t t r b1 ; (7.51)
@s .@s M =/ N
M f b2 D %A@t t r b2 : (7.52)
Example 7.1 (Ring subject to a uniform hydrostatic pressure). Let a uniform

circular ring of undeformed radius r o be subject to a uniform hydrostatic pressure
acting radially inward, denoted by p (see Fig. 7.3). For convenience, the origin of the
fixed basis is taken to be coincident with the center of the ring in its reference (stress-
free) configuration while the directors are taken as bo1 D sin o e 1 C cos o e 2 and
bo2 D cos o e 1 sin o e 2 : The hydrostatic pressure is f D p b2 where b2 points
in the current radial direction assuming a circular deformed state. By accounting for
the fact that the pressure is applied quasistatically, it is straightforward to show that
the equilibrium solution is the uniform tensile state N D r o p: In fact, substituting
D 0, M D 0, and Q D 0 in (7.39) yields the equilibrium equations as Ns D 0
and N D f b2 =o : By considering o D 1=r o ; the tension is obtained as:
N D r o p: The position (and displacement) field can be obtained by employing the
inverse constitutive equation D .N O /: Furthermore, the fact that the shear strain
is inhibited (i.e., D 0) implies that D r s D b1 : The axisymmetry condition
on the solution is expressed by r D rb2 which ensures a circular deformed state.
The following two equations are thus obtained: r 0 D 0 and D .o C /r D r=r o :
Therefore,
r D .r
O o p/r o : (7.53)
Fig. 7.3 Radial motion of a f

ring under a uniform pressure
f D p b2 : Bo and B denote
r0 (s)
the reference and actual 0
configurations, respectively. B b10(s)
The dashed inner b1 (s,t)
circumferences denote the s
B
corresponding base curves b20(s))
e2
r(s,t)
b2 (s,t)
s=0
O e1
If a linearly elastic constitutive equation is considered, the inverse constitutive

equation is given by O D N=EA C 1; hence, O D r o p=EA C 1: Conse-
quently, (7.53) becomes r D r o .1 r o p=EA/ which implies that the deformed
ring has a reduced radius of its base curve. The reduction quantified by the
circumferential (also said azimuthal) elongation is proportional to the initial radius
and pressure and inversely proportional to EA: By defining the ring axial stiffness
as kA WD EA=r o , the solution can be expressed as r D r o .1 p=kA /:
Radial motions of nonlinearly viscoelastic rings subject to uniform pulsating
pressures were investigated in [24, 248, 255]. In particular, closed-form conditions
ensuring motions of the hardening or softening type were obtained showing that the
nonlinearity of this mode depends on the constitutive law and the static part of the
hydrostatic pressure.
The Euler–Bernoulli curved beam. The curved beam theory that incorporates
the (Kirchhoff) kinematic constraints D 0 and D 1 leads to the Euler–
Bernoulli curved beam theory. From a dynamic point of view, the contact force
vector n (the shear force and tension) becomes a reactive force, obtained from the
balance of linear momentum (7.37) and substituted into the balance of angular
momentum (7.38). Integrating the equation of motion in the b1 -direction, given
by (7.49) with D 1; yields
Z L Z L Z L
N.s; t/ D N.L; t/ C . C /M d C
o
f b1 C .o C /cd
s s s
Z L Z L
%A@t t r b1 d .o C /%J @t t d (7.54)
s s
Fig. 7.4 Simply supported C

circular curved beam subject
C
0
to an end compressive force
e2
O P
e1
l
where N.L; t/ is obtained from the boundary condition at s D L: Insertion of (7.54)

into (7.50) with D 1 furnishes the sought governing equation of motion where the
bending moment is prescribed through its constitutive law M.s; t/ D MO .; t ; s/;
valid for a simple viscoelastic curved beam.
Example 7.2 (Euler–Bernoulli simply supported curved beam). For a simply sup-
ported unshearable and inextensible curved beam, subject to an end compressive
force (see Fig. 7.4), the equilibrium equation can be shown to be
Ms C P sin. o C / D 0: (7.55)
In particular, when the rod is linearly elastic, the equilibrium equation reduces to
ŒEJ.s/s s C P sin. o C / D 0: (7.56)
The integration of the equilibrium version of (7.37) with f D o yields n.s; t/ D

n.L; t/ D P e 1 C V e 2 where V is the vertical reaction at the roller support whose
axis is collinear with e 2 . To satisfy the moment balance of the overall curved beam
(with respect to O), the roller reaction must vanish. Hence, n.s; t/ D P e 1 whose
insertion into (7.38), along with r s D b1 ; furnishes (7.55). By taking into account
b1 D cos. o C /e 1 C sin. o C /e 2 ; it is . n/ e 3 D .b1 P e 1 / e 3 D
P sin. o C /: If the rod is linearly elastic, according to the Euler–Bernoulli
constitutive equation, the bending moment is proportional to the bending curvature,
M.s/ D MO ./ D EJ: The constitutive equation, substituted into (7.55),
gives (7.56).
The planar problem of elastic curved beams. The equations of planar motion
of curved beams are given by (7.39)(7.41), (7.42)(7.44), or (7.45)(7.47),
depending on the basis chosen to project the vector-valued equations of mo-
tion (7.37) and (7.38).
These equations are supplemented by appropriate boundary conditions. When

the curved beam ends are subject to constraining devices, the position of the base
points of the terminal cross sections and/or their rotations can be prescribed as:
r.s; t/ D r j .t/ and .s; t/ D j .t/ at s D 0 and L where the subscripts j D 1
and 2 denote, respectively, the left and right end sections. On the other hand, if the
end sections are acted upon by force and moment actuators, then the mechanical
boundary conditions are enforced as n.0; t/ D f 1 .t/; m.0; t/ D c1 .t/e 3 and
n.L; t/ D f 2 .t/; m.L; t/ D c2 .t/e 3 :
To obtain the equations in terms of kinematic unknowns, the direct constitutive
equations are considered. For elastic curved beams, the same constitutive equations
valid for straight elastic beams, given by (5.42), are considered while for viscoelastic
curved beams the constitutive equations described by (5.46) are assumed. The
generalized strain–displacement relationships are substituted into the constitutive
equations which, in turn, are substituted into the above-mentioned equations of
motion and boundary conditions.
The initial-boundary-value problem is completed by the initial conditions. Within
the presented (special Cosserat) kinematic formulation, the initial position and
velocity of the base curve can be prescribed through the pair of vector-valued
functions .r o .s/; vo .s//; and the initial angle and angular velocity of the cross
sections can be assigned through the functions .o .s/; !o .s//: The initial conditions
are thus prescribed as
r.s; 0/ D r o .s/; @t r.s; 0/ D vo .s/;

.s; 0/ D o .s/; @t .s; 0/ D !o .s/: (7.57)
These initial data must be compatible with the boundary conditions. In particular,
the so-called natural initial conditions are r o .s/ D r o .s/; vo .s/ D o; o .s/ D 0;
!o .s/ D 0; 8 s 2 Œ0; L:
The linearization of the equations of motion for curved beams. The lineariza-
tion of the equations of motion is carried out by introducing a small parameter " and
taking the mechanical data and initial conditions to be of the order of ": That is,
f.s; t/ D "f (1) .s; t/ and c.s; t/ D "c (1) .s; t/: Similarly, the initial conditions are
prescribed according to r.s; 0/ D r o .s/ C "uo .s/; @t r.s; 0/ D "vo .s/; .s; 0/ D
"o .s/; and @t .s; 0/ D "!o .s/: The position vector r and the basis vectors fb1 ; b2 g
are expanded up to first-order terms of " to give r.s; t/ D r o .s/ C "u(1) .s; t/;
b1 .s; t/ D bo1 C " (1) bo2 , and b2 .s; t/ D bo2 " (1) bo1 : Then, the first-order Taylor
expansion of the contact force n in series of " gives n D ".N (1) bo1 C Q(1) bo2 /
on account of n.0/ D o. In the same way, D bo1 C ". (1) bo1 C (1) bo2 / on
account of b1 .0/ D bo1 ; b2 .0/ D bo2 ; .0/ D 1; and .0/ D 0: This yields
Œr s ."/ n."/ e 3 D "Q(1) : By further putting u(1) D u(1) (1) o
1 b1 C u2 b2 , the linear
o
equations of motion are obtained in the form
@s N (1) o Q(1) C f (1) bo1 D %A@t t u(1)

1 ; (7.58)
@s Q(1) C o N (1) C f (1) bo2 D %A@t t u(1)

2 ; (7.59)
@s M (1) C Q(1) C c (1) D %J @t t (1) : (7.60)
On the other hand, the linear equations in the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g have
the form
.@s N (1) o Q(1) / cos o .@s Q(1) C o N (1) / sin o C f1 D %A@t t u(1) ; (7.61)
.@s N (1) o Q(1) / sin o C .@s Q(1) C o N (1) / cos o C f2 D %A@t t v (1) ; (7.62)
@s M (1) C Q(1) C c (1) D %J @t t (1) (7.63)
where f1(1) WD f (1) e 1 and f2(1) WD f (1) e 2 .

Next, the final equations of the linear elastodynamic problem are formulated
considering the linear constitutive equations of elastic curved beams and the linear
strain–displacement relationships (7.218). By dropping the superscript 1, the final
governing equations of planar motion of elastic curved beams are
@s ŒEA.s/.@s u1 o u2 / o GA .@s u2 C o u1 / C f bo1 D %A@t t u1 ;

(7.64)
@s ŒGA .@s u2 C o u1 / C o EA.s/.@s u1 o u2 / C f bo2 D %A@t t u2 ;
(7.65)
@s ŒEJ.s/@s C GA .@s u2 C o u1 / C c D %J @t t : (7.66)
Unlike straight beams for which the linear longitudinal motion u1 is uncoupled
from the transverse motion u2 ; the geometric curvature o in (7.64) prevents such
uncoupling.
The constrained model of unshearable curved beams is governed by the equations
of motion (7.49) and (7.50) whose linearization yields
@s N (1) C o @s M (1) C o c (1) C f (1) bo1 D %A@t t u(1)

1 C %J @t t ;
o (1)
(7.67)
@ss M (1) o N (1) C @s c (1) f (1) bo2 D %A@t t u(1)

2 C @s .%J @t t /:
(1)
(7.68)
To obtain the final governing linear equations, the internal constraint (1) D 0 is
substituted into the linear strain–displacement relationships (7.218) to express the
rotation angle as (1) D @s u(1) o (1)
2 C u1 and the bending curvature as
(1)
D @s (1) D
(1) o (1) O
@ss u2 C@s . u1 /: The linear constitutive equations thus become N D EA.@s u(1) 1
o u(1) / and O D EJ.s/Œ@ss u(1) C @s .o u(1) /:
M
2 2 1
By dropping the superscript 1, the final equations of motion become
@s ŒEA.s/.@s u1 o u2 / C o @s ŒEJ.s/.@ss u2 C @s .o u1 //

Co c C f bo1 D %A@t t u1 C o %J @t t ; (7.69)
@ss ŒEJ.s/.@ss u2 C @s .o u1 // o EA.s/.@s u1 o u2 /

C@s c f bo2 D %A@t t u2 C @s .%J @t t /: (7.70)
An old design problem for arches: the funicular shape. Arches are designed
to withstand mostly compressional stresses. Ideally, the designed arches, under the
prevailing dead loads, should be purely compressed; only under perturbations of
the dead load condition can some mild tensile stresses be allowed as a result of
secondary elastic bending effects. The stated problem is an old problem known as
the problem of the funicular shape of the applied loads.
This problem is revisited and formulated in the context of the presented theory of
curved beams. The solutions of suitable ordinary differential equations describe the
sought arch profile as the funicular shape of the prescribed static forces. An inverse
problem can be cast by taking the arch profile as datum and by seeking the proper
force distributions whose funicular shape coincides with the given arch profile.
The arch is subject to purely normal stresses if and only if M D0; 8 s 2 Œ0; L:
By imposing this mechanical condition in the linear equilibrium equations derived
from (7.67) and (7.68) where the superscript .1/ is dropped, it is found that
Ns C f1o D 0; (7.71)
o N C f2o D 0 (7.72)
where f1o WD f bo1 and f2o WD f bo2 . Equation (7.72) is solved for N and, under
the physically sound condition that o ¤ 0; 8 s 2 Œ0; L; the tension is obtained as
N D .f bo2 /=o : The obtained tension is then substituted into (7.71) which, in
turn, delivers the sought equation as
os f2o C .o /2 f1o o .f2o /s D 0: (7.73)
The load components .f1o ; f2o / depend on the relative direction between f and the
local tangent to the arch profile. Equation (7.73) is a nonlinear equation which is
naturally formulated in terms of o : Once the solution o .s/ is found, the funicular
shape r o .s/ D x.s/e 1 C y.s/e 2 is determined by integrating the following set of
equations:
dx dy
D cos o .s/; D sin o .s/ (7.74)
ds ds
with the pertinent boundary conditions given, for example, by x.0/ D 0 D y.0/:
The inverse problem consists of determining the load distribution once an arch
shape is prescribed. For the inverse problem, o .s/ is chosen and f is calculated as
the solution to (7.73), here recast more conveniently as
.f2o /s .o /1 os f2o o f1o D 0: (7.75)

It is straightforward to see that the equation governing the funicular shape can
also be cast as
os f2 C .o /2 f1 o .f2 /s D 0 (7.76)
where the difference with (7.73) is in the fact that the load components f1 WD f b1
and f2 WD f b2 are now expressed in the actual basis fb1 ; b2 g:
Nonlinear response of curved beams: softening versus hardening. Curved
beams exhibit nonlinear precritical behaviors in the sense that the portion of the
load paths described by the linear equations (about the natural configuration) is
negligible. Most importantly, the (static) elastic instability can arise in the form
of lateral buckling (when the curved beam is nonshallow) or can appear as snap-
through at a limit point (when the curved beam is sufficiently shallow) on the
nonlinear part of the load paths in contrast to the symmetric behavior of perfectly
straight beams past the Eulerian buckling critical condition (pitchfork bifurcation).
Another important characteristic property of curved beams is that their response
curves are nonsymmetric in the sense that the load paths depend on the direction of
the applied loads.
To show some of these features, the constrained model of unshearable curved
beams is adopted together with the constitutive equations of a linearly elastic
material behavior. This constitutive model, despite its limitations, serves as the base-
line/threshold model for comparisons with more sophisticated nonlinear constitutive
behaviors. The adopted linearly elastic constitutive equations are those described
by (5.58). By introducing the same nondimensionalization as in the context of
straight beams and by considering a uniform transverse load, f D f e 2 so that
f b1 D f sin. o C / and f b2 D f cos. o C /; the nondimensional equilibrium
form of (7.51) and (7.52) for uniform unshearable curved beams becomes
˛ 2 @s C .o C @s /@ss = D f sin. o C /; (7.77)

@s .@ss =/ ˛ 2 .o C @s /. 1/ D f cos. o C / (7.78)
where the space derivatives are taken with respect to the nondimensional arclength
s WD s= l; the beam span is l, the nondimensional force is f WD f l 3 =EJ; and
p nondimensional axial stiffness is the squared beam slenderness parameter ˛ WD
the
EAl 2 =EJ :
On the other hand, the nondimensional linear equations of equilibrium for
uniform unshearable curved beams are obtained from (7.69) and (7.70) as
˛ 2 @s .@s u1 o u2 / C o @s Œ@ss u2 C @s .o u1 / D f sin o ; (7.79)

@ss Œ@ss u2 C @s .o u1 / ˛ 2 o .@s u1 o u2 / D f cos o (7.80)
where .u1 ; u2 / are the components of the displacement u D u1 bo1 C u2 bo2 and are
nondimensionalized by scaling them by the beam span l: The response of linearly
elastic unshearable curved beams depends solely on the slenderness parameter ˛:
Some paradigmatic behaviors are shown for hinged-hinged curved beams for which
10
2 3
α = 4.8 10
3
2.4 10
fl3
EJ 1.2 10
3
2
6 10
f
3 102
A
l/2 l/2
0 -2
0 vA/l 5 10
Fig. 7.5 Nonlinear (solid lines) and linear (dashed lines) equilibrium paths
p of unshearable hinged-
hinged parabolic curved beams for various slenderness ratios ˛ WD EAl 2 =EJ when the rise-
to-span ratio d is 1=10: The load is uniformly distributed and directed downward thus causing
compression
u.0/D0Dv.0/; u.1/D0Dv.1/; s .0/D0Ds .1/. The curved beam is parabolic and

is conveniently parametrized by the horizontal coordinate x WDx= l: Thus its base
curve is given by r o Dx e 1 C y e 2 ; with y D4 d x .1 x /; where y WDy= l
and d stands for the rise-to-span ratio. Since o Darctan.yx /; the initial angle for
parabolic profiles is expressed as o DarctanŒ4d.1 2x /:
A series of path-following analyses of (7.77)(7.80) is carried out by increasing
the load multiplier f . A rectangular cross section of thickness h and width b
is considered. The lowest admissible span-to-thickness ratio is l= h D 5 which
corresponds to ˛ 2 D 0:3 103 while ˛ 2 D 4:8 103 corresponds to l= h D 20:
The considered range of variation of ˛ 2 is thus Œ3 102 ; 4:8 103 .
Figure 7.5 portrays the load paths (midspan deflection vs. load) obtained by
employing the nonlinear unshearable curved beam model (solid lines) when the
load is directed downward thus causing compression. The linear response, for
comparison, is depicted by dashed lines. A set of nonlinear load paths are calculated
for different values of ˛:
The progressive stiffness degradation is the main feature of the nonlinear
response when increasing the load multiplier, behavior typical of a softening-type
nonlinearity. The loss of stiffness has a geometric nature since the compressional
tension N caused by the load pushing downward progressively loses its load-
carrying capacity due to the flattening of the curved beam profile. This behavior
is highlighted in the context of the paradigmatic behavior of the von Mises truss
structure of Chap. 1.
On the other hand, if the load is directed upward, as in the load paths of
Fig. 7.6, the curved beams undergo a stiffening which arises from the increasing
tension-induced geometric stiffness driven by the increase of the curvature. Hence,
10
2 3
α = 4.8 10
3
2.4 10
3
fl 3
EJ 1.2 10
2
6 10
2 f
3 10
A
l/2 l/2
0
-2
0 vA/l 5 10
Fig. 7.6 Nonlinear (solid lines) and linear (dashed lines) equilibrium paths of unshearable hinged-
hinged parabolic curved beams for various ˛ when the rise-to-span ratio d is 1=10: The load is
uniformly distributed and directed upward thus causing tension
10
d= 3
3 10
fl 1
EJ 5
3
20
1
10 f
A
1
20
l/2 l/2
0
0 -2
vA/l 5 10
hinged parabolic curved beams for various rise-to-span ratios d when ˛ D 1:2 103 : The load is
uniformly distributed and directed downward thus causing compression
under loading conditions that induce a positive tension, the curved beam exhibits a
hardening-type nonlinearity. The nonlinear response of curved beams is nonsym-
metric with substantial consequences on the dynamic behavior of arch structures
under time-varying forcing conditions.
Shallow curved beams are expected to be more sensitive to stiffness degradations
under compressive forces. Different load paths, computed for various rise-to-span
1 3
ratios d in the range Œ 20 ; 10 and shown in Fig. 7.7, indeed confirm that shallow
10
Pl2
3
EJ 4.8 10
3
2.4 10
3
1.2 10
2
6 10 P
2
3 10 A
l/2 l/2
0
-2
0 vA/l 5 10
hinged parabolic curved beams for various ˛ when the rise-to-span ratio d is 1=10 and the load is
a point force directed downward at the midspan
curved beams exhibit a severe stiffness degradation at small amplitudes and this
makes them prone to snap-through instabilities at relatively low magnitudes of the
compressive loads.
An interesting non-funicular loading condition consists of a point load at the
midspan section. Non-funicular loads cause tension, shear force, and bending
moments. Figure 7.8 shows a set of load paths under the downward point force
applied at the keystone of a hinged-hinged parabolic curved beam for various
slenderness ratios. The investigated loading condition shows that, under the same
load resultant, the curved beam exhibits higher flexibility because it is easier to
deform the beam in bending than it is to stretch it in tension.
The weak form of the planar curved beam problem. The weak form of the
governing equations is formally the same as that obtained for straight beams, given
by (5.95), rewritten here for convenience
Z L Z L
.%A@t t r w C %J @t t /ds C Œn @s w C M @s . n/ e 3 ds
0 0
Z L ˇL ˇL
D .f w C c /ds C Œn wˇ C ŒM ˇ 0 0
(7.81)
0
where .w; / are the test functions. The geometric curvature effects appear explicitly
only when (7.81) is expressed in component form.
Example 7.3. The weak form of the equations of motion for curved beams, when
the local basis fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g is considered, becomes
Z L n
%A Œ@t t u1 .@t /2 u1 2@t u2 @t @t t u2 w1
0
o Z L
CŒ@t t u2 .@t / u2 C 2@t u1 @t C @t t u1 w2 ds C
2
.%J @t t /ds
0
Z L
C fŒ@s w1 .o C /w2 N C Œ@s w2 C .o C /w1 Qgds
0
Z L Z L
C ŒM @s C . N Q/ds D .f1 w1 C f2 w2 C c/ds
0 0
ˇL ˇL
CŒN w1 C Qw2 ˇ0 C ŒM ˇ0 : (7.82)
To obtain (7.82), all quantities appearing in (7.81) are expressed in the local
basis fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g such as r D r o C u1 b1 C u2 b2 . The derivative of the test function
w D w1 b1 C w2 b2 with respect to s yields @s w D Œ@s w1 .o C /w2 b1 C
Œ@s w2 C .o C /w1 b2 : On the other hand, the acceleration is expressed as @t t u D
Œ@t t u1 .@t /2 u1 2@t u2 @t @t t u2 b1 CŒ@t t u2 .@t /2 u2 C2@t u1 @t C@t t u1 b2 .
The mechanical boundary conditions and the kinematic boundary conditions are
ˇL ˇL
incorporated in the boundary terms ŒN w1 CQw2 ˇ0 CŒM ˇ0 by enforcing .w; / D
.o; 0/ on @Cuo , subset of the boundary where the geometric boundary conditions are
prescribed.
7.2 Shallow Versus Nonshallow Curved Beams
The mechanical behavior of shallow curved beams is distinctly different from that
of nonshallow curved beams. In this section the simplified mechanical model of
shallow curved beams due to Mettler [316] is discussed. The modeling assumptions
are a few ad hoc kinematic approximations based on the shallowness of the curved
natural configuration. The differences between shallow and nonshallow curved
beams are discussed from the point of view of the elastic stability. It is shown that
shallow curved beams are often prone to snap-through instabilities while nonshallow
curved beams often exhibit lateral buckling as the lowest elastic instability.
The Mettler theory of shallow curved beams. A naturally curved beam configu-
ration B o is shallow when the angle o (by which the tangent to the base curve r o
of B o is rotated with respect to e 1 ) is considered sufficiently small. If the position
vector of the curved beam natural configuration is described as r o D xe 1 C y.x/e 2 ;
then tan o D yx :
The main consequences of the shallowness are:
Z x q
yx ;
o
yxx ;
o
sD 1 C yx2 dx x; boj e j :
0
7.3 The Theory of Curved Beams in Space 455
Hence, the arclength s can be taken to coincide with the coordinate x in the
e 1 -direction.
In consonance with Mettler’s hypotheses, the shallow curved beam is considered
unshearable and the forces are purely transverse forces of magnitude such that the
transverse motion is of moderately large amplitude. If the curved beam is also
subject to forces in the longitudinal direction away from resonance conditions with
the elastic longitudinal modes of vibration, the longitudinal inertia can be neglected
and the associated motion u is of higher order with respect to the transverse
motion v. The second-order Taylor expansion of the stretch expressed by (7.220)
gives
D 1 C ux C yx vx C 12 vx2 : (7.83)
Moreover, the bending curvature is considered in its linear form by discarding the
nonlinear higher-order terms in (7.221) thus obtaining D vxx : The constitutive
equations of linear elasticity are considered in the following form: N D EA.
1/ EA.ux C yx vx C 12 vx2 / and M EJ vxx :
If all higher order terms in (7.51) are discarded and f b1 f e 1 D 0, the
consequence is Nx D 0, which says that the tension N is uniform across the beam
span and can thus be calculated as
Z l
EA h 1 i
N D u.l; t/ u.0; t/ C yx vx C vx2 dx : (7.84)
l 0 2
Due to typical horizontal constraints, the boundary conditions u.l; t/ D 0 D u.0; t/
hold. Introducing the above-mentioned approximations in (7.52) yields
Z
EA l 1 2
%Avt t C .EJ vxx /xx .yxx C vxx / yx vx C vx dx D f e 2 : (7.85)
l 0 2
Equation (7.85) is the Mettler equation of motion for shallow curved beams. This
equation features the presence of
EA Rl
(a) The linear stiffness terms .EJ vxx /xx yxx 0 yx vx dx.
l
EA Rl EA Rl
(b) The quadratic terms yxx 0 vx2 dx vxx 0 yx vx dx.
2l l
EA Rl 2
(c) The cubic term vxx 0 vx dx.
2l
7.3 The Theory of Curved Beams in Space
The reference configuration B o of a curved beam in space is described by the

position of the base curve C o and two orthonormal vectors .bo1 ; bo2 /; collinear with
two material fibers of the cross section S o through the base point of C o . The
base curve C o is naturally parametrized by its arclength coordinate s. Hence, C o
is described by the position vector r o .s/ which, in the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g, is
expressed as r o .s/ D r1o .s/e 1 C r2o .s/e 2 C r3o .s/e 3 . The pair of directors .bo1 ; bo2 /;
complemented by unit vector bo3 D r os D bo1 bo2 ; forms the local triad fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g:
Unit vectors fbo1 ; bo2 g are often placed collinear with the principal axes of inertia
of the cross section so that the intrinsic reference frame .C o ; bo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 / represents
the section-fixed principal inertia reference frame. The reference configuration is
thus B o D fxo .s/ D po .s/ C x1 .s/bo1 C x2 .s/bo2 ; s 2 Œ0; Lg where the vector
x1 .s/bo1 C x2 .s/bo2 DW xN o spans the cross section S o with respect to C o while L
denotes the length of the curved beam in its reference state.
The theory of deformation in space. The actual configuration BM of the curved
beam is described by the actual position C.s; M t/ of the base curve and the actual
M t/ of the cross sections. The base curve is described by the
configuration S.s;
position vector r.s; t/ while the material cross section is described by the unit
M
vectors fb1 .s; t/; b2 .s; t/g: Thus, the actual configuration is B.t/ D fp.s; t/ D
M t/ C x.s;
r.s; M t/; s 2 Œ0; Lg where x.s; M t/ D x1 .s/b1 .s; t/ C x2 .s/b2 .s; t/.
The generalized strains can be expressed by the stretch vector M in its local
representation
M WD @s r;
M M D 1 b1 C 2 b2 C b3 (7.86)
and by the curvature vector defined as
@s bk D .
N o C / bk ; D axial. /; N o D axial.R o R | /;
(7.87)
where D @s R R | and o D @s R o R o| are respectively the (elastic) curvature

tensor and the geometric curvature tensor for the initially curved beam. 1 and
2 denote the shear strains, respectively; is the stretch or dilatation. The in-
plane components (1 ; 2 ) of the curvature vector D 1 b1 C 2 b2 C 3 b3
are the bending curvatures about the b1 and b2 axes, respectively, while the normal
component 3 is the torsional (or twist) curvature. Vector N o can be shown to be
N WD R o D o1 b1 Co2 b2 Co3 b3 , which is the geometric curvature
expressed as o
vector o rotated by R.
The velocity of material point p D r.s;
M t/ C x.s;M t/; with xM D x1 b1 C x2 b2 ; is
@t p D @t rM C ! xM (7.88)
where the time derivatives of the unit vectors fb1 ; b2 g are expressed according to
@t bk D ! bk (7.89)
and ! is the axial vector of the skew-symmetric tensor ˝ WD @t R R | .

As a consequence of the Schwarz Theorem, by applying the equality @s @t bk D
@t @s bk to (7.87) and (7.89), the following compatibility equation, between and !;
is obtained:
N o C / bk D @s .! bk /:
@t Œ. (7.90)
x(s,t)
p(s,t) C
r(s,t) S
e1
p0(s)
0 x0(s,t)
r0(s) C
C
e2 e3 x (s) S0
x (s)
r (s)
C
C
0
S*
C*
Fig. 7.9 Geometry of deformation of curved beams. The base curve C and the material section
S in the (ideal) straight configuration B ; natural configuration Bo ; and actual configuration BM
Generalized strains for curved beams. In consonance with the planar theory of
curved beams, it is convenient to think of the natural configuration B o as obtained
from deforming (in a purely geometric way) some initially straight configuration,
for example, the configuration whose base curve lies along e 3 and has the same
natural length L: B D fx.s/ D se 3 C x1 e 1 C x2 e 2 ; s 2 Œ0; Lg:
Let R o .s/ denote the orthogonal tensor describing the rigid rotation by which the
material section S D x1 e 1 C x2 e 2 is rotated from B to B o . Therefore the kth unit
vector of the fixed basis, e k ; is rotated by R o into bok ; according to bok D R o e k : In
consonance with the theory presented in Chap. 5 about straight beams in space, the
skew-symmetric curvature tensor o WD @s R o R o | has an associated axial vector,
denoted by o ; which represents the geometric curvature of the curved beam in its
natural configuration. Thus, by considering @s bok D o bok and o bok D o bok ;
the space derivatives of unit vector bok can be expressed as @s bok D o bok :
The actual configuration BM may be described as a deformation from the straight
configuration B (see Fig. 7.9). Let R.s;M t/ denote the orthogonal tensor describing
the rigid rotation suffered by the material section S.s/ so that bk D R.s; M t/ e k :
M
The space gradient of the orthogonal tensor R gives rise to the skew-symmetric
(total) curvature tensor M WD @s R M RM | whose associated axial vector is denoted
M Thus, by considering @s bk D M bk and M bk D
by : M bk , the following
fundamental relationship is obtained:
@s bk D
M bk : (7.91)
The description of the deformation B o ! BM can be achieved by means of the

position vector r and the orthogonal tensor R.s; t/ which describes the incremental
rigid rotation suffered by the material section S o .s/ so that bk .s; t/ D R.s; t/bok .s/:
Differentiating this expression with respect to s yields @s bk D @s R bok C R @s bok
where @s bok D o bok and @s R bok D bk with denoting the axial vector
of the skew-symmetric tensor D @s R R | . Thus, by accounting for (7.91), the
following fundamental kinematic relationship is obtained:
M / bk D R . o bok /:
. (7.92)
Equation (7.92) governs the relationship between the total curvature vector M D
M 1 b1 C M 2 b2 C M 3 b3 ; the geometric curvature o D o1 bo1 C o2 bo2 C o3 bo3 ; and
the curvature vector D 1 b1 C 2 b2 C 3 b3 : Equation (7.92) is satisfied if and
only if
M k D ok C k : (7.93)
Let F WD @p o =@x, F WD @p=@p o , and F
o M WD @p=@x represent the deformation
M and B ! B,
gradients of B ! B o ; B o ! B, M respectively. Since
M WD @p=@x D .@p=@po / .@p o =@x/ D F Fo ;

F (7.94)
the deformation gradient associated with the motion B o ! BM can be calculated as

FDF M .Fo /1 : It is straightforward to show that
Fo D bo1 e 1 C bo2 e 2 C bo3 e 3 C . o xN o /e 3 ;

M D b1 e 1 C b2 e 2 C e
F M 3 C .
M x/e
M 3 (7.95)
where xN o D x1 bo1 C x2 bo2 ; xM D x1 b1 C x2 b2 ; and M D @s rM with
@s rM D @s rM1 e 1 C @s rM2 e 2 C @s rM3 e 3 ; or

@s rM D .@s rM1o o3 rM2o C o2 rM3o /bo1 C .@s rM2o C o3 rM1o o1 rM3o /bo2
C.@s rM3o o2 rM1o C o1 rM2o /bo3 (7.96)
depending on whether the chosen basis is the fixed basis, in which case rM D rM1 e 1 C
rM2 e 2 C rM3 e 3 ; or the local basis in which rM D rM1o bo1 C rM2o bo2 C rM3o bo3 .
By expressing all vectors in (7.95) in the basis fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g and by substituting
them into (7.94), the deformation gradient F is obtained together with the condition
det F > 0. A relationship between the curvature tensors can be obtained differen-
tiating with respect to s the identity R M R M | D I involving the orthogonal tensor
R M D R R o . Thus the total curvature tensor is M D @s R M R M | D C N o with
D @s R R | , N D R o R | , and o D @s R o R o| .
o
In principle, a detailed three-dimensional analysis can be carried out as in the

theory of straight beams to provide a rational justification of the strain measures of
the special Cosserat theory of curved beams. Here only the fundamental steps that
enable one to carry out such an analysis are sketched. To pursue a full analysis, one
would need to make specific choices for the rotation tensors R o and R:
Kinematic boundary conditions and initial conditions. The kinematic boundary
conditions prescribe the positions of the curved beam terminal sections and/or their
orientations. If the incremental rotation tensor R is adopted, the kinematic boundary

conditions are enforced as
M t/ D r 1 .t/; R.0; t/ D R 1 .t/; r.L;

r.0; M t/ D r 2 .t/; R.L; t/ D R 2 .t/: (7.97)
Alternatively, the orientation of the cross sections may be prescribed through the
unit vectors bk as bk .0; t/ D bN k;1 .t/ and bk .L; t/ D bN k;2 .t/:
Within the presented (special Cosserat) kinematic formulation, the initial position
and velocity of the base curve, denoted by .r o .s/; vo .s//; and the initial rotation
matrix and angular velocity of the cross sections, denoted by .R o .s/; !o .s// are
prescribed as
M 0/ D r o .s/;
r.s; M 0/ D vo .s/;
@t r.s;
R.s; 0/ D R o .s/; !.s; 0/ D !o .s/: (7.98)
These initial data must be compatible with the kinematic boundary conditions.
Balance of linear and angular momentum. The mechanical data in the theory
of curved beams are represented by the resultant forces and couples .f 1 ; c 1 / and
.f 2 ; c 2 / prescribed on the curved beam ends at s D 0 and L, respectively, together
with the forces and couples per unit reference length, .f.s; t/; c.s; t//; s 2 .0; L/:
The balance of linear and angular momentum of the overall curved beam in space is
enforced through (5.178). Linear and angular momentum per unit reference length
of the curved beam are
l D %A@t rM C ! %iM ; h D rM l C %iM @t rM C %J ! (7.99)
where the vector of the first mass moments of the curved beam cross section with
respect to .CM ; b1 ; b2 ; b3 / is given by
Z Z
%iM D M
xdA D .x1 b1 C x2 b2 /dA D %I2 b1 C %I1 b2 (7.100)
SM SM
and %J D %Jij bi bj is the positive-definite tensor of second mass moments of the

curved beam cross section with
Z Z Z
%J11 WD x2 dA; %J22 WD
2
x1 dA; %J33 WD
2
.x12 C x22 /dA;
S S S
Z
%J12 WD x1 x2 dA; %J13 D 0 D %J23 : (7.101)
S
.%J11 ; %J22 ; %J33 / are the mass moments of inertia about .b1 ; b2 ; b3 /; respectively,
and %J12 is the mixed (or centrifugal) mass moment of inertia. In the derivation
of (7.99), the base point CM is taken as an arbitrary point and the directors .b1 ; b2 /
are taken to be collinear with two arbitrary, convenient, orthogonal directions. If
CM coincides with the center of mass of the cross section and .b1 ; b2 / are collinear
with the principal axes of inertia, two major simplifications arise: %iM D o and %J C
exhibits a diagonal form so that (7.99) reduces to l D %A@t rM and h D rM l C%J !.
Consider an arbitrary inner part of the curved beam having the end cross sections
at s1 and s with Œs1 ; s .0; L/: Let the contact force and contact couple be,
respectively, defined as the stress and moment resultants over the cross section
according to
Z Z
n.s; t/ WD tdA; m.s; t/ WD xM tdA (7.102)
So So
where t D T bo3
is the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress vector referred to material
points of the cross section S o (whose outward unit normal is bo3 ) in the reference
configuration B o :
Enforcing the balance of linear and angular momentum of the curved beam,
invoking the arbitrariness of Œs1 ; s, and applying the integration-by-part rule yield
the following classical or strong form of the equations of motion:
M t/ C @t !.s; t/ %iM .s/ C ! .! %iM /;

@s n.s; t/ C f.s; t/ D %A.s/@t t r.s;
(7.103)
@s m.s; t/ C .s;
M t/ n.s; t/ C c.s; t/ D %J .s/ @t !.s; t/
C!.s; t/ Œ%J .s/ !.s; t/ C %iM .s/ @t t r.s;
M t/: (7.104)
The contact force and contact couple are expressed in the local basis as
n.s; t/ D Q1 .s; t/b1 .s; t/ C Q2 .s; t/b2 .s; t/ C N.s; t/b3 .s; t/;
m.s; t/ D M1 .s; t/b1 .s; t/ C M2 .s; t/b2 .s; t/ C T .s; t/b3 .s; t/ (7.105)
where the stress resultants .Q1 ; Q2 / are the shear forces in the b1 and b2 directions,
respectively, N is the tension or axial force; .M1 ; M2 / are the bending moments
about b1 and b2 ; respectively, and T is the torque or twisting moment.
Therefore, by substituting (7.105) into (7.103) and (7.104), and by taking the
centerline as base curve, the following component form is obtained:
@s Q1 C M 2 N M 3 Q2 C f b1 D %A@t t rM b1 ; (7.106)
@s Q2 M 1 N C M 3 Q1 C f b2 D %A@t t rM b2 ; (7.107)
@s N M 2 Q1 C M 1 Q2 C f b3 D %A@t t rM b3 ; (7.108)
@s M1 C M 2 T M 3 M2 Q2 C 2 N C c b1
D .%J @t !/ b1 C Œ! .%J !/ b1 ; (7.109)
@s M2 M 1 T C M 3 M1 C Q1 1 N C c b2
D .%J @t !/ b2 C Œ! .%J !/ b2 ; (7.110)

@s T M 2 M1 C M 1 M2 C 1 Q2 2 Q1 C c b3
D .%J @t !/ b3 C Œ! .%J !/ b3 (7.111)
where M k are the components of the total curvature vector .

M
The mechanical boundary conditions are prescribed in the same way that they are
imposed for straight beams. When the ends are acted upon by forces and couples,
the contact force and contact couple are enforced to be equal to the opposite of the
external force and couple resultants at s D 0, n.0; t/ D f 1 .t/ and c.0; t/ D
c 1 .t/: On the other hand, the contact force and couple at s D L must be equal to
the external force and couple, n.L; t/ D f 2 .t/ and m.L; t/ D c 2 .t/:
The linearization of the equations of motion for curved beams in space. The
linearization of the initial-boundary-value problem (7.106)(7.111) can be carried
out by introducing a small parameter denoted by ". Consider the mechanical data of
the order of " according to f.s; t/ D "f (1) .s; t/ and c.s; t/ D "c (1) .s; t/: Similarly,
M 0/ D r o .s/ C "u0 .s/ and @t r.s;
the initial conditions are set as r.s; M 0/ D "v0 .s/;
R.s; 0/ D I C "R 0 .s/, !.s; 0/ D "!0 .s/: The position vector and the basis vectors
are expanded up to first order in " as rM D r o .s/ C "u(1) .s; t/; bk D bok C O."/;
k D 1; 2; 3: Furthermore, by considering n.0/ D o; the first-order expansions of n
and M n are n D ".Q1(1) bo1 C Q2(1) bo2 C N (1) bo3 / and M n D ".Q1(1) bo2 Q2(1) bo1 /:
Let u(1) D u(1) bo1 C u(1) (1) o (1) o (2) o
2 b2 C u3 b3 and ! D ".@t 1 b1 C @t 2 b2 C @t 3 b3 / by
o (3) o
virtue of (5.162).
With the simplifying assumptions that the base curve coincides with the cen-
terline and that .b1 ; b2 / be collinear with the principal axes of inertia of S, the
linearized equations of motion are obtained in the form
@s Q1(1) C o2 N (1) o3 Q2(1) C f1o D %A.s/@t t u(1)

1 ; (7.112)
@s Q2(1) o1 N (1) C o3 Q1(1) C f2o D %A.s/@t t u(1)

2 ; (7.113)
@s N (1) o2 Q1(1) C o1 Q2(1) C f3o D %A.s/@t t u(1)

3 ; (7.114)
@s M1(1) C o2 T (1) o3 M2(1) Q2(1) C c1o D %J11

C
.s/@t t 1(1) ; (7.115)
@s M2(1) o1 T (1) C o3 M1(1) C Q1(1) C c2o D %J22

C
.s/@t t 2(1) ; (7.116)
@s T (1) o2 M1(1) C o1 M2(1) C c3o D %J33

C
.s/@t t 3(1) ; (7.117)
where fko WD f bok and cko WD c bok . Unlike the case of straight beams for which
a full uncoupling occurs between longitudinal, transverse, and torsional vibrations,
the linear curved beam problem (7.112)(7.117) does not exhibit such uncoupling
except in special cases.
Equations of motion for unshearable curved beams. The unshearability con-
straints 1 D 0 D 2 are substituted into (7.109) and (7.110) which, solved
with respect to Q1 and Q2 , yield (5.193) where k is replaced by ok C k . The
substitution of the shear forces Q1 and Q2 into (7.106)(7.108) and (7.111) yields
the final governing equations of motion expressed as (5.194) with the replacement
k ! M k :
The linear equations of motion for unshearable curved beams become
@s N C o2 .@s M2 o1 T C o3 M1 / C o1 .@s M1 C o2 T o3 M2 /
C c3 C f3o D %A@t t u3 C o1 .%J11
C
@t t 1 / C o2 .%J22
C
@t t 2 /; (7.118)
@ss M2 C @s .o1 T / @s .o3 M1 / C 02 N o3 .@s M1 C o2 T o3 M2 /

C c1 C f1o D %A@t t u1 @s .%J22
C
@t t 2 / o3 .%J11
C
@t t 1 /; (7.119)
@ss M1 C @s .o2 T / @s .o3 M2 / 01 N o3 .@s M2 o1 T C o3 M1 /

C c2 C f2o D %A@t t u2 C @s .%J11
C
@t t 1 / o3 .%J22
C
@t t 2 /; (7.120)
@s T o2 M1 C o1 M2 C c3o D %J33

C
@t t 3 (7.121)
where c3 WDo1 c1o C o2 c2o , c1 WDo3 c1o @s c2o ; and c2 WDo3 c2o C @s c1o . In (7.118)–
(7.121), the stress resultant N and moments .M1 ; M2 ; T / are considered only with
their first-order parts.
The three-dimensional elastodynamic problem. The equations of motion of
compact curved beams in space are given by (7.106)(7.111) when the vector-
valued equations of motion (7.103) and (7.104) are projected into the local basis
fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g: These equations are supplemented with the boundary conditions.
The generalized strain–displacement relationships are substituted into the direct
constitutive equations which are given by (5.200) for elastic curved beams, and
by (5.203)(5.204) for viscoelastic curved beams, respectively. The constitutively
expressed contact forces and moments are, in turn, substituted into the equations of
motion and the boundary conditions. The initial-boundary-value problem is closed
by the initial conditions. The resulting equations are the equations governing the
elastodynamic or visco-elastodynamic problem of curved beams in space.
Weak form of the equations of motion and the Principle of Virtual Work. The
weak form is obtained by introducing the test functions .w.s/; .s// 2 IE3 assumed
to be smooth in .0; L/ and such that they vanish at the boundary @Cuo of the curved
beam, where the kinematic boundary conditions are prescribed: .w; / D .o; o/ 2
@Cuo : Both members of (7.103) and (7.104) are multiplied by w and , respectively.
The resulting functions are integrated over Œ0; L and the left- and right-hand sides
are summed to obtain an integral identity which is a primitive weak form of the
equations of motion, formally the same as (5.213).
To account for the boundary conditions, (5.213) is integrated by parts; the weak
form of the equations of motion (5.214) is thus obtained. If the test functions
.w.s/; .s// are chosen as a set of generalized virtual displacements or virtual
velocities, the weak form (5.214) corresponds to the Principle of Virtual Work
(PVW) or the Principle of Virtual Power (PVP), respectively. The weak form of
7.4 The Problem of Prestressed Beams 463
the equations of motion for curved beams is more complex than the weak form for
straight beams by virtue of the more complex strain–displacement relationships.
If the test functions are taken to coincide with the actual generalized velocities
M !/, the weak form becomes the energy equation.
.@t r;
7.4 The Problem of Prestressed Beams
The problem of initially prestressed beams that undergo a motion about the
prestressed states can be formulated in the context of the general theory of
curved beams. In practical engineering applications, beam-like structures are often
prestressed and deformed into configurations which are not necessarily shallow. The
nonshallow curved beams may be further loaded by incremental static loads or may
be excited by resonant loads causing large-amplitude vibrations.
Let B denote the reference straight configuration of the beam and let s be the
coordinate along the base curve of the beam in Fig. 7.10 described by r o .s/. Let
.f o ; c o / denote the force and couple per unit reference length and .f ok ; c ok / (k D
1; 2) be the force and couple applied at the beam end sections. Let .no ; mo / be the
contact force and couple in the equilibrium state B o (Fig. 7.10).
The equations for the prestressed equilibrium can be obtained from (7.103)
and (7.104) as
@s no .s/ C f o .s/ D o; (7.122)

@s m .s/ C .s/ n .s/ C c .s/ D o
o o o o
(7.123)
where o D @s r o is the stretch vector. The mechanical boundary conditions are:

no .0; t/ D f o1 .t/ and mo .0; t/ D c o1 .t/ at s D 0 together with no .L; t/ D f o2 .t/
and mo .L; t/ D c o2 .t/ at s D L.
Under the action of the incremental force f.s; t/ and couple c.s; t/ per unit
reference length, the beam undergoes a motion from B o to BM described by the
M t/ of its base curve and by the unit vectors fb1 ; b2 g collinear with
position vector r.s;
f(s,t)
c(s,t)
e2 B
u
B
0
u0 P
P
O
e1 s B m
l
Fig. 7.10 The prestressed beam problem: natural configuration B; prestressed configuration Bo ;
and actual configuration BM. The dashed lines indicate the base curves in different configurations
M t/; m.s;
two material fibers of the cross section. The pairs of vectors .n.s; M t// and
M t/; c.s;
.f.s; M t// denote the actual total contact force and couple and the total force
and couple per unit reference length, respectively. The equations of motion, in a total
Lagrangian description, are given by (7.103) and (7.104) by letting .f; c/ ! .f; M cM /
and .n; m/ ! .n; M m/.
M
By the simplifying assumption that the base curve coincides with the beam
centerline, the equations of motion read:
@s n.s; M t/ D %A.s/@t t rM
M t/ C f.s; (7.124)
M t/ C .s;
@s m.s; M t/ n.s;
M t/ C cM .s; t/ D %J C .s/ @t ! C ! .%J C !/ (7.125)
where M D @s rM is the total stretch vector. To obtain the incremental version of the
equations of motion from B o to B; M the total force and couple per unit reference
length and the total forces and couples applied at the beam ends are expressed as
fM D f o C f, cM D c o C c, fM k D f ok C f k , and cM k D c ok C c k (k D 1; 2). Likewise,
the incremental contact force and couple are introduced as
M t/ D no .s/ C n.s; t/;

n.s; M t/ D mo .s/ C m.s; t/:
m.s; (7.126)
Equation (7.126) is substituted into (7.124) and (7.125), and by using (7.122)
and (7.123), the incremental equations of motion of the prestressed beam are
obtained in the form
@s n.s; t/ C f.s; t/ D %A.s/@t t r;

M (7.127)
@s m.s; t/ C Œ.s;
M t/ o .s/ no .s/ C .s;
M t/ n.s; t/ C c.s; t/
D %J C .s/ @t ! C ! .%J C !/: (7.128)
The incremental mechanical boundary conditions are
n.0; t/ D f 1 .t/; m.0; t/ D c 1 .t/; n.L; t/ D f 2 .t/; m.L; t/ D c 2 .t/:
On the incremental stress resultants and moments. By letting nD M QM 1 b1 C

M M
Q2 b2 C N b3 , mD M M M
M M1 b1 C M2 b2 C T b3 , n DQ1 b1 C Q2 b2 C N b3 , m DM1o bo1 C
o o o o o o o o
M2 b2 CT b3 , Qk DQko CQk , MM k DMko CMk (k D 1; 2;), NM DN o CN , TM DT o CT ,

o o o o M
the following expressions for the incremental contact force and couple are obtained:
n D Q1 b1 C Q2 b2 C N b3 C Q1o b1 C Q2o b2 C N o b3 ; (7.129)

m D M1 b1 C M2 b2 C T b3 C M1o b1 C M2o b2 C T b3 ;
o
(7.130)
where bj WD bj boj (j D 1; 2; 3).

The incremental stress resultants and moments may be projected into the actual
basis fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g as nDQN 1 b1 C QN 2 b2 C NN b3 and mDMN 1 b1 C MN 2 b2 C TN b3 : The
7.4 The Problem of Prestressed Beams 465
meaning of .QN 1 ; QN 2 ; NN / is different from that of .Q1 ; Q2 ; N / as shown explicitly

by the following relationships:
QN 1 D Q1 C Q1o .1 bo1 b1 / Q2o bo2 b1 N o bo3 b1 ;

QN 2 D Q2 C Q2o .1 bo2 b2 / Q1o bo1 b2 N o bo3 b2 ;
NN D N C N o .1 bo3 b3 / Q1o bo1 b3 Q2o bo2 b3 ;
MN 1 D M1 C M1o .1 bo1 b1 / M2o bo2 b1 T o bo3 b1 ;
MN 2 D M2 C M2o .1 bo2 b2 / M1o bo1 b2 T o bo3 b2 ;
TN D T C T o .1 bo3 b3 / M1o bo1 b3 M2o bo2 b3 : (7.131)
The planar problem of prestressed beams. The spatial problem is specialized to

planar prestressed states and planar motions about them. In consonance with [242],
the displacement field u WD rM r o is elected as the primary kinematic unknown.
Moreover, the beam is considered unshearable.
The plane of deformation is taken to be orthogonal to the unit vector bo3 about
which the cross sections rotate. Unit vectors bo1 and b1 are collinear with the
direction orthogonal to the cross sections in the prestressed and actual configu-
rations, respectively. The unshearability constraints read o D r os D o bo1 and
M D rM s D b M 1 depending on whether the prestress phase or the overall motion
is considered, respectively. Let the displacement field be expressed in the basis
fbo1 ; bo2 g as u D ubo1 C vbo2 , then rM s D r os C us D . o C us o v/bo1 C .vs C o u/bo2
where o WD so is the elastic curvature in B o . The total stretch and the bending
curvature are obtained as
M D Œ. o C us o v/2 C .vs C o u/2 1=2 ; D s
with the incremental rotation of the cross section from B o to BM given by

vs C o u
D arctan : (7.132)
o C us o v
Let n.s; t/ D N.s; t/b1 .s; t/ C Q.s; t/b2 .s; t/ denote the incremental contact
force vector and m D M e 3 be the incremental bending moment.
The component form of the equations of motion (7.124) and (7.125) with M D 0
is given by
@s NM .o C /QM C fM b1 D %A@t t u b1 ; (7.133)
@s QM C .o C /NM C fM b2 D %A@t t u b2 ; (7.134)
@s MM C M QM C cM D %J @t t : (7.135)
By accounting for the prestressed equilibrium, equations (7.133)(7.135), ex-

pressed in terms of the incremental quantities, become
@s N .o C /Q Qo C f o .b1 bo1 / C f b1 D .%A@t t u/ b1 ; (7.136)

@s Q C . C /N C N C f .b2
o o o
bo2 / C f b2 D .%A@t t u/ b2 ; (7.137)
@s M C o Q C o . 1/Qo C c D %J @t t : (7.138)
Equation (7.138) is solved for the reactive incremental shear force Q thus
obtaining
Q D Œ@s M C o . 1/Qo C c %J @t t =. o / (7.139)
which is substituted into (7.136) and (7.137) to obtain the equations of constrained
motion as
@s N C .o C /=. o /@s M C Œ.o C /. 1/= Qo C f o b1

C f b1 C .o C /=. o /c D %@t t u b1 C .o C /=. o /%J @t t ; (7.140)
@s Œ@s M =. o / C .o C /N C N o @s ŒQo . 1/= C f o b2
C f b2 @s Œc=. o / D %@t t u b2 @s Œ%J @t t =. o /: (7.141)
The constitutive equations of the total actual forces and moments are written
in terms of the incremental strains. For a nonlinearly viscoelastic material of the
strain-rate type, the constitutive equations read:
NM .s; t/ D NM . o ; t ; s/; : : : (7.142)
On the other hand, N o .s; t/ D NO o . o ; s/: For the planar unshearable case, the
incremental form of the constitutive equations reads:
NO .; t ; s/ D NM . o ; t ; s/ NO o . o ; s/;
MO .; t ; s/ D MM .o C ; t ; s/ MO o .o ; s/: (7.143)
The virtue of the updated formulation is in the fact that, after solving the
nonlinear equilibrium problem given by (7.122) and (7.123), the incremental
problem allows more effective analyses aimed, for example, at highlighting the
mechanical consequences of the prestressed states on the overall dynamics. This
problem is particularly important in structural health monitoring systems where
the detection of damage is often based on observing the changes in the natural
frequencies. The effects of the prestress should, however, be properly accounted
for while evaluating the frequencies of the healthy structure and measuring those of
the damaged (prestressed) structure.
7.5 Stability of Arches 467
7.5 Stability of Arches
The stability of arches has been studied in a number of works addressing various
kinds of instabilities such as buckling (e.g., [195]) or dynamic phenomena (e.g.,
[244]). The stability of a hinged-hinged circular arch subject to a downward point
force at the midspan was studied in [7]. The arch is semicircular with undeformed
radius r o . The equilibrium equations for the arch are obtained from (7.42)(7.44)
where the force is a point-force applied at the midspan, f D P ı.s 12 r o /e 2
where ı./ is the Dirac delta function. The ensuing equations are conveniently
nondimensionalized; the arclength and the displacementspare scaled by the arch
radius and time is scaled by the characteristic time 1=!b D %Ar o4 =EJ where EJ
is the arch bending stiffness. Hence, the point force is scaled by the characteristic
force EJ =r o2 :
The equilibrium paths are computed by path-following the equilibrium states
using continuation algorithms. The stability is ascertained by computing the fre-
quencies of the vibration modes about the equilibrium states. One such equilibrium
path is given in Fig. 7.11. With the increase in the downward load, the arch suffers
a gradual loss of stiffness in its compressed state as already discussed in the context
of the von Mises truss structure of Chaps. 1 and 2. A divergence bifurcation of
the pitchfork type is detected at K where the symmetric equilibrium state (see
Fig. 7.11b part B) loses its stability and bifurcates into one of the two lateral
buckled states. The pitchfork character is clearly highlighted by the equilibrium
path portraying the load P vs. the lateral displacement u. Past the divergence, two
stable symmetric buckled states exist (see Fig. 7.11 part C ). The buckled stable
states become unstable at the fold bifurcation F which corresponds to the turning
point of the unstable fundamental path. At this limit point, the arch is likely to
undergo snap-through. The compressed buckled state is sufficiently shallow that it
loses its stability and jumps toward a snapped-through state.
a b
12 12
L
C B C
L
F
8 B C 8 F
F C B C
P r o2 K
EJ A K
4 4 A K
A
0 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
-4 -4
v/r o u/r o
Fig. 7.11 Equilibrium paths of a circular arch subject to a downward point force at the keystone:
(a) nondimensional load vs. midspan vertical deflection; fundamental (thick line) and bifurcated
(thin line) path; (b) nondimensional load vs. midspan lateral displacement. Reprinted with
permission [7]
Fig. 7.12 Variation of the lowest two natural frequencies with the midspan vertical deflection on
the fundamental (thick line) and bifurcated (thin line) paths; mode shapes at points A, B, and C .
The mode shapes of the lowest two modes are shown along the fundamental
and bifurcated paths (points A, B, C ) in Fig. 7.12. At K the frequency of the
lowest mode (flexural skew-symmetric mode) coalesces to zero; past the pitchfork
bifurcation where lateral buckling occurs, the frequency of the lowest vibration
mode about the buckled state increases again. The lowest frequency of the stable
buckled equilibrium states and the second frequency of the unstable fundamental
(symmetric) equilibrium state both coalesce to zero at the limit point F .
It is of practical interest to study the influence of a localized state of damage
on the arch stability and vibration properties. This is achieved by introducing a
reduced bending stiffness over a small segment, sc D r o =100; centered at the
arch keystone. The damage level is quantitatively expressed as D D 1 EJd =EJ
where EJ and EJd , respectively, denote the bending stiffness of the undamaged
and damaged arch sections. The fundamental and bifurcated equilibrium paths of
the undamaged arch .D D 0/ and damaged arches are shown in Fig. 7.13 for
three levels of damage D D .0:9; 0:99; 1/. When D D 0:9, the elastic stability
of the arch is qualitatively the same as that of the undamaged state; the pitchfork
bifurcation occurs at a slightly lower load level; as expected, due to the higher
flexibility, the arch experiences a higher downward transverse displacement. On the
other hand, the fold bifurcation occurs at a somewhat lower load level compared to
the undamaged case. When the damage level is within the range [0.9, 0.99], there is a
qualitative change in the bifurcation behavior since, at some threshold damage level,
the pitchfork and fold bifurcations coalesce. Past this condition, the arch loses its
stability solely via the fold bifurcation which implies snap-through. When D D 1,
the arch keystone becomes a hinge and the arch turns into a three-hinged arch for
7.6 Deeply Buckled Beams 469
Fig. 7.13 Equilibrium paths 12

of undamaged and
damaged arches: D D 0
(undamaged, thick black D=0
8
line), D D 0:9 (thin
black line), D D 0:99 (thick D=0.9
gray line), D D 1 (thin gray Pr o 2
EJ 4 D=0.99
line). Reprinted with
permission [7] D=1
0
0 0.5 1.0 1 .5
-4
v/ro
which the static bifurcation occurs at a much lower load level. Of course in this limit
case, the arch resembles the von Mises truss structure of Chap. 1.
7.6 Deeply Buckled Beams
In Example 6.9 of Chap. 6, the equilibrium equation of the elastica problem with the
end compressive force P is shown to be
EJ sso C P sin o D 0 (7.144)
where o .s/ represents the rotation of the beam sections from the stress-free to the
prestressed curved configuration B o : The boundary conditions are EJ so D 0 at
s D 0 and s D l. Here, MO o D EJ so denotes the linearly elastic bending moment
in the prestressed state, E is Young’s modulus and J is the area moment of inertia
of the cross section about the principal inertia axis collinear with e 3 : By letting
s WD s= l and WD P l 2 =EJ , the nondimensional form of (7.144) is
sso C sin o D 0 (7.145)
where the asterisk on s is dropped for ease of notation.

The exact solution of (7.145) can be expressed by the following elliptic integral:
Z N o
h
D q d o (7.146)
0 1 h sin . =2/
2 2 o
where N o WD o .0/ is the rotation of the left terminal section (the rotations are equal
p 1=2
and opposite at the two beam ends due to symmetry) and h WD 2 1 cos N o .
Equation (7.146) gives the equilibrium path . ; /.N o
a b
λ λ
D 3π 2
3π 2
C
2π 2 2π 2
A
π2 π2
-0.5 -0.25 0 0.25 0.5 −π −π/2 0 π/2 π

vM0 θ0
Fig. 7.14 Equilibrium path of a simply supported beam under the compressive end force : (a)
vs. the deflection vMo of the midspan section and (b) vs. the rotation N o of the end sections
After evaluating the force for a prescribed N o through (7.146), the beam section
rotations can be determined by further solving the following integral equation:
p Z o
2 1
˙ sD q d o : (7.147)
h N o
1 h sin . =2/
2 2 o
Once (7.147) is solved numerically, the skew-symmetric rotation field o .s/ can be
expressed by the following nterm cosine series (n D 3 is often sufficient):
X
n
o .s/ D q2j C1 cos Œ.2j C 1/ s : (7.148)
j D0
The equilibrium path of the beam under the force is computed in the range
Œ0; 4 2 : Figure 7.14a portrays the load path of the nondimensional deflection of
the midspan cross section denoted by vMo WD vM .l=2/= l while Fig. 7.14b shows the
equilibrium path of the end rotation N o :
Up to D 2 ; the only equilibrium solution is the trivial solution ( o D 0,
v D 0). At D 2 ; the stiffness vanishes which signals the divergence bifurcation
o
(i.e., Eulerian buckling) by which the trivial equilibrium loses its stability (see
Chaps. 2 and 6 for an in-depth discussion). Past the bifurcation point o WD 2 ;
7.7 Parametric Resonance of Buckled Beams Subject to a Pulsating End Thrust 471
0 A 0 0
N Q A M A
B B B
C C C
D D D
-0.5 0 x 0.5 -0.5 0 x 0.5 -0.5 0 x 0.5
Fig. 7.15 Tension (right), shear force (middle), and bending moment (right) in the buckled states
A, B, C , and D of Fig. 7.14
two stable (symmetric) buckled configurations arise. A few selected deeply buckled
states, corresponding to the load multipliers D .1:1; 1:4; 2; 3/ o , are superim-
posed along the load path in Fig. 7.14a and are indicated by the letters A; B; C;
and D: The associated states of prestress, in terms of nondimensional tension
N o D cos o , shear force Qo D sin o , and bending moment M o D so , are
portrayed in Fig. 7.15. Up to D 1:4 o (point B), corresponding to the end rotation
N0 D =2 (Fig. 7.14a,b), all the beam sections are under compression; above this
load level, tensile stresses appear in a zone around the beam ends, whose extension
grows as the deformation process develops with increasing load magnitude.
7.7 Parametric Resonance of Buckled Beams Subject

to a Pulsating End Thrust
The principal parametric resonances of the lowest modes of simply supported

buckled beams have received a good deal of attention in theoretical [233] and
experimental studies. For example, in [473] experiments were conducted on buckled
Fig. 7.16 Experimental apparatus for investigating the parametric resonance in a buckled beam.
beams within a larger study on the characterization of the spatial content of the
nonlinear parametrically excited motions employing high-resolution distributed
sensors such as high-speed videocameras. One of the setups employed is shown
in Fig. 7.16.
The principal parametric resonance of the lowest skew-symmetric mode was
investigated by acquiring frequency-response curves by means of KEYENCE model
LB-60 laser sensors with a resolution of 40 m and sampling time of 20 ms. The test
specimen was a uniform beam with a rectangular cross section made of phosphor
bronze: the length, width, and thickness were, respectively, 450 mm, 10 mm, and
0.8 mm; the mass density was 8.89103 kg/m3 and Young’s modulus was 106 GPa.
Figure 7.17a–d show the frequency-response curves acquired by imposing
two excitation levels. The FFTs of the prescribed forces shown in Fig. 7.17b, d
exhibit the constant force component (at zero frequency) that causes buckling
and the harmonic components P D 1:75 N and P D 2:58 N at the parametric-
resonance excitation frequency. The obtained frequency-response curves of the
skew-symmetric mode demonstrate that the nonlinearity of the mode is of the
softening type in agreement with the theory reported in Sect. 6.5 of Chap. 6.
7.8 Parametric Resonance of Rings Subject to Pulsating Pressures 473
a b
P [N]
c d
P [N]
e
v[mm]
f [Hz]
Fig. 7.17 Time histories and FFTs of the end forces with the corresponding experimentally
obtained frequency-response curves (e) when (a, b) P D 1:75 N and (c, d) P D 2:58 N. Reprinted
7.8 Parametric Resonance of Rings Subject to Pulsating

Pressures
Nonlinearly viscoelastic rings subject to pulsating hydrostatic pressures that cause

parametrically resonant planar motions were studied in [248, 248]. To facilitate the
discussion of the results, the theory of curved beams is adapted for rings.
Fig. 7.18 The reference (thin

line) and current (thick line)
ring configurations f
e2
bo
b a O e1
ao
o r b
a
o
bo
ro ao o
Let fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g be a fixed right-handed orthonormal basis for Euclidean 3-space,

with .e 1 ; e 2 / being the plane of motion (see Fig. 7.18). In the natural (stress-free)
configuration, the arclength parameter s along a base curve is employed to describe
the position of material cross sections of the ring. Let r o .s/ be the position vector
of the base curve and let r .s; t/ be the position at time t of the material point s
on the base curve. The orientation of the cross section in the reference state at s is
described by the unit vector bo D sin o e 1 C cos o e 2 while its deformed image
at time t is described by the unit vector b.s; t/. Unit vectors a o .s/ and a.s; t/ are
orthogonal to bo and b, respectively, and such that fao ; bo ; c o g and fa; b; cg form
two right-handed triads with c o D c D e 3 . Vector a makes the angle with ao (see
Fig. 7.18).
A Total Lagrangian Formulation is adopted. The total stretch vector is expressed
by M WD @s r while the flexural curvature is D @s . The components of the stretch
vector M WD a M C b M describe the ring stretch and shear strain. Let r be decomposed
into its components along the a and b directions so that r D ua C vb.
Let the internal contact force and couple be expressed as n.s; M t/WDNM .s; t/
M
a.s; t/ C Q.s; t/b.s; t/ and m.s; M
M t/ WD M .s; t/ e 3 where N and QM denote the
M
tension and the shear force while MM indicates the bending moment. The equations
of motion are given by (7.35) and (7.36) or by (7.37) and (7.38), the latter holding
when the base curve is chosen coincident with the centerline.
The external excitation is represented by a pulsating hydrostatic pressure p.t/
per unit actual length pointing in the direction normal to the deformed base curve,
e 3 =j M The pressure per unit reference length is thus expressed as fM .s; t/ D
M j.
M
p.t/e 3 =j
M j M D p.t/e 3 . M The equations of motion are given by
@s nM C fM D %ArMt t C %I bt t ; (7.149)
@s MM C e 3 .M n/
M D %J t t C %I.b rMt t / e 3 (7.150)
where .%A; %I; %J / are the zeroth, first, and second mass moments of the cross
section. The component form in the section-fixed frame fa; b; cg is
NM s .o C /QM p.t/ M D %AŒut t 2vt t vt t t2 u %I t t ; (7.151)
QM s C .o C /NM C p.t/M D %AŒvt t C 2ut t C ut t vt2 %I t2 ; (7.152)
MM s C M QM M NM D %J t t %I Œut t 2vt t vt t t2 u (7.153)
where o WD so is the geometric curvature of the ring in its natural state.
Constitutive equations for uniform viscoelastic rings of strain-rate type that un-
dergo flexure, extension, and shear have the form NM .s; t/ D NO .;
M ;
M ;
M M t ; M t ; M t ; s/;
etc. The constitutive functions are assumed to have as many derivatives as appear in
the analysis. Equations (7.151)(7.153) exhibit time-varying coefficients due to the
pulsating pressure p.t/ coupled with the strain variables M and .
M
Principal parametric resonance of the breathing motions. Breathing motions
(also called radial motions) occur for circular rings when r .t/ D r.t/b o together
with aDao and bDbo . Substituting this constraint into (7.149) and (7.150) yields
NM s o QM D 0; QM s C o NM C p.t/ r=r o D %ARr ; MM s C r=r o QM D 0

(7.154)
where the ring geometric curvature is o WD so D 1=r o while r=r o DW M is the
azimuthal stretch. Since the elastic bending curvature is D 0; MO .; ; P s/ D 0
from which (7.154)3 gives QM D 0 while (7.154)1 says that the tension NM is constant.
The equation of motion thus becomes
%ARr C NM =r o C r=r o p.t/ D 0: (7.155)
This ordinary differential equation is a nonlinear version of Hill’s equation. The

nondimensionalization of (7.155) is based on scaling r by r o and time by 1=!r WD
Œ.%Ar o2 /=NE ; where NE WD NO .r/j.D1; P D0/ describes the elastic azimuthal
1=2
stiffness given that NO .; /

P describes the constitutive function for the tension. The
nondimensional hoop stress resultant N and pressure p are obtained by dividing
them by NE and NE =r o , respectively. Note that the stretch turns out to be equal
to the current nondimensional radius, M D r=r o : The nondimensional equation of
motion thus becomes
rR C NO .r; rP / C p.t/ r D 0 (7.156)
where all quantities are intended to be nondimensional.
Equation (7.156) is treated by the method of multiple scales following [248]
where it is assumed
"2 "3
r D ro C "r1 C r2 C r3 C ;
2Š 3Š
"2 "2
NO .r; rP / D NO E .r/ C NO D .Pr /; p.t/ D po C p2 .t/
2Š 2Š
where " indicates a small nondimensional parameter; NO E and NO D , respectively,

denote the elastic and dissipative parts of the tension; po is the average mean
2
pressure, and "2Š p2 .t/ denotes a small harmonic variation about the average mean.
To obtain the perturbations at different orders, the equation of motion is
differentiated with respect to " and the result evaluated at " D 0: The zeroth-order
problem is
N.ro / C po ro D 0:
Thus the static pressure po causes an equilibrium state (if it exists) denoted by ro .
Only the cases for which there is at least one stable equilibrium radial state are
considered in this treatment.
The principal parametric resonance of the breathing mode is initiated pwhen the
pulsating pressure has a frequency nearly twice the frequency !o D N1o C po
2
of the breathing mode, namely, D 2!o C "2Š where is a detuning parameter.
Hence, by introducing the time scales t0 WD t and t2 WD 2Š1 "2 t, the pulsating pressure
has the form p2 .t0 ; t2 / D 12 P e2i!o t0 ei t2 C cc where i is the imaginary unit. The first
through the third perturbations are
@20 r1 C !o2 r1 D 0; (7.157)

@20 r2 C !o2 r2 D N2o r12 p2 .t0 ; t2 / ro ; (7.158)
@20 r3 C !o2 r3 D 6@0 @2 r1 3N1D @0 r1 3p2 .t0 ; t2 / r1

3N2o r1 r2 N3o r13 (7.159)
ˇ ˇ
where the following notation is adopted: Nko WD dk NO E =dr k ˇrDro , N1D WDNO rPD ˇrP D0 ,
and @k @l ./ WD @2 ./=.@tk @tl /.
By the classical steps of the method of multiple scales (cf. Sect. 2.10) in which
the solution process is initiated by the generating solution r1 D A.t2 /e i !o t0 C
N 2 /e i !o t0 (the overbar indicates the complex conjugate), the following solvability
A.t
condition (i.e., modulation equation) is obtained:
i.2@2 A C N1D A/ C o A2 AN C Po Ae

N i t2 D 0: (7.160)
The effective parametric resonance and effective nonlinearity coefficients are

given by
o D Œro N2o =!o2 C 3=.6!o /; o D Œ3N3o 5.N2o /2 =!o2 =.3!o /: (7.161)
a
By letting A.t2 / D exp.i =2/ exp.i t2 =2/, the real-valued form of (7.160)
2
becomes
@2 a D 12 N1D a C 12 Po a sin

@2 D C 12 o a2 C Po cos : (7.162)
The bifurcation equation is obtained as

q
D 14 o a2 ˙ P 2 2o .N1D /2 : (7.163)
The parametric instability is initiated for P

Po where Po WD N1D =o denotes the
threshold pressure given by
3
.N1o C po / 2
Po D 6N1D : (7.164)
ro N2o C 3.N1o C po /
Hence, the critical pressure at the onset of the principal parametric resonance
depends linearly on the viscoelastic modulus .N1D /, on the coefficients of the linear
and quadratic elastic parts of the tension .N1o ; N2o /, and on the average mean
pressure .po /.
The breathing motion excited by the parametric resonance, to within second
order, is obtained as
P
r.t/ D ro C a cos 12 .˝t C / C ro cos ˝t
3!o2
N2o 2 1
C a 2 cos .˝t C / 1 : (7.165)
4!o2
The equilibrium response function of the considered nonlinear material is

obtained from a stored energy function given in [248]. This material is much softer
under tension than under compression. A collection of instability regions are shown
in Fig. 7.19 for different average mean pressures. The compressive pressure results
in an increase of the critical pressure and reduces the width of the instability region
due to the positive geometric stiffness introduced by the compressional stresses.
Stability of the breathing motion. This stability of the breathing motion is
assessed by considering perturbations in flexure, extension, and shear. First the
nonlinear variational equation is obtained. To this end, since the radial motion is
r D r.t/bo ; the perturbed motion is
Q t/ D r.t/bo C u.s; t/
r.s; (7.166)
where the perturbation u D ua C vb is the displacement from the breathing motion.

The contact force for the breathing motion is n D N.t/ao while the contact force for
the perturbed motion is nQ D N.t/ao C NN a C QbN where .NN ; Q/
N are the incremental
0.4
0.3
P
0.2
0.1
po = − 0.5 po = 0 po = 0.1
0
1 1.25 1.5 1.75 2 2.25 2.5
Ω
Fig. 7.19 Instability regions of the breathing motions at different static pressures po D
.0:5; 0; 0:1/ without viscosity (NO 1D D 0:0, transition curves emanating from the -axis) and
with viscosity (NO 1D D 0:02, thicker lines). Reprinted with permission [248]
tension and shear force, respectively. On the other hand, there is no bending moment
in breathing, m D o, so that the bending moment for the perturbed motion is
mQ D MN e 3 .
The strains are obtained from rQ s D r s C us D ao C us where D r.t/=r o is
the azimuthal stretch associated with the breathing motion and us D a N C bN with
N D us .o C /v; N D vs C .o C /u; o D 1=r o :
Substituting rQ together with nQ and m

Q into (7.149) and (7.150) with %I D0 yields the
nonlinear variational equations as
%AŒut t 2vt t vt t t2 u NN s C .o C /QN C p.t/ N D 0; (7.167)

%AŒvt t C 2ut t C ut t vt2 QN s .o C /NN p.t/N D 0; (7.168)
%J t t MN s N QN C N NN r.t/=r .cos QN C sin NN /
o
C N.t/.N sin C N cos / D 0: (7.169)
The functions p.t/, r.t/, and N.t/ are known as the data and solution of the
breathing problem and appear as time-varying functions of the nonlinear variational
equations governing the stability of the breathing motion.
The ensuing linear variational equations are obtained in the form
%Au(1) N (1) o N (1)

t t Ns C Q C p.t/ N (1) D 0; (7.170)
%Avt(1) N (1) o N (1)

t Qs N p.t/N (1) D 0; (7.171)
%J t(1) N (1) o N
t Ms r.t/=r Q1 C N.t/
N (1) D 0 (7.172)
where N (1) D uN (1) N ; N (1) D vN s(1) C o uN (1) ; N (1) D 1;s and .NN (1) ; QN (1) ; MN (1) /
s
o (1)
are the first-order parts of the constitutive functions for the incremental tension,
shear force, and bending moment. Equations (7.170)(7.172) can be treated by the
Faedo–Galerkin method or some other method of weighted residuals to compute the
paths of the eigenvalues and study the stability.
Flexural mode shapes of unshearable uniform circular rings. To obtain the
linear equations for purely flexural motion, let r D r o C uo D uo ao .r o C v o /bo
where ao D cos o e 1 C sin o e 2 and bo D sin o e 1 C cos o e 2 with o D s=r o
(r o is the radius of the base curve of the undeformed ring). The sign of v o is assumed
such as to have positive outward radial displacements.
The following kinematic relationships hold: aos D o bo and bos D o ao where
WD so D 1=r o is the geometric curvature of the ring. The strains are given
o
by r s DW a and WD s . The unshearability condition D r s b D 0 yields

tan D .vso C uo =r o /=.uos C v o =r o C 1/ and its linear form D vso C uo =r o .
The linear flexural curvature and stretch thus become: D vss o
C uos =r o and o D
us C v =r C 1. Therefore, the linear forms of the tension and bending moment are
o o o
N D EA. o 1/ D EA.uos C v o =r o / and M D EJ.vss o

C uos =r o /.
The linearized equations of motion are thus expressed as
Ns o Q D %Auot t ; (7.173)
Qs C N Do
%Avtot ; (7.174)
Q C Ms D %J t t : (7.175)
The shear force Q obtained from (7.175) as Q D Ms C%J R is, in turn, substituted
into (7.173) and (7.174) which yield the governing equations as
%Auot t C %J t t =r o Ns Ms =r o D 0; (7.176)
%Avtot C .%J t t /s Mss C N=r o D 0 (7.177)
with the boundary conditions uo .0/ D uo .2/ and v o .0/ D v o .2/.

A nondimensional form is sought by scaling the arclength s and the displace-
ments uo and v o by r o and time by 1=!b WD Œ.%Ar o4 /=EJ 1=2 : The nondimensional
form of the equations of motion for uniform circular rings thus becomes
uot t C t t =˛ 2 ˛ 2 .uoss C vso / C .vsss

o
uoss / D 0; (7.178)
vtot C t t s =˛ 2 C .vssss
o
uosss / C ˛ 2 .uos C v o / D 0 (7.179)
where t t D vtot s C uR ot t , ˛ 2 WD EAr o2 =EJ . The asterisk is dropped for ease of

notation. The mode shapes are found in the form
uo D cm Bm sin.ms/ ei!m t ; v o D cm cos.ms/ ei!m t : (7.180)

m=2 m=3 m=4
m=5 m=6 m=7
Fig. 7.20 The lowest six mode shapes of a circular uniform ring (m D 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7)
Substituting the assumed mode shapes into (7.178) and (7.179) yields a system
of equations whose associated determinant set to zero is the characteristic equation
delivering the frequencies (obtained without rotary inertia) as

1
2
!m D .1 C ˛ 2 /m2 C m4 C ˛ 2
2
q
˙ .m2 C ˛ 2 /2 .1 C m2 /2 4m2 .m2 1/2 ˛ 2 :
(7.181)
For the case without rotary inertia, the mode shapes are given by (7.180) with
Z
1 ! 2 m4 ˛ 2 2
cm D p ; Bm D m 2 ; with .u2m C vm
2
/ds D 1:
.1 C Bm2 / m.m C ˛ 2 / 0
For m D 0, the frequency is !o D ˛ and the associated eigenfunction is the

breathing mode .uoo ; voo / D co .0; 1/. On the other hand, for m D 1, !1 D 0 and
the associated eigenfunction is the rigid-body translation .uo1 ; v1o / D c1 .sin s; cos s/
in the e 2 direction and its companion mode c1 .sin.s C =2/; cos.s C =2// D
c1 .cos s; sin s/ (i.e., rigid-body translation in the orthogonal e 1 direction). The
other rigid-body mode is the rotational mode about the axis through the center of
the ring. The lowest six flexural mode shapes .m D 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7/ are shown in
Fig. 7.20.
Reduced-order models of unshearable rings. The equations of motion for

unshearable rings are obtained from (7.151)(7.153) solving (7.153) for QM and
substituting the reactive shear force into (7.151) and (7.152). The resulting equa-
tions are

%Aut t NM s C .o C /Ms =M cos

MM s =M s .o C /NM p.t/M sin D f1o ; (7.182)

%Avt t NM s C .o C /Ms =M sin

C MM s =M s .o C /NM p.t/M cos D f2o (7.183)
where .u; v/ and .f1o ; f2o / are the circumferential and radial components of the
displacement u D uao C vbo and force per unit length f D f1o ao C f2o bo . For
linearly viscoelastic materials, the tension N and bending moment M are given by
NO D EA.M 1/ C N1D M t and MO D EJ C M1D t where .N1D ; M1D / are the viscous
moduli. For some applications, a nonlinearly elastic constitutive law for the bending
moment can be adopted in the form MO D EJ C M2o 2 C M3o 3 . The rotation
angle and its trigonometric functions are:

vs C o u r o o C us o v vs C o u
D arctan ; cos D ; sin D :
C us v
r o o o M M
(7.184)
To obtain reduced-order models, the trial functions are taken as the eigenfunc-
tions given by (7.180). Thus, the solution is assumed as superposition of (2n C 1)
eigenfunctions:
Xn Xn
u.s; t/ 0 uk .s/ u .s/
D p0 .t/ C pk .t/ C qk .t/ k (7.185)
v.s; t/ 1 vk .s/ vk .s/
kD1 kD1
where .uk ; vk / denotes the kth companion mode, obtained by introducing a shift of
r o =2 in .uk .s/; vk .s//. According to the Faedo–Galerkin method, the projection is
performed by substituting (7.185) into (7.182) and (7.183), multiplying (7.182) by
uk .s/ (uk .s/) and (7.183) by 1, vk .s/ (vk .s/), summing the results, and integrating
over Œ0; 2 r o to obtain the system of ODEs in p0 .t/, pk .t/, and qk .t/. A sufficiently
high number of trial functions should be employed to ensure convergence, a
problem caused by the nonsymmetric part of the nonlinearities (i.e., curvature-
related quadratic terms) (cf. [234, 235, 336]).
Parametric resonance of purely flexural motions. A special case of parametric
instability is that suffered by rings undergoing purely flexural motion. The material
M
constraint ensuring the unshearability and inextensibility reads Dr s Da: Enforcing
the material constraint as in [248] and differentiating (7.149) once with respect to s
yields
nM ss C fM s D %Aat t
where f .s; t/Dp.t/e 3 M D p.t/b. Differentiating f with respect to s gives

fM s Dp.t/Ms a where D
M o C is the total angle appearing in aDcos M e 1 Csin e
M 2
M M
and bD sin e 1 Ccos e 2 . The base curve is chosen such that % I D0: Thus the
equations of purely flexural motion under pulsating pressures become
%Aat t nM ss C p.t/ Ms a D o; (7.186)
%J Mt t MM s QM D 0 (7.187)
where the internal contact force nM is a reactive force whereas the constitutive
function for the bending moment is given in the form MM .s; t/ D MO .; t ; s/:
Equations (7.186) and (7.187) exhibit a time-varying coefficient through the term
p.t/ Ms a.
In component form, the dimensional equations of motion become
%AMt2 C NM ss 2Ms QM s Mss QM Ms2 NM p.t/ Ms D 0; (7.188)
%AMt t QM ss 2Ms NM s Mss NM C Ms2 QM D 0; (7.189)
%J Mt t MM s QM D 0: (7.190)
Perturbation treatment of the parametric resonances. It is assumed that

p.t/Dpo C "2Š p2 .t/ and MM DMO E ./C "2Š MO D .t / where " is a small nondimensional
2 2
number. By the method of multiple scales, the functions .s; t/ and a.s; t/ are
expressed in a series of ":
X "k X "k
M t; "/ D o .s/ C
.s; k .s; t0 ; t2 / ; a.s; t; "/ D ao .s/ C ak .s; t0 ; t2 /
kŠ kŠ
where t0 WD t and t2 WD "2 t=2Š are, respectively, the slow and fast time scales.
The perturbations up to third order are obtained by taking the derivatives
of (7.186) and (7.187) with respect to "; setting " to zero and considering that
the prestressed solution is N D po . The asymptotic scheme employed in [248]
to obtain the transition curves and the postcritical motion is based on elimination
of the reactive forces at different orders leading to a hierarchy of inhomogeneous
partial differential equations in k : The details of the derivation of the asymptotic
solution together with the study of stability can be found in [248].
7.9 The Theory of Flexurally Stiff Cables
The theory of purely extensible cables together with the relevant applications was
illustrated in Chap. 3. The theory is therein restricted to cables that can withstand
only tensile forces associated with fiber stretching but are otherwise infinitely
flexible, in the sense that they do not offer any resistance to curvature changes. This
is a fairly good approximation for extremely slender cables not subject to a total loss
7.9 The Theory of Flexurally Stiff Cables 483
of tension. In any case, the theory describes well states of stress and strain away from
the boundary layers. These arise with localized shear forces and moments in cables
endowed with flexural stiffness and subject to point forces and couples (i.e., acting
on relatively small regions). To assess the load-carrying capability of these cables,
and most importantly, their fatigue life, a richer mechanical model that incorporates
the nonlinear bending stiffness terms becomes necessary.
There are quite a few engineering applications for which the richer mechanical
model of flexurally stiff cables is necessary such as tethered applications, aerospace
deployable structures, mooring cables, or power transmission lines. Similarly,
a refined cable model is necessary to describe the dynamics of the cables of
suspension bridges or the stays in cable-stayed bridges near the anchorages where
boundary layers appear. This is particularly important for the assessment of their
fatigue life or to detect the presence of damage through suitable structural health
monitoring strategies.
The low-tension dynamic regime of cables has been studied in a few works while
most of the research on nonlinear vibrations of cables considered shallow/taut cables
[207, 284]. These studies also addressed multiple resonances in suspended cables
with four-mode interactions [380, 381]. A geometrically exact nonlinear model of
linearly elastic nonshallow cables was proposed in [249, 250] where the nonlinear
modal characteristics of the free planar motion were investigated neglecting the
flexural stiffness as is common in the literature on cables. When the excitation
levels are high, a loss of tension can occur in certain limited regions and, as
a result, the cable cannot locally sustain loads unless its flexural load-carrying
capability is considered. Often, flexural rigidity and damping are considered in a
cable model to overcome numerical divergence problems when loosening appears.
For instance, this numerical strategy was employed in some works on the dynamics
of submerged cables [85, 436]. Similarly, in [464–467] a model that includes the
linear flexural stiffness contribution was used to describe nonlinear vibrations of
cables undergoing loosening. Moreover, the effects of loosening on the parametric
response of taut cables were investigated when the cables were subject to periodic
horizontal displacements of the supports.
The effects of flexural rigidity on cable dynamics do not seem to have received
significant attention. There are only a few studies addressing this challenging
modeling problem and they are often based on ad hoc approximations which limit
the meaningful dynamic regimes. In this section, a geometrically exact formulation
of flexurally stiff cables is presented following [254] in which the cables are
assumed to be made of a nonlinearly viscoelastic material.
The prestressed cable under its own weight. The cable is stress-free in the
configuration B (Fig. 3.2) where C indicates a base curve along the cable and L
is its undeformed length. Let the arclength along this curve be denoted by . The
fixed Cartesian reference frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / of Fig. 3.2 is adopted as the inertial
reference frame.
When the cable ends are fixed to two supporting points, A and B; and the cable is
allowed to hang under the action of gravity, it occupies an equilibrium configuration,
denoted by B o , taken as the reference configuration for the subsequent dynamic
problem. The arclength along the configuration B o is denoted by s: Let r o ./ be the
position vector of the base curve C o expressed as r o ./ WD x./e ˇ 1 Cˇ y./e 2 : The
cable stretch vector is given by o WD @ r o D o ao where o Dˇ@ r o ˇ is the stretch
and ao D@ r o = o is the unit vector collinear with the tangent direction to C o . The
tangent unit vector can be expressed in the fixed basis as ao D cos o e 1 C sin o e 2
with cos o D@ x= o and sin o D@ y= o : Let bo indicate the orientation of the cross
sections of the cable in B o so that the triad fao ; bo ; c o g has ao normal to the cross
section while bo and c o D e 3 lie in the plane of the cross section.
The flexural rigidity is supposed to be negligible in the equilibrium of the cable
under its own weight. Let the stress resultant be denoted by no while the resultant
moment mo is assumed to be zero from the outset. Let f o denote the force per
unit reference length : Thus the local form of the balance of linear and angular
momentum can be written as
@ ŒN o ./ao ./ C f o D o: (7.191)
The constitutive law relating the tension N o to the stretch o is introduced in

the form
N o ./ D NO o . o ; /; such that NO o .1; / D 0 and NO > 0: (7.192)
The solution for the static configuration B o under the dead loads and, more
specifically, under the action of gravity, is described in Chap. 3.
The dynamic incremental problem. The current planar configuration BM is de-
scribed by the position vector r.s; t/ D r o .s/Cu.s; t/ of the base curve CM which
lies in the plane fe 1 ; e 2 g. Let b.s; t/ be the unit vector giving the orientation of the
cable cross section in BM so that the cable-fixed basis in BM is fa.s; t/; b.s; t/; c.s; t/g.
Let denote the rotation angle from fao , bo ; c o g to fa; b; cg and a b D c D e 3 :
Therefore, the angle that a makes with e 1 is M D o C:
The total cable stretch is obtained by setting the shear strain to zero, namely,
M WD@ rDa M where the total stretch M can be expressed as M D o where denotes
the incremental stretch which can be computed as the length of the incremental
stretch vector W D @s r D a: Letting r D r o C u with u.s; t/ D u.s; t/ao .s; t/ C
v.s; t/bo and using a D @s r= yields the incremental stretch, the rotation angle, and
flexural curvature D @s as
p
v C o u
s
D .1 C us o v/2 C .vs C o u/2 ; D arctan ; (7.193)
1 C us o v
1n o
D 2 Œvss C .o u/s .1 C us o v/ Œuss .o v/s .vs C o u/ (7.194)

where, for ease of notation, the subscript s indicates differentiation with respect to s.
The kinematic model is completed by the boundary conditions. Consider the
cable supports placed at a distance l apart and at different levels, immovable
under dead loads: r o .0/Do and r o .L/Dle 1 Che 2 : The supports are subsequently
O n (s,t)
r (s,t)
m (s,t)
f(s,t)
r(s1,t)
-m(s1,t)
-n(s1,t)
Fig. 7.21 Balance of linear and angular momentum in the current configuration BM
prescribed the following motions according to:
u.0; t/ D uA .t/e 1 C vA .t/e 2 u.L; t/ D uB .t/e 1 C vB .t/e 2 : (7.195)
Equations of motion. Let nM D NM a C Qb M be the contact force in B; M m M be the

total flexural moment, and f be the incremental external forces such that f.s; M t/ D
f o .s/ C f.s; t/ indicates the total force per unit reference length s. Note that here
f o .s/ denotes the force acting in B o expressed, for convenience, per unit reference
length s instead of :
M the local forms of the balance of linear and angular
In the current configuration B;
momentum (see Fig. 7.21) are
@s n.s; M t/ D %A@t t r.s; t/;

M t/ C f.s; (7.196)
M t/ C .s; t/ n.s;
@s m.s; M t/ D o (7.197)
where the rotary inertia terms are neglected and D @s r. Let N and Q be the
incremental tension and incremental shear force such that NM DN o CN and QDQ;
M
since the reactive shear force Q in B is neglected. Hence, the total contact force
o o
is nM D .N o C N /a C Qb: Similarly, m is the incremental flexural moment which

coincides with the total flexural moment because the cable flexural resistance is
M D M e 3 : The
neglected in the equilibrium state under its own weight, therefore, m
shear force Q, obtained from the balance of angular momentum as Q D @s M =, M
is substituted into (7.196) which, together with the equilibrium equation (7.191),
yields the equation of motion
%A@t t r C @s .@s M=b/ @s .N a/ @s ŒN o .a ao / D f: (7.198)

The component form of (7.198) in the cable-fixed basis fao ; bo ; c o g becomes

@s .N o C N / C @s M .o C /= cos @s N o

.N o C N /.o C / @s .@s M =/ sin C f ao D %A@t t u; (7.199)

@s .N o C N / C @s M .o C /= sin o N o

C .N o C N /.o C / @s .@s M =/ cos C f bo D %A@t t v (7.200)
where @s ao D o bo , @s a D .o C /b; and @s b D .o C /a:

Nonlinearly viscoelastic constitutive laws for N and M are expressed as
N.s; t/ D NO .; ;
P s/; M.s; t/ D MO .; ;
P s/ (7.201)
where the tension NO is nonzero if and only if M D o
1.
For materials whose constitutive behavior is also linearly viscoelastic at large
strains, the linear version of the nonlinear constitutive laws can be expressed in
the form
NO D EA.s/. 1/ C EAD .s/t ; MO D EJ.s/ C EJ D .s/t (7.202)

where EAD .s/ WD NO P .1; 0; s/ and EJ D .s/ WD MO P .0; 0; s/, NO > 0 if and only if
M D o
1.
The constitutive law for NM is nonlinear in the sense that, as a consequence of
the fact that the cable cannot resist compression, in those segments where M 1; a
total loss of tension occurs, hence NM D N o C NO D 0: When the cable is locally
slackened, there are no local length changes, hence, the inextensibility M D o D 1
yields the incremental stretch in terms of the pre-stretch according to D 1= o .
In the totally slackened cable segments, the balance equations are accordingly
modified by putting NM D 0 and M D 1. Hence, by incorporating .N o C N /
a D o; (7.198) becomes
%A@t t r C @s .@s M =b/ C @s .N o ao / D f: (7.203)
The strain–displacement relationships (7.193) and (7.194) are substituted into the
constitutive equations (7.201). These, in turn, are substituted into the equations of
motion (7.199) and (7.200) which furnish the final governing equations of motion
in u and v:
The equations of motion are made nondimensional by scaling the arclength s
p displacements by l (i.e., the distance between the cable supports) and time by
and
.%Al 2 /=H o where H o is the horizontal thrust at the supports of the cable under
dead loads. Forces are thus scaled by H o . The following nondimensional parameters
are obtained:
k WD EA=H o ; WD E J =H o l 2 ; LN WD L= l:
Problem 7.4 (Equations of planar motion of a flexurally stiff cable). Show that,
by neglecting the dissipative parts of the incremental dynamic tension and moment,
the nondimensional equations of motion, for uniform linearly elastic cables, become

@s N o .1 C @s u o v/= 1 N o .o C / @s v C o u =
Ck= Œ@s .1 C @s u o v/ . 1/.o C / .@s v C o u/
h i
C= 2 @s .o C / .1 C @s u o v/ C .@ss @s @s =/ .@s v C o u/
Cf1 D @t t u; (7.204)

@s N o .@s v C o u/= C N o .o C /.1 C @s u o v/= 2 o
Ck= Œ. 1/.o C / .1 C @s u o v/ C @s .@s v C o u//

C= 2 @s .o C / .@s v C o u/ C .@s @s = @ss / .1 C @s u o v/
Cf2 D @t t v: (7.205)
Show that the equations of motion for the totally slackened parts of a linearly elastic
cable become
o2 .o C / .1 C @s u o v/ @s ./ C o .@s v C o u/ @s Œ o @s ./

@s N o C f1 D @t t u; (7.206)
. C / .@s v C u/ @s ./ .1 C @s u v/ @s Œ @s ./
o2 o o o o o
o N o C f2 D @t t v: (7.207)
Finite difference approach. A finite difference discretization method is a viable

numerical strategy to path follow the nonlinear solutions of (7.204) and (7.205). The
boundary conditions at A and B prescribe the displacements and vanishing of the
bending moments. In particular, there are six boundary conditions:
N D uB ; v.L/
u.0/ D uA ; v.0/ D vA ; u.L/ N D vB ; M.0/ D 0 D M.L/:
N
By considering a grid made of n points including the boundary points A and B;

there are n 2 interior points. At the interior points, the two balance equations
are forced to be satisfied, with an ensuing number of 2.n 2/ field equations.
Overall, the number of field equations and boundary conditions is 2.n C 1/: If
the problem is formulated in .u; v/; then the unknowns are 2n leading to an
overconstrained system of nonlinear equations. The problem is circumvented by
employing a mixed approach consisting of taking as unknowns the displacements
.u; v/ and the bending moment M resulting in 3n unknowns. The bending moment,
treated as unknown in the balance equations, has to satisfy the constitutive equation
which is added explicitly as an independent equation. Therefore, the overall number
of equations comprises the 3.n 2/ field equations to which the six boundary
conditions are added thus obtaining a system of 3n equations in 3n unknowns.
Therefore, the equilibrium equations in .u; v; M / become

˚
@s N o C @s Œk. 1/ C @s M =.o C / cos @s N o

.N o C k. 1//.o C / @s .@s M =/ sin C f1 D 0; (7.208)

@s N o C @s .k. 1// C @s M =.o C / sin o N o
˚
C ŒN o C k. 1/.o C / @s .@s M =/ cos C f2 D 0; (7.209)

M = 2 .@ss v C @s .o u//.1 C @s u o v/

.@ss u @s .o v//.@s v C o u/ D 0: (7.210)
To enhance the accuracy of the finite difference method, higher-order finite

difference schemes can be employed based on uniform or nonuniform grids.
For n-point grids, there are 3n equations, each expressed as a function of the
unknown grid values of u; v, and M at .si 2 ; si 1 ; si ; si C1 ; si C2 / (for a five-point
scheme) and the external force term fi , where i is the index associated with the
i th grid point. Out of the six boundary conditions, four are the kinematic boundary
conditions, u0 D uA ; un D uB ; v0 D vA ; vn D vB ; and two are the homogeneous
mechanical boundary conditions M0 =0=Mn: The discretization at the two points
adjacent to the boundary points is not centered.
The problem is solved through a step-by-step procedure employing a sequential
path-following scheme where the Newton–Raphson iterative scheme is exploited
at each load step to find the new solution point. The procedure is implemented
in MATHEMATICA [309]. At each load step, the external force is increased by
fi and the solution point of the preceding step is used as the initial guess in
the updated load step. At the end of each load step, the iterations are arrested
when the point-wise remainders associated with the unbalanced forces are smaller
than a prescribed numerical tolerance. The same analyses were conducted by
employing a mixed finite element approach in COMSOL M ULTIPHYSICS [117]
with quadratic Lagrangian elements. The number of finite elements was set to 7,680
in all calculations, for a total number of 76,805 degrees of freedom, and the tolerance
was fixed at 106 :
Some examples of nonlinear equilibrium response. The nonlinear response of
cables possessing flexural stiffness is contrasted with that of purely extensible cables
for which the flexural stiffness is neglected. The objective is to assess the extent to
which the bending stiffness contribution is significant for the considered loading
conditions. The most significant effects are expected to appear in dynamic regimes,
especially near resonances and instabilities which can cause slackening.
In this section, some features of the nonlinear response to three different loading
scenarios are illustrated. All loading cases are selected so as to induce a gradual loss
of tension that enhances the bending moment contribution. Two different cables
are considered in the numerical computations with the following nondimensional
parameters: LN WD L= l D 1:09615, WD %Agl=H o D 1:5, k D 1:10 104 , and
D 4:43 104 . These parameters correspond to a steel cable whose initial length
is L D 142:5 m, span is l D 130 m, Young’s effective modulus is E D 100 GPa,

and its cross-sectional area and moment of inertia are A D 8 103 m2 and J D
5:1 106 m4 , respectively. The quantity %A is the mass per unit reference length.
In all loading scenarios, the cable equilibrium paths show the vertical displace-
ment of a control point versus the force or support displacement. In particular, the
loading path is discretized into NL steps so that, by letting fNL denote the load
magnitude at the end of the loading path while fj is the magnitude at the j th step,
˛j WD fj =fNL is chosen as the load multiplier. The configurations and states of
stress are monitored at three given load steps, namely, ˛ D .1=3; 2=3; 1/: For
each of these three states, the tension, shear force, and flexural moment distributions
across the cable are analyzed so as to determine the influence of the flexural rigidity
through a comparison of the results with those obtained using the standard model of
a purely extensible cable.
Horizontal cable subject to an upward vertical load. The first case is that of a
horizontal cable, shown in Fig. 7.22a, subject to an upward vertical load, distributed
over a small region centered about the midspan whose length is s D 0:1873L. N The
nondimensional load amplitude is varied in the range Œ0:03; 12: Because the force
per unit reference length is nondimensionalized with respect to %Ag=; and D 1:5;
the maximum load is fNL D 8%Ag and the resultant load becomes 8%Ag.ls/;
which is about 3=2.%AgL/, 150 % of the total cable weight. The loading process is
discretized into NL D 400 load steps with a resulting load step of f D 0:02993.
The results of the calculation of the load paths show that (a) the cable with
flexural stiffness, as expected, is stiffer than the purely extensible cable; (b) the most
prominent difference between the load paths is appreciated when the upward load
approximately equals the weight of the cable (i.e., ˛ D 2=3). Figure 7.22a shows the
initial static configuration B o (catenary configuration) and the cable configurations
at various load multipliers, ˛ D .1=3; 2=3; 1/. A region of negative curvatures is
localized around the cable segment where the load is applied upward. When the
load is in the range Œ1; 32 %AgL; the cable crosses the horizontal line AB and the
extent of the central segment of the cable lifted above the horizontal line gradually
increases up to the end of the loading path when it is nearly one-third of the cable
span. At two-thirds of the maximum load, the difference introduced by the flexural
stiffness is quite remarkable especially in the displacement of the midspan point. In
its neighborhood, appreciably different curvatures can be observed; in fact, they are
sharper in the purely extensible cable. Figure 7.22b depicts the tension across the
cable whose evolution has two distinct phases. First, the application of the load tends
to decrease the total tension uniformly in the cable until the load reaches a sufficient
value to overcome the weight of the cable in the central region. At this stage, the
curvature is reversed at the midspan and the tension gradually starts to exhibit sharp
decreasing variations thus introducing a lack of uniformity in the distribution. At the
midspan section, the curvature and the bending moment increase (see Fig. 7.22d),
and the overall tension tends to vanish. On the other hand, around the midspan, the
tension has to balance part of the total weight of the cable. Thus the shear load
exhibits a boundary layer within the central loaded region, and the magnitude of the
0.1 1.4
a b
α=1 1.2
0 A B
1
y α = 1/3
α = 2/3 N
0.8
-0.1 f
α = 2/3
0.6 α=1
α = 1/3
0
B
-0.2 0.4
x -3
s
0.16 2 10
c d
α=1
0
0.08 α = 2/3
α = 1/3
α = 1/3
Q 0 M
-0.08 α = 2/3
α=1
-3
-0.16 -8 10
s s
Fig. 7.22 (a) Cable configurations, (b) tension, (c) shear force, and (d) bending moment at three
values of the load multiplier of an upward vertical load [254]. The dashed lines indicate the results
for a purely extensible cable, and the solid lines represent the cable with flexural stiffness
jump increases with the load amplitude (see Fig. 7.22c). At the peak of the loading
path, the bending moment is clearly localized within the boundary layer with the
peak moment being one order of magnitude higher than elsewhere in the cable (see
Fig. 7.22d).
Horizontal cable subject to support displacements. The right end of the hor-
izontal cable is moved horizontally to the left up to a nondimensional value of
uB D 0:808 (which corresponds to a dimensional displacement of 105 m) in
NL D 1;050 steps. Figure 7.23a presents the configurations of the cables, with
and without flexural stiffness, at three load multipliers ˛ D .1=3; 2=3; 1) and
Fig. 7.23b–d show the associated tension, shear force, and bending moment. Over
the whole loading path, a loss of tension is observed as the two support points are
brought closer to each other. Furthermore, as in the previous loading scenario, the
loss of tension is more remarkable when the curvature is increasing. At the end
of the loading path, the central region presents a nearly total loss of tension. As
pointed out, the standard model of purely extensible cables generates numerical
instabilities when the tension levels are too low while the consideration of flexural
stiffness overcomes this problem. Moreover, the close observation of the differences
highlights the fact that the cable with flexural stiffness has a flatter shape around
the midspan as opposed to the more curved shape of the purely extensible cable.
Hence, due to the significant influence of the flexural stiffness on the equilibrium,
0.1 1
a B
b
0 A
0.8
0 α = 1/3
B 0.6 α = 2/3
y N α=1
0.4
α = 1/3
α = 2/3 0.2
α=1
-0.6 0
-2 x -3 s
6 10 7 10
c d
α=1
Q M α = 2/3
0 α = 1/3
α = 1/3
α = 2/3
α=1
0
-2 -3
-6 10 -1 10
s s
Fig. 7.23 (a) Cable configurations, (b) tension, (c) shear force, and (d) bending moment at three
values of the multiplier of a prescribed horizontal displacement of the support [254]. The dashed
lines indicate the results for the purely extensible cable model, and the solid lines represent the
flexurally stiff cable model
this stiffness cannot be neglected in those segments of the cable where the tension
is close to vanish.
To achieve a quantitative appreciation of the differences in the stress states,
consider the midspan section when ˛ D 1, and let S11 D N=A denote the maximum
tensile stress for the cable without flexural stiffness and SN11 D NN =A C MN =W be
the tensile stress in the cable with flexural stiffness. .NN ; MN / indicate
p the tension
and moment in the cable with flexural stiffness where W D J = A= is the cable
bending modulus. The computation of the relative percent difference between SN11
and S11 yields about 53 % which indicates that the maximum tensile stress would
be underestimated by over 50 % if the standard cable model were to be used.
The linearization and vibration eigenvalue problem. The linearization
of (7.198) can be obtained by introducing a small parameter " which quantifies
the deviation from the prestressed configuration B o . The dissipative parts of the
tension and bending moment as well as the forcing are neglected. Assume D."/;
D."/; NO DNO .."//; MO DMO .."//; us Dus ."/; and aDa."/ as continuously
differentiable functions of " and
.0/ D 1; .0/ D 0; NO ..0// D 0; MO ..0// D 0; a.0/ D ao ;

b.0/ D bo ; us .0/ D o:
The equations of motion are differentiated with respect to " up to first order and " is
set to zero. The ensuing linear equations of motion are
%A@t t u C @s Œ@s .EJ1 /bo @s .EA1 ao / @s .N o a1 / D o (7.211)
where
1 D @s u o v; 1 D @ss v C @s o u C o @s u; a1 D .@s v C o u/bo : (7.212)
Therefore, the dimensional equations of motion become
%A@t t u @s ŒEA.@s u o v/ o @s ŒEJ.@ss v C @s o u C o @s u/

Co N o .@s v C o u/ D 0; (7.213)
%A@t t v o ŒEA.@s u o v/ C @ss ŒEJ.@ss v C @s o u C o @s u/
@s N o .@s v C o u/ N o @s .@s v C o u/ D 0; (7.214)
while the nondimensional counterparts are

h i
@t t u @s k.@s u o v/ o @s Œ.@ss v C @s o u C o @s u/
Co N o .@s v C o u/ D 0; (7.215)

@t t v o k.@s u o v/ C @ss Œ.@ss v C @s o u C o @s u/ @s N o .@s v C o u/
N o .@ss v C @s o u C o @s u/ D 0: (7.216)
The cable elasto-geometric parameters. The linear and nonlinear free motions
of linearly elastic nonshallow cables without flexural stiffness depend on two
parameters [249] which relate to their geometric and elastic stiffnesses, namely,
and k, unlike shallow cables [207] whose linear motions depend solely on Irvine’s
elasto-geometric parameter denoted by : Irvine’s parameter [207] combines the
two characteristic parameters of nonshallow cables according to 2 WD 2 k= N with
R LN
N D 0 sec2 o ds. For cables suffering stretching and bending in the plane, and
made of a linearly elastic material, there are three independent parameters, namely,
.; k; / or, equivalently, .; ; /:
The region of admissible elastic stiffness k in the .; /-plane was discussed
in Sect. 3.3.1 by considering the iso-stiffness curves according to the definition of
Irvine’s parameter. The boundaries of the admissible region correspond to k D
5 102 and k D 5 104 ; respectively. These values were determined considering
the axial stiffness defined as k D E=S o where S o D H o =A denotes the nominal
(Piola–Kirchhoff) tensile stress at the mid-span section. Hence, the minimum k
is attained when S o is maximum, taken here as the yielding tensile strength S y :
Because typical working tensile stresses are around 5–10 % of S y ; a reasonable
value for k is of the order of 103 : However, by considering lower tensile stresses in
the static configuration, values of k of the order of 104 may be attained.
a b
40
35
30
25
ω
20
15
10
5
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
λ/π λ/π
Fig. 7.24 Variation of the lowest natural frequencies [254] with = obtained with flexural
stiffness (solid lines) and without (dashed lines) when (a) D 0:1 and (b) D 0:75
The nondimensional flexural stiffness becomes D kA=.4l 2 / for a circular

cross section for which J D A2 =.4/. Further, D gl=S o and k D E=S o :
Hence, by considering the following as design data: (a) the sag l; (b) the material
properties (; E), and (c) the working tensile stress S o ; the parameters and k (or
) are determined. They turn out to be independent of A whereas depends on k;
l; and A. Therefore, by considering the iso-k curves, the nondimensional flexural
stiffness parameter remains constant only if the cable cross-sectional area does
not vary.
Natural frequencies of cables with flexural stiffness. It is interesting to compare
the vibrational properties of purely extensible cables with those of flexurally stiff
cables, in shallow and nonshallow regimes. To this end, variations of the lowest
natural frequencies with are investigated.
In Irvine’s theory of shallow cables and in the generalized theory described
in [249], the free motions of cables depend only on the two parameters .; /
which completely characterize the geometric and elastic properties of linearly elastic
cables while for flexurally stiff cables accounts for the nondimensional flexural
stiffness. In Fig. 7.24, variations of the lowest natural frequencies with = are
shown to be obtained with the two relevant models, with incorporation of the
flexural stiffness (solid lines) and without flexural stiffness (dashed lines). Two
different regimes are considered: shallow cables with D 0:1 and moderately
nonshallow cables with D 0:75. In Fig. 7.24a, shallow cables ( D 0:1)
show inappreciable differences between the two models apart from some mild
differences when > 0:7: On the other hand, Fig. 7.24b shows a deviation
of the loci of the eigenfrequencies towards higher values with increasing for
moderately nonshallow cables ( D 0:75). Flexural stiffness effects are expected
to be more significant for cables with larger cross-sectional areas, which, in our
case, correspond to larger values of :
The flexural rigidity is expected to impact the frequencies of the higher modes
because higher modes present a number of curvature variations, hence a number of
nodes, greater than the lower modes. This is confirmed in Fig. 7.24b. At the same
time, the increase in the natural frequencies due to flexural stiffness effects does not
seem to generate new crossovers (i.e., points where the frequency loci of different
modes intersect transversally) within the considered ranges of .
Problems
7.5 (Strains of a planar curved beam).

(a) Show that, given the local representation u D u1 bo1 C u2 bo2 for the displacement
field of a planar curved beam, the strains are expressed as
.s; t/ D Œ1 C .@s u1 o u2 / cos C .@s u2 C o u1 / sin ;
.s; t/ D Œ1 C .@s u1 o u2 / sin C .@s u2 C o u1 / cos (7.217)
where is the angle of the section-fixed directors fb1 ; b2 g with respect to

fbo1 ; bo2 g.
(b) By letting the first-order displacement field be u(1) D u(1) (1) o
1 b1 C u2 b2 , show that
o
the linearization of (7.217) together with the bending curvature yields
(1) D @s u(1) o (1)

1 u2 ; (1) D @s u(1) o (1)
2 C u1 ;
(1)
(1) D @s (1) : (7.218)
7.6. Show that, when the displacement field is expressed in the fixed basis, u D
ue 1 C ve 2 ; the following kinematic relationships hold:
cos o C us sin o C vs
sin o C v
cos M D ; sin M D
s
; D arctan o;
cos o C us
(7.219)
q
D 1 C u2s C vs2 C 2.us cos o C vs sin o /; (7.220)
D 2 Œvss .us C cos o / uss .vs C sin 0 /

Co 2 .us cos o C vs sin o C 1 2 /: (7.221)
7.7 (Catenary funicular shape).

(a) For a uniform vertical load f D f e 2 per unit reference arclength, show that the
equation of the funicular shape and its solution are given by
.cos o /sso C 2.sin o /.so /2 D 0;

o D arctanŒc.s L=2/: (7.222)
(b) Show that the parametric representation for the funicular shape is the following
catenary with axis collinear with e 2 :
x.s/ D c 1 Œarcsinh.cL=2/ arcsinh..L=2 s/c/; (7.223)

p p
y.s/ D .2 c/1 Œ 4 C c 2 L2 4 C c 2 .L 2s/2 : (7.224)
7.8 (Elliptical funicular shape). Show that for an elliptical symmetrical arch
r o .s/ D x.s/e 1 Cy.s/e 2 ; with its axes collinear with .e 1 ; e 2 / and the span direction
collinear with e 1 ; the load with the assigned elliptical funicular shape is given by
f.s/ D f .sin s/2 e 2 :
7.9. Show that, in the context of prestressed unshearable curved beams, by letting
N t/b2 .s; t/ be the incremental contact force vector
n.s; t/ D NN .s; t/b1 .s; t/ C Q.s;
and m D M e 3 be the incremental bending moment, the following holds.
(a)
.us no / e 3 D .us o v/Qo .vs C o u/N o DW S o (7.225)
(b) The equations of motion are
o C o C
NN s C o
.Ms C S o / C f b1 C c D %Aut t b1
o
C.o C /%J @t t =. o /; Œ. o /1 Ms s Œ. o /1 S o s C .o C /NN
Cf b2 Œ. o /1 cs D %Aut t b2 .%J @t t . o /1 /s (7.226)
where the effects of the prestress are compounded in the function S o given
by (7.225), which can be rewritten as
S o D . o cos 0 /Qo . o sin /N o : (7.227)
7.10. Show that, upon letting NM D NN C N o and QM D QN C Qo , the linear versions

of (7.226) are, respectively,
NN s C o Ms o NN o C f bo1 C o c D %A@t t u C o %J @t t ;
(7.228)
Mss C . NN o /s C o NN C f bo2 cs D %A@t t v .%J @t t /s ;
where D vs C o u:
7.11. Show that, for a simply supported (unshearable and inextensible) beam,
subject to a compressive end thrust P o past buckling, the equation of motion of
the linear elastodynamic problem, in accord with [5, 6], is given by
Z Z !
l
%A@t t v C so %A o @t t vd d
s 0
Z !
l
C EJ so tan o .l/ vsss .l/ C sss
o
.l/ so vds
0
Z s
C EJ vssss C ssss
o
o vd C 4so sss
o
v C 3.sso /2 v C 5so sso vs C .so /2 vss
0
Z Z !
l
so o EJ v C o o vd C 3 o o v C . o /2 v d
s 0
" Z l
C so vs .l/ sin .l/ o
so o cos o v d
s
Z Z ! Z s
l
so . o /2 cos o
o vd d so sin vs C s
o o o
vd
s 0 0
Z s
C cos o vss C sso o vd C .so /2 v D0
0
Z s
where the linear bending curvature is expressed as D vss Csso o vd C.so /2 v:
0
Chapter 8
The Nonlinear Theory of Plates
Plates are largely used in a variety of fields such as civil, aerospace, mechanical,
naval, space engineering, and more recently, in microengineering. The aim of this
chapter is to present the formulation of geometrically exact theories for plates, their
approximations and differences with respect to linear theories such as the Kirch-
hoff–Love or Mindlin–Reissner theories or ad hoc nonlinear theories such as the
Föppl–von Kármán theory.
An extensive treatment of the formulation of the equations of motion in various
technically relevant situations is illustrated together with experimental results that
fully confirm the theory. In the appendix, higher order-theories of thick multilayer
laminated composite plates are discussed to highlight the prominent role of normal
and transverse shear deformations in the elastic response and buckling of thick
multilayer (anisotropic) plates.
8.1 Introduction
In the past, plates were mostly made of homogeneous, isotropic materials and
designed in thicker shapes as in concrete slabs used for foundations or floors,
one such formidable example being the huge elliptical plate foundation of the
Colosseum having major axes of 189 m and 156 m. In the last century, plates were
constructed in thinner and thinner shapes, as is the case for steel or aluminum
plates employed as structural parts of vessels/ships and aircraft. When homogeneous
isotropic plates are reinforced by ribbons or beams, the reinforced plates behave as
two-dimensional orthotropic structures as is the case for bridge decks.
With the advent of laminated composite materials, there has been a tremendous
investment from the aerospace industry to develop strong light-weight multilayer
plates made by stacking a sequence of carbon fiber-reinforced composite laminae
with varying ply angles so as to optimize the structural performance. Fibers
currently in use include graphite, glass, boron, and silicon carbide. Typical matrix

498 8 The Nonlinear Theory of Plates
materials are epoxies, polyimides, aluminum, titanium, and alumina. Multilayer

plates can be highly anisotropic or quasi-isotropic depending on the number of
laminae and their arrangements. While these unusual plate structures have allowed
extraordinary advances in terms of weight reduction, several drawbacks such as
reduced elastic stability, higher susceptibility to damage, low impact tolerance, and
durability still represent serious challenges for aerospace applications where high
resistance to impact, temperature, irradiation, and fatigue life are major sources of
concern.
Plate structures are becoming even more complex with the development of
new fabrication techniques that allow carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or other
fibers/nanoparticles to be dispersed in a hosting elastic matrix (such as epoxy resin
or other polymeric materials). CNTs are hollow cylinder-like structures possessing
diameters of the order of a few nanometers and high stiffness and strength. Young’s
modulus of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) roughly varies between 2.8 and
3.6 TPa. Compared to graphite fibers with Young’s modulus in the range 300–800
GPa, the superiority of CNTs over carbon fibers is apparent.
The CNT-reinforced plates can exhibit a full range of constitutive behavior:
nearly isotropic for randomly dispersed CNTs or transversely isotropic when the
CNTs are uniformly aligned [163]. The composites reinforced by CNTs or other
nanoparticles are known as nanocomposites. This field is growing very rapidly and
will certainly lead to important advances in the construction of future super-strong
lightweight plate-like structures in practically all fields of structural engineering
(super-long bridges, super-performing aircraft wings, sail masts, to name but a few).
The common thread of all current developments in plates and advanced structures
is to specialize the use of materials for various functions so as to obtain high-
performing self-monitoring (possibly also self-healing) multifunctional structures
as is the case for CNT-reinforced composite plates where the nanotubes can act as
the primary load-carrying fibers, as sensing elements, and as reservoirs of healing
agents [178]. The resulting multifunctional nanocomposite structures, while being
strong and capable of resisting severe loads, are typically quite flexible in the out-
of-plane direction and can thus be prone to vibrations and instabilities.
This motivates the fundamental need for reduced nonlinear theories enabling the
prediction of the structural response of thin plates, both in single- or multilayer
configurations. The fidelity of two-dimensional theories of plates has been an
open question for over a century, first within the context of isotropic single-layer
plates, and more recently, also in relation to multilayer composite laminated plates.
While fully intrinsic theories à la Cosserat have their own self-consistency, as they
view the plate from the very outset as a two-dimensional surface with additional
extrinsic directors (in the sense of a Cosserat surface) and invoke concepts from
differential geometry, the difficulty arises in identifying the relationship between the
constitutive properties of the three-dimensional physical object and the constitutive
laws of the reduced two-dimensional counterpart.
Semi-intrinsic approaches have often been employed by enforcing physically
reasonable constitutive assumptions on the kinematics of the three-dimensional
plate-like structures. Thus, the constitutive relationships of the reduced
8.2 Elastic Plates 499
two-dimensional theory can be obtained from three-dimensional elasticity. This

approach has been widely used in plate mechanics, especially in trying to firmly
establish nonlinear theories.
Abbreviations. Some abbreviations, partly borrowed from the technical literature,
are used recurrently throughout the chapter: CLPT for Classical Laminate Plate
Theory, ELS for Elasticity Solution, ESL for Equivalent Single Layer, ESLGET for
Equivalent Single Layer Geometrically Exact Theory, FSDT for First-Order Shear
Deformation Theory, FVKT for Föppl-von Kármán Theory, GET for Geometrically
Exact Theory, HO for Higher Order, HSDT for Higher-Order Shear Deformation
Theory, KLT for Kirchhoff–Love Theory, MRT for Mindlin-Reissner Theory,
RHSDT for Refined Higher-Order Shear Deformation Theory, TSDT for Third-
Order Shear Deformation Theory.
8.2 Elastic Plates
Thin isotropic metallic plates and composite laminated multilayer plates are
often prone to deformations accompanied by large displacements, rotations, and
sometimes, large strains. This geometric nonlinear phenomenology may arise in
the postbuckling or post-flutter regime or in dynamic response to time-varying
resonance-triggering excitations. This motivates the judicious use of nonlinear
theories that overcome the severe restrictions on the geometry of deformation
exhibited by ad hoc approximate theories.
The leading difference between single-layer and multilayer plates with thickness-
to-span ratios above approximately 1/10 is in the well-known zig–zag effect due
to the different shear compliances of the layers which cause the slopes of the in-
plane displacement components to exhibit a rapid change at the layer interfaces
across the thickness. The main mechanical feature is that the in-plane stresses
can be discontinuous at the layer interfaces while the transverse stresses are
continuous. Multilayer plates exhibit even more complex features such as high in-
plane anisotropy and high transverse compliance when the laminates are made of
anisotropic layers.
A large body of literature is related to the formulation of fully nonlinear reduced
two-dimensional theories for isotropic plates while a less substantial literature has
focused on multilayer composite plates either within the context of intrinsic or semi-
intrinsic formulations (for the Cosserat theory of plates, cf. [23, 329, 339, 405, 422])
or within the context of nonlinear models fully deduced from nonlinear elasticity.
In the context of linear elasticity, a thin plate theory based on the Kirchhoff–
Love assumptions [280] was deduced in [367] from the three-dimensional theory of
homogeneous, linearly elastic, transversely isotropic, constrained materials. Similar
attempts were undertaken for the thin plate theory of Mindlin–Reissner (MR) [320]
and its variants, also in the context of composite plates [460, 480].
The Föppl–von Kármán theory (FVKT) [162, 453] is one of the widely used
nonlinear reduced descriptions of plate dynamics. The FVKT expresses the elastic
energy of a deformed elastic plate as the sum of stretching (the stretches are
expressed in terms of the first-order deflection gradients up to quadratic order)
and bending energies (the curvatures are linear in the second-order gradient of
the deflection). Other reduced two-dimensional theories usually bear the same
variational structure based on the stored energy function given as the sum of a
stretching term and a bending term. The FVKT has been shown to be derivable
from three-dimensional elasticity by means of ad hoc asymptotic expansions [113].
Due to its relative simplicity, the FVKT has been widely used in the study of static
(postbuckling) and dynamic (post-flutter) problems. For example, the FVKT was
employed in a semi-analytical approach to predict the nonlinear behavior of plates
subject to compressive in-plane loads in [403]. The pseudo-arclength path-following
scheme allowed the nonlinear equilibrium paths to be traced and limit points of
various types were detected in rectangular plates subject to combined out-of-plane
and in-plane loads.
The tremendous amount of literature based on the FVKT is justified by the
fact that the computed postcritical equilibrium states/motions were in the vicinity
of the static/dynamic bifurcation points whereby the kinematic and dynamic
approximations inherent in the theory do not introduce appreciable errors. The
physical soundness and accuracy of the FVKT have often been seriously questioned.
The theory is in fact based on (a) an approximate geometry of deformation, (b) as-
sumptions about the way the stress varies across the thickness, (c) linear constitutive
relationships, (d) neglect of some components of strain (normal and transverse shear
strains), and (e) an apparent confusion of the referential and spatial descriptions.
To overcome these limitations, a nonlinearly elastic Cosserat (geometrically exact)
plate theory was proposed [21] to study axisymmetric buckling of isotropic single-
layer plates which can suffer thickness changes, as well as flexure, midplane
extension, and shear.
Various ad hoc nonlinear theories of plates (mostly for isotropic single-layer
plates) have been proposed in the literature, often with assumptions of small strains
but possibly large deflections and rotations [193, 215, 421]. Both geometric and
material nonlinearities were taken into account, for example, in [215] to characterize
the nonlinear response of paper sheets treated as prominently thin plates. A few
recent works have proposed equivalent single layer, geometrically exact theories
(ESLGET) for the dynamics of composite laminated plates (cf. [196]). On the
other hand, extensive research efforts have been focused on geometrically nonlinear
finite element formulations of laminated composite plates and shells (e.g., cf.
[17, 92, 186]).
The geometrically exact theory of thin isotropic and laminated multilayer
plates presented in [258, 355] served as a nonlinear physical model enabling
feasibility studies on nonlinear system identification procedures based on Higher-
Order Spectral (HOS) analysis tools (i.e., bispectrum/bicoherence and trispec-
trum/tricoherence) [356, 357]. By computing the nonlinear (quadratic and cubic)
phase couplings exhibited by the nonlinear dynamic response of the plates to
8.3 The Theory of Deformation of Thin Plates 501
Gaussian white noise or to train of impulses, the HOS procedure was employed
to identify the presence of inertial imperfections in the form of small masses on
metallic and carbon-epoxy composite plates [356, 357].
8.3 The Theory of Deformation of Thin Plates
The description of the (natural) geometry of plates is straightforward if Cartesian

or cylindrical coordinates are used. The fixed Cartesian frame is denoted by
.O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / (see Fig. 8.1). The subscript ’ (upright Greek alpha), here and
henceforth, takes values 1 and 2. Ambiguity with ˛ is to be avoided as ˛ is used
instead to denote the thermal expansion coefficient in the constitutive equations of
thermoelasticity. The double appearance of ’ in formulas implies the summation
convention. Hence the notation .x’ ; z/ means .x1 ; x2 ; z/ with z D x3 and x’ e ’ D
x1 e 1 C x2 e 2 .
It is natural to consider the plate made out of a continuum of straight transver-
sal fibers passing through a reference plane. Thus, the undeformed (stress-free)
configuration is described by the position vector of the material points belonging
to transversal fibers collinear with bo D e 3 . The position vector of the material
points of the reference planar surface B o (called the base plane or base surface)
is r o .x’ / D x1 e 1 C x2 e 2 (see Fig. 8.1). The position vector of the material points
of the generic transverse fiber through r o .x’ / is thus represented by r.x’ ; z/ D
r o .x’ /Czbo where z 2 Œz1 ; z2 1 denotes the position across the fiber. The superscript
o
characterizes all quantities referred to the base plane B o .
The basis fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g is a local basis employed to identify material fibers
collinear with the coordinate lines (i.e., x1 Dconst, x2 Dconst) in the base plane
B o (i.e., bo’ D e ’ ) and collinear with the thickness direction (i.e., bo D bo3 D e 3 ).
Therefore, the reference configuration of the plate is
b2
b1
b
u
p b b2
b1
e3 e2 r B
O
e1 h
Fig. 8.1 Geometry of the natural plate configuration B with the base plane Bo (shaded region),
two material lines through r o .x’ / and their deformed images
1
If the plate is homogeneous or it is elastically and inertially symmetric with respect to the mid-
plane, then this plane is a natural base plane whence z1 D h=2 and z2 D h=2.
˚
B D r.x’ ; z/ D r o .x’ / C zbo ; r o D x1 e 1 C x2 e 2 ;

x1 2 Œ0; a; x2 2 Œ0; b; z 2 Œz1 ; z2 (8.1)
where the base plane B o D fr o D x1 e 1 C x2 e 2 ; x1 2 Œ0; a; x2 2 Œ0; bg is taken

to be rectangular for the sake of simplicity in the exposition.
The reference configuration can also be expressed as the Cartesian product of
B o and Œz1 ; z2 ; B D B o Œz1 ; z2 : The boundary of the reference configuration of
the plate, denoted by @B, is assumed to be Lipschitz-continuous and comprises the
edges, expressed as @Blo D @B o Œz1 ; z2 where @B o indicates the boundary of the
base plane, together with the lower plane @B1o and top plane @B2o so that the whole
boundary is @B o D @Blo [ @B1o [ @B2o :
The kinematic formulation for transversely inextensible plates is based on the
assumption that the transverse fibers remain straight and do not suffer stretching
no matter what the loading conditions are. This implies that there are five nontrivial
strains of a transversely inextensible plate: two strains denote the stretching of fibers
collinear with the axes parallel to the base plane (henceforth referred to as in-plane
fibers), one strain is the shear strain between in-plane fibers, while the other two
strains are the shear strains between transverse fibers and a pair of in-plane fibers.
Let p o .x’ ; t/ denote the actual position of the material points of the base plane
B and b.x’ ; t/ indicate the unit vectors collinear with the thickness-wise fibers at
o
time t. The current configuration of the plate is thus described by

˚
BM D p.x’ ; z; t/ D p o .x’ ; t/ C zb.x’ ; t/;

x1 2 Œ0; a; x2 2 Œ0; b; z 2 Œz1 ; z2 : (8.2)
The actual position of the material points of the base plane B o can be expressed as
p o .x’ ; t/ WD r o .x’ / C uo .x’ ; t/ (8.3)
where uo .x’ ; t/ denotes the displacement of the material point r o . It is convenient

to introduce the unit vectors .b1 ; b2 / which, together with b D b3 D b1 b2 ; make
a suitable local basis for the current configuration.
A key step of the kinematic formulation lies in the parametrization of the unit
vector b.x’ ; t/ collinear with the thickness-wise fibers. The transverse fibers suffer
finite rotations about a rotation axis orthogonal to the reference fibers collinear
with bo , with the implication that the axis of rotation is parallel to the base plane
B o spanned by fbo1 ; bo2 g: Various parametrizations are possible such as those making
use of Euler angles, Rodrigues parameters [384], or Quaternions. The full basis
fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g is parametrized by the chosen angles giving rise to a suitable sequence
of two successive rotations of the initial triad fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g: The first rotation is, for
example, taken about bo1 D e 1 of angle 2 2 and described by the orthogonal tensor
2
This seemingly inconsistent notation makes the final kinematic relationships more consistent from
a notational standpoint.
Fig. 8.2 Undeformed and 0

deformed material lines b2 2
0
through r o .x’ / in the base b3 b1 1
plane Bo . The shaded areas
denote infinitesimal material
areas surrounded by the u0
material lines through r o and p 0
collinear with bo1 and bo2
b20
b03
e3 e2 b10
r0
O
e1
R (1) . This rotation leads to the rotated basis fb(1) (1) (1)
1 ; b2 ; b3 g thus given by bk D
(1)
R (1) bok : This basis is further subjected to a rotation about b(1) 2 of angle 1 described
by the orthogonal tensor R (2) . The resulting basis fb(2) 1 ; b2 b3 g is thus obtained as
(2)
; (2)
bk D R bk : The final unit vectors fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g WD fb1 ; b2 ; b(2)

(2) (2) (1) (2) (2)
3 g are given by
bk D R bok ; R D R (2) R (1) : (8.4)
The deformation gradient is determined from the assumed position vector field as
h i|
F D .r p/| D .e 1 @1 C e 2 @2 C e 3 @z /.p o C zb/
D .@1 p o /e 1 C .@2 po /e 2 C b e 3 C z.@1 b/e 1 C z.@2 b/e 2 (8.5)
where the notation @’ ./ WD @./=@x’ is introduced for simplicity.

Admissible deformations require that det F > 0: The stretch vectors associated
with the material fibers through r o and collinear with bo’ (’ D 1; 2) are defined as
(see Fig. 8.2)
o’ WD @’ po : (8.6)
By virtue of (8.3), these stretch vectors can be expressed as o’ D @’ r o C @’ uo D

bo’ C @’ uo : Moreover, it can be proved that
@’ b D ’ b (8.7)
where . 1 ; 2 / are the curvature vectors associated with the rotations of the
transverse fibers. The curvature vectors ’ are the axial vectors of the curvature
tensors3
’ D @’ R R | ; ’ D 1; 2: (8.8)
3
The expression @’ b D ’ b is based on b D R bo and on the fact that R is an orthogonal
tensor; i.e., R R | D R | R D I.
Consequently, by adopting the component form ’ D j’ e j of ’ in the fixed basis

e j , (8.8) allows one to express j’ as
1’ D ’ .2; 3/; 2’ D ’ .1; 3/; 3’ D ’ .1; 2/ (8.9)
where ’ .i; j / indicates the .i; j /th element of ’ .

Given the definitions of o’ and ’ , the deformation gradient can be expressed in
more compact form as
F D . o1 C z 1 b/ e 1 C . o2 C z 2 b/ e 2 C b e 3 : (8.10)
The deformation gradient F.x’ ; z; t/ in (8.10) applied to the unit vector bo’ .x’ ; z/
gives the stretches of material fibers through r.x’ ; z/ lying in a plane parallel to the
base plane at a distance z from it:
F bo’ D o’ C z ’ b DW ’ : (8.11)
Hence, all material fibers in planes parallel to the base plane, at a distance z from it,
suffer stretches which vary linearly with z:
The consequence of the kinematic constraint about the rigidity of transverse
fibers is that the stretch vector associated with transverse fibers is D F bo D b
which correctly implies jj D jbj D 1. By virtue of (8.11), the deformation gradient
can be rewritten, in agreement with (4.11), as
F D 1e 1 C 2e 2 C b e 3: (8.12)
By using the expression of F given by (8.12), the Cauchy–Green strain tensor C D

F| F becomes
C D 12 e 1 e 1 C 22 e 2 e 2 C . 1 2 /.e 1 e 2 C e 2 e 1 /

C . 1 b/.e 1 e 3 C e 3 e 1 / C . 2 b/.e 2 e 3 C e 3 e 2 / C e 3 e 3 (8.13)
where, according to (8.11), ’ D o’ C z ’ b: Hence, the strain tensor C depends

on the four vectors . o1 ; o2 ; 1 ; 2 / with a total of 12 components representing 12
generalized strains. On the other hand, the independent kinematic parameters are
five; for example, the current position vector p o or the displacement uo of the base
plane and the rotations .1 ; 2 /.
It can be shown (cf. next subsection on Generalized strains) that there are
only five independent components of the stretch vectors o1 and o2 expressed in
component form as (see Fig. 8.3)
o1 D N 1 b1 C N 21 b2 C Ñ 1 b; o2 D N 12 b1 C N 2 b2 C Ñ 2 b: (8.14)
This is in line with the notion that the magnitude of the vectors o1 and o2
represents the (membrane) stretches of in-plane material fibers and the change in
Fig. 8.3 (Left) b3 b2

Three-dimensional and
(right) two-dimensional view b2
of the stretch vectors, o
2 o
deformed material lines o
2
through r o , with the 1
o
generalized strains 1
.N1 ; N 2 ; N 21 ; Ñ 1 ; Ñ 2 /
b1 b1
the subtended angle (with respect to the original orthogonal configuration) measures
the membrane shear strain. Moreover, the two angles that b makes with o1 and o2
(more precisely, the change in angles with respect to the initially orthogonal angles)
measure the two transverse shear strains. Hence, the five independent components
of o1 and o2 are the two membrane stretches, the in-plane shear strain, and the two
transverse shear strains.
On the other hand, the curvature vectors 1 and 2 have together six components
out of which only three are independent: the two flexural curvatures and the twist
curvature. Hence, the plate strain tensor can be effectively expressed in terms of
eight generalized strains, out of which only five strains are truly independent.
The drilling rotation. An approach followed a few times in the literature [194]
for the parametrization of the rotations of the transverse fibers is to conceive, besides
the rotations 1 and 2 , a third rotation of angle 3 about b(2) 3 represented by the
orthogonal tensor R (3) : The angle 3 is referred to as the drilling (or spin) rotation
[194]. The final unit vectors fb(3) (3) (3)
1 ; b2 ; b3 g WD fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g are expressed as bk D
Rbk with R D R R R : Apparently, it seems that an artificial and immaterial
o (3) (2) (1)
spin rotation of the transverse fibers has been introduced. This is done to allow the
choice of 3 so as to simplify the description of the geometry of deformation, for
example, by prescribing certain symmetries in the strains. The discussion may seem
obscure at this stage but it will become clear as the discussion about the strains
unfolds.
Generalized strains. The component representations of o’ in the basis
fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g are given by
o’ D 1’
o
b1 C 2’
o
b2 C 3’
o
b3 ; ’ D 1; 2 (8.15)
which give rise to the stretches of the fibers collinear with bo1 and bo2 as
q
j o’ j D .1’ / C .2’
o 2
/ C .3’
o 2 o 2
/ : (8.16)
Let
N ’ WD o’ b’ ; ’ D 1; 2 (8.17)
be the (generalized) stretches of the in-plane fibers collinear with bo’ : The introduced
generalized strains N ’ are the components of ’ along b’ instead of the actual (true)
stretches j o’ j: The generalized stretches are related to the true stretches by N ’ D
o2
o 2 1=2
j’ j .2’ / .3’
o 2
/ :
The consideration of a material fiber of the base plane B o described by r o .s/
D x1 .s/e 1 C x2 .s/e 2 together with the collection of transverse fibers bo .s/ going
through the said fiber can shed light on the meaning of ’ : The introduced
parametrization in the arclength s defines the material fiber r.s; z/ D r o .s/ C zb.s/
at a distance z from the base plane. This fiber is mirror of the fiber r o .s/ of the
base plane. The actual positions of these mirror fibers are p o .s; t/ and p.s; z; t/:
At a given position s along the fiber r o .s/; the stretch vector is on D @s p o D
@1 p o @s x1 C @2 po @s x2 D no1 o1 C no2 o2 where no D no1 e 1 C no2 e 2 denotes the tangent
vector to the fiber r o at s:
The stretch of the fiber r.s; z; t/ can be calculated as n D @s p D @s p o C z@s b
D on C z n b where n D no1 1 C no2 2 and b gives the actual orientation of
the transverse fiber.4 Assume now that the initial triad fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g has bo1 collinear
with no ; bo3 collinear with e 3 and bo2 D bo no : Thus, bo2 is normal to the fiber no in
the base plane. By assuming that the fiber no does not suffer elongation (i.e., it is a
neutral fiber), then on D b1 : By further assuming that n D 2 b2 ; the stretch vector
of the material fiber r.s; z; t/ becomes n D b1 C z2 b2 b D .1 C z2 /b1 : The
elongation of this fiber is n D jn j 1 D z2 : Therefore, the elongation of the fiber
initially collinear with no at a distance z from the base plane is proportional to its
distance from the neutral fiber and to the magnitude of n known as the curvature.
The preceding discussion highlights the most suitable component representation
of the curvature vectors in the local basis fb1 ; b2 ; bg: Since the stretches are linearly
related to z through the multiplicative components of ’ b (i.e., the components
of ’ that lie in the plane fb1 ; b2 g), it is convenient to put
’ WD ’ b D 1’ b1 C 2’ b2 (8.18)
so that ’ D o’ C z.1’ b1 C 2’ b2 /: Note that the upright boldface Greek letters
’ are chosen to indicate the curvature vectors lying in the plane fb1 ; b2 g, different
from the vectors ’ .
Consequently, the stretches of fibers initially collinear with e 1 and e 2 are given,
respectively, by
1 D N 1 C z11 ; 2 D N 2 C z22 : (8.19)
4
A different way of obtaining n is based on @s b D n b where n is the axial vector of the
curvature tensor n D @s R R | :
By letting
’ D 2’ b1 C 1’ b2 C 3’ b; (8.20)
then it is ’ D ’ b D 1’ b1 2’ b2 which entails
11 D b2 1 ; 21 D b1 1 ;

12 D b2 2 ; 22 D b1 2 : (8.21)
Equations shown in (8.19) suggest that .11 ; 22 / bear the role of flexural curva-
tures. To this end, let
N 1 WD 11 D b1 1 D b2 1 ;
N 2 WD 22 D b2 2 D b1 2
(8.22)
N 1;
so that . N 2 / denote the flexural curvatures and the stretches can be accordingly
expressed as
1 D N 1 C z
N 1; 2 D N 2 C z
N 2: (8.23)
The shear strains between transverse fibers and fibers lying in the base plane B o
together with the shear strains between transverse fibers and fibers lying in the plane
at distance z from B o can be expressed as
o’ 3 o’ b ’ 3 ’ b
o
sin ˛3 D D ; sin ˛3 D D (8.24)
j o’ j j o’ j j ’ j j ’ j
where 3 D b as a consequence of the transverse inextensibility.

On account of ’ b D o’ b, let
Ñ ’ WD o’ b D @’ po b (8.25)
so that the shear strains become

Ñ ˛ Ñ ˛
o
sin ˛3 D ; sin ˛3 D : (8.26)
jo’ j j ’ j
Thus the shear strains between material fibers in the base plane (or in planes parallel
to it) and the thickness-wise fibers can be simply expressed in terms of Ñ ˛ . The
scalars . Ñ 1 ; Ñ 2 / are known as the (generalized) transverse shear strains.
The shear strain between fibers lying in the base plane and collinear with .bo1 ; bo2 /
o
is sin 12 D . o1 o2 /=.jo1 jjo2 j/: Thus if
Ñ 12 WD o1 o2 D @1 po @2 p o (8.27)
is chosen to denote the (generalized) membrane shear strain, the shear strain
between fibers of the base plane becomes sin 12 o
D Ñ 12 =.jo1 jj o2 j/.5
The generalized shear strain Ñ 12 can thus be expressed as
Ñ 12 WD o1 o2 D N 1 N 12 C N 2 N 21 C Ñ 1 N 2 (8.28)
where the notations N 12 WD 12

o
and N 21 WD 21
o
are introduced for consistency.
Consequently, the shear strain between fibers collinear with .bo1 ; bo2 / at a distance
z from the base plane B o is sin 12 D . 1 2 /=.j 1 jj2 j) where
1 2 D Ñ 12 C zŒ1 o2 C 2 o1 C z2 1 2
D Ñ 12 C zŒN12
N 1 C N 2 21 C N 1 12 C N 21
N 2 C z2 .
N 1 12 C 21
N 2 /: (8.29)
The orientation of the transverse fibers is not clearly affected by the mentioned
drilling rotation of angle 3 about b [194]. The drilling rotation has effects only on
the orientation of the other two unit vectors b1 and b2 in the plane orthogonal to b:
The strains should be invariant with respect to the drilling rotation. Indeed, within
the kinematic formulation, based on the parametrization of the rotation tensor in
the three rotations .1 ; 2 ; 3 /; the strain tensor C is expected to be invariant with
respect to 3 :
The invariance of C with respect to 3 implies that the basis fb1 ; b2 g can be
rotated by any convenient angle 3 : A suitable choice is to set the angle 3 such that
the unit vectors b1 and b2 make the same angle with the deformed material lines
of the base plane originally collinear with bo1 and bo2 (see Fig. 8.3). This entails the
requirement that the angle between o1 and b1 be the same as the angle between o2
and b2 .
One way of enforcing this condition is
o1 o2 N 21 N 12
o b2 D b1 H) o D o (8.30)
j 1 j j o2 j j1 j j 2 j
where o’ D bo’ C @’ uo and b’ D R bo’ : Equation (8.30) can be solved with respect
to 3 :
A variant of (8.30) is
N 12 D N 21 (8.31)
which enforces the symmetry of the reciprocal components of and along b2 o1 o2
and b1 ; respectively. This is a slightly simpler version of (8.30). By enforcing (8.31),
5
In the membrane problem,
Co D .1o /2 e 1 e 1 C .2o /2 e 2 e 2 C . o1 o2 /.e 1 e 2 C e 2 e 1 /
D .1o /2 e 1 e 1 C .2o /2 e 2 e 2 C Ñ o12 .e 1 e 2 C e 2 e 1 /
which shows that there are three generalized (membrane) strains, namely, .1o ; 2o ; Ñ 12 /:
o
the relationship between 12 o
(D 21 ) and the other generalized strains (N1 ; N 2 ; Ñ 12 /
is obtained from (8.28) as
N 12 D . Ñ 12 Ñ 1 Ñ 2 /=.N1 C N 2 /: (8.32)
Compatibility and independent generalized strains for plates. The four

vector-valued fields . o1 .x’ ; t/; o2 .x’ ; t/; 1 .x’ ; t/; 2 .x’ ; t// are not independent
(in a differential sense) since they have to satisfy the compatibility conditions. These
conditions can be obtained by applying the Schwarz Theorem to o’ D @’ po and
@’ bk D ’ bk , ’ D 1; 2 and k D 1; 2; 3. For continuity requirements on the
vector-valued fields po .x’ ; t/ and bk .x’ ; t/ 8 .x’ ; t/ in B o Œ0; 1/, the Schwarz
Theorem states that @2 @1 po D @1 @2 p o and @2 @1 bk D @1 @2 bk which implies
@2 o1 D @1 o2 ; @2 . 1 bk / D @1 . 2 bk /; k D 1; 2; 3: (8.33)
Equations (8.33) yield six independent compatibility equations. The projection

of (8.33)1 in the fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g-basis yields
@2 N 1 @1 N 12 C 31 N 2 32 N 21 C 12 Ñ 1 11 Ñ 2 D 0; (8.34)

@2 N 21 @1 N 2 C 32 N 1 31 N 12 22 Ñ 1 C 21 Ñ 2 D 0; (8.35)
@2 Ñ 1 @1 Ñ 2 12 N 1 21 N 2 C 22 N 21 C 11 N 12 D 0: (8.36)
Equations (8.34) and (8.35) are the projections of (8.33)1 in the .b1 ; b2 /-plane,
hence, they are the compatibility equations for the membrane problem. On the other
hand, (8.36) invokes the transverse shear strains Ñ 1 and Ñ 2 . Recall that .N12 ; N 21 /
can both be expressed in terms of the membrane shear strain Ñ 12 ; for example
using (8.32); then N 12 D O 12 . Ñ 12 /; N 21 D O 21 . Ñ 12 /:
The compatibility equations for the curvatures are given by
@2 11 @1 12 31 22 C 32 21 D 0; (8.37)

@1 22 @2 21 C 11 32 12 31 D 0; (8.38)
@1 32 @2 31 11 22 C 12 21 D 0: (8.39)
N 12 is defined as
The twist curvature
N 12 WD 12 21 D 12 C 21 D 2 b2 1 b1 :

(8.40)
With the above definitions, the generalized nonlinear strain measures coalesce
into the well-known linear strains for shear deformable plates. Equations (8.36)
and (8.40) are then used to write
12 D .@2 Ñ 1 @1 Ñ 2 C 11 N 12 C 22 N 21 C

N 12 N 2 /=.N1 C N 2 /; (8.41)
21 D .@2 Ñ 1 @1 Ñ 2 C 11 N 12 C 22 N 21
N 12 N 1 /=.N1 C N 2 /: (8.42)
Equations (8.34) and (8.35) can be solved for .31 ; 32 /: The outcomes,
together with (8.41) and (8.42), are substituted into the curvature compatibility
equations (8.37)(8.39) which thus turn out to be expressed in terms of the eight
generalized strains
u D .N1 ; N 2 ; Ñ 12 ; Ñ 1 ; Ñ 2 ;
N 1;
N 2;
N 12 /:
This proves that only five generalized strains are truly independent. The algebraic
vector u collects all the strain variables while its rate uP lists the rates of the
corresponding generalized strains.
There is another set of compatibility equations. The time rate of change of bk is
given by
@t bk D ! bk (8.43)
where the angular velocity ! is the axial vector of the skew-symmetric tensor ˝ D
@t R R | : Since @’ bk D ’ bk ; the compatibility between ’ and ! is
@t . ’ bk / D @’ .! bk /: (8.44)
Kinematic boundary conditions and initial conditions. The position and ori-
entation of the fibers may be prescribed on the plate edges @B o Œz1 ; z2 : Let s
be the arclength along the boundary @B o of the base plane and p o .s; t/ be the
position vector of material points of @B o . The kinematic boundary conditions for
shear deformable plates are expressed as
p o .s; t/ D pN o .s; t/; N t/;

b.s; t/ D b.s; s 2 @B o ; t 2 Œ0; 1/ (8.45)
N t// represent the kinematic data. The initial conditions are

where .pN o .s; t/; b.s;
p o .x’ ; 0/ D pN o .x’ /; b.x’ ; 0/ D bN o .x’ /; x’ 2 B o : (8.46)
The initial conditions must be compatible with the above kinematic data.
Special forms of the rotation tensor. To obtain the orthogonal tensor R that
transforms fbo1 ; bo2 ; bo3 g D fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g into fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g; with bo3 WD bo and b3 WD b;
the sequence of rotations 2 ! 1 is considered. Let the basis be rotated about e 1
by 2 , and let the obtained unit vectors be denoted by fb(1) 1 ; b2 ; b3 g. This choice
(1) (1)
is consistent with the traditional notation prevailing in the literature about plate
theories.6
Thereafter, let the basis fb(1) 1 ; b2 ; b3 g be rotated about b2 by the angle 1 : The
(1) (1) (1)
ensuing orthogonal matrix R D R R has the following entries:

(2) (1)
6
One of the motivations for this choice is that an infinitesimal rotation of a material fiber about e 1
causes the infinitesimal displacement u2 D z2 in the e 2 direction.
R11 D cos 1 ; R12 D 0; R13 D sin 1 ;

R21 D sin 1 sin 2 ; R22 D cos 2 ; R23 D cos 1 sin 2 ; (8.47)
R31 D sin 1 cos 2 ; R32 D sin 2 ; R33 D cos 1 cos 2 :
The components of the unit vectors fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g in the basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g are
b1 D cos 1 e 1 C sin 1 sin 2 e 2 sin 1 cos 2 e 3 ;

b2 D cos 2 e 2 C sin 2 e 3 ;
b3 D sin 1 e 1 cos 1 sin 2 e 2 C cos 1 cos 2 e 3 : (8.48)
The actual position vectors of the material points at r o .x’ / D x’ e ’ and at r.x’ ; z/
D r o .x’ / C ze 3 are
p o D .x1 C uo1 /e 1 C .x2 C uo2 /e 2 C uo3 e 3 ;

p D .x1 C uo1 C z sin 1 /e 1 C .x2 C uo2 z cos 1 sin 2 /e 2
C .uo3 C z cos 1 cos 2 /e 3 : (8.49)
The stretch vectors can be calculated as o’ D @’ p o D &k’

o
e k where
o
&11 D 1 C @1 uo1 ; o
&21 D @1 uo2 ; o
&31 D @1 uo3 ; (8.50)
o
&12 D @2 uo1 ; o
&22 D1C @2 uo2 ; o
&32 D @2 uo3 : (8.51)
Problem 8.1. Show that the generalized strains .N1 ; N 2 ; Ñ 12 ; Ñ 1 ; Ñ 2 / are given by
N 1 D .1 C @1 uo1 / cos 1 C @1 uo2 sin 1 sin 2 @1 uo3 sin 1 cos 2 ;

N 2 D .1 C @2 uo2 / cos 2 C .@2 uo3 / sin 2 ;
Ñ 12 D .1 C @1 uo1 /.@2 uo1 / C .1 C @2 uo2 /.@1 uo2 / C .@1 uo3 /.@2 uo3 /;
Ñ 1 D .1 C @1 uo1 / sin 1 .@1 uo2 / cos 1 sin 2 C .@1 uo3 / cos 1 cos 2 ;
Ñ 2 D .@2 uo1 / sin 1 .1 C @2 uo2 / cos 1 sin 2 C .@2 uo3 / cos 1 cos 2 : (8.52)
N 1;
Problem 8.2. Show that the generalized curvatures . N 2;
N 12 / are given by
N 1 D @1 1 ;
N 2 D cos 1 @2 2 ;
N 12 D @2 1 cos 1 @1 2 ;
(8.53)
Show that the angular velocity vector can be expressed as
! D cos 1 @t 2 b1 C @t 1 b2 C sin 1 @t 2 b: (8.54)

The curvatures 1 and 2 ; given by (8.8) and (8.9) and based on the rotation
matrix (8.47), are given by
1 D cos 1 @1 2 b1 C @1 1 b2 C sin 2 @1 2 b;
2 D cos 1 @2 2 b1 C @2 1 cos 2 b2 C sin 1 @2 1 b: (8.55)
To prove (8.52) and (8.53), it is necessary to recall that ’ D 2’ b1 C1’ b2 C3’ b,
the curvatures .N 1 ; N 2 / are given by (8.22) while N 12 is given by (8.41).
Linear strain–displacement relationships. The linearization of the generalized
strains .N1 ; N 2 ; Ñ 12 ; Ñ 1 ; Ñ 2 ;
N 1;
N 2;
N 12 /; given by (8.52) and (8.53), furnishes the
following linear strain–displacement relationships:
N 1 D 1 C @1 uo1 ; N 2 D 1 C @2 uo2 ; (8.56)

Ñ 12 D @2 uo1 C @1 uo2 ; Ñ 1 D @1 uo3 C 1 ; Ñ 2 D @2 uo3 2 ; (8.57)
N 1 D @1 1 ;
N 2 D @2 2 ;
N 12 D @2 1 @1 2 :
(8.58)
Kirchhoff–Love unshearable plates. For relatively thin plates, the transverse

shear strains turn out to be negligible. Internal kinematic constraints are then
imposed by letting 1 b D 0 and 2 b D 0 which yield the following Kirchhoff–
Love constraints:
Ñ 1 D 0 and Ñ 2 D 0; 8 r 2 Bo: (8.59)
The constraints (8.59) can be solved for 1 and 2 : In particular, if (8.59)1 is solved
for tan 1 and the result substituted into (8.59)2 ; the resulting equation can be solved
for tan 2 which reads
@2 uo3 .1 C @1 uo1 / @2 uo1 @1 uo3

tan 2 D : (8.60)
.1 C @1 uo1 /.1 C @2 uo2 / .@2 uo1 /.@1 uo2 /
The expression of 1 is more convoluted and can be expressed as

@1 uo2 tan 2 @1 uo3
tan 1 D : (8.61)
.1 C @1 uo1 /.1 C tan 22 /1=2
The stretch vectors for unshearable plates become
1 D .N1 Cz
N 1 /b1 C.N21 Cz21 /b2 ; 2 D .N12 Cz12 /b1 C.N2 Cz
N 2 /b2 : (8.62)
According to the definition, the stretches of material fibers collinear with bo1 and bo2
at a distance z from the base plane are 1 WD 1 b1 D N 1 C z N 1 and 2 WD 2 b2 D
N 2 C z
N 2 : On the other hand, the true stretches ’ D j’ j are
p
1 WD j 1 j D .N1 C z
N 1 /2 C .N21 C z21 /2 ;
p
2 WD j 2 j D .N12 C z12 /2 C .N2 C zN 2 /2 : (8.63)
Therefore, the unknown of Kirchhoff–Love Theory (KLT) can be represented

by the position field p o .x’ ; t/ of the base plane or by the displacement field
uo .x’ ; t/ WD p o .x’ ; t/ r o .x’ /:
8.4 Equations of Motion 513
The linear version of (8.60) and (8.61) yields the rotation angles as functions of
the transverse displacement uo3 of the base plane
1 D @1 uo3 ; 2 D @2 uo3 ; (8.64)
by which the linear (bending and twisting) curvatures, expressed by (8.58), turn out
to be
N 1 D @21 uo3 ;
N 2 D @22 uo3 ;
N 12 D 2@1 @2 uo3 :
(8.65)
8.4 Equations of Motion
The equations of motion are obtained from the local statements of the balance
of linear and angular momentum. To this end, the preliminary definition of the
mechanical data together with the generalized stress resultants are discussed.
The data of the dynamical problem. Plates can be subject to body forces b.x’ ; z/
per unit reference volume, to surface forces f’ .x’ ; z’ / per unit reference area on the
boundary planes @B’o , and to boundary forces fo .x’ ; z/ on the lateral edge @Blo D
@B o Œz1 ; z2 :
By advocating the Saint–Venant Principle in the context of thin two-dimensional
bodies, the solution of the elastic problem in the inner region of the body away from
the boundaries does not depend on the surface forces themselves but on the force
and moment resultants obtained by performing the reduction with respect to the base
plane. In other words, the situation described is valid outside the boundary layers
near the boundaries where the solution conversely does depend on the local surface
force densities. The major consequence is that the mechanical data of the problem
are simply represented by the force and moment resultants per unit reference area
expressed as
Z z2
f.x’ ; t/ WD b.x’ ; z; t/dz C f1 .x’ ; z1 ; t/ C f2 .x’ ; z2 ; t/;
z1
Z z2
c.x’ ; t/ WD e 3 zbdz C z1 e 3 f1 C z2 e 3 f2 : (8.66)
z1
On the other hand, the force and moment resultants per unit reference length s of
the edge @Blo D @B o Œz1 ; z2 are
Z z2 Z z2
f o .s; t/ WD fo .s; z; t/dz; c o .s; t/ WD e 3 zfo .s; z; t/dz (8.67)
z1 z1
where s is the arclength along the curve represented by the boundary @B o of the
base plane.
ta(r,t)
a
e3 p(r,t)
O e2
e1 r
Fig. 8.4 Part of the undeformed plate obtained through a section whose normal is a and its
deformed image together with the Cauchy stress vector tM a .r; t / acting on the deformed plane
whose unit normal is aM at p.r; t /
The plate stress resultants. Let a section plane with normal a cut the plate in the
reference configuration into two parts. The unit vector a is taken to be outward with
respect to the part of interest whose deformed image is shown in Fig. 8.4. Let the
unit vector aM denote the transformed unit vector under the motion p.x’ ; z; t/. Let
the material point r.x’ ; z/ of the undeformed plane occupy position p.r; t/ at time
t in the deformed configuration. Furthermore, let tM a .p; t/ indicate the Cauchy stress
vector by which the contact force is expressed at p and time t per unit actual area
of the deformed region.
To reduce the stress distribution across the thickness (by taking the reduction
point on the base plane B o ), the generalized stress resultants are introduced by
integrating the Cauchy stress vector in the thickness domain Œz1 ; z2 and computing
its moment about the base plane (for the sake of simplicity, the base plane is taken
here as the plane z D 0). Let the positions of the material points of the base plane BM o
in the actual configuration be parametrized by the spatial coordinates y o D yj e j .
The generalized stress and moment resultants are thus expressed as
Z z2 Z z2
nM a .y o ; t/ WD tM a dz; M a .y o ; t/ WD
m zb tM a dz (8.68)
z1 z1
where zb is the position vector of the material point of the fiber in the current
thickness-wise direction and the Cauchy stress vector tM a is expressed in terms of
the Cauchy stress tensor TM as tM a D TM a. M By definition, the stress moment m Ma
in (8.68) lies in the fb1 ; b2 g-plane orthogonal to the thickness-wise direction b. Let
Z z2
M oa .y o ; t/ WD
m ztM a dz so that m M oa :
Ma D bm (8.69)
z1
Vectors nM a and m
M a represent the contact force and contact moment per unit actual
length in the direction orthogonal to the deformed thickness direction. A direct
Q1
b3
b2 N21M11
a= b1
N11 M21
Fig. 8.5 The generalized stress resultants: local components of the contact force nM a and contact
moment m M a in the intrinsic basis fb1 ; b2 ; bg. .NM 11 ; NM 21 ; QM 1 / are the tension, in-plane shear, and
M 11 / are the twisting and bending moments, respectively
transverse shear forces while .MM 21 ; M
mechanical interpretation of the contact force and contact moment is attained by

considering a suitable local basis, denoted by fb1 ; b2 ; bg; with b1 collinear with aM
and b3 WD b. In the local basis, the component form of nM a and m M a is obtained as
nM a D NM 1a b1 C NM 2a b2 C QM a b; M a D MM 2a b1 C MM 1a b2
m
where
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
NM 1a WD b1 tM a dz; NM 2a WD b2 tM a dz; QM a WD b tM a dz;
z1 z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2
MM 2a WD zb2 tM a dz; MM 1a WD zb1 tM a dz: (8.70)
z1 z1
These generalized stress resultants have an intrinsic mechanical meaning (see

Fig. 8.5). For example, by considering the actual plane of unit normal b1 and setting
aM D b1 , NM 11 is the tension, NM 21 is the in-plane shear force (also called the membrane
shear force), and QM 1 is the transverse shear force per unit actual length. As for the
generalized moments, MM 21 and MM 11 , respectively, are the twisting moment and the
bending moment per unit actual length. On the other hand, let
M oa D MM 2a
m o
b1 C MM 1a
o
b2 C MM 3a
o
b (8.71)
M oa from which
be the intrinsic component representation of m
MM 2a D MM 1a
o
; MM 1a D MM 2a
o
: (8.72)
Thus far, the spatial description of the stress resultants has been tackled. For
the material description, the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress vector t a .r; t/ is used to
quantify the contact force at p.r; t/ per unit area of the undeformed plane having
unit normal a through r o in the reference configuration. The stress resultants in
material description are
Z z2
na .r ; t/ WD
o
t a dz; ma .r o ; t/ WD b.r o ; t/ moa .r o ; t/;
z1
Z z2
moa .r o ; t/ WD zt a dz (8.73)
z1
where the stress vector t a is expressed in terms of the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress
tensor as t a D T a: The vectors na and ma are the contact force and contact moment
per unit reference length. These generalized stress resultants per unit reference
length can be suitably expressed in the local basis fb1 ; b2 ; bg with b1 collinear with
aM D Fa: The resulting component form of na and ma is na D N1a b1 CN2a b2 CQa b
and ma D M2a b1 C M1a b2 , moa D M2a o
b1 C M1a o
b2 C M3a
o
b with
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
N1a WD b1 t a dz; N2a WD b2 t a dz; Qa WD b t a dz;
z1 z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2
M2a WD zb2 t a dz; M1a WD zb1 t a dz;
z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
o
M2a WD zb1 t a dz; o
M1a WD zb2 t a dz; o
M3a WD zb t a dz: (8.74)
z1 z1 z1
Out of the infinitely many directions of a parallel to the plane fbo1 ; bo2 g D fe 1 ; e 2 g,
the two special directions of a are bo1 and bo2 , respectively. By setting a D bo1 , N11
is the tension, N21 is the in-plane shear force, and Q1 the transverse shear force
per unit reference length in the direction orthogonal to the thickness direction. M21
and M11 , respectively, are the twisting moment and the bending moment per unit
reference length. Similarly, by setting a D bo2 , N22 is the tension, N12 is the in-
plane shear force, and Q2 the transverse shear force per unit reference length in the
direction orthogonal to the thickness direction. M12 and M22 , respectively, are the
twisting moment and the bending moment per unit reference length.
Since t ’ D T bo’ ; n’ and m’ can be expressed directly in the local basis intrinsic
to the undeformed section. To this end, n’ D n1’ bo1 C n2’ bo2 C q’ bo and m’ D
m2’ bo1 C m1’ bo2 . Here n’’ has the meaning of the component of n’ normal to the
undeformed plane (i.e., it is not the actual tension) while .n21 ; q1 / and .n12 ; q2 / have
the meaning of components tangential to the undeformed plane but do not possess
the intrinsic meaning of actual shear forces.
The first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor in the fixed basis is expressed as T D
TLM e L e M : Thus, t ’ D T e ’ D TLM e L e M e ’ D TL’ e L D T1’ e 1 C T2’ e 2 C T3’ e 3 :
Consequently, n’ D n1’ e 1 C n2’ e 2 C q’ e 3 and mo’ D m1’ e 1 C m2’ e 2 C m3’ e 3
where
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
n1’ WD T1’ dz; n2’ WD T2’ dz; q’ WD T3’ dz: (8.75)
z1 z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
m1’ WD zT1’ dz; m2’ WD zT2’ dz; m3’ WD zT3’ dz: (8.76)
z1 z1 z1
The resultant moment m’ D b mo’ can be expressed as
m’ D m1’ e ? ? ?
1 C m2’ e 2 C m3’ e 3 (8.77)
where e ?
k WD b e k .
Equations of motion. To prescribe the balance of linear and angular momentum,

an arbitrary (rectangular) inner part BN o Œz1 ; z2 of the plate is considered with
boundaries the lines x1 D x1o and x1 D x1 together with the lines x2 D x2o and x2 D
x2 . On the boundaries with outward normals e 1 and e 1 , the adjacent plate parts,
respectively, exert the contact forces n1 .x1 ; 2 ; t/ and n1 .x1o ; 2 ; t/; 2 2 Œx2o ; x2 :
On the boundaries with outward normals collinear with e 2 and e 2 , respectively,
the contact forces are n2 . 1 ; x2 ; t/ and n2 . 1 ; x2o ; t/; 1 2 Œx1o ; x1 :
The linear momentum of this region can be expressed as
Z x1 Z x2 Z z2 Z
@t pdzdA D Œ%ho @t uo C %I o @t bdA (8.78)
xo1 xo
2 z1 BN o
where dA D dx1 dx2 is the element of area in the base plane B o . The generalized
inertias .%ho ; %I o / are defined as7
Z z2 Z z2
%ho WD dz; %I o WD zdz: (8.79)
z1 z1
Equation (8.78) allows the linear momentum per unit reference area to be defined as
Z z2
l o WD @t pdzdA D %ho @t uo C %I o @t b: (8.80)
z1
The balance of linear momentum requires that the sum of all forces acting on the
given region be equal to the time rate of change of linear momentum. Thus, by the
Green Theorem, it is
Z Z
Œ@1 n1 C @2 n2 C fdA D Œ%ho @t t uo C %I o @t t bdA: (8.81)
BN o BN o
This balance law must hold for any inner region BN o B o . Consequently, the local
form of (8.81) is obtained as
@1 n1 C @2 n2 C f D %ho @t t uo C %I o @t t b (8.82)
7
Of course, if the base plane coincides with the midplane and the plate is homogeneous (or it
is functionally graded with a symmetric mass distribution with respect to the midplane), then
%I o D 0: The reason for denoting by %ho the mass per unit reference area is that, when the
mass density is uniform (i.e., D o /; this quantity becomes the product between the density and
the thickness, %ho D o ho where ho WD z2 z1 is the thickness of the plate.
which represents the first equation of motion. The angular momentum can be
calculated as
Z Z z2 Z Z
p @t pdzdA D p l dA C
o o
b Œ%I o @t uo C %J o @t bdA
BN o z1 BN o BN o
(8.83)
where %J o is the moment of inertia

Z z2
%J WDo
z2 dz: (8.84)
z1
Enforcing the resultant moments with respect to the origin O of the fixed frame
to be equal to the time rate of change of angular momentum, and exploiting (8.82)
yield
@1 m1 C @2 m2 C o1 n1 C o2 n2 C c D %I o b @t t uo C %J o b @t t b (8.85)
where o’ WD @’ p o are the stretch vectors and c indicates the couples per unit area.
It can be shown that
%J o b @t t b D %J o @t !:
The two independent equations of motion, as proved in the next section, are given
by the balance of linear momentum (8.82) and by the balance of angular momentum
about b1 and b2 , deduced from (8.85). The equations of motion thus read:
@1 n1 C @2 n2 C f D %ho @t t uo C %I o @t t b; (8.86)

b @’ mO o’ C Ñ ’ nO ’ Q’ O o’ C cO D %I o b @t t uo C %J o @t !: (8.87)
A useful decomposition of the balance of angular momentum. By invoking

m’ D b mo’ and @’ b D ’ b DW ’ , the balance of angular momentum may be
rewritten as
b .@1 mo1 C @2 mo2 / C 1 mo1 C 2 mo2

C o1 n1 C o2 n2 C c D %I o b @t t uo C %J o @t !: (8.88)
A suitable decomposition of (8.88) is achieved by expressing the strain, gener-

alized stress and moment vectors as the summation of the components along the
current fiber direction b and in-plane components; namely,
o’ D O o’ C ˜o’ b; n’ D nO ’ C Q’ b; O o’ C M3’
mo’ D m o
b:
Two equations are obtained, one vector-valued equation governing the balance of
angular momentum about b1 and b2 and a scalar equation enforcing the balance of
angular momentum about b:

O o’ C Ñ ’ nO ’ Q’ O o’ C cO D %I o b @t t uo C %J o @t !;
b @’ m (8.89)
O o’ C O o’ nO ’ / b D 0:
.’ m (8.90)
The summation convention with respect to ’ is adopted. Equation (8.90) is satisfied
constitutively.
Mechanical boundary conditions and initial conditions. In the context of three-
dimensional theory, the mechanical boundary conditions require
t 3 .x’ ; z/ D f1 .x’ ; z/ at z D z1 and t 3 .x’ ; z/ D f2 .x’ ; z/ at z D z2 :
The stress vectors t 3 emerging on the lower and upper boundary planes are
expressed, by Cauchy’s Theorem, as T bo or .F S / bo , with bo D e 3 , depending
on whether the first or second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor is used to describe the
stress state.
On the other hand, let a.s/ be the outward unit vector normal to the edge
boundary denoted by @Blo D @B o Œz1 ; z2 : By integration along the thickness
direction, t a .s; t/ D fo .s; t/ implies that
na .s; t/ D f o .s; t/; ma .s; t/ D c o .s; t/: (8.91)
Nondimensional equations of motion. Lengths are scaled by the characteristic

length denoted by l while time is scaled by the characteristic time 1=!c D
.%ho l 4 =D/1=2 where D is the flexural stiffness coefficient. For elastic isotropic
Eh3
(homogeneous) plates, D D 12.1 2 / where E is Young’s modulus of elasticity,
is Poisson’s ratio, and h is the plate thickness. The virtue of this time rescaling
is that the flexural (or shearing/flexural) transverse motion is observed through a
nondimensional time scale (clock) which is of the order of one. On the other hand,
the time scale by which the in-plane motion (and the associated elastic waves) is
observed is several orders of magnitude higher than one.
For multilayer laminated plates of thickness h, Young’s modulus in the direction
of the fibers is E D E1 . Hence, the characteristic time is that of a plate with the
same geometric size but made of an isotropic material with elastic constants E1 and
E1 h3
12 ; namely, D D 12.1 12 21 /
:
The contact forces are divided by D= l 2 , the moments by D= l, and the external
force and couple per unit reference area are divided by D= l 3 and D= l 2 , respectively.
The following nondimensional form of the equations of motion with %I o D 0 is
obtained:
@’ n’ C f D @t t uo ; (8.92)

O o’ C Ñ ’ nO ’ Q’ O o’ C cO D 2 @t !
b @’ m (8.93)
where, for ease of notation, the same symbols are used to denote the nondimensional
variables and data, and "2 WD%J o =.%ho l 2 /. For a homogeneous plate, "2 D
1=12.h= l/2, which implies that the rotary inertia term is scaled by the squared
thickness-to-length ratio, a small quantity for thin plates. The characteristic length
is chosen according to the geometry of the plate. For a square plate, l D a where a
is the span of the plate; for a rectangular plate, l is taken to be one of the two lengths
a or b; for a circular or annular plate, l is taken to be its outer radius. For rectangular
plates, x1 and x2 can also be scaled by two different lengths; for example, x1 =a and
x2 =b may be such choices.
8.5 Component Form of the Equations of Motion
The component form of the equations of motion is first obtained in the local basis.
To this end, let n’ D N1’ b1 C N2’ b2 C Q’ b; mo’ D M2’ o
b1 C M1˛ o
b2 C M3’ o
b;
’ D 2’ b1 C1˛ b2 C3’ b; 1 D N 1 b1 CN21 b2 C Ñ 1 b, and 2 D N 12 b1 CN2 b2 C Ñ 2 b.
o o
By putting %I o D 0, the equations of motion read:
N 1 Q1 31 N21 C 12 Q2 32 N22 C fM1 D %ho @t t uo b1 ;

@1 N11 C @2 N12 C
(8.94)
N 2 Q2 C 32 N12 C fM2 D %ho @t t uo b2 ;

@1 N21 C @2 N22 21 Q1 C 31 N11
(8.95)
@1 Q1 C @2 Q2 C 21 N21 12 N12 N 2 N22 C fM3 D %ho @t t uo b3 ;

N 1 N11 C
(8.96)
o
@1 M11 C @2 M12
o
C 31 M21
o
C 32 M22
o
N 21 Q1 C Ñ 1 N21 N 2 Q2 C Ñ 2 N22 cM1
D %J o @t ! b1 (8.97)
o
@1 M21 C o
@2 M22 o
31 M11 o
32 M12 C Ñ 1 N11 N 1 Q1 C Ñ 2 N12 N 12 Q2 C cM2
D %J o @t ! b2 (8.98)
where fMk WD f bk and cM’ WD c b’ .

A suitable component form of the equations of motion. The most convenient
component form of the equations of motion is obtained by projecting the balance
of linear momentum in the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g while expressing the balance of
angular momentum in the intrinsic basis fb1 ; b2 ; b3 g: In the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g,
the generalized stresses are n’ D n1’ e 1 C n2’ e 2 C q’ e 3 .
The resulting component form of the equations of motion (when %I o D 0) is
@1 n11 C @2 n12 C f1 D %ho @t t uo e 1 ; (8.99)

@1 n21 C @2 n22 C f2 D %ho @t t uo e 2 ; (8.100)
@1 q1 C @2 q2 C f3 D %h @t t u e 3 ;
o o
(8.101)
o
@1 M11 C @2 M12
o
C 31 M21
o
C 32 M22
o
N 21 Q1 C Ñ 1 N21 N 2 Q2
C Ñ 2 N22 cM1 D %J o @t ! b1 (8.102)
8.5 Component Form of the Equations of Motion 521
o
@1 M21 C @2 M22
o
31 M11
o
32 M12
o
C Ñ 1 N11 N 1 Q1 C Ñ 2 N12
N 12 Q2 C cM2 D %J o @t ! b2 (8.103)
where the relationships between the stress resultants .N1’ ; N2’ ; Q’ / and
.n1’ ; n2’ ; q’ / are given in Problem 8.3.
Problem 8.3. Show that, by considering the sequence of rotations 2 about e 1 and
1 about e 2 ; the intrinsic stress and moment components expressed in terms of the
fixed-basis components turn out to be
N1’ D n1’ cos 1 C n2’ sin 2 q’ cos 2 sin 1 ; N2’ D n2’ cos 2
Cq’ sin 2 ; Q’ D n1’ sin 1 n2’ cos 1 sin 2 C q’ cos 1 cos 2 ; (8.104)
o
M1’ D m2’ cos 2 C m3’ sin 2 ;
o
M2’ D m1’ cos 1 C .m2’ sin 2 m3’ cos 2 / sin 1 ’ D 1; 2: (8.105)
Linear equations of motion. A straightforward linearization can be achieved by

simply neglecting the terms multiplied by the curvatures. Hence,
o
.M11 o
; M12 o
; M21 o
; M22 / .m21 ; m22 ; m11 ; m12 /;
.N11 ; N22 ; N12 ; Q1 ; Q2 / .n11 ; n22 ; n12 ; q1 ; q2 /: (8.106)
The linearized form of (8.99)–(8.100) thus becomes
@1 n11 C @2 n12 C f1 D %ho @t t uo1 ; (8.107)

@1 n12 C @2 n22 C f2 D %ho @t t uo2 ; (8.108)
@1 q1 C @2 q2 C f3 D %h o
@t t uo3 ; (8.109)
@1 m12 C @2 m22 q2 c1 D %J o @t t 2 ; (8.110)
@1 m11 C @2 m12 q1 C c2 D %J @t t 1 o
(8.111)
where uok WD uo e k , fk WD f e k , and ck WD c e k . The equality between the

shear stresses T12 and T21 in the linear theory of equilibrium leads to n12 D n21 and
m21 D m12 :
Note that (8.107) and (8.108) are linearly decoupled, in terms of stress resultants,
from (8.109)(8.111). Equations (8.107) and (8.108) govern the membrane problem
while (8.109)(8.111) govern the flexural/shearing problem.
Equations of motion for Kirchhoff–Love plates. For Kirchhoff–Love plates, the
transverse shear strains vanish. Thus, the transverse shear forces Q1 and Q2 are
treated as reactive forces.
The equations of motion are reduced to three by solving the two equations
governing the balance of angular momentum with respect to the reactive shear forces
Q1 and Q2 which are, in turn, substituted into the three equations dictating the
balance of linear momentum. Solving (8.97) and (8.98) with respect to the shear
forces yields
1 ˚
Q1 D N 12 @1 M11
o
C @2 M12
o
C 31 M21
o
C 32 M22
o
C Ñ 1 N21 C Ñ 2 N22
N 12 N 21 N 1 N 2

cM1 C %J o @t ! b1 N 2 @1 M21 o
C @2 M22
o
31 M11
o
32 M12
o
C Ñ 1 N11 C Ñ 2 N12 C cM2 %J o @t ! b2 g ;

1 ˚
Q2 D N1 @1 M11
o
C @2 M12
o
C 31 M21
o
C 32 M22
o
C Ñ 1 N21 C Ñ 2 N22
N 12 N 21 N 1 N 2

cM1 C %J o @t ! b1 C N 21 @1 M21 o
C @2 M22 31 M11
o
32 M12 o
C Ñ 1 N11 C Ñ 2 N12 C cM2 %J o @t ! b2 g : (8.112)
The shear forces are then substituted into (8.94)(8.96) to obtain the final governing
equations of motion.
The linear equations of motion for Kirchhoff–Love plates are obtained in a
straightforward manner either by linearization of the fully nonlinear equations or
solving the linear equations of motion (8.110)(8.111) for q1 and q2
q1 D @1 m11 C @2 m12 C c2 %J o @t t 1 ;
q2 D @1 m12 C @2 m22 c1 C %J o @t t 2 : (8.113)
The substitution of (8.113) into (8.109) together with (8.107) and (8.108) yields
@1 n11 C @2 n12 C f1 D %ho @t t uo1 ; (8.114)

@1 n12 C @2 n22 C f2 D %ho @t t uo2 ; (8.115)
@21 m11 C 2@1 @2 m12 C @22 m22 C @1 c2 @2 c1 C f3
D %ho @t t uo3 @2 .%J o @2 @t t uo3 / @1 .%J o @1 @t t uo3 /: (8.116)
8.6 Constitutive Equations
The constitutive theory for plates is treated in several works (e.g., cf. [23, 168, 221,
439]). A good review can be found in [281]. The constitutive equations for thermo-
viscoelastic plates are deduced from three-dimensional theory according to which
T .r; t/ D TO .F; F;
P #; r/; T .r; t/ D F SO .E; E;
P #; r/ (8.117)
8.6 Constitutive Equations 523
where # is the temperature gradient, F is the deformation gradient, and E is

the Green–Lagrange strain tensor. Thus, the constitutive equations for the stress
resultants can be obtained as
Z z2
.nO a ; m o
O a/ D .1; z/TO .F; PN #; r o ; z/ adz
N F; (8.118)
z1
O oa are the strain vector u and strain rate vector uP

where the arguments of nO a and m
given by
u D .N1 ; N 2 ; Ñ 12 ; Ñ 1 ; Ñ 2 ;
N 1;
N 2;
N 12 /; uP D .PN 1 ; PN 2 ; PN 12 ; PN 1 ; PN 2 ; PN 1 ; PN 2 ; PN 12 /
and the tensor-valued functions F PN indicate the deformation gradient and its
N and F
time rate parametrized in terms of the strain variables u and strain rates u:
P For the
sake of conciseness, the following notation is adopted here and henceforth:
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
.a; b/ WD .f; g/ udz; a WD f udz; b WD g udz:
z1 z1 z1
The constitutive equations can also be expressed as

Z z2
nO a .u; u;
P r o/ D N SO .E;
F PN #; r o ; z/ adz;
N E;
z1
Z z2
O oa .u; u;
m P r o/ D N SO .E;
zF PN #; r o ; z/ adz
N E; (8.119)
z1
where, in consonance with the above stated notation, the tensor-valued functions E N
and EP
N indicate the Green–Lagrange strain tensor and its time rate parametrized in
terms of .u; u/:P The resultant stress moment can be calculated as m O a .u; u;
P ro/ D
o
bm O a .u; u;
P r /:
o
The component form of the constitutive equations in the fixed basis is obtained
by letting the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor be expressed as TO D TOLM e L e M so
that
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
nO 11 WD TO11 dz; nO 21 WD TO21 dz; qO 1 WD TO31 dz;
z1 z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
O 11 WD
m zTO11 dz; O 21 WD
m zTO21 dz; O 31 WD
m zTO31 dz; (8.120)
z1 z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
nO 12 WD TO12 dz; nO 22 WD TO22 dz; qO 2 WD TO32 dz;
z1 z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
O 12 WD
m zTO12 dz; O 22 WD
m zTO22 dz; O 32 WD
m zTO32 dz: (8.121)
z1 z1 z1
Equations of motion within the three-dimensional theory. The equations of

motion and boundary conditions, in material description, can be cast as
r T | C b D @t t p; x2B (8.122)

F T | D T F| ; x2B (8.123)
T n D f; x 2 @Bf (8.124)
where r is the nabla vector expressed in the fixed basis (i.e., in Cartesian
coordinates, r D e 1 @=@x1 C e 2 @=@x2 C e 3 @=@x3 ), T is the first Piola–Kirchhoff
stress tensor, F is the deformation gradient, p is the position vector, b is the force
per unit reference volume, and f is the force per unit reference area applied on the
boundaries of the plate. The mechanical boundary conditions, respectively, on the
lower (z D z1 ) and upper planes (z D z2 ) are T e 3 D f1 .x’ / and T e 3 D f2 .x’ /
by taking e 3 to be collinear with the thickness direction. Let the boundary forces be
f1 D f11 e 1 C f12 e 2 C f13 e 3 and f2 D f21 e 1 C f22 e 2 C f23 e 3 ; so that the boundary
conditions can be written in component form as
T13 .z2 / T13 .z1 / D f21 C f11 DW f1 ; T23 .z2 / T23 .z1 / D f22 C f12 DW f2 ; (8.125)
T33 .z2 / T33 .z1 / D f23 C f13 DW f3 (8.126)
where T D Tij e i e j . Moreover, the volume force (typically, the self-weight) is

assumed to be negligible compared to the applied pressure forces, hence b D o:
The equations of motion in Cartesian coordinates become
@T11 @T12 @T13
C C D @t t p e 1 ; (8.127)
@x1 @x2 @x3
@T21 @T22 @T23
C C D @t t p e 2 ; (8.128)
@x1 @x2 @x3
@T31 @T32 @T33
C C D @t t p e 3 : (8.129)
@x1 @x2 @x3
The other three equations are given by equations (35)–(37) of Problem 4.28, here
rewritten for convenience as
F11 T21 C F12 T22 C F13 T23 D T11 F21 C T12 F22 C T13 F23 ; (8.130)
F21 T31 C F22 T32 C F23 T33 D T21 F31 C T22 F32 C T23 F33 ; (8.131)
F31 T11 C F32 T12 C F33 T13 D T31 F11 C T32 F12 C T33 F13 : (8.132)
These algebraic equations, solved explicitly for .T12 ; T13 ; T23 /; give
T12 D Œ.F13 F31 F11 F33 /T21 C .F21 F33 F23 F31 /T11 C .F13 F32 F12 F33 /T22
C.F11 F23 F13 F21 /T31 C .F23 F12 F13 F22 /T32 =;
8.6 Constitutive Equations 525
T13 D Œ.F13 F32 F21 F11 F22 F33 /T31 C F33 .F22 F31 F21 F32 /T11
C .F12 F32 F33 F13 F32
2
/T22 C .F13 F22 F32 F12 F22 F33 /T32 C
C .F13 F23 F32 F13 F22 F33 /T33 =.F33 /;
T23 D ŒF22 T32 F32 T22 C F21 T31 C F23 T33 F31 T21 =F33 (8.133)
where WD F23 F32 F22 F33 : The equations of motion for the plate are obtained by
integrating (8.127)–(8.129) over the thickness Œzl ; z2 : The following (generalized)
stress resultants are defined as:
Z z2 Z z2
n11 WD T11 dz; n22 WD T22 dz; (8.134)
z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2
n12 WD T12 dz; n21 WD T21 dz; (8.135)
z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2
q1 WD T31 dz; q2 WD T32 dz: (8.136)
z1 z1
The resulting equations are
@1 n11 C @2 n12 C f1 D .%ho @t t uo C %I o @t t b/ e 1 ; (8.137)

@1 n21 C @2 n22 C f2 D .%h @t t u C %I @t t b/ e 2 ;
o o o
(8.138)
@1 q1 C @2 q2 C f3 D .%ho @t t uo C %I o @t t b/ e 3 (8.139)
where the boundary conditions (8.125) and (8.126) are employed in

Z z2
@z Ti 3 dz D Ti 3 .z2 / Ti 3 .z1 / D fi : (8.140)
z1
Multiplying (8.127) and (8.128) by z and integrating the resulting equations over
the thickness Œz1 ; z2 , the balance of angular momentum becomes
@1 m11 C @2 m12 q13 C c2 D .b %I o @t t uo C %J o @t !o / e 1 ; (8.141)

@1 m21 C @2 m22 q23 c1 D .b %I @t t u C %J @t ! / e 2 :
o o o o
(8.142)
The following (generalized) stress and moment resultants are introduced:

Z z2 Z z2
m11 WD zT11 dz; m22 WD zT22 dz; (8.143)
z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2
m12 WD zT12 dz; m21 WD zT21 dz; (8.144)
z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2
q13 WD T13 dz; q23 WD T23 dz: (8.145)
z1 z1
The boundary conditions (8.125) and (8.126) are employed in the following way:
Z z1 Z z2
z@z Ti 3 dz D zTi 3 jzz21 Ti 3 dz D ci qi 3 (8.146)
z2 z1
where c1 D .f12 z1 C f22 z2 / and c2 D f11 z1 C f21 z2 are the couples generated by
tangential forces with respect to the base plane. The linearization of (8.133) yields
T12 D T21 , T13 D T31 , T23 D T32 from which
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
q13 WD T13 dz D T31 dz D q1 ; q23 WD T23 dz D T32 dz D q2 :
z1 z1 z1 z1
(8.147)
The equations of motion (8.137)(8.139) and (8.141)(8.142) reduce to the linear
equations of motion (8.107)(8.111).
8.7 The Weak Form of the Equations of Motion

and the Principle of Virtual Power
The weak form is obtained by introducing the smooth test functions denoted by
.w.x’ /; # .x’ // and such that they vanish on @Buo ; where the kinematic boundary
conditions are prescribed: .w; # / D .o; o/ 2 @Buo : Both members of (8.82) are
multiplied by w and the resulting functions are integrated over B o : The same
integration procedure is applied to (8.89), multiplied by # so that the two resulting
identities are summed.
A primitive weak form of the equations of motion is the following integral
identity:
Z Z
˚
@’ n’ w C Œb .@’ m
O o’ C Ñ ’ nO ’ Q’ O o’ / # dA C .f w C cO #/dA
Bo Bo
Z
D Œ.%ho @t t uo C %I o @t t b/ w C .%I o b @t t uo C %J o @t !/ # dA (8.148)
Bo
where summation on the index ’ D 1; 2 is tacitly intended to be considered.

To account for the boundary conditions, (8.148) is integrated by parts to obtain
the weak form of the equations of motion
Z h
i
.%ho @t t uo C %I o @t t b/ w C %I o @t t uo C %J o @t t b ™O dA
Bo
Z
˚
C O o’ @’ ™O Ñ ’ nO ’ Q’ O o’ ™O dA
nO ’ @’ w C m
Bo
Z
ˇ
D .f w C cO # /dA C ŒnO ’ w C m Oˇ o
O o’ ™ (8.149)
@B
Bo
in which ™O WD # b is the test rotation which lies in the plane .b1 ; b2 /.

8.8 Linearly Isotropic Single-Layer Plates 527
The kinematicˇ boundary conditions are taken into account in the boundary terms
Œn’ w C m O ˇ o through .w; ™/
O o’ ™ O D .o; o/ 2 @B o u :
@B
The weak form (8.149) corresponds to the Principle of Virtual Work or the
Principle of Virtual Power, respectively, if the test functions .w.s/; # .s// are chosen
as a set of generalized virtual displacements or virtual velocities, respectively. The
vectors @’ w and @’ ™O have the meaning of virtual incremental stretch vectors and
incremental curvature vectors in the context of PVW. If the test functions are taken
as the actual solution, namely, .w; # / D .@t uo ; !/, then the weak form yields the
energy equation for the plate. For %I o D 0, the energy equation reads,
Z
d 1 o o 1
h @t u @t uo C %J o ! ! dA
dt Bo 2 2
Z
˚
C n’ @t o’ C m O Ñ ’ nO ’ Q’ O o’ !
O o’ @’ ! O dA
Bo
Z
ˇ
D .f w C cO !/dA C Œn’ @t uo C m O ˇ@Bo
O o’ ! (8.150)
Bo
O WD ! b.
where !
8.8 Linearly Isotropic Single-Layer Plates
Materials whose constitutive behavior is linearly elastic and isotropic up to mod-

erately large strains may be described by the St. Venant–Kirchhoff constitutive
equations
SO D tr.E/I C 2E (8.151)
where .; / are Lamé’s constants, S is the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor,
and E is the Green–Lagrange strain tensor. To account for thermoelastic effects
[345], (8.151) is modified to SO D tr.E ET /I C 2.E ET / where ET WD ˛#I
is the thermally induced strain tensor for isotropic materials, ˛ is the coefficient of
thermal expansion, and # WD #.t/ # o is the temperature difference between
the current temperature #.t/ and the temperature # o of a reference state such as
the nominally stress-free state. The coefficient of thermal expansion is assumed
to be independent of the temperature and strain levels, an acceptable assumption
provided that the temperature differences are not too severe and the strain levels are
moderately large. The theory of thermoelasticity is a rather broad area of research
that encompasses both linear and nonlinear aspects (cf. , e.g., [72, 345, 416]).
For loading conditions that do not cause appreciable normal stresses (i.e.,
S33 0),8 the constitutive equations (8.151) in terms of engineering elastic
constants reduce to
8
In general, the normal stress S33 is different from zero when there are pressures applied on the
upper and lower boundary surfaces of the plate. However, the normal stress component is much
smaller than the in-plane stresses.
E
SO11 D Œ.11 ˛#/ C .22 ˛#/;
1 2
E
SO22 D Œ.11 ˛#/ C .22 ˛#/; SO12 D 2G12 ;
1 2
SO13 D 2G13 ; SO23 D 2G23 (8.152)
where SLM are the components of the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor S in the
fixed basis, IJ are the strains of the Green–Lagrange strain tensor, E is Young’s
modulus, G D 2.1C/E
is the shear modulus, and is Poisson’s ratio.
The normal stresses can be conveniently rewritten as
E E
SO11 D Œ11 C 22 ˛ #;
1 2 1
E E
SO22 D Œ11 C 22 ˛ # (8.153)
1 2 1
where the thermally induced stress is SO D ˛ 1

T
E
#I, I being the identity tensor.
The stretch vectors are expressed as ’ D ’ C z ’ , 3 D b where the curvature
o
vectors ’ are defined by (8.18) and (8.20)(8.22). The component form of the
stretches is 1 D .N1 C z N 1 /b1 C .N21 C z21 /b2 C Ñ 1 b3 and 2 D .N12 C z12 /b1 C
.N2 C zN 2 /b2 C Ñ 2 b3 where the transverse shear strains are Ñ 1 WD 1 b D o1 b
and Ñ 2 WD 2 b D o2 b: The membrane shear strain is defined as Ñ 12 WD o1 o2
while the in-plane shear strain ˜12 WD 1 2 at a distance z is given by (8.29).
Therefore, the Green–Lagrange strain tensor is
2 3
j 1 j2 1 ˜12 Ñ 1
1
E D 4 ˜12 j 2 j2 Ñ 2 5 (8.154)
2
Ñ 1 Ñ 2 0

where j ’ j2 D o’ o’ C 2z o’ ’ C z2 ’ ’ , ’ D 1; 2. Consequently,
1
11 D .N1 C z N 1 /2 C Ñ 21 C .N21 C z21 / 2 1 ;
2
1
22 D .N2 C z N 2 / 2 C Ñ 22 C .N12 C z12 /2 1 ;
2
1 1 1h
12 D ˜12 D 1 2 D Ñ 12 C z.N12
N 1 C N 2 21 C N 1 12 C N 21
N 2/
2 2 2
i 1 1
Cz2 .N 1 12 C 21 N 2 / ; ’3 D Ñ ’ D o’ b: (8.155)
2 2
Since the deformation gradient is expressed as F D 1 e 1 C 2 e 2 Cb e 3 , the columns

of the matrix associated to F list the components of . 1 ; 2 ; b/ in the fixed basis
fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g. Thus, the component form of F is
F11 D .N1 C z
N 1 / cos 1 C Ñ 1 sin 1 ;
F12 D .N 12 C z12 / cos 1 C Ñ 2 sin 1 ;
F13 D sin 1 ; F23 D cos 1 sin 2 ; F33 D cos 1 cos 2 ;
F21 D .21
o
C z21 / cos 2 Ñ 1 cos 1 sin 2 C .N 1 C zN 1 / sin 1 sin 2 ;
F22 D .N2 C zN 2 / cos 2 Ñ 2 cos 1 sin 2 C .N 12 C zN 12 / sin 1 sin 2 ;
F31 D .N1 C z
N 1 / sin 1 cos 2 C .N21 C z21 / sin 2 C Ñ 1 cos 1 cos 2 ;
F32 D .N12 C z12 / sin 1 cos 2 C .N2 C z
N 2 / sin 2 C Ñ 2 cos 1 cos 2 :
(8.156)
To obtain the constitutive equations, the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor is

expressed in terms of the components of the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor
as follows:
TO11 D F11 SO11 C F12 SO21 C F13 SO31 ; TO21 D F21 SO11 C F22 SO21 C F23 SO31 ;
TO31 D F31 SO11 C F32 SO21 C F33 SO31 ; TO12 D F11 SO12 C F12 SO22 C F13 SO32 ;
T22 D F21 SO12 C F22 SO22 C F23 SO32 ; T32 D F31 SO12 C F32 SO22 C F33 SO32 : (8.157)
Consequently, the stress resultants become

Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
nO 11 WD O
T11 dz; nO 21 WD TO21 dz; qO1 WD TO31 dz;
z1 z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
nO 12 WD TO12 dz; nO 22 WD TO22 dz; qO2 WD TO32 dz; (8.158)
z1 z1 z1
while the moment resultants are

Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
O 11 WD
m zTO11 dz; m
O 21 WD zTO21 dz; O 31 WD
m zTO31 dz;
z1 z1 z1
Z z2 Z z2 Z z2
O 12 WD
m zTO12 dz; O 22 WD
m zTO22 dz; O 32 WD
m zTO32 dz: (8.159)
z1 z1 z1
Closed-form expressions for the constitutive equations can be obtained account-

ing for
SO D SO C zSO C z2 SO SO .z/:
(0) (1) (2) T
F D F(0) C zF(1) ; (8.160)
Since TOk’ D Fkj SOj’ ; (’ D 1; 2), the integration over Œ h2 ; h2 ; for homogeneous
materials, yields
nO k’ D hFkj(0) SOj’
(0)
C J o .Fkj(1) SOj’
(1)
C Fkj(0) SOj’
(2)
/ nO Tk’ ; (8.161)
O k’ D J o .Fkj(0) SOj’
m (1)
C Fkj(1) SOj’
(0)
/ C J 1 Fkj(1) SOj’
(2)
m
O Tk’ (8.162)
where
2 3
Z h Z h
˛E 2 2
nO Tk’ D 4F (0) #dz C Fk’
(1)
z#dz5 ;
1 k’

h

h
2 2
2 3
Z h Z h
˛E 2 2
O Tk’
m D 4F (0) z#dz C Fk’
(1)
z2 #dz5 ; (8.163)
1 k’ h
2
h
2
Z h Z h
2 1 3 2 1 5
J o WD h
z2 dz D h; J 1 WD h
z4 dz D h: (8.164)
12 80
2 2
Linear equations of motion for isotropic elastic plates. The linearization of the
strains gives 1 D 1 C N1 C zN 1 ; 2 D 1 C N2 C z
N 2 ; ˜12 D Ñ 12 C z
N 12 with the
generalized strains expressed, according to (8.57)–(8.59), as
N1 D @1 uo1 ; N2 D @2 uo2 ;

N 1 D @1 1 ;
N 2 D @2 2 ;
N 12 D @2 1 @1 2 ;
Ñ 12 D @2 uo1 C @1 uo2 ; Ñ 1 D @1 uo3 C 1 ; Ñ 2 D @2 uo3 2 : (8.165)
The infinitesimal strains become

1 1
11 D N1 C z
N 1 ; 22 D N2 C z
N 2 ; 12 D . Ñ 12 C z
N 12 /; ’3 D Ñ ’ (8.166)
2 2
by which the constitutive equations (8.152) are transformed into
E ˛E
SO11 D ŒN1 C N2 C z.
N 1 C N 2 / #;
1 2 1
E ˛E
SO22 D Œ N1 C N2 C z.
N1C N 2 / #;
1 2 1
SO12 D G. Ñ 12 C z N 12 /; SO13 D G Ñ 1 ; SO23 D G Ñ 2 : (8.167)
Therefore, by accounting for Fkj ıkj and m O o’ D m

O 1’ e 1 C m
O 2’ e 2 C m
O 3’ e 3 with
R R
m O O
O k’ D zTk’ dz zSk’ dz, and by assuming that the base plane coincides with
the mid-plane of the homogeneous plate, the constitutive equations become
Eh Eh
nO 11 D ŒN1 C N2 nO T ; nO 22 D Œ N1 C N2 nO T ;
1 2 1 2
nO 12 D Gh Ñ 12 ; qO1 D Gh Ñ 1 ; qO2 D Gh Ñ 2 ; (8.168)
EJ o EJ o
O 11 D
m N 1 C
Œ N 2 m
O T; O 22 D
m N1C
Œ N 2 m
O T;
1 2 1 2
Z h
˛E 2
O 12 D GJ
m N 12 ;
o
.nO ; m
T
O /D
T
.1; z/#dz: (8.169)
1
h
2
In the present theory (i.e., transverse fibers remain rigidly straight), the transverse
shear strains are predicted to be constant across the thickness; consequently,
the transverse shear stresses are constant. However, as known from elementary
beam theory, the stresses are parabolic through the thickness. To account for this
discrepancy, and achieve a more accurate representation of the transverse shear
resultant forces, the resultants are multiplied by a shear correction coefficient k S :
qO 1 D k S Gh Ñ 1 ; qO 2 D k S Gh Ñ 2 : (8.170)
The constitutive equations are often rewritten for computational purposes as

2 3 2 32 3 2 3
nO 11 A11 A12 0 N1 1
4 nO 22 5 D 4 A12 A22 0 5 4 N2 5 O
n T
415; (8.171)
1
nO 12 0 0 A66 Ñ 12 0

qO1 A55 0 Ñ 1
D ; (8.172)
qO2 0 A44 Ñ 2
2 3 2 32 3 2 3
O 11
m D11 D12 0 N1
1
4m mO 4 5
T
O 22 5 D 4 D12 D22 0 5 4 N2 5 1 : (8.173)
1
O 12
m 0 0 D66 N 12
0
The constitutive coefficients are given by
Eh
.A11 ; A22 ; A12 / D .1; 1; / A; A44 D A55 D A66 D .1 /A=2; A D ;
1 2

1 Eh3
.D11 ; D22 ; D12 ; D66 / D 1; 1; ; D; DD ;
2 12.1 2 /
Z h
2
.nO T ; m
O T / D ˛E h
.1; z/#dz:
2
By accounting for the shear correction coefficient, the shear constitutive coeffi-
cients become A44 D A55 D k S 1
2
A:
Constitutive equations for a generic base plane. For a generic choice of the
base plane B o and/or for inhomogeneous materials, the constitutive equations for
linearly elastic isotropic plates read
2 3 2 32 3 2 32 3 2 T3
nO 11 A11 A12 0 N1 B11 B12 0 N1 nO
4 nO 22 5 D 4 A12 A22 0 5 4 N2 5 C 4 B12 B22 0 5 4 N 2 5 4 nO T 5 ;
nO 12 0 0 A66 Ñ 12 0 0 B66 N 12 0
(8.174)
2 3 2 32 3 2 3 32 3 2
O 11
m B11 B12 0 N1 D11 D12 0 N1 OT
m
O 22 5 D 4 B12 B22 0 5 4 N2 5 C 4 D12 D22 0 5 4
4m OT5
N 2 5 4m
O 12
m 0 0 B66 N 12 0 0 D66 N 12 0
(8.175)
where
Z z2
E
.A; B; D/ D .1; z; z2 /dz; .A11 ; A22 ; A12 / D .1; 1; /A;
z1 1 2
Z z2
1
.A66 ; B66 ; D66 / D G.1; z; z2 /dz D .A; B; D/;
z1 2
(8.176)
.B11 ; B22 ; B12 / D .1; 1; /B; .D11 ; D22 ; D12 / D .1; 1; /D;
Z z2
E˛#
.nO T ; m
O T/ D .1; z/dz:
z1 1
The Mindlin–Reissner equations of motion. By substituting the constitutive

equations (8.168)(8.169) into the equations of motion (8.107)(8.111), a full
uncoupling occurs between the membrane and the shearing/bending problem. The
membrane problem is governed by the following set of two second-order partial
differential equations:

1 1
A @21 u1 C .1 /@22 u1 C .1 C /@1 @2 u2 C f1 D %ho @t t u1 ; (8.177)
2 2

1 1
A @22 u2 C .1 /@21 u2 C .1 C /@1 @2 u1 C f2 D %ho @t t u2 (8.178)
2 2
where A D Eh=.1 2 /: Henceforth, for ease of notation, the superscript o is

dropped in the displacement .uo1 ; uo2 ; uo3 ) of the base plane B o . To remove ambiguity,
the superscript is reintroduced when it is necessary to express the displacement
field for all material points of the plate, not only those of the base plane. The
shearing/bending problem is governed by three second-order partial differential
equations:
1
A.1 / @21 u3 C @22 u3 C @1 1 @2 2 C f3 D %ho @t t u3 ; (8.179)
2

1 1 1
D .1 /@21 2 C @22 2 .1 C /@1 @2 1 C A.1 /.@2 u3 2 /
2 2 2
C c1 D %J o @t t 2 ; (8.180)

1 1 1
D .1 /@22 1 C @21 1 .1 C /@1 @2 2 A.1 /.@1 u3 C 1 /
2 2 2
C c2 D %J o @t t 1 (8.181)
where D WD EJ o =.1 2 / and A.1 /=2 D Gh: Equations (8.179)(8.181) are

known as the equations of motion of the Mindlin–Reissner plate theory.
Buckling in the Mindlin–Reissner plate theory. The relationships (8.104) be-
tween the intrinsic transverse shear forces and the components of the stress
resultants are linearized in the fixed basis according to
Q1 D n11 1 n12 2 C q1 ; Q2 D n12 1 n22 2 C q2 (8.182)
where n21 D n12 : As a result of the linearization of (8.104): .M1’ o o

; M2’ /
.m2’ ; m1’ /, (8.182) are substituted into the linearized version of (8.102) and (8.103)
giving the balance of angular momentum about e 1 and e 2 : The five equations
governing the buckling problem are thus obtained in the form
@1 no11 C @2 no12 C f1 D 0; (8.183)

@1 n12 C @2 n22 C f2 D 0;
o o
(8.184)
@1 q1 C @2 q2 C f3 D %ho @t t u e 3 ; (8.185)
@1 m11 C @2 m12 q1 C . Ñ 2 C 2 /n12 C . Ñ 1 1 /n11 C c2 D %J @t t 1 ; (8.186)
o o o
@1 m12 C @2 m22 q2 C . Ñ 1 1 /no12 C . Ñ 2 C 2 /no22 c1 D %J o @t t 2 (8.187)
where . Ñ 1 1 / D @1 u3 and . Ñ 2 C 2 / D @2 u3 : The prestresses .no11 ; no22 ; no12 /

obtained as the solution of (8.183) and (8.184) enter the shearing/bending prob-
lem (8.185)–(8.187) as geometric stiffness terms. Substituting the straindisplacement
relationships into the constitutive equations and, in turn, into the equations of motion
yields
1
A.1 / @21 u3 C @22 u3 C @1 1 @2 2 C f3 D %ho @t t u3 ; (8.188)
2

1 1 1
D .1 /@22 1 C @21 1 .1 C /@1 @2 2 A.1 /.@1 u3 C 1 /
2 2 2
C no12 @2 u3 C no11 @1 u3 C c2 D %J o @t t 1 ;

1 1 1
D .1 /@1 2 C @2 2 .1 C /@1 @2 1 C A.1 /.@2 u3 2 /
2 2
2 2 2
no12 @1 u3 no22 @2 u3 C c1 D %J o @t t 2 : (8.189)
The shear forces can be modified in the obtained equations to account for the shear
correction coefficient.
Biaxial compression. For plates subject to uniform time-varying pressures on the
edges, p1 D ˙p1 .t/e 1 along e 1 and p2 D ˙p2 .t/e 2 along e 2 ; the mechanical
boundary conditions related to these forces become
no1 .xN 1 ; x2 / D p1 ; at xN 1 D 0 and a;

no2 .x1 ; xN 2 / D p2 ; at xN 2 D 0 and b: (8.190)
The prestress state, solution of (8.183) and (8.184), is
no1 D p1 .t/e 1 ; no2 D p2 .t/e 2 :
Consequently, no11 D p1 ; no22 D p2 ; and no12 D 0: The equations of motion thus
become
1
A.1 / @21 u3 C @22 u3 C @1 1 @2 2 D %ho @t t u3 ; (8.191)
2

1 1 1
D .1 /@22 1 C @21 1 .1 C /@1 @2 2 A.1 /.@1 u3 C 1 /
2 2 2
Œp1o C P1 .t/@1 u3 D %J o @t t 1 ;

1 1 1
D .1 /@21 2 C @22 2 .1 C /@1 @2 1 C A.1 /.@2 u3 2 /
2 2 2
C Œp2o C P2 .t/@2 u3 D %J o @t t 2 (8.192)
where the pressure forces are assumed as pk .t/ WD Œpko C Pk .t/. This was done
to take into account the static part of the force through pko and the time-varying
(pulsating) part through Pk .t/.
The Germain–Lagrange equations of motion. The equations of motion of
unshearable plates can be obtained by substituting the constitutive equations (8.173)
into the balance equations (8.116). First, the curvatures (8.65)
N 1 D @21 u3 ;
N 2 D @22 u3 ;
N 12 D 2@1 @2 u3
(8.193)
are substituted into the constitutive equations (8.173) thus obtaining
O 11 D DŒ@21 u3 C @22 u3 ;
m O 22 D DŒ@21 u3 C @22 u3 ;
m
O 12 D .1 /D.@1 @2 u3 /:
m (8.194)
Substituting (8.194) into (8.116) yields the governing equation of motion
%ho @t t u3 @2 .%J o @2 @t t u3 / @1 .%J o @1 @t t u3 / C Dr 4 u3 D f3 (8.195)
where r 4 WD @41 C2@21 @22 C@42 D .@21 C@22 /2 is the biharmonic operator (square of the
Laplacian), c D o, and f3 WD f e 3 is the transverse force per unit reference area.
Equation (8.195) is richer than the original Germain–Lagrange equation because of
the presence of rotary inertia terms, often neglected because they are small.
8.8.1 Ad hoc Plate Theories: The Föppl–von Kármán Theory
The main assumption that lies at the foundation of the von Kármán theory of plates
is that the transverse shear deformations can be neglected by assuming Ñ 1 D 0 D Ñ 2 :
Furthermore, the rotations of the transverse fibers are small but their effects are not
neglected in the balance equations. Thus,
.sin 1 ; sin 2 / .1 ; 2 / and .cos 1 ; cos 2 / .1; 1/
The major consequences are
.tan 1 ; tan 2 / .1 ; 2 / .@1 u3 ; @2 u3 /

1 1
N11 @1 u1 C .@1 u3 /2 ; N22 @2 u2 C .@2 u3 /2 ;
2 2
Ñ 12 D 212 @1 u2 C @2 u1 C @1 u3 @2 u3 : (8.196)
The elongations of fibers not belonging to the base plane are 11 D N11 C zN 1 , 22 D
N22 C zN 2 , with the curvatures given by
N 1 D @21 u3 and
N 2 D @22 u3 :
These approximations are reflected in the equations of motion in various ways.
After incorporating these approximations, the balance of angular momentum leads
to (8.186) and (8.187) which, solved for q1 and q2 , give the reactive shear forces. The
shear forces are thus substituted into (8.185) for the balance of linear momentum in
the e 3 direction. The other two equations are used for the membrane equilibrium
problem since it is assumed that in-plane inertia is negligible. The resulting
equilibrium equations are
@1 n11 C @2 n12 C f1 D 0; @1 n12 C @2 n22 C f2 D 0 (8.197)
where f D f1 e 1 C f2 e 2 denotes the tangential forces per unit reference area. The
equation for the balance of linear momentum in the transverse direction becomes
@21 m11 C 2@1 @2 m12 C @22 m22 C n11 @21 u3 C 2n12 @1 @2 u3 C n22 @22 u3
f1 @1 u3 f2 @2 u3 C @1 c2 @2 c1 C f3
D %ho @t t u3 @2 .%J o @2 @t t u3 / @1 .%J o @1 @t t u3 /: (8.198)
It is assumed that the material is linearly elastic, homogeneous, and isotropic.

Thus, the constitutive equations read

Eh 1 1
nO 11 D @ u
1 1 C .@ u
1 3 / 2
C @ u
2 2 C .@ u
2 3 / 2
;
1 2 2 2

Eh 1 1
nO 22 D @1 u1 C .@1 u3 / C @2 u2 C .@2 u3 / ;
2 2
1 2 2 2
Eh
nO 12 D Œ@1 u2 C @2 u1 C .@1 u3 /.@2 u3 / ; (8.199)
2.1 C /
O 11 D DŒ@21 u3 C @22 u3 ;
m O 22 D DŒ@21 u3 C @22 u3 ;
m
O 12 D D.1 /.@1 @2 u3 /:
m (8.200)
Substituting the constitutive functions (8.200) into (8.198) yields the following
equation for homogeneous plates:
%ho @t t u3 %J o .@21 @t t u3 C @22 @t t u3 / C Dr 4 u3 n11 @21 u3

2n12 @1 @2 u3 n22 @22 u3 C f1 @1 u3 C f2 @2 u3 D f3 @2 c1 C @1 c2 : (8.201)
In this equation of motion, the curvatures multiplied by the membrane stresses

.n11 ; n12 ; n22 / act as geometric stiffness terms. Similar effects are introduced by the
first derivatives of the displacement multiplied by the tangential forces .f1 ; f2 /. Of
course, these terms can induce a positive or negative stiffness depending on the
loading direction.
The membrane stresses .n11 ; n12 ; n22 / are obtained as solutions of (8.197). The
solutions of (8.197) can be expressed as the summation of the solution of the
homogeneous problem and of a particular solution. By introducing the Airy stress
function F , the homogeneous solution can be represented R as n11 D @22 F;R n22 D @21 F;
n12 D @1 @2 F while a particular solution is n11 D f1 dx1 ; n22 D f2 dx2 ; n12
D 0: Therefore, the solution is
Z Z
n11 D @22 F f1 dx1 ; n22 D @21 F f2 dx2 ; n12 D @1 @2 F: (8.202)
To determine the function F , the compatibility of the membrane strains must be

enforced. The constitutive equations (8.199) are inverted to express the strains as
1 1 2.1 C /
N11 D .nO 11 nO 22 /; N22 D .nO 22 nO 11 /; Ñ 12 D nO 12 : (8.203)
Eh Eh Eh
Thus, accounting for (8.202),
Z Z
1 1
N11 D @1 u1 C .@1 u3 / D
2
@ F @1 F
2 2
f1 dx1 f2 dx2 ;
2 Eh 2
Z Z
1 1
N22 D @2 u2 C .@2 u3 / D
2
@ F @2 F
2 2
f2 dx2 f1 dx1 ;
2 Eh 1
2.1 C /
Ñ 12 D @1 u2 C @2 u1 C @1 u3 @2 u3 D @1 @2 F: (8.204)
Eh
The membrane strains must satisfy the following compatibility equation:
@22 N11
(1)
C @21 N22
(1)
D @1 @2 Ñ (1)
12
where N11
(1)
D @1 u1 ; N22
(1)
D @2 u2 ; and Ñ (1)
12 D @1 u2 C @2 u1 are obtained from (8.204) and
are substituted into the compatibility equation to give
Z Z

r F Eh .@1 @2 u3 / @1 @2 u3 D @1
4 2 2 2 2
f2 dx2 f1 dx1
Z Z
C@22 f1 dx1 f2 dx2 (8.205)
together with the equation of motion
%ho @t t u3 %J o .@21 C @22 /@t t u3 C Dr 4 u3

@22 F @21 u3 2@1 @2 F @1 @2 u3 C @21 F @22 u3 C f1 @1 u3
Z Z
C f2 @2 u3 C @1 u3 f1 dx1 C @2 u3 f2 dx2 D f3 @2 c1 C @1 c2 :
2 2
(8.206)
Buckling in the Kirchhoff–Love plate theory. Within the context of Kirchhoff–

Love theory, the nonlinear equations of Föppl–von Kármán are often employed for
studies on buckling and postbuckling in the vicinity of the critical condition. The
main equation is (8.201), rewritten here as
%ho @t t u3 %J o .@21 C @22 /@t t u3 C Dr 4 u3 no11 @21 u3

2no12 @1 @2 u3 no22 @22 u3 C f1 @1 u3 C f2 @2 u3 D f3 C @1 c2 @2 c1 (8.207)
where .no11 ; no22 ; no12 / is the prestress state.

Biaxial compression. For plates subject to compressive forces on the edges in
the form p1 D ˙p1 .t/e 1 along e 1 and p2 D ˙p2 .t/e 2 along e 2 ; the mechanical
boundary conditions related to these forces become
n1 .xN 1 ; x2 / D p1 at xN 1 D 0 and a;
n2 .x1 ; xN 2 / D p2 at xN 2 D 0 and b: (8.208)
The prestress state, solution of (8.183) and (8.184) with f1 D 0 D f2 , is
no1 D p1 .t/e 1 and no2 D p2 .t/e 2 :

Therefore, (8.207) becomes

%ho @t t u3 %J o .@21 C @22 /@t t u3 C Dr 4 u3 C Œp1o C P1 .t/@21 u3 C Œp2o C P2 .t/@22 u3 D 0
(8.209)
where pk .t/ WD Œpko C Pk .t/ so that pko represents the static part of the force and
Pk .t/ is its time-varying part.
8.8.2 Nonlinear Equilibrium Response of Elastic Isotropic

Plates: Theory Versus Experiment
Plates have been widely investigated in experiments to identify the linear vibration
features, to study wave propagation properties, nonlinear vibrations, impact loading,
and fluidstructure interaction (e.g., panel flutter, etc.). This section summarizes the
main results of an experimental campaign carried out to validate the accuracy of the
predictions of the Geometrically Exact Theory (GET), first for isotropic plates and
then for composite multilayer plates [258, 355].
Experimental set-up. The experimental rig consisted of the plate test specimen
with the supporting fixture fixed to an MTS 809 Axial-Torsional Test System with
maximum static load of 250 kN (maximum dynamic load: 200 kN) and frequency
range Œ0; 10 Hz. The sensitivity of the load cell was 0.1 N while the sensitivity of the
displacement sensor was 105 m. A Honeywell VL7A-1000 LVDT sensor was used
to record the plate deflections in selected locations. Details of the clamping fixture
are shown in Fig. 8.6 which portrays the top view (left) and the two cross sections
(right). The nonlinear equilibrium paths were recorded using four specimens: two
isotropic plates (one made of aluminum and the other made of steel) and two
multilayer carbon fiber composite plates.
The metallic specimens are two homogeneous isotropic square plates (provided
by the manufacturer McMaster–Carr) with side length of 0:254 m (toleranceD
1:59 105 m) and thickness equal to 0:8128 mm (toleranceD 7:62 106 m). One
of the plates was made of spring steel (tough wear-resistant spring steel 1,095)
whose mechanical properties certified by the manufacturer were: E D 206:82 GPa,
Poisson’s ratio D 0:3, mass density D 7;833:41 kg/m3; thermal expansion
coefficient ˛ D 13:32 106 C 1 ; yield strength Sy D 551:58 MPa, and tensile
strength equal to 979:06 MPa. The other plate was made of aluminum AA3003 with
the same geometric features as shown in Fig. 8.6. The mechanical properties of the
aluminum plate were as follows: E D70–80 GPa, D 0:3, D 2;730 kg/m3 , yield
strength Sy D 125 MPa, and tensile strength equal to 130 MPa. The thickness-to-
span ratio for both plates was 0.0032.
Modal analysis. The theoretical study accompanied by the experimental identi-
fication of the linear modal features associated with free vibrations is the first
preliminary step toward any theoretical and experimental study about the static and
A -A
l3
h5 h5
h
l2
h3 h2
b2 h1
l1
l1
l4 l2
b2 B -B b2
B B h5
h5
h
b
h3
h2
A A
h1
l1
l2
Fig. 8.6 Schematic diagram of the experimental layout of the plate and its clamping apparatus.
The geometric features are: l1 D 0:0254 m, l2 D 0:304 m, l3 D 0:0699 m, l4 D 0:254 m, h1 D
0:0254 m, h2 D 0:0127 m, h3 D 0:0635 m, h4 D 0:0025 m, and h is the plate thickness. Reprinted
dynamic response. Linear free vibrations of plates have been studied by several
scientists and engineers in the past. A NASA technical report [272] is perhaps the
most comprehensive source to date. Some properties of the linear vibration problem
of laminated plates subject to prestress are discussed in Sect. 8.11 in the context of
both Mindlin–Reissner Theory (MRT) and Kirchhoff–Love theory (KLT).
The eigenvalue problem for isotropic plates can be solved by direct linearization
of the geometrically exact equations of motion (which correspond to those provided
by MRT). In [258] the GET equations were implemented in the finite element
platform COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS.
The lowest modes of isotropic plates are flexural modes. Due to the existence of
two axes of symmetry in fully clamped square uniform plates, some modes appear
in pairs of companion modes. The lowest mode of the sample steel plate has a
frequency of 112.62 Hz and does not exhibit nodal lines. The second lowest mode
and its companion mode have frequencies of 230.11 Hz while the third and fourth
modes have frequencies of 340.44 Hz and 415.42 Hz, respectively. The frequency of
the fifth mode and its companion mode rise to 520.43 Hz.
For the considered steel plate, the results obtained are compared with the
experimental results in [289] obtained by the Amplitude-Fluctuation Electronic
Speckle-Pattern Interferometry (AF-ESPI) method. A close agreement between the
mode shapes can be observed in Fig. 8.7.
Fig. 8.7 Contour plots of the lowest five mode shapes of the stress-free steel plate identified by
the AF-ESPI experimental method [289] (left column) and calculated theoretically by GET (right
column). The third column shows the three-dimensional mode shapes. Parts (a), (c), (e), (g), and
(i) are reprinted with permission of Elsevier [289]
35 2.5
a b
30
a/2 2.0
P [N] A
P*
20 1.5
a/2
1.0
a/2 a/2
10
0.5
0 0
-3
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.5 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 10
u 3 [mm] u3*
160 4
c d
120 3
P [N] P*
80 2
40 1
0 0 -3
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 0 2 4 6 8 10
u3*
u 3 [mm]
Fig. 8.8 Dimensional (a, c) and nondimensional (b, d) equilibrium paths of fully clamped
isotropic homogeneous square (top) aluminum and (bottom) steel plates (a D 254 mm, h D
0:8128 mm, h=a D 3:2103 ) under a central point force. The solid lines indicate the results of the
Geometrically Exact Theory (GET) while the dashed lines refer to the Föppl–von Kármán Theory
(FVKT); the straight line represents Mindlin–Reissner Theory (MRT); the filled dots indicate the
experimental results with the radius of the dots proportional to the sensitivity of the load cell.
Nonlinear equilibrium paths. The load test protocols featured a displacement

control loading pattern with a monotonic loading ramp whose rate was kept at
0:1 mm/s. The sampling frequency was set to 100 Hz. The end displacement of
the ramp was chosen to induce a maximum calculated stress equal to 90 % of the
yield stress. For the steel plate, the end displacement was set to 1.805 mm whose
associated measured load was 132.93 N and the maximum estimated tensile stress
was 496.42 MPa .D 90% Sy/: On the other hand, for the aluminum plate, the end
displacement was fixed at 1:388 mm whose associated load was 27:94 N and the
calculated tensile stress was 112:5 MPa .D 90% Sy /:
The equilibrium load paths of the midpoint A are shown in Fig. 8.8 for both the
aluminum and steel plates, where the theoretical predictions of the nonlinear theory
are contrasted with those of the Föppl–von Kármán and Mindlin–Reissner theories.
The filled dots denote the experimental results and the radius of the circles is
proportional to the sensitivity of the displacement sensor. The results show a
close agreement between the nonlinear theory and the experimental measurements.
The Föppl–von Kármán theory, as expected, predicts lower displacements due to
the more constrained nature of the underlying nonlinear model whereby the only
nonlinearity is represented by the membrane stretching effect.
a b
2 2
E D C B A I H G F A
1.6 1.6
1.2 1.2
P* P*
0.8 0.8
a/2 a/2
E DCB A A
F
0.4 a/2 0.4 a/2 H
G
a/2 a/2 a/2 a/2

0 0
-3 -3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 10
u *
3 u *
3
c d
4 4
3 E D C B A 3 I H G F A
* *
P P
2 2
1 1
0 0
-3 -3
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
u3* u*3
Fig. 8.9 Nondimensional equilibrium paths of various points of fully clamped isotropic homoge-
neous square (a, b) aluminum and (c, d) steel plates. The solid lines indicate the results of GET
while the dashed lines refer to FVKT; the filled dots indicate the experimental results. Reprinted
In Fig. 8.9, the equilibrium paths of a few control points aligned along the midline
and the diagonal line of the plates are shown. The various points exhibit increasing
stiffness while moving closer to the clamping boundaries.
Figure 8.10 shows the deflected configurations of the midline and diagonal line
of the aluminum and steel plates subjected to a central point load of increasing
magnitude. On the other hand, Fig. 8.11 shows the deflected configurations of the
midline and diagonal line of the plates subject to the maximum value of the central
point load. The dashed lines indicate the predictions of Föppl–von Kármán theory
while the solid lines denote the results of the geometrically exact theory.
Figure 8.12 shows a comparison of the nondimensional equilibrium paths of the
fully clamped plates (a, b) with those of simply supported plates (c, d) as calculated
by the geometrically exact theory, the Föppl–von Kármán theory, and the Mindlin–
Reissner theory.
8.9 Anisotropic and Orthotropic Single-Layer Plates 543
-3 -3
2 10 2 10
a b
E I H
0 D 0 G
C
u3* B u3* F
A
A
-2 -2
a/2 a/2
E DCB A
-4 -4 A
F
G
a/2 a/2 H
I
a/2 a/2 a/2 a/2

-6 -6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 0.202 0.404 0.606 0.808 1.010 1.212 1.414
x1* x1*
-3 -3
2 10 2 10
c d
E I
0 0 H
D G
C u3*
F
-2 B -2
A A
u3*
-4 -4
-6 -6
-8 -8
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 0.202 0.404 0.606 0.808 1.010 1.212 1.414
x1* x1*
Fig. 8.10 Nondimensional deflected configurations of clamped isotropic homogeneous square (a,
b) aluminum and (c, d) steel plates: (a, c) deflected midlines and (b, d) deflected diagonal lines
under a central point load of various nondimensional magnitudes: (a, b) P WD P a=D D
.0:344; 0:689; 1:033; 1:377; 1:722/, (c, d) P D .0:618; 1:237; 1:855; 2:474; 3:092/. D D
3:688 GPa for aluminum, D D 10:268 GPa for steel. The solid lines indicate the results of GET;
the filled dots indicate the experimental results. Reprinted with permission [258]
8.9 Anisotropic and Orthotropic Single-Layer Plates
The generalization of the St. Venant–Kirchhoff constitutive law for an anisotropic

homogeneous material is
S DLWE (8.210)
where S and E are the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor and the Green–
Lagrange strain tensor, respectively, and L is the fourth-order elasticity tensor.
By invoking the dependence of the deformation gradient on the stretch vectors
. 1 ; 2 ; 3 /; namely F D 1 e 1 C 2 e 2 C 3 e 3 ; the Green–Lagrange strain tensor,
E D ij e i e j ; becomes
2 3
j j2 1 12 13
14 1
ED j 2 j2 1 23 5 ; ij WD i j (8.211)
2
j3 j2 1
-3 -3
2 10 2 10
a a/2
b a/2
A
E
E DCB A
I F
0 0 H a/2 H
G
a/2 I
u *3 D u *3 G a/2 a/2
a/2 a/2
-2 -2
C
F
B
-4 -4
A A
-6 -6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 0.202 0.404 0.606 0.808 1.010 1.212 1.414
-3
x *1 x *1
-3
2 10 2 10
c d
I
0 E 0 H
u *3 D u *3
G
-2 -2
C
-4 -4 F
B
-6 A -6 A
-8 -8
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 0.202 0.404 0.606 0.808 1.010 1.212 1.414
x *1 x *1
Fig. 8.11 Nondimensional deflected configurations of clamped isotropic homogeneous square

(a, b) aluminum and (c, d) steel plates: (a, c) deflected midlines and (b, d) deflected diagonal
lines under a central point load of nondimensional magnitude: (a, b) P D 1:722 and (c, d)
P D 3:092. The solid lines indicate the results of GET while the dashed lines refer to FVKT; the
filled dots indicate the experimental results. Reprinted with permission [258]
where j k j is the (true) stretch of fibers collinear with e k and ij is the adopted
nonlinear measure of the shear strain between fibers collinear with e i and e j :
It is convenient to recast the six independent components of S and E in algebraic
vectors according to the Voigt notation so that
D ŒS11 ; S22 ; S33 ; S23 ; S13 ; S12 | ;

D Œ11 ; 22 ; 33 ; 23 ; 13 ; 12 |
where note that the last three components of

are equal to the nonlinear shear strains
(twice the off-diagonal terms of E). With this notation, the constitutive law (8.210)
can be written as
D L
: (8.212)
For an orthotropic material having three orthogonal planes of material symmetry,

the number of independent elastic coefficients with respect to the associated material
coordinate system decreases from 21 to 9. For a composite laminate, assembled by
stacking orthotropic layers, the elastic tensor of orthotropic symmetry for the kth
layer with respect to the material (laminae) coordinate system is
2.5 4
a Aluminum b Steel
2.0 a/2
3
A
1.5 P*
a/2
P* 2
1.0
a/2 a/2
1
0.5
0 0
0 3 -3 -3
1 2 4 5 6 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
u *3 u *3
2.0 4
c Aluminum Steel
d
1.6 a/2
3
A
1.2 P*
a/2
P* 2
0.8
a/2 a/2
1
0.4
0 0
-3 -3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 x10 0 2 6 8 x10
u *3 u *3
Fig. 8.12 Nondimensional equilibrium paths of (a, b) fully clamped plates and (c, d) simply
supported plates; left column: aluminum and right column: steel. The solid lines indicate the results
of GET while the dashed lines refer to FVKT; the straight line represents MRT. Reprinted with
permission [258]
2 3
L11 L12 L13 0 0 0
6L 0 7
6 12 L22 L23 0 0 7
6 7
6L L23 L33 0 0 0 7
L D 6 13 7: (8.213)
6 0 0 0 L44 0 0 7
6 7
4 0 0 0 0 L55 0 5
0 0 0 0 0 L66
The nine independent coefficients, expressed in terms of the associated engineer-

ing material coefficients, are:
L11 D E1 .1 23 32 /=; L22 D E2 .1 13 31 /=; L33 D E3 .1 12 21 /=;
L12 D E1 .21 C 31 23 /= D E2 .12 C 32 13 / D L21 ;
L23 D E2 .32 C 12 31 /= D E3 .23 C 21 13 / D L32 ;
L13 D E1 .31 C 21 32 /= D E3 .13 C 12 23 /= D L31 ;
L44 D G23 ; L55 D G13 ; L66 D G12 ;
W D 1 12 21 23 32 31 13 221 32 13 (8.214)
where Ei are Young’s moduli in the three material directions and Gij are the shear
moduli. The Poisson ratios are denoted by ij , where index i represents the direction
of the applied stress and index j coincides with the direction of the associated
expansion or contraction. Within the set of engineering material parameters, there
are only nine independent coefficients, namely: E1 ; E2 ; E3 ; G23 ; G13 ; G12 ;
12 ; 13 ; 23 : The following symmetry relations hold: ij =Ei D j i =Ej ; (no
summation convention is implied) which are explicitly stated as
12 21 13 31 23 32
D ; D ; D : (8.215)
E1 E2 E1 E3 E2 E3
p L requires .E1 ; E2 ; E3 ; G23 ; G13 ; G12 / > 0;

The positivity of the elasticity tensor
.1 ij j i / > 0, > 0; jij j < Ei =Ej .
The inverse of the elasticity tensor L (known as the compliance tensor) is
expressed in terms of engineering constants as
2 1 21 31 3
0 0 0
6 E1 E2 E3 7
6 7
6 12 1 32 7
6 7
6 E E E 0 0 0 7
6 1 2 3 7
6 7
6 13 23 1 7
6 0 0 0 7
6 E1 E2 E3 7
L 1 6
D6 7: (8.216)
1 7
6 0 7
6 0 0 0 0 7
6 G23 7
6 7
6 1 7
6 0 0 0 0 0 7
6 G13 7
6 7
4 1 5
0 0 0 0 0
G12
A plate made of an orthotropic material possessing material axes collinear with

the fixed axes (often they coincide with the natural body axes, e.g., parallel to the
sides for rectangular plates) is said to be a specially orthotropic plate or a specially
orthotropic lamina. When the material axes are not collinear with the fixed axes, it
is said to be a generally orthotropic plate or a generally orthotropic lamina.
For carbon fiber laminates, made of transversely isotropic layers having the axis
of central symmetry collinear with the direction of the fibers, the independent ply
material coefficients decrease to five:
E1 ; E2 D E3 ; G13 D G12 ; 12 D 13 ; 23 (8.217)
with G23 D 12 E2 =.1 C 23 /. The direct elasticity matrix, in the case of plane stress
(S33 D 0), is
2 3
E1 21 E1
0 0 0
6 1 12 21 1 12 21 7
6 7
6 12 E2 E2 7
6 0 0 0 7
6 7
L D 6 1 12 21 1 12 21 7: (8.218)
6 7
6 0 0 G23 0 0 7
6 7
4 0 0 0 G12 0 5
0 0 0 0 G12
In some cases, the elasticity matrix for plane stress is written as

2 3
L11 L12 0 0 0
6L 0 7
6 12 L22 0 0 7
6 7
LD6 0 0 L66 0 0 7 (8.219)
6 7
4 0 0 0 L44 0 5
0 0 0 0 L55
according to a rearrangement of the strains in membrane strains .11 ; 22 ; 212 / and
transverse shear strains .232 ; 231 /:
The carbon fiber laminated plate is assumed to be made of one single layer
and the fibers to be collinear with the e 1 -direction. A temperature variation #.z/
is considered through the thickness. To account for thermoelastic effects, the
coefficient of thermal expansion along the fiber direction, denoted by ˛1 ; is different
from the coefficient along any direction transversal to the fibers (i.e., thermal
expansion of the matrix), denoted by ˛2 : Therefore, the constitutive equations are
rewritten as SO D L W .E ET / where ET =diag.˛1 ; ˛2 ; 0/#. In component form,
the constitutive equations read
E1
SO11 D Œ.11 ˛1 #/ C 21 .22 ˛2 #/;
1 12 21
E2
SO22 D Œ12 .11 ˛1 #/ C .22 ˛2 #/;
1 12 21
SO12 D G12 ˜12 ; SO13 D G12 13 ; SO23 D G23 23 (8.220)
where ij D 2ij : In the laminated case, the thermally induced stress SO D L W ET

T
is diagonal but, unlike the isotropic case where the elements are equal, here the
diagonal elements are
E1 E2
SO11
T
D .˛1 C 21 ˛2 /#; SO22
T
D .12 ˛1 C ˛2 /#:
1 12 21 1 12 21
(8.221)
As in the isotropic case, let the strains .11 ; 22 ; ˜2 ; ˜1 ; ˜12 / at a material point
r and time t be expressed in terms of the generalized strains u as in (8.155).
Consider the expression of the deformation gradient F in the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g

as given by (8.156). Let the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor be expressed in terms
of the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor according to (8.157) and integrate to
obtain the generalized stresses according to (8.158) and (8.159). The deformation
gradient F has a constant part (i.e., membrane deformation gradient) and a linear
term in the thickness coordinate while SO exhibits constant, linear, and quadratic
parts in z according to (8.160). The subsequent integration of TOk’ D Fkj SOj’ over
Œ h2 ; h2 ; for a homogeneous laminated layer, yields the constitutive functions as
in (8.161), rewritten here as

nO k’ D hFkj(0) SOj’
(0)
C J o Fkj(1) SOj’
(1)
C Fkj(0) SOj’
(2)
nO Tk’ ; (8.222)

O k’ D J o Fkj(0) SOj’
m (1)
C Fkj(1) SOj’
(0)
C J 1 Fkj(1) SOj’
(2)
m
O Tk’ (8.223)
where
2 3
Z h Z h
E1 .˛1 C 21 ˛2 / 4 (0) 2 2
nO Tk1 D Fk1 #dz C Fk1
(1)
z#dz5 ;
1 12 21
h

h
2 2
2 3
Z h Z h
E2 .12 ˛1 C ˛2 / 4 (0) 2 2
nO Tk2 D Fk2 #dz C Fk2(1)
z#dz5 ;
1 12 21
h

h
2 2
2 3
Z h Z h
E1 .˛1 C 21 ˛2 / 4 (0) 2 2
O Tk1 D
m Fk1 z#dz C Fk1
(1)
z2 #dz5 ;
1 12 21
h

h
2 2
2 3
Z h Z h
E2 .12 ˛1 C ˛2 / 4 (0) 2 2
O Tk2
m D Fk2 h z#dz C Fk2
(1)
z2 #dz5 : (8.224)
1 12 21
h
2 2
Linearized constitutive equations for single-layer laminated composite

plates. The linearization of E yields the infinitesimal strains (8.165)–(8.166).
To comply with a widely used notation, the following notational changes are
made: .n11 ; n12 ; n22 ; q1 ; q2 / ! .N11 ; N12 ; N22 ; Q1 ; Q2 / and .m11 ; m12 ; m22 / !
.M11 ; M12 ; M22 /.
The constitutive equations can thus be written as
2 3 2 32 3 2 T 3
NO 11 A11 A12 0 N1 NO 11
4 NO 22 5 D 4 A12 A22 0 5 4 N2 5 4 NO T 5 ; (8.225)
22
NO 12 0 0 A66 Ñ 12 0

QO 1 A55 0 Ñ 1
D ; (8.226)
QO 2 0 A44 Ñ 2
2 3 2 32 3 2 T 3
MO 11 D11 D12 0 N1 MO 11
4 MO 22 5 D 4 D12 D22 0 5 4 5 4
N 2 MO 22T 5
(8.227)
O
M12 0 0 D66 N 12 0
where
E1 h
.A11 ; A22 ; A12 / D .1; E2 =E1 ; 21 / A; AD ;
1 12 21
.A66 ; A55 ; A44 / D .1; 1; G23 =G12 /G12 h;
E1 h3
.D11 ; D22 ; D12 ; D66 / D .1; E2 =E1 ; 21 ; G12 =E1 .112 23 //D; D D :
12.112 21 /
(8.228)
To account for the shear correction coefficient, the shear forces given by (8.226)
are multiplied by the shear correction coefficient k S : QO 1 D k S A55 Ñ 1 and QO 2 D
k S A44 Ñ 2 . The thermoelastically induced generalized stress and moment resultants
are
Z h
E1 2
.NO 11 ; MO 11 / D
T T
.˛1 C 21 ˛2 / .1; z/#dz;
1 12 21
h
2
Z h
E2 2
.NO 22 ; MO 22 / D
T T
.12 ˛1 C ˛2 / .1; z/#dz: (8.229)
1 12 21
h
2
Constitutive equations for a generic base plane. For a generic choice of

the base plane B o and/or for inhomogeneous material properties, the constitutive
equations become
2 3 2 32 3 2 32 3 2 3
NO 11 A11 A12 0 N1 B11 B12 0 N1 NO 11
T
6 O 7 6 76 7 6 76 7 6 T 7
4 N22 5 D 4 A12 A22 0 5 4 N2 5 C 4 B12 B22 0 5 4 N 2 5 4 NO 22 5 ; (8.230)
NO 12 0 0 A66 Ñ 12 0 0 B66 N 12 0
2 3 2 32 3 2 32 3 2 3
MO 11 B11 B12 0 N1 D11 D12 0 N1 MO 11
T
6 O 7 6 76 7 6 76 7 6 T 7
4 M22 5 D 4 B12 B22 0 5 4 N2 5 C 4 D12 D22 0 5 4 N 2 5 4 MO 22 5 (8.231)
MO 12 0 0 B66 Ñ 12 0 0 D66 N 12 0
where
Z z2
E1 .˛1 C 21 ˛2 /
.NO 11
T
; MO 11
T
/D .1; z/#dz;
z1 1 12 21
Z z2
E2 .12 ˛1 C ˛2 /
.NO 22
T
; MO 22
T
/D .1; z/#dz;
z1 1 12 21
Z z2
.Aij ; Bij ; Dij / D Lij .1; z; z2 /dz; (8.232)
z1
and the elastic constants Lij are given by (8.218).

Arbitrary orientation of the laminae. Let fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g be the fixed basis: on the
other hand, let the material axes of orthotropy of the lamina be collinear with the
axes of a rotated basis denoted by feN 1 ; eN 2 ; eN 3 g: Let Q denote the orthogonal tensor
that rotates the basis fe k g into feN k g so that eN l D Qml e m (i.e., eN l D Q e l ). Next,
the transformation of the constitutive laws from the material axes feN k g to the fixed
axes fe k g is discussed. The constitutive laws in material coordinates are expressed
as SN D L N W E.
N
To this end, let F D px denote the deformation gradient expressed in the fixed
basis and FN D pN xN the tensor in the material basis where xN and pN are the position
vectors of the reference and actual configuration expressed in the basis feN k g: It can
be shown that
N Q| ;
F D QF N Q| ;
C D QC N Q| ;
E D Q E T D Q TN Q| : (8.233)
Substituting T D F S and TN D F
N SN into the last equation of (8.233) and
1
premultiplying by F yields
S D Q SN Q| : (8.234)
The last equations appearing in (8.233) together with (8.234) are substituted
into (7.180) to obtain
N W .Q| E Q/ Q|
S D Q ŒL (8.235)
from which the relationship between L and L N can be deduced after rewriting (8.235)
as S D L W E. The obtained transformation is expressed in matrix form, which is
handled by means of the Voigt notation as detailed in Appendix II. By letting LN and
L denote the elasticity matrices, as per Voigt’s notation, in the material frame and
the fixed frame, respectively, the transformation follows (8.327) given in Appendix
II which reads
L D „1 N
1 L „2 : (8.236)
The transformation matrices „1;2 are defined in Appendix II and regulate the
transformations of the stresses and strains according to N D „1 and
N D „2
.
Thermoelastic effects are taken into account by letting N D LN .N

N T /, where
N T D
N
N N T . Therefore, the constitutive equations in
Œ˛1 ; ˛2 ; 0; 0; 0| from which N D L
the fixed basis become D L
T where
T D „1 N N T:
1 L
(8.237)
The attention is restricted here to the case of composite laminates whose midplane
lies in the .e 1 ; e 2 /-plane while the material axes .eN 1 ; eN 2 / are rotated by the angle '
with respect to the fixed axis e 1 .
The resulting constitutive equations, in the fixed basis, are rearranged as follows:
2 3 2 32 3 2 T 3
SO11 L11 L12 L16 11 SO1 C SO2T cos 2'
4 SO22 5 D 4 L12 L22 L26 5 4 22 5 4 SO T SO T cos 2' 5 #; (8.238)
1 2
SO12 L16 L26 L66 12 SO2T sin 2'

SO31 L55 L54 31
D (8.239)
SO32 L54 L44 32
where
1
SO1;2
T
D ŒE1 ˛1 ˙ E2 ˛2 C E1 21 .˛2 ˙ ˛1 /=.1 12 21 /: (8.240)
2
The major consequences are the in-plane extensional-shear coupling and the
coupling between the two transverse shears in the out-of-plane problem.
By exploiting some trigonometric identities, the elastic coefficients can be
effectively parametrized in terms of the ply angle ' as [213]
Lnn .'/ D CN 1 C .1/n1 CN 2 cos 2' C CN 3 cos 4';

1 N
Ln6 .'/ D C2 sin 2' C .1/n1 CN 3 sin 4'; n D 1; 2;
2
(8.241)
L12 .'/ D CN 4 CN 3 cos 4'; L66 .'/ D CN 5 CN 3 cos 4';
Lmm .'/ D CN 6 C .1/m1 CN 7 cos 2'; m D 4; 5; L45 .'/ D CN 7 sin 2'
where
1 N
N 66 ; CN 2 WD 1 LN 11 LN 22 ;
CN 1 WD 3L11 C 2L N 12 C 3L N 22 C 4L
8 2
1
CN nC2 WD N 12 C LN 22 4.ı1n ı3n /LN 66 ; n D 1; 3;
LN 11 2L
8
(8.242)
1 N
CN 4 WD L11 C 6LN 12 C LN 22 4LN 66 ;
8
1 1
CN 6 WD .LN 55 C LN 44 /; CN 7 WD .LN 55 LN 44 /:
2 2
The constants CN n are directly expressed in terms of the five material constants
.E1 ; E2 ; 21 ; G12 ; G23 / as
1
CN 1 WD Œ.3 C 221 /E1 C 3E2 C 4.1 12 21 /G12 ;
8.1 12 21 /
1
CN nC2 WD Œ.1 221 /E1 C E2 4.ı1n ı3n /.1 12 21 /G12 ; n D 1; 3;
8.1 12 21 /
1
CN 4 WD Œ.1 C 621 /E1 C E2 4.1 12 21 /G12 ;
8.1 12 21 /
1 1 1
CN 2 WD .E1 E2 / ; CN 6 D .G12 C G23 /; CN 7 D .G12 G23 /:
2.1 12 21 / 2 2
(8.243)
Constitutive equations for generally orthotropic single-layer plates. The consti-

tutive equations for the nonlinear thermoelastic plate problem are assembled using
the same procedure as in the previous section. The only major difficulty for the
computations is that the elasticity matrix has nonzero entries in both in-plane and
out-of-plane problems.
The leading aspects of the mechanical behavior are shown by means of the
linear equations. The stress resultants and the moment resultants are calculated by
integrating (8.238) and (8.239) across the thickness to obtain
2 3 2 32 3 2 T 3
NO 11 A11 A12 A16 N1 NO 11
4 NO 22 5 D 4 A12 A22 A26 5 4 N2 5 4 NO T 5 ; (8.244)
22
NO 12 A16 A26 A66 Ñ 12 NO 12
T

QO 1 A55 A45 Ñ 1
D ; (8.245)
QO 2 A45 A44 Ñ 2
2 3 2 32 3 2 T 3
MO 11 D11 D12 D16 N1
MO 11
4 MO 22 5 D 4 D12 D22 D26 5 4 5 4
N 2 MO 22 T 5
(8.246)
O
M12 D16 D26 D66 N 12
M12O T
where
h3
Aij D hLij ; Dij D J o Lij D
Lij ; (8.247)
12
and the thermal stress resultants and moments are given by

Z h
2
O T O T O T O
N’’ ; M’’ D S1 ˙ S2 cos 2'
T
.1; z/#dz; ’ D 1; 2;
h

2
Z (8.248)

h
2
NO 12
T
; MO 12
T
D SO2T sin 2' h
.1; z/#dz:
2
Constitutive equations for a generic base plane. For a generic base plane
B o and/or for inhomogeneous material properties, the constitutive equations are
written as
2 3 2 32 3 2 32 3 2 T 3
NO 11 A11 A12 A16 N1 B11 B12 B16 N1 NO 11
4 NO 22 5 D 4 A12 A22 A26 5 4 N2 5 C 4 B12 B22 B26 5 4 5 4
N 2 NO 22 T 5
;
NO 12 A16 A26 A66 Ñ 12 B16 B26 B66 N 12 NO 12
T
(8.249)
8.10 Multilayer Plates 553
2 3 2 32 3 2 32 3 2 T 3
MO 11 B11 B12 B16 N1 D11 D12 D16 N1 MO 11
4 MO 22 5 D 4 B12 B22 B26 5 4 N2 5 C 4 D12 D22 D26 5 4 5 4
N 2 MO 22T 5
;
O
M12 B16 B26 B66 N 12 D16 D26 D66 N 12 O
M12T
(8.250)
where
Z z2
.NO ’’
T
; MO ’’
T
/D .SO1T ˙ SO2T cos 2'/.1; z/#dz; ’ D 1; 2;
z1
Z z2
.NO 12
T
; MO 12
T
/D SO2T sin 2'#.1; z/dz; (8.251)
z1
Z z2
.Aij ; Bij ; Dij / D Lij .1; z; z2 /dz:
z1
The elastic constants Lij are given by (8.241) and (8.242) while the constitutive
equations for the transverse shear forces are given by (8.245). It is straightforward
to check that when the base plane B o coincides with the midplane (z D 0) and the
material is homogeneous or functionally graded but having its plane of symmetry
coincident with the geometric midplane, then Bij D 0; thus there is no extension-
bending coupling.
8.10 Multilayer Plates
Thin multilayer plates, composed of a generic stack of laminae, can be described

by single-layer equivalent theories based on the Kirchhoff–Love assumption or on
shear deformation theories that allow transverse shear deformations yet neglecting
normal strains. For increasing thickness-to-span ratios, shear deformations cannot
be neglected. The kinematic assumptions are modified to allow full deformations
of the transverse fibers. A variety of higher-order single-layer equivalent theories
have been proposed. Alternatively, since these higher-order single-layer equivalent
theories are not suitable to describe the interlaminar transverse stresses, layer-wise
theories are employed instead. The topic of thick multilayer plates is discussed at
length in the next sections. In this section, the geometrically exact theory valid for
thin single-layer plates is extended to thin multilayer plates. Important contributions
to nonlinear theories of multilayer plates and shells can be found in [49–54].
Each lamina in the stacking sequence of the multilayer plate has the ply axes
parallel to the material axes feN (k) N (k)
1 ;e 2 g rotated by the angle '
(k)
with respect to
the fixed axes fe 1 ; e 2 g (see Fig. 8.13). The stacking sequence is known once the
ply angle ' (k) and the material constants l(k) D .E1(k) ; E2(k) ; 12
(k) (k)
; 23 (k)
; G12 ; ˛1(k) ; ˛2(k) / of
the kth layer are assigned. All the material constants of the transversely isotropic
kth layer, including the coefficients of thermal expansion, are collected in l(k) . The
e3 z, e3
e2 NL
e2 k
z k+1 h/2
zk
O x1
2 h/2
ϕ(k) e1
1
e1
Fig. 8.13 Geometry of the multilayer plate, and the numbering of the layers in the stacking
sequence, with the fixed axes fe k g and material axes fNe k g. Reprinted with permission [258]
constitutive equations for the kth layer are parametrized by the angle ' (k) according
to (8.238)(8.242), thus obtaining
SO D SO .u; rI l(k) ; ' (k) /;

(k)
u D .N1 ; N 2 ; Ñ 12 ; Ñ 1 ; Ñ 2 ;
N 1;
N 2;
N 12 / (8.252)
where the vector u lists all generalized nonlinear strains.

The constitutive equations are thus expressed in terms of the generalized stress
and moment resultants. To this end, the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor of the
kth layer is expressed as TO D F SO where F is given by (8.156) for a specific
(k) (k)
parametrization of the rotation tensor R. For example, the stress vectors TO e 1 and
(k)
TO e 2 are
(k)
TOn1
(k)
D Fnj SOj1
(k)
; TOn2
(k)
D Fnj SOj(k)2 : (8.253)
According to (8.158) and (8.159), the stress and moment resultants can be calculated
as follows:
NL Z
X zkC1 NL Z
X zkC1
.nO 11 ; m
O 11 / WD .1; z/TO11
(k)
dz; .nO 21 ; m
O 21 / WD .1; z/TO21
(k)
dz;
kD1 zk kD1 zk
NL Z
X zkC1 NL Z
X zkC1
O 31 / WD
.qO1 ; m .1; z/TO31
(k)
O 32 / WD
dz; .q2 ; m .1; z/TO32
(k)
dz;
kD1 zk kD1 zk
NL Z
X zkC1 NL Z
X zkC1
.nO 12 ; m
O 12 / WD .1; z/TO12
(k)
O 22 / WD
dz; .n22 ; m .1; z/TO22
(k)
dz (8.254)
kD1 zk kD1 zk
where NL is the number of layers, and zk and zkC1 are the coordinates of the lower
and upper surfaces of the kth layer. The stress resultants are substituted into the
equations of motion (8.99)(8.103).
Linear constitutive equations for general multilayer plates. The constitutive

equations formally reduce to (8.244)(8.246) with
X
NL
1XLN
Aij WD ij h ; Dij WD
L(k) (k)
ij .zkC1 zk /; h WD zkC1 zk ; (8.255)
L(k) 3 3 (k)
3
kD1 kD1

X
NL
Z zkC1
O T O
N’’ ; M’’ D
T O T(k) O
S1 ˙ S2 cos 2'
T(k) (k)
.1; z/#dz; ’ D 1; 2;
kD1 zk

XNL
Z zkC1
NO 12
T
; MO 12
T
D SO2T(k) sin 2' (k) .1; z/#dz: (8.256)
kD1 zk
The coefficients SO1;2

T(k)
are calculated according to
1 (k) (k) (k)

SO1;2
T(k)
D E1 ˛1 ˙ E2(k) ˛2(k) C E1(k) 21
(k)
˛2 ˙ ˛1(k) =.1 12
(k) (k)
21 /: (8.257)
2
Constitutive equations for a generic base plane. For a generic base plane B o
and/or for inhomogeneous material properties, the constitutive equations are those
given by (8.230) with
NL Z
X zkC1
.Aij ; Bij ; Dij / D L(k) 2
ij 1; z; z dz; (8.258)
kD1 zk

XNL Z zkC1 h i
NO ’’
T
; MO ’’
T
D SO1T(k) ˙ SO2T(k) cos 2' (k) .1; z/#dz; ’ D 1; 2;
kD1 zk

NL Z
X zkC1 h i
O O
N12 ; M12 D
T T
SO2T(k) sin 2' (k) .1; z/#dz (8.259)
kD1 zk
where the coefficients SO1;2

T(k)
are calculated according to (8.257). The elastic constants
(k)
Lij are given by (8.241) and (8.242). The constitutive equations for the transverse
shear forces are given by (8.245).
Symmetric and skew-symmetric stacking sequences. Each lamina is assumed to
be made of a single specially orthotropic layer with uniform properties across its
thickness. Thus, the coefficients given by (8.258) become
P L (k) (k) (k) (k)
.Aij ; Bij ; Dij / D NkD1 Lij .h ; I ; J /
1 2 1 3
h(k) WD zkC1 zk ; I (k) WD zkC1 z2k ; J (k) WD zkC1 z3k
2 3
(8.260)
where the elastic constants of the kth layer, whose material axes are rotated by ' (k)
with respect to e 1 ; are expressed as
N (k)
nn .' / D C1 C .1/
L(k) (k) n1 N (k)
C2 cos 2' (k) C CN 3(k) cos 4' (k) ;
1 N (k)
n6 .' / D
L(k) (k)
C sin 2' (k) C .1/n1 CN 3(k) sin 4' (k) ; n D 1; 2;
2 2
L(k) .' (k) / D CN (k) CN (k) cos 4' (k) ; L(k) .' (k) / D CN (k) CN (k) cos 4' (k) ;
12 4 3 66 5 3
Lmm .' / D CN 6 C .1/

(k) (k) (k) m1
CN 7 cos 2' ; m D 4; 5;
(k) (k)
N (k)
45 .' / D C7 sin 2' :
L(k) (k) (k)
(8.261)
The elastic constants CN j(k) in the material axes are given by
1 N (k)
N (k) ; CN (k) WD 1 LN (k) LN (k) ;
CN 1(k) WD 3L11 C 2L N (k) C 3LN (k) C 4L
12 22 66 2 11 22
8 2

1 N (k)
CN nC2
(k)
WD L 2LN (k) N (k) N (k)
12 C L22 4.ı1n ı3n /L66 ; n D 1; 3;
8 11
1 N (k)
CN 4(k) WD L11 C 6LN (k) N (k)
12 C L22 4L66 ;
N (k)
8
1 1
CN 6(k) WD .LN (k) N (k)
55 C L44 /; CN 7(k) WD .LN (k) LN (k)
44 /: (8.262)
2 2 55
The elastic constants .L(k) (k) (k) (k) (k) (k)

11 ; L22 ; L12 ; L66 ; L44 ; L55 / are symmetric functions of the
(k) (k) (k) (k)
ply angle ' while .L16 ; L26 ; L45 / are skew-symmetric functions of the ply angle.
Symmetric lay-ups. The stacking sequence is such that the laminae are repeated
symmetrically with respect to the midplane. By considering two generic laminae
symmetric in the sequence with respect to the midplane, labeled by the numbers k
ij D Lij ; '
and m, then L(m) D ' (k) ; zmC1 D zk and zm D zkC1 . The symmetry
(k) (m)
implies h =h , I =I , and J (m) D J (k) : Consequently, the symmetry and skew-
(m) (k) (m) (k)
symmetry of the elastic constants lead to
ij D Aij ;
A(m) Dij(m) D Dij(k) ; Bij(m) D Bij(k) :
(k)
(8.263)
Consequently, Bij D 0 in (8.260) which implies the absence of extension-bending

coupling. On the other hand, the stiffnesses .Aij ; Dij / can be obtained by con-
sidering the contribution of a half sequence multiplied by 2. An example of a
symmetric sequence of four laminates is ŒC'= '= '= C ': This is said to
be a symmetric angle-ply laminated plate. The constitutive equations of symmetric
angle-ply laminated plates are
2 3 2 32 3
NO 11 A11 A12 A16 N1
O

4 NO 22 5 D 4 A12 A22 A26 5 4 N2 5 ; Q1 D A55 A45 Ñ 1
O2 ; (8.264)
Q A Ñ 2
NO 12
44
A16 A26 A66 Ñ 12
2 3 2 32 3
MO 11 D11 D12 D16 N1
4 MO 22 5 D 4 D12 D22 D26 5 4 N 2 5: (8.265)
O
M12 D16 D26 D66 N 12
Skew-symmetric lay-ups. The stacking sequence is such that the laminae

are repeated symmetrically with respect to the midplane in terms of thicknesses
and material orthotropic elastic constants, however, the ply angles are equal and
opposite. If k and m denote two generic laminae, symmetric with respect to the
midplane, then ' m D ' (k) ; while L(m)
ij D Lij ; zmC1 D zk and zm D zkC1 .
(k)
Consequently, h D h ; I D I ; J D J (k) : Exploiting the symmetry and

(m) (k) (m) (k) (m)
ij yields L16 D L16 ; L26 D L26 ; L45

skew-symmetry of the elastic constants L(k) (m) (k) (m) (k) (m)
D L(k)
45 ; whence
A16 D A26 D A45 D 0; B11 D B22 D B12 D B66 D 0; D16 D D26 D 0:

(8.266)
An example of a skew-symmetric stacking sequence of four laminates is ŒC'=
'= C '= ': This is said to be a skew-symmetric angle-ply laminated plate.
The constitutive equations of skew-symmetric laminated plates thus read
2 3 2 32 3 2 32 3
NO 11 A11 A12 0 N1 0 0 B16 N1
4 NO 22 5 D 4 A12 A22 0 5 4 N2 5 C 4 0 0 B26 5 4 N 2 5 ; (8.267)
NO 12 0 0 A66 Ñ 12 B16 B26 0 N 12

2 3 2 32 3 2 32 3
MO 11 0 0 B16 N1 D11 D12 0 N1
4 MO 22 5 D 4 0 0 B26 5 4 N2 5 C 4 D12 D22 0 5 4 N 2 5 ; (8.268)
O
M12 B16 B26 0 Ñ 12 0 0 D66 N 12

QO 1 A55 0 Ñ 1
D : (8.269)
QO 2 0 A44 Ñ 2
Cross-ply laminates. A special case is that of cross-ply lay-ups for which ' (k) D
0 or =2: Thus,
N (k)
nn D C1 C .1/
n1 N (k)
C2 C CN 3(k) ; 16 D L26 D L45 D 0;
L(k) (k) (k)
L(k)
N (k) N (k) N (k) N (k)
12 D C4 C3 ;
L(k) 66 D C5 C3 ;
L(k) (8.270)
N (k)
mm D C6 C .1/
L(k) m1 N (k)
C7 ; m D 4; 5:
This implies that A16 D A26 D A45 D 0; B16 D B26 D 0 and D16 D D26 D 0 for
any symmetric or skew-symmetric stacking sequence.
Table 8.1 Geometric and mechanical features of the Graphil 34-600/NTC301 and
T600s/G91 carbon fiber laminated plates
Composite plate Graphil 34-600/NTC301 T600s/G91
Span 0.254 m 0.254 m
Thickness 2.54103 m 2.54103 m
Stacking sequence Œ0 ı =45 ı =90 ı = 45 ı s Œ0 ı =15 ı = 15 ı =0 ı s
Young’s modulus E1 137.137 GPa 134.448 GPa
Young’s modulus E2 9.308 GPa 9.102 GPa
Poisson’s ratio 12 0.304 0.300
Poisson’s ratio 21 0.017 0.016
Shear modulus G12 4.551 GPa 5.653 GPa
Shear modulus G23 4.206 GPa 5.211 GPa
Mass density 1,568 kg/m3 1,501 kg/m3
8.10.1 Nonlinear Equilibrium Response of Multilayer

Laminated Plates: Theory Versus Experiment
This section illustrates experimental results on the nonlinear response of thin

laminated plates shown in [258, 355].
The experimental rig was the same as that used for testing the isotropic plates
(cf. Sect. 8.8.2). The specimens were two multilayer square plates (provided by
Rock West Composites) with side length of 0:254 m (tolerance D 5:08 104 m)
and thickness equal to 2:54 mm (tolerance D 2:54 104 m). One of the plates
was made of Graphil 34-600 carbon fibers and Newport NTC301 epoxy matrix,
symmetrically distributed in eight different layers: the stacking sequence of the plate
was Œ0 ı =45 ı=90 ı= 45 ı s . The mechanical properties were: E1 D 137:137 GPa,
E2 D 9:308 GPa, 12 D 0:304, 21 D 0:017, G12 D 4:551 GPa, G23 D 4:206 GPa,
D 1;568 kg/m3 . The other plate was made of Torayca T600s carbon fibers and
Estron G91 epoxy matrix, symmetrically distributed in eight layers: the stacking
sequence of the plate was Œ0 ı =15 ı = 15 ı =0 ı s . The mechanical properties were:
E1 D 134:448 GPa, E2 D 9:102 GPa, G12 D 5:653 GPa, G23 D 5:211 GPa,
12 D 0:3; 21 D 0:016, D 1; 501 kg/m3 . The thickness-to-span ratio for both
plates was 1/100. A summary of the data for the plates is given in Table 8.1.
The static tests were run in displacement control with a monotonic loading ramp
whose rate was 0:01 mm/s. The sampling frequency was set to 100 Hz. The end
displacement of the ramp was chosen as 3 mm for both plates, so as to induce
geometrically nonlinear response while remaining within the elastic range. The end
load for Graphil 34-600/NTC301 plate was 555.56 N while that for T600s/G91 was
488.06 N.
The dimensional and nondimensional equilibrium paths of the midpoint A
for the Graphil 34-600/NTC301 and T600s/G91 plates, respectively, are shown
in Fig. 8.14a–d where the theoretical predictions of the proposed nonlinear the-
ory (Equivalent Single Layer, Geometrically Exact Theory (ESLGET)) are also
compared with those obtained by FVKT and MRT. The open circles denote
600 500
a Graphil 34-600/NTC301 b T600s/G91
400
a/2 a/2
400 A
A
300
P [N] a/2 P [N] a/2
200
200
a/2 a/2
a/2 a/2
100
0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
u 3 [mm] u 3 [mm]
0.8 0.8
c d
0.6 0.6
P* P*
0. 4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0 0
-2 -2
0 0.4 0.8 1.2 10 0 0.4 0.8 1.2 10
u3* u3*
Fig. 8.14 Dimensional (a, b) and nondimensional (c, d) equilibrium paths of fully clamped eight-
layer laminated plates under a central point force: Graphil 34-600/NTC301 (left) and T600s/G91
(right). The solid lines indicate the results of ESLGET while the dashed lines are those obtained
by FVKT; the straight lines represent MRT; the open circles indicate the experimental results
(the radius of the circles is proportional to the sensitivity of the load cell). Reprinted with
permission [258]
the experimental results with the radius of the circles being proportional to the
sensitivity of the displacement sensor. A very close agreement is found between
ESLGET and the experimental results. The FVKT, as expected, predicts lower
displacements due to the more constrained nature of this ad hoc approximate
nonlinear model. Figure 8.15a–d show the equilibrium paths of a few control points
aligned along the midline and the diagonal line of the plates. As expected, the
various points exhibit increasingly higher stiffnesses when moving closer to the
clamping boundaries.
Figure 8.16a, b illustrate the deflected configurations of the midline and diagonal
line of the plates subject to the central point load of increasing magnitude: for
Graphil 34-600/NTC301 (top), the sequence of the increasing load is [100, 200,
300, 400, 500] N; for T600s/G91 (bottom), the load sequence is [90, 180, 270,
360, 450] N. Figure 8.17a, b show the deflected configurations of the midline
and diagonal line of the plates subject to the maximum central load: for Graphil
34-600/NTC301, the applied load is 555.56 N while for T600s/G91, the load is
488.06 N. The dashed lines indicate the predictions of FVKT, the solid lines denote
the results of ESLGET, and the filled dots denote the experimental results. For
Graphil 34-600/NTC301, the predictions of FVKT are closer to ESLGET in the
a b
0.8 0.8
E D C B A I H G F A
0.6 0.6
P* P*
0.4 0.4
a/2 a/2
E DCB A A
0.2 0.2 F
a/2 G
a/2 H
I
a/2 a/2 a/2 a/2

0 0
-3 -3
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 10 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 10
u3* u3*
c d
0.8 0.8
E D C B A I H G F A
0.6 0.6
P *
P*
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0 0
-3 -3
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 10 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 10
u3* u3*
Fig. 8.15 Nondimensional equilibrium paths of various points of fully clamped laminated com-
posite plates: (a, b) Graphil 34-600/NTC301 and (c, d) T600s/G91. The solid lines indicate the
results of ESLGET, the dashed lines indicate those obtained by FVKT; the filled dots indicate the
experimental results. Reprinted with permission [258]
whole range while this is no longer true for T600s/G91. This is likely due to the
higher stiffness associated with the lamination scheme in Graphil 34-600/NTC301
which allows fewer nonlinear effects to be exhibited in the deformation.
Comments. In the context of a rich literature on plate theories, there has been
a lack of assessment of the accuracy of the reduced theories by comparing their
predictions with experimental results, in particular, when the plates are forced
in the nonlinear range. Here the predicted nonlinear hardening-type response has
been fully validated for clamped thin isotropic metallic plates and for eight-layer
thin laminated plates subject to a central point load of increasing magnitude. The
selected plates are prominently thin since the isotropic plates exhibit a thickness-to-
span ratio of the order of 3/1000, while for the multilayer plates, the ratio is equal
to 1/100. Clear deviations between the linear theory (MRT) and the ESLGET or
FVKT nonlinear theories arise at nondimensional deflection amplitudes in the range
3 103 to 4 103 for isotropic metallic plates or 1:5 103 to 2 103 for the eight-
layer composite plates. Another observation is that, above the load levels where the
response becomes clearly nonlinear, FVKT predicts lower deflections than ESLGET
and the experimental results. This is indeed expected since FVKT introduces the
nonlinearity solely in the membrane stretching while it does not incorporate full
8.11 Linear Vibrations of Single- and Multilayer Prestressed Plates 561
-3 -3
4 10 4 10
a b
E I H
0 D 0
G
C F
u3* B u3* A
A
-4 -4
a/2 a/2
-8 E DCB A
-8 A
F
a/2 G
a/2 H
I
a/2 a/2 a/2 a/2

-12 -12
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 0.202 0.404 0.606 0.808 1.010 1.212 1.414
x3* x3*
-3 -3
4 10 4 10
c d
0 0
u3* u3*
-4 -4
-8 -8
-12 -12
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 0.202 0.404 0.606 0.808 1.010 1.212 1.414
x3* x 3*
Fig. 8.16 Deflected configurations of (a, c) the midline and (b, d) the diagonal line of fully
clamped laminated plates—Graphil 34-600/NTC301 (top) and T600s/G91 (bottom)—under a
central point load of various magnitudes. The solid lines indicate the results for ESLGET; the
filled dots indicate the experimental results. Reprinted with permission [258]
nonlinearity in the curvatures and, less importantly, through the shear deformations.
This is confirmed in the comparison between the two eight-layer laminated plates:
Graphil 34-600/NTC301 with Œ0ı =45ı =90ı=135ıs and T600s/G91 with Œ0ı =15ı=
15ı =0ı s . For the first plate, the deviation between FVKT and ESLGET is nearly
negligible in the explored range due to the higher stiffness associated with the
lamination scheme. Of course, the nonlinear hardening behaviors, observed here
and documented for the fully clamped test specimen, depend significantly on the
boundary conditions since different nonlinear load-carrying mechanisms may be
activated depending on the different constraining mechanisms.
8.11 Linear Vibrations of Single- and Multilayer Prestressed

Plates
Plates loaded by prestress forces that induce negative or positive geometric stiff-
ness effects through membrane forces exhibit modified behavior when subject to
incremental dead or live loads. To study linear transverse vibrations, the linearized
equations of motion must account for the membrane stresses in the balance of
transverse linear momentum.
-3 -3
4 10 4 10
a b a/2
a/2 I A
0 E E DCB A 0 H F
G
u3* D a/2 u3* G
a/2
I
H
-4 a/2 a/2
-4 a/2 a/2
C
F
-8 B -8
A A
-12 -12
-16 -16
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 0.202 0.404 0.606 0.808 1.010 1.212 1.414
x3* x3*
-3 -3
4 10 4 10
c d
I
0 0 H
E
u3* u 3* G
D
-4 -4
C
F
-8 -8
B
A A
-12 -12
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 0.202 0.404 0.606 0.808 1.010 1.212 1.414
x3* x3*
Fig. 8.17 Deflected configurations of (a, c) the midline and (b, d) the diagonal line of fully
clamped laminated composite plates (Graphil 34-600/NTC301 (top) and T600s/G91 (bottom))
under a central point load. The solid lines indicate the results of ESLGET, the dashed lines
indicate those obtained by FVKT; the filled dots indicate the experimental results. Reprinted with
permission [258]
These equations are presented within the context of both first-order shear
deformation theory and Kirchhoff–Love theory.
First-order shear deformation theory. The five equations governing the linear
vibration problem within the context of MR first-order shear deformation theory are
given by (8.183)(8.187).
The governing equations reduce to the following five equations of motion in the
unknowns .u1 ; u2 ; w; 1 ; 2 / with w WD u3 :
A11 @21 u1 C 2A16 @1 @2 u1 C A66 @22 u1 C A16 @21 u2 C .A12 C A66 /@1 @2 u2
C A26 @22 u2 C B11 @21 1 C 2B16 @1 @2 1 .B12 C B66 /@1 @2 2
B16 @21 2 B26 @22 2 C B66 @22 1 C f1 D 0; (8.271)
A16 @21 u1 C .A12 C A66 /@1 @2 u1 C 2A26 @1 @2 u2 C A66 @22 u2 C A26 @22 u1
C A22 @22 u2 C B16 @21 1 2B26 @1 @2 2 C .B12 C B66 /@1 @2 1
B22 @22 2 C B26 @22 1 B66 @21 2 C f2 D 0; (8.272)
8.11 Linear Vibrations of Single- and Multilayer Prestressed Plates 563
A55 @21 w C A44 @22 w C 2A45 @1 @2 w C A55 @1 1 C A54 @2 1

.A54 @1 2 C A44 @2 2 / C f3 D %ho @t t w; (8.273)
B11 @21 u1 C B66 @22 u1 C 2B16 @1 @2 u1 C B16 @21 u2 C .B12 C B66 /@1 @2 u2 B26 @22 u2
C D11 @21 1 C D66 @22 1 C 2D16 @1 @2 1 D16 @21 2 D26 @22 2
.D12 C D66 /@1 @2 2 A55 @1 w A54 @2 w A55 1 C A54 2
C no12 @2 w C no11 @1 w C c2 D %J o @t t 1 ; (8.274)
B16 @21 u1 C 2B26 @1 @2 u2 C .B66 C B12 /@1 @2 u1 C B66 @21 u2 C B26 @22 u1 C B22 @22 u2
C D16 @21 1 C D26 @22 1 C .D12 C D66 /@1 @2 1 D66 @21 2 D22 @22 2
2D26 @1 @2 2 A54 @1 w A44 @2 w A54 1 C A44 2
C no12 @1 w C no22 @2 w c1 D %J o @t t 2 : (8.275)
The most remarkable simplification is attained when there is extension-bending

and extension-twist uncoupling. This occurs when there is a plane of elastic
and mass symmetry taken as the base plane. Since the coefficients Bij vanish,
(8.271)(8.275) undergo a major simplification.
The linear vibration problem in the Kirchhoff–Love theory. Within the context
of Kirchhoff–Love theory also known as Classical Laminate Plate Theory (CLPT),
the curvatures are expressed in terms of the gradients of the transverse displacement.
The membrane problem is governed by
A11 @21 u1 C 2A16 @1 @2 u1 C A66 @22 u1 C A16 @21 u2 C .A12 C A66 /@1 @2 u2
C A26 @22 u2 B11 @31 w 3B16 @21 @2 w .B12 C 2B66 /@1 @22 w B26 @32 w C f1 D 0;
(8.276)
A16 @21 u1 C .A12 C A66 /@1 @2 u1 C 2A26 @1 @2 u2 C A66 @21 u2 C A26 @22 u1
C A22 @12 u2 B16 @31 w 3B26 @1 @22 w .B12 C 2B66 /@21 @2 w B22 @32 w C f2 D 0:
(8.277)
The equation of motion for the balance of transverse linear momentum is (8.198),
here rewritten as
@21 m11 C 2@1 @2 m12 C @22 m22 C n11 @21 w C 2n12 @1 @2 w C n22 @22 w
f1 @1 w f2 @2 w C @1 c2 @2 c1 C f3
D %ho @t t w @2 .%J o @2 @t t w/ @1 .%J o @1 @t t w/: (8.278)
Substituting the constitutive equations into (8.278) and considering uniform plates
yield the governing equations as
%ho @t t w %J o .@21 C @22 /@t t w C D11 @41 w C 2.D12 C 2D66 /@21 @22 w C D22 @42 w
C 4D16 @31 @2 w C 4D26 @1 @32 w B11 @31 u1 B26 @32 u1 B16 @31 u2
B22 @32 u2 3B16 @21 @2 u1 3B26 @1 @22 u2 .B12 C 2B66 /.@1 @22 u1 C @21 @2 u2 /
no11 @21 w 2no12 @1 @2 w no22 @22 w C f1 @1 w C f2 @2 w D f3 C @1 c2 @2 c1 :
(8.279)
If there is uncoupling between extension and bending and between extension
and twisting when a plane of elastic and mass symmetry exists and is taken to be the
base plane, the vanishing of the coefficients Bij allows (8.279) to be reduced into a
much simpler form involving only the transverse displacement w and the membrane
stresses .no11 ; no22 ; no12 /:
8.12 Buckling of Single- and Multilayer Plates
Perfect plates are plates that rest in perfectly planar natural configurations at the
outset. Static buckling arises in perfect plates as the limit state caused by static
(compressive) loads that induce a negative geometric stiffness which cancels out
the elastic stiffness. The critical condition can be determined as the condition
in which the linearized homogeneous differential problem of equilibrium admits
nontrivial solutions; this leads to an eigenvalue problem that delivers eigenvalues
(the buckling loads) and eigenfunctions (the buckling mode shapes). On the other
hand, if the equations of motion are considered, the critical condition is manifested
as a divergence bifurcation when one of the natural frequencies vanishes.
The loads that affect the geometric stiffness of the plate can be time-varying,
in particular, periodic or harmonic, in the simplest instance. In such a scenario,
dynamic buckling may occur as discussed in Chaps. 2 and 6.
The simple situation of a uniaxially compressed plate is considered next. The
plate is subjected to a uniaxial compressive state of stress with forces per unit
reference length on the edges given by p1 D ˙Œp1o C P1 .t/e 1 and f D o; so
that the generalized stress resultants in the prestress state are no11 D Œp1o C P1 .t/
and no22 D 0 D no12 . The CLPT theory (valid for single specially orthotropic or
general multilayer plates) is considered in the absence of extension/bending and
extension/twisting coupling. The equation of motion (8.279) thus becomes
%ho @t t w %J o .@21 C @22 /@t t w C D11 @41 w C 2.D12 C 2D66 /@21 @22 w
C D22 @42 w C 4D16 @31 @2 w C 4D26 @1 @32 w C Œp1o C P1 .t/@21 w D 0: (8.280)
8.12 Buckling of Single- and Multilayer Plates 565
Suppose that the pulsating force P1 .t/ is harmonic, P1 .t/ D P cos ˝t: The critical
condition depends on the amplitude P of the force and on the ratio between the
forcing frequency and the frequency of one of the natural transverse vibration
modes, say the kth mode. The frequency ratio is then ˝=!k . There is an uncountable
number of transition curves in the plane of the forcing frequency and amplitude
across which dynamic buckling occurs.
Both static and dynamic buckling problems can be studied in the context of first-
order shear deformation theory or Kirchhoff–Love theory. The solution method
depends significantly on the geometry of the plate, the boundary and loading
conditions. Analytical solutions are available for simple plate geometries (such as
rectangular, circular) and for certain types of boundary conditions.
Isotropic Kirchhoff–Love plates. The equation that governs linear vibrations of
prestressed KL plates (the prestress is caused by in-plane edge forces), derived
from (8.201), is
%h@t t w %J o .@21 @t t w C @22 @t t w/ C Dr 4 w no11 @21 w 2no12 @1 @2 w no22 @22 w D 0

(8.281)
where r WD 4
C @41 C 2@21 @22 @42 :
This equation can also be obtained from (8.279),
valid for specially orthotropic thin single- or multilayer laminated plates, by letting
Eh3
Bij D 0, D16 D 0 D D26 , D11 D D22 D D D 12.1 2 / ; and 2.D12 C 2D66 / D 2D.
Rectangular plates with sides a and b are considered. The nondimensional form
of the equation of motion is obtained by introducing the following nondimensional
variables and parameters:
p
xN 1 W D x1 =a; N WD w=a; tN WD !c t; !c WD
xN 2 WD x2 =b; w D=.%ho b 4 /;
p p
s WD a=b; s1 WD %J o =.%ha2 /; s2 WD %J o =.%ho b 2 /: (8.282)
The nondimensional equation becomes
@t t w .s12 @21 @t t w C s22 @22 @t t w/ C Œ1=s 2 @21 C @22 2 w

nN o11 =s 2 @21 w 2nN o12 =s@1 @2 w nN o22 @22 w D 0 (8.283)
where note that s1 and s2 are related to each other by s2 D s1 s, the overbar
is dropped, for ease of notation, and the following nondimensional forces are
introduced: .nN o11 ; nN o12 ; nN o22 / D .no11 ; no12 ; no22 /b 2 =D: The geometric and mechanical
boundary conditions (for simply supported isotropic plates) are, respectively, w D 0
on all edges and
m11 D 0 at x1 D 0 and a; m22 D 0 at x2 D 0 and b: (8.284)
The biaxial compression .nN o11 ; nN o12 ; nN o22 / D .1; 0; ~/ is treated where ~ WD
nN o22 =nN o11
denotes the ratio between the tension in the e 2 -direction and that in the
e 1 -direction, and is the multiplier of the state of compressional prestress. The

mode shapes that fulfill all boundary conditions are sought in the Navier form:
wmn .x’ ; t/ D amn ei!mn t sin.mx1 / sin.nx2 /; .m; n/ 2 N (8.285)
where i is the imaginary unit. Enforcing (8.285) to satisfy (8.283) yields the
characteristic equation whose solutions are the vibration frequencies
1=2
.m2 =s 2 C n2 /2 2 .m2 =s 2 C ~ n2 /
!mn D : (8.286)
1 C 2 .s12 m2 C s22 n2 /
Observe that: (a) rotary inertia terms in the denominator act to decrease the
frequencies especially of the higher modes, (b) for increasing negative load mul-
tiplier (i.e., biaxial tension of the plate), the frequencies of all modes increase,
(c) conversely, for increasing positive (increasing biaxial compression), the
frequencies decrease until one of them vanishes at the onset of buckling, causing
a divergence bifurcation. Hence, by setting !mn D 0 at the divergence bifurcation,
the buckling load multipliers are obtained as
2 .m2 =s 2 C n2 /2
mn D : (8.287)
m2 =s 2 C ~ n2
If a state of uniaxial compression is considered in the e 1 -direction (i.e., ~D0), the

lowest multipliers are obtained by setting n D 1 (one half-wave in the e 2 -direction).
Thus, (8.287) reduces to
m1 D 2 .m=s C s=m/2 : (8.288)
An uncountable set of curves is obtained for each m in the plane .; s/ with s WD
a=b. The curves that correspond to mode j and k intersect transversely when the
buckling loads coalesce,
p leading to the so-called crossover points. Solving j1 D
p s D j k: The crossover
k1 yields p ppointsp between modes m and m C 1 are at
s D m.m C 1/; thus, s D . 2; 6; 12; : : :/; m D 1; 2; 3; : : : at which the
corresponding buckling loads are
m1 D 2 .2m C 1/2 =Œm.m C 1/: (8.289)
The aspect ratios for which the buckling loads attain a minimum are obtained by
setting dm1 =ds D 0, which yields the local minima at s D m together with the
corresponding buckling loads
nN o11 D 4 2 ; no11 D 4 2 D=b 2 : (8.290)

a b
7 7
b b
a a
6 6
o
5 5
n11
4 4
m=1 2 3 4 5 6
m=1 2 3 4 5
3 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
a/b a/b
c d
7 16
6 14
6 b b
a 12 a
5 5
4 10
o
4
n11 3
8
m=1 2 3 4 5
3 2
6
2 m=1
4
1 2
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
a/b a/b
Fig. 8.18 The nondimensional buckling loads nN o11 D no11 b 2 =. 2 D/ vs. the aspect ratio a=b for
isotropic KL plates subject to (a) uniaxial compression, (b) biaxial compression with ~ D no22 =no11
D 1=10; (c) biaxial compression with ~ D 3=4; and (d) compression–tension with ~ D 1
Hence, the buckling loads attain the same value as the lowest buckling mode
in (8.290) at integer aspect ratios, s D 1; 2; 3; : : :, for which the buckling mode
shapes have a number of half-waves in the loading direction equal to the integer
aspect ratios. A detuning from perfectly integer aspect ratios results in an increase
of the buckling loads which, however, tends to flatten out at higher aspect ratios.
The case of biaxial compression (~ ¤ 0) is interesting from an engineering
point of view since plate-like structures are often subject to biaxial states of stress.
The properties of the buckling loads can still be unfolded in closed form. The
ratio ~ WD no22 =no11 D 1=2 between tensions in the two directions is the threshold
delimiting different regimes. When ~ < 1=2, for each m; the curve representing the
buckling load of the mode with mp half-waves in the loading direction has a minimum
at non-integer ratios s D m= 1 2~ attaining the value m1 D 4 2 .1 ~/:
These minima are shifted to the right with respect to the minima of the uniaxial
compression occurring at integer values. There is a 100 ~% decrease of buckling
loads with respect to uniaxial compression. For example, with ~ D 1=10; there is a
10 % decrease. A comparison between the buckling loads associated with uniaxial
compression and those of biaxial uniform compression with ~ D 1=10 is shown in
Fig. 8.18a, b.
When ~>1=2; the buckling behavior changes abruptly as there are no crossovers
and the lowest buckling load becomes that with m D 1 for all plate aspect ratios.
In the limit of high aspect ratios, the buckling load tends to n2 =~, hence, the lowest
asymptotic buckling load is 1=~ as shown in Fig. 8.18c with ~ D 3=4.
Finally, the scenario of a biaxial prestress state with compression in the e 1
direction and tension in the e 2 direction can be obtained from (8.287) by setting
~ ! j~j: The curves for the buckling loads whose mode shapes exhibit m half-
waves in the loading directionpand n in the orthogonal direction possess,
p for each
m, an asymptote at s D m=.n j~j/ and a minimum at s D m=.n 1 C 2j~j/ with
mn D 4n2 2 .1 C j~j/: The lowest buckling loads attained at n D 1 are
p
m1 D 4 2 .1 C j~j/; for s D m= 1 C 2j~j: (8.291)
Therefore, the buckling loads undergo a percent increase with respect to uniaxial
compression by 100j~j%: For example, if the tension is the same as the compression
(i.e., ~ D 1/; the lowest buckling load is m1 D 8 2 ; which is 100 % higher than
the buckling load for uniform uniaxial compression (see Fig. 8.18d).
Single-layer specially orthotropic and multilayer plates with bending-twisting
uncoupling. Specially orthotropic single-layer plates (with the fixed axes collinear
with the material axes) or multilayer laminated cross-ply and skew-symmetric
angle-ply plates are characterized by D16 D 0 D D26 because of the twisting-
bending uncoupling. The equation governing the vibration and buckling problems
is obtained by setting f D o in (8.279):
%ho @t t w %J o .@21 C @22 /@t t w C D11 @41 w C 2.D12 C 2D66 /@21 @22 w C D22 @42 w
C 4D16 @31 @2 w C 4D26 @1 @32 w no11 @21 w 2no12 @1 @2 w no22 @22 w D 0: (8.292)
where, for the sake of generality, D16 and D26 are considered non-vanishing. The
same nondimensionalization adopted for isotropic plates is employed here with
the only difference that the flexural stiffness
p coefficient D is substituted by D22 .
Hence, the characteristic time is 1=!c D %ho b 4 =D22 : The ensuing nondimensional
equation of motion (by omitting the overbars on w) is

@t t w s12 @21 C s22 @22 @t t w C DN 11 =s 4 @41 w C 2 DN 12 =s 2 @21 @22 w

C @42 w C 4 DN 16 =s 3 @31 @2 w C 4 DN 26 =s @1 @32 w

nN o11 =s 2 @21 w 2 nN o12 =s @1 @2 w nN o22 @22 w D 0 (8.293)
where DN 11 WD D11 =D22 , DN 12 WD .D12 C 2D66 /=D22 , DN j 6 WD Dj 6 =D22 ; j D 1; 2.

For specially orthotropic single-layer plates, the nondimensional stiffness pa-
rameters are expressed in terms of the elastic constants as DN 11 D E1 =E2 , DN 12 D
21 E1 =E2 C 2.1 12 21 /G12 =E2 while the nondimensional prestress forces are
expressed as nN oij WD noij b 2 =D22 :
Closed-form solutions only exist for plates with twisting-bending uncoupling

(DN 16 D 0 D DN 26 ) for which the governing equation of motion becomes

@t t w s12 @21 C s22 @22 @t t w C DN 11 =s 4 @41 w C 2 DN 12 =s 2 @21 @22 w C @42 w

nN o11 =s 2 @21 w 2 nN o12 =s @1 @2 w nN o22 @22 w D 0: (8.294)
Simply supported boundary conditions are considered so that solutions for w

can be sought in the form (8.285). Enforcing (8.285) to satisfy (8.294) yields the
vibration frequencies as
" #1=2
m4 DN 11 =s 4 C 2m2 n2 DN 12 =s 2 C n4 2 m2 =s 2 C ~ n2
!mn D
1 C 2 s12 m2 C s22 n2
(8.295)
and the associated buckling loads
4
m DN 11 =s 4 C 2m2 n2 DN 12 =s 2 C n4
mn D 2
: (8.296)
m2 =s 2 C ~ n2
Uniaxial compression in the e 1 -direction (~ D 0) is studied first. The curves

representing the buckling loads versus the aspect ratio attain the lowest values at
s D m.DN 11 /1=4 where the associated buckling loads are
q
m1 D 2 2 N N
D11 C D12 : (8.297)
For biaxial compression (~ > 0) and compression–tension (~ < 0), the lowest
buckling loads are exhibited by the plate when the aspect ratio, for each mode m; is
given by
nh 1=2 i o1=2
sDm DN 11 1 C ~ 2 DN 11 2j~jDN 12 ˙ j~jDN 11 = 1 2j~jDN 12
(8.298)
where the first sign refers to biaxial compression (~ > 0) while the second (~ < 0)
refers to compression–tension. The lowest buckling loads exhibited at the above
aspect ratios are given by
n 1=2 o
m1 D 2 2 DN 12 j~jDN 11 C DN 11 1 C ~ 2 DN 11 2j~jDN 12 : (8.299)
Equation (8.298) suggests that in biaxial compression, the curves have local
minima for each m provided that ~ < 1=.2DN 12 / (see Fig. 8.19a,b,d).
When ~ > 1=.2DN 12 /; the lowest buckling mode is mode m D 1 for all aspect
ratios (see Fig. 8.19c).
a b
24 24
22 22
b b
20 a 20 a
o 18 18
n11
16 16
14 14
12 12
10 10
8 m=1 2 3 4 6 8
5
6 6
m=1 2 3 4 5
4 4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
a/b a/b
c d
24 24
22 22
20 b b
a 20
18 a
16 18
6
14 5 16
o 12 14
n11 4
10 12
3
8 m=1 2 3 4 5
10
6 2
4 8
m=1
2 6
4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
a/b a/b
Fig. 8.19 The nondimensional buckling loads nN o11 D no11 b 2 =. 2 D22 / vs. the aspect ratio a=b
for orthotropic single- and multilayer plates with DN 12 D DN 11 =10 D 1 subject to (a) uniaxial
compression, (b) biaxial compression with ~ D no22 =no11 D 1=10; (c) biaxial compression with
~ D 3=4; and (d) compression–tension with ~ D 1=10
8.13 The Rayleigh–Ritz Method for Vibration and Buckling
The Ritz method is employed to compute the frequencies and buckling loads of
orthotropic single- and multilayer plates within First-Order Shear Deformation
Theory (FSDT) and the CLPT.
To this end, the stored energy function W E and the potential (geometric) energy
W due to the prestress S o are calculated according to
G
Z
1
WE D N 1 C M22
.M11 N 2 C M12
N 12 C Q1 Ñ 1 C Q2 Ñ 2 / dA;
2 Bo
Z Z z2
W D G
.S o W E(2) / dzdA (8.300)
Bo z1
where Mij are given by the constitutive functions MO ij in (8.246) and the linear
strain–displacement relationships are given by (8.165). The stored energy function
becomes
8.13 The Rayleigh–Ritz Method for Vibration and Buckling 571
Z
1
WE D N 21 C D22
D11 N 22 C D66
N 212 C 2D12
N 1
N 2 C 2D16
N 1
N 12
2 Bo

C 2D26
N 2
N 12 C A55 Ñ 21 C A44 Ñ 22 C 2A45 Ñ 1 Ñ 2 dA: (8.301)
For the evaluation of the vibration problem that includes the prestress, only the
quadratic terms are taken into account in the nonlinear parts of the incremental
Green–Lagrange strains E(2) D 1=2.@i uk /.@j uk /e i e j : Since the displacement field
u D uo C z.b bo / is given by

u D uo1 C z sin 1 e 1 C u02 z cos 1 sin 2 e 2
C Œw C z .cos 1 cos 2 1/ e 3 ; (8.302)
its linearized gradients are @1 u D .@1 u1 C zN 1 /e 1 C .@1 u2 z@1 2 /e 2 C @1 we 3

and @2 u D .@2 u1 C z@2 1 /e 1 C .@2 u2 C zN 2 /e 2 C @2 we 3 with N 1 D @1 1 and
N 2 D @2 2 . The quadratic parts of the strains are thus given by
1h o 2 2 2 i
(2)
E11 D u1;1 C uo2;1 2 C 2z.uo1;1 N 1 uo2;1 2;1 / C
N 1 C 2;1
2
z C .@1 w/2
2
1h o 2 2 2 i
(2)
E22 D u1;2 C uo2;2 2 C 2z.uo1;2 1;2 C uo2;2 N 2/ C N 2 C 1;2
2
z C .@2 w/2
2
1 o o
(2)
E12 D u u C uo2;1 uo2;2 C z.uo1;1 1;2 uo2;2 2;1 C uo1;2 N 1 C uo2;1
N 2/
2 1;1 1;2

C .
N 1 1;2
N 2 2;1 / z2 C .@1 w/.@2 w/ (8.303)
where ui;’ WD @’ ui . For a plane state of prestress, S o D S11

o
e 1 e 1 C S22
o
e2e2 C
S12 .e 1 e 2 C e 2 e 1 /, the potential energy is
o
Z Z z2 o (2)
WG D S11 E11 C S22
o (2)
E22 C 2S12
o (2)
E12 dzdA
Bo z1
Z
1 2 o
D no11 .@1 w/2 C
N 1 C 2;1
2
J = h dA
2 Bo
Z
1 2 o
C no22 .@2 w/2 C
N 2 C 1;2
2
J = h dA
2 Bo
Z
1
C no12 Œ2.@1 w/.@2 w/ C 2 .
N 1 1;2
N 2 2;1 / J o = h dA (8.304)
2 Bo
where the displacement gradients of the midplane surface are neglected and the pre-
stresses are assumed not to vary across the plate thickness so that .no11 ; no22 ; no12 / D
o
h.S11 o
; S22 o
; S12 /, and the base plane B o is taken to coincide with the mid-plane (i.e.,
z2 D z1 D h=2) in which case J o D 12 1 3
h.
Often, mono-parametric loading paths are considered, so that S o D

ŒSN11
o
e 1 e 1 C SN22
o
e 2 e 2 C SN12
o
.e 1 e 2 Ce 2 e 1 / where .SN11
o No No
; S22 ; S12 / are the prestresses
per unit load multiplier. In this case, the geometric potential energy becomes
W G D WN G where WN G represents the energy per unit load multiplier.
A biaxial compressional prestress in the form .no11 ; no22 / =.nN o11 ; nN o22 / entails a
simpler expression for the potential energy
Z
1 2 o
WN G D nN o11 .@1 w/2 C
N 1 C 2;1
2
J = h dA
2 Bo
Z
1 2 o
nN o22 .@2 w/2 C
N 2 C 1;2
2
J = h dA: (8.305)
2 Bo
The kinetic energy is expressed as

Z Z z2 Z z2
1 o 2
T D %h wP C %J o P 12 C P22 dA; %ho WD dz; %J o WD z2 dz:
2 Bo z1 z1
(8.306)
For uniform plates, %ho D h and %J o D J o : According to the Ritz method,
the unknown kinematic fields are discretized assuming them to be a superposition of
trial functions that satisfy only the geometric boundary conditions. By choosing the
(’)
trial functions mn .x1 ; x2 / for the rotations ’ and wmn .x1 ; x2 / for the transverse
displacement, respectively, the unknown functions are expressed as
X
R X
S
’ .x1 ; x2 ; t/ ' (’)
qmn (’)
.t/mn .x1 ; x2 /; ˛ D 1; 2;
mD1 nD1
X
R X
S
w.x1 ; x2 ; t/ ' (3)
qmn .t/wmn .x1 ; x2 /: (8.307)
mD1 nD1
After truncating to R S the number of trial functions in .1 ; 2 ; w/, the mass and
stiffness matrices are constructed by introducing the following algebraic vectors that
collect the 3 R S trial functions and generalized coordinates:
.˛/ .˛/
.˛/ |
.˛/ D 11 .˛/
; 21 ; : : : ; r1 .˛/
; 12 .˛/
; 13 .˛/
; : : : ; 1s ; : : : rs ;
w D Œw11 ; w21 ; : : : ; wr1 ; w12 ; w13 ; : : : ; w1s ; : : : wrs | ; (8.308)
| | |
q| D q(1) ; q(2) ; q(3) ; q(j) D B(j) q;
where B(j) are Boolean matrices. Thus,

| |
’ .x1 ; x2 ; t/ D q| .t/ B.’/ .˛/ .x1 ; x2 /; w.x1 ; x2 ; t/ D q| .t/ B.3/ w.x1 ; x2 /:
(8.309)
The Lagrangian function is expressed as L WD W E WN G T and the Euler–

Lagrange equations are enforced to obtain

M qR C KE KG q D 0 (8.310)
where KE D KEB C KES ; KEB stands for the stiffness matrix due to the bending/twisting
energy; KES stands for the stiffness matrix due to the shear energy; and KG is the
geometric stiffness matrix per unit load multiplier.
The buckling problem can be solved as the critical condition at which the stiffness
matrix becomes singular thus admitting nontrivial eigenvectors which represent the
buckling mode shapes. In this instance, the following eigenvalue problem with the
characteristic equation is solved:
.KE KG / q D 0;
det .KE KG / D 0; 2 f1 ; 2 ; : : :g: (8.311)
The (real) eigenvector qj corresponding to the (real) eigenvalue j (load multiplier

of the j th buckling mode) gives rise to the j th mode shape
| | | |
˛.j / .x’ / D qj B.’/ .˛/ .x’ /; w.j / .x’ / D qj B.3/ w.x’ /: (8.312)
The buckling problem can be tackled in a more generalized fashion by solving the
linear vibration problem that accounts for the prestress. The study of the dependence
of the frequencies on the load multiplier allows one to investigate: (a) the sensitivity
of the frequencies with respect to the prestress levels and (b) the buckling condition
as the divergence bifurcation at which one of the frequencies vanishes. In this
instance, q.t/ D exp .i!t/u is assumed and the following eigenvalue problem is
solved:
Œ.KE KG / ! 2 M u D 0;

det KE KG ! 2 M D 0; ! 2 f!1 ; !2 ; : : :g: (8.313)
The eigenvector uj corresponding to each (circular) frequency !j (at a given

prestress load multiplier j ) gives rise to the j th vibration mode shape as
| | | |
˛.j / .x’ / D uj B.’/ .’/ .x’ /; wj .x’ / D uj B.3/ w.x’ /: (8.314)
The j th buckling load is calculated by imposing !j D 0. The critical buckling load

is the lowest j .
The Ritz method in the Kirchhoff–Love theory. In this case, the only unknown
is the transverse displacement w since the rotations and curvatures are slaved to
it through (8.64) and (8.65). These kinematic relationships introduce remarkable
simplifications since the stiffness matrix only captures contributions from the
bending-twisting energy as follows:

| | |
KE D hw;11 D11 w;11 i C hw;22 D22 w;22 i C 4hw;12 D66 w;12 i
| | |
C hw;11 D12 w;22 i C hw;22 D12 w;11 i C 2hw;11 D16 w;12 i
| | |
C 2hw;12 D16 w;11 i C 2hw;22 D26 w;12 i C 2hw;12 D26 w;22 i; (8.315)
R
where hi WD Bo ./: The geometric stiffness matrix and the mass matrix are,
respectively, given by
| | |
KG D hw;1 nN o11 w;1 i C J o = hhw;11 nN o11 w;11 i C J o = hhw;12 nN o11 w;12 i
| | |
C hw;2 nN o22 w;2 i C J o = hhw;22 nN o22 w;22 i C J o = hhw;12 nN o22 w;12 i
| |
C .hw;1 nN o12 wT;2 i C hw;2 nN o12 w;1 i/ 2J o = h.hw;22 nN o12 wT;12 i C hw;12 nN o12 w;22 i/
|
C 2J o = h.hw;11 nN o12 wT;12 i C hw;12 nN o12 w;11 i/;
| |
M D hw%ho w| i C hw;1 %J o w;1 i C hw;2 %J o w;2 i: (8.316)
The nondimensional form of the equations of motion is discussed in Problem 8.5.

Thin single-layer orthotropic and multilayer plates. In this section, single-
layer generally orthotropic plates and multilayer plates (e.g., symmetric angle-ply
laminated plates) are treated for which D16 ¤ 0; D26 ¤ 0. Closed-form solutions
for the vibration and buckling problem are not available for such plates. Therefore, a
viable strategy for affordable calculations is to employ the Ritz approach within the
context of CLPT. This amounts to solving the eigenvalue problem (8.311) where the
mass and stiffness matrices are given by (8.332)(8.334). As illustrative examples,
simply supported rectangular plates are considered. For such boundary conditions,
the trial functions can be conveniently taken as (8.285) where the coordinates x1
and x2 are scaled by a and b, respectively. These functions satisfy the geometric
conditions (w D 0 on all edges) together with the mechanical boundary conditions
given by (8.284).
Three types of laminae are considered. For convenience, they are labeled S
(strong), M (moderate), and W (weak). These laminae are characterized by values
of the ratio between the elastic modulus E1 and E2 equal to 40; 30; and 17:6,
respectively, with E2 D 10 GPa for materials S and M and E2 D 9:2 GPa for
material W. The other elastic moduli exhibit milder differences which affect the
elastic stability of thin plates less significantly. By letting e D .E1 ; E2 ; E3 /;
g D .G23 ; G13 ; G12 /; n D .23 ; 13 ; 12 /; material S is characterized by e D
.40; 1; 1/E2 , g D .0:5; 0:6; 0:6/E2 , n D .0:25; 0:25; 0:25/ with E2 D 10 GPa;
material M by e D .30; 1; 1/E2 , g D .0:5; 0:6; 0:6/E2 , n D .0:3; 0:3; 0:3/ with
E2 D 10 GPa; material W by e D .17:6; 1; 1/E2 , g D .0:338; 0:543; 0:543/E2 ,
n D .0:48; 0:3; 0:3/ with E2 D 9:2 GPa.
a b
70 80
m=2
o a o a
60 m=2 n11 ϕ n11
a 60 a
50
m=2
40 m=1 S
o
n11 w 40
30 m=1 M
m=2
m=1
20 m=1 W 20 S m=2 S
m=1
M m=2 M
10 m=1
W W
0
0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
ϕ [deg] o
n11
c d
70 24
60 o a 22 b
n11 ϕ 20
a S
a
50 18
o
40 n11 o
n11
16 M
o m=2
n11 14
30 12 W
W
10 m=1 2 3 4 5
20
m=1
8
10
6
0 4
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ϕ [deg] a/b
Fig. 8.20 The uniaxial nondimensional buckling loads nN o11 D no11 b 2 =. 2 D22 / vs. (a) the angle '
and (d) aspect ratio a=b for generally orthotropic single-layer KL simply supported plates made
of the three composite materials denoted by S, M, W. In part (c), the buckling loads refer to a
biaxial state of prestress for material W (~ D 0; 1=10; 1=10/: Part (b) shows the variation of
the frequencies of the three square plates having ' D 0 with the load multiplier of the uniaxial
prestress
The variation of the buckling loads with the lamina angle ' is calculated for
the three materials and is shown in Fig. 8.20a. Observe that, for plate S, there is
a crossover between the first and second mode slightly above 45ı and a second
crossover occurs around 80ı : For plates M and W, there is only one crossover
occurring above 45ı with a shift in plates M and W with respect to plate S.
When ' D 90ı (i.e., the modulus in the loading direction is the smallest of
the two), the degradation of the buckling load is over 100 %. The same critical
condition at the onset of buckling can be found by calculating the variation of
the frequencies with the load multiplier. The frequency of the mode involved in
the instability vanishes at the critical condition and, consequently, a divergence
bifurcation occurs (see Fig. 8.20b). The frequency is highly sensitive to variations
of the load near the bifurcation point. The influence of the prestress load in the
e 2 -direction (compression or tension) on the buckling behavior can be observed in
Fig. 8.20c. Finally, the variation of the lowest buckling load with the aspect ratio s
WD a=b is considered for the three laminae in Fig. 8.20d.
Appendix I: Higher-Order Theories for Thick Multilayer

Plates
Composite materials exhibit a wide variability of mechanical properties and a

complex elastic behavior. Carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) offer high in-
plane stiffness and strength properties for composite laminates although their
relatively poor out-of-plane properties—in particular, the low transverse shear
stiffness and strength—can be a serious limitation for applications. Other major
drawbacks are the high susceptibility to damage (in the form of delamination,
debonding, crack propagation) and poor impact tolerance.
The major difference between single-layer and multilayer plates is that different
elastic shear compliances of the layers cause the displacement components to
exhibit the zig–zag effect at each layer interface. The in-plane stresses .S11 ; S22 ; S12 /
can be discontinuous at each layer interface while the transverse shear stresses
.S13 ; S23 ; S33 / must be continuous for equilibrium. Therefore, a multilayer plate
theory should guarantee the so-called Czo -requirement which implies the compatibil-
ity of the displacements and the interlaminar equilibrium of the transverse stresses
across the thickness.
A high in-plane anisotropy is generally exhibited when the laminates are made of
anisotropic layers (in particular, orthotropic). Advanced composite materials, used
in aerospace structures, typically possess high values of the ratio between Young’s
modulus of the fiber and that in the orthogonal directions (i.e., the modulus of the
hosting matrix), typically in the range [5, 40], and low values of the ratio between the
transverse shear moduli and Young’s modulus, in the range [1/10, 1/200] [93]. One
consequence is that multilayer plates may show higher transverse flexibility (both
in the shear and normal components) with respect to the in-plane deformability
when compared to the isotropic single-layer case. This instance has motivated
the development of Higher-Order Shear Deformation Theories (HSDTs) according
to Koiter’s remark: “a refinement of Love’s first approximation theory is indeed
meaningless, in general, unless the effects of transverse shear and normal strains
(stresses) are taken into account at the same time.” A few decades later, a further
remark was stated [91]: “any refinement of classical models are meaningless, in
general, unless the effects of interlaminar continuous transverse shear and normal
stresses are both taken into account in a multilayered plate/shell theory.” This is not
always strictly required. It has been ascertained in various works (e.g., cf. [157,269])
that the local violation of the interlaminar continuity of transverse shear stresses
does not introduce significant errors in the gross response characteristics such as the
frequencies or buckling loads which conversely depend on the average stiffness and
mass properties.
Several theories have been devised for elastic and static stability analyses of thick
multilayer laminated plates. A good review of advanced theories of laminated plates
is presented in [93]. In the 1970s, the complex behavior of thick laminated plates
motivated the development of three-dimensional elasticity theories. Exact solutions
(ELS) within the framework of three-dimensional linear elasticity for rectangular
laminates in cylindrical bending were found in [348,349]. The closed-form solutions
are limited to laminates with multiple isotropic layers and to cross-ply laminates,
where the axes of material orthotropy are parallel to the plate axes.
Equivalent single-layer theories (ESL) were introduced, as counterparts to the
two-dimensional plate theories suitable for homogeneous isotropic materials, so
as to reduce the computational costs. The simplest ESL theory is the Classical
Laminated Plate Theory (CLPT), based on the Kirchhoff–Love hypothesis by
which transverse shear and normal strains are neglected, which turns out to be
inadequate for moderately thick anisotropic laminated composite plates. In the
1950s, some of the limitations of CLPT were overcome in the First-Order Shear
Deformation Theory (FSDT) introduced by Reissner [382] and Mindlin [319] for
homogeneous isotropic plates with low span-to-thickness ratios. Along the same
lines, in the 1970s, the FSDT for thick laminated plates was proposed in [461] by
neglecting normal strains, assuming constant transverse shears along the thickness
and introducing shear correction factors in the shear strain energy. The accuracy is
highly dependent on the shear correction factors, difficult to determine for general
lamination schemes and geometric parameters, for general loading and boundary
conditions [346, 378].
To overcome the drawbacks of FSDT, various Higher-Order Shear Deformation
Theories (HSDT) were proposed by assuming Higher Order (HO) displacement
fields. Most of these theories are third-order theories where the in-plane displace-
ment is at most a cubic expression of the thickness coordinate z.
For the Third-Order Shear Deformation Theory (TSDT) of Reddy [377], the in-
plane displacement components are third-order polynomial expansions in z, while
the out-of-plane displacement is constant, in agreement with the thickness-wise
inextensibility. The displacement field is assumed such that the upper and lower
plate surfaces are stress-free with respect to transverse shear stresses. Compared
with FSDT, TSDT allows a more accurate prediction of the equilibrium and dynamic
response for lower span-to-thickness ratios. An improvement may be obtained
by taking the in-plane displacement and the out-of-plane displacement as cubic
and quadratic polynomial expansions in z, respectively, as in [352], although the
transverse shear stresses do not satisfy the traction-free boundary conditions on the
upper and lower plate surfaces. A refinement of TSDT was based in [171, 294] on
addition of a zig–zag function to the cubic polynomial expansion so as to account
for the shear strain discontinuities at the interfaces between layers.
For isotropic laminates, a two-dimensional HO theory was developed in [302,
303] by assuming a complete power series expansion of the displacement field in z in
[304]. Closed-form solutions for the vibration and buckling response of simply sup-
ported cross-ply laminated plates are presented [304, 306] while it is demonstrated
that, for expansion orders higher than three, a noticeable improvement is obtained
in comparison with TSDT. Similar results for specific angle-ply laminated plates
are presented in [305]. A compatible HSDT was obtained in [56] for a single-layer
plate made of an incompressible anisotropic linear elastic inhomogeneous material
(i.e., functionally graded material). The principle of virtual works was used taking
Legendre polynomials in the thickness coordinate as basis functions for the virtual
displacements. In the literature, there are also examples of mixed HSDTs obtained
by the Reissner–Hellinger mixed principle.
The major drawback of displacement-based approaches is the lack of continuity
of the transverse stresses. This lack of continuity is often insignificant in evaluating
the global buckling behavior; in some cases (e.g., sandwich plates with prominently
soft cores), this violation can lead to slightly higher buckling load multipliers
[269]. Typically, most of the Cz0 refined theories enforce the mentioned continuity
assuming the displacement and transverse stresses as primary variables and letting
the in-plane stresses be the dependent variables. Moreover, within the Cz0 theories,
global-local HO theories were proposed as a compromise between layer-wise and
global HO theories retaining the accuracy of layer-wise theories and the efficiency
of HO theories [485, 485, 486]. A Cz0 HO theory for multilayer composite plates
was devised in [174, 175] employing the FE method and a good agreement with
three-dimensional elasticity solutions was found. On the other hand, a combination
of TSDT [378] with a meshless method based on the multi-quadric radial basis
function approach was proposed in [155] to study multilayer laminated beams and
plates.
In recent years, layer-wise theories and individual layer theories have been
presented to obtain more accurate information at the ply level [111, 139, 347].
The fundamental idea consists of assuming certain displacement and/or stress
models in each layer, followed by the enforcement of compatibility and equilibrium
conditions at the interface to reduce the number of unknown variables. The number
of unknowns in a laminate increases greatly with the number of layers and the
computational burden increases. This was partially overcome in [112] where a com-
posite plate theory for general lamination schemes was obtained by superimposing
a cubic varying displacement field on a zig–zag linearly varying displacement so as
to satisfy transverse shear stress continuity at the layer interfaces as well as shear-
free surface conditions. The theory has the same number of dependent unknowns as
FSDT, and the number of unknowns is independent of the number of layers.
Recently, unified formulations have been proposed (cf. [94,130]) for mixed layer-
wise and mixed equivalent single-layer models. The current trend is to formulate
unified Cz0 theories in the most general framework that allow the user to choose the
approach (equivalent single-layer; zig–zag, etc.) and the order of the expansion of
displacements and transverse stresses in the thickness direction.
The existing HO theories are limited in their analytical application to specific
classes of laminates, namely symmetric and skew-symmetric cross-ply and skew-
symmetric angle-ply laminates, as they rely on the remarkable simplification
ensuing from vanishing of the coupling terms. A generalized HO theory referred
to as Refined Higher-Order Shear Deformation Theory (RHSDT) was presented
with computations in [156–158]. The RHSDT was employed in [158] to investigate
the buckling properties of thick multilayer plates. In particular, the effects of HO
transverse shear deformation and anisotropy on buckling were investigated by
further comparing the RHSDT predictions with those obtained by CLPT. An outline
of the RHSDT is presented in the next section.
8.14 Generalized Higher-Order Theory with Normal and Transverse Shear Strains 579
8.14 Generalized Higher-Order Theory with Normal

and Transverse Shear Strains
The generalized HO theory is formulated for hierarchical analysis of laminated

plates within the context of the Rayleigh–Ritz method [157]. The reference config-
uration is the stress-free configuration described by r.x’ ; z/ D r o .x’ / C ze 3 where
r o .x’ / D x’ e ’ denotes the position vector of the material points of the base plane
B o of the reference configuration and z D x3 2 Œz1 ; zNL C1 denotes the position along
the fiber (see Fig. 8.1).
The plate suffers a change of configuration as a consequence of boundary
surface forces f o per unit reference area applied on the edge boundaries. The six
independent components of the second Piola–Kirchhoff pre-stress tensor S o are
arranged in the algebraic vector o : A further change of configuration, described
by the incremental displacement vector u and the ensuing incremental deformation,
gives rise to the incremental strain vector
which collects the three elongations and
the three orthogonal shear strains extracted out of the incremental Green–Lagrange
strain tensor E.
The linearized variational model, which accounts for the pre-stress effects, is
obtained by neglecting terms of order higher than two in the total potential energy
W D W E C W G where
NL Z
X Z zkC1
1 (1) | (k) (1)
.W ; W / D
E G

L
; o|
(2) dzdA (8.317)
o 2
kD1 B zk
where NL is the number of layers, L(k) is the elasticity matrix of the kth layer whose
lower and upper surface coordinates are, respectively, denoted by zk and zkC1 : The
strain vector
D
(1) C
(2) is the summation of the linear part
(1) of the incremental
Green–Lagrange strain tensor and the nonlinear part
(2) that collects the nonlinear
components of E.
Let uP D ŒPu1 uP 2 uP 3 | be the velocity vector and .x’ ; z/ denote the mass density,
then the kinetic energy is expressed as
Z Z
1XL N zkC1
T D .x’ :z/uP | .x’ ; z; t/ u.x
P ’ ; z; t/ dzdA: (8.318)
2 Bo zk
kD1
To reduce the described three-dimensional elasticity problem to a two-

dimensional problem, the in-plane displacement components u’ and the
out-of-plane component u3 are expressed in a Taylor series of z as
1
X 1
X
.n/ .n/
u’ .x’ ; z/ D u ’ .x’ / zn ; u3 .x’ ; z/ D u 3 .x’ / zn ;
nD0 nD0
ˇ ˇ
.n/ 1 @ u’ ˇˇ n .n/ 1 @n u3 ˇˇ
u ’ .x’ / D ; u3 .x’ / D : (8.319)
nŠ @zn ˇ zD0 nŠ @zn ˇzD0
For an N th-order approximation, the infinite series is truncated to N terms in u’ and

.N 1/ terms in u3 ; respectively. The Taylor series facilitates a direct mechanical
interpretation of the various orders of reduction.
Plate theories derived from three-dimensional elasticity often make use of the set
of Legendre polynomials fL0 .z/; L1 .z/; L2 .z/; : : :g. Although the polynomial basis
f1; z; z2 ; : : : and the Legendre basis fL0 .z/; L1 .z/; L2 .z/; : : : may be equivalent, the
Legendre polynomials are expected to result in simpler equations because they are
mutually orthogonal.
.0/ .0/
The zeroth-order problem, u’ D u ’ .x’ / and u3 D 0, represents the membrane
.0/ .1/ .0/
problem. The first-order problem, u’ D u ’ .x’ /C u ’ .x’ / z and u3 D u 3 .x’ /
represents the classical Mindlin–Reissner theory also known as FSDT. On the other
hand, truncation to cubic terms leads to the theory of Pandya and Kant [352] while
further accommodation of the traction-free boundary conditions for the transverse
shear stresses on the upper and lower surfaces leads to TSDT [377].
A general higher-order theory is based on an arbitrary expansion order. The
.n/
unknown functions u j .x’ / are expressed as a superposition of trial functions
defined throughout the entire two-dimensional domain B o and such that they satisfy
the kinematic boundary conditions:
.n/ .n/ .n/ .n/
.n/ .n/ |
u’ .x’ / D q|’ ’ .x’ /; u3 .x’ / D q3 3 .x’ / (8.320)
.n/ .n/
where q’ and q3 are the nth-order generalized coordinate vectors for the in-plane
and out-of-plane directions, respectively. By introducing the global generalized
coordinate vector
|
.0/ .N /| .0/ | .N /| .0/ | .N 1/|
q| D q1 ; q1 ; q2 ; q2 ; q3 ; q3 :
.n/ .n/
The generalized vectors q’ and q3 are expressed in terms of q by means of the
.n/ .n/ .n/ .n/
Boolean matrices B ’ and B 3 . Accordingly, q’ and q3 are obtained from q as
.n/ .n/ .n/ .n/
q’ DB’ q and q3 DB3 q. Here R’ S’ and R3 S3 are the number of trial functions in
the displacement components u’ and u3 ; respectively. The total number of degrees
of freedom turns out to be NN D .N C 1/ .R1 S1 C R2 S2 / C N R3 S3 : By
assuming R’ D R3 D S’ D S3 D R; the number of degrees of freedom turns out
to be NN D .3N C 2/ R2 :
Given the discretized
displacement
field (8.320), the linear and the nonlinear
strains Eij(1) D 1=2 ui;j C uj;i and Eij(2) D 1=2ul;i ul;j ; .i; j; l D 1; 2; 3/; are
calculated accordingly. For example, the linear in-plane and transverse strains are
expressed as
8.14 Generalized Higher-Order Theory with Normal and Transverse Shear Strains 581
" #
PN .n/
|
.n/ P1 .n/
|
.n/ .n/
|
.n/
’’ D q| nD0 B’ ’;’ zn ; 12 D q| nD0 B1 1;2 C B2 2;1 zn ;
( " # )
PN .n/
|
.n/ PN 1 .n/
|
.n/
’3 D q| nD0 B’ ’ n C nD0 B3 3;’ z zn1 ;
PN .n/
|
.n/
33 D q| nD0 n B3 3;3 z
n1
: (8.321)
The elastic stiffness matrix is obtained by substituting the linear strains (8.321)
into the stored energy function (8.317). By assuming orthotropic symmetry for
generality, the elasticity matrix for the kth layer with respect to the material
(laminae) coordinate system is denoted by LN D fL N (k)
(k)
ij g. This matrix is block-
diagonal with a full 3 3 block (elongations) and a 3 3 diagonal block (shear
strains). The nine independent elastic coefficients are e D .E1(k) ; E2(k) ; E3(k) /; g D
(k)
.G23 (k)
; G13 (k)
; G12 /; and n D .23(k) (k)
; 13 (k)
; 12 /: Rotation by the ply angle ' (k) leads to the
transformed elastic tensor LN in the fixed basis. The elasticity matrix of the kth
.k/
layer, referred to the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g, becomes L(k) D „(k) 1 N (k)

1 L „ 2
(k)
where „1;2 are the 6 6 transformation matrices for the stresses and the strains,
(k)
respectively, arising from a rotation around the e 3 -axis by the ply angle ' (k) of the
kth layer (see Appendix II). The nontrivial coefficients .L(k) (k) (k) (k)
16 , L26 , L36 , L63 / indicate
the well-known extension-shear coupling between the in-plane stresses and strains
at ply level. The transverse shear stresses and strains are also coupled due to the
existence of L(k) 45 . For cross-ply laminated plates, the ply angle '
(k)
is either 0 ı or
ı
90 and the elasticity matrix of the kth layer takes the form of an elasticity tensor
for orthotropic material behavior without the extension-shear coupling.
The initial stresses are expressed as a power series expansion in the thickness
coordinate. For a uniaxial uniform in-plane loading in the e 1 -direction, by keeping
P .n/ .0/
only the coefficient of the constant part, then S11 o
D N nD0 S11 z S11 : Here the
n
geometric stiffness matrix and the mass matrix (for constant mass density) are
shown as an example:
( " Z !
.0/ X
NL
X
NL .m/
|
.m/ .n/
|
.n/
K D S11
G o
Imn (k)
B1 1;1 1;1 dA B1
kD1 m;nD0 Bo
Z ! # Z ! )
.m/ .m/ .n/ L 1
NX .m/ .m/ .n/
.n/ .n/
| | | |
C B2 2;2 2;2 dA B2 C (k)
Imn B3 3;3 3;3 dA B3 ;
Bo m;nD0 Bo
( " Z ! Z ! #
X
NL X
NL .m/
|
.m/ .n/
|
.n/ .m/
|
.m/ .n/ .n/
|
MD (k)
Imn B1 1 1 dA B1 C B2 2 2 dA B2
kD1 m;nD0 D D
Z ! )
L 1
NX p p
.m/
|
.m/ .n/
>
.n/ zkC1 zk
C (k)
Imn B3 3 3 dA B3 ; Imn
(k)
WD ; p WD m C n C 1:
m;nD0 Bo p
Once the Lagrangian L.q; q/P WD T .q/P W .q/ is calculated, the Euler–Lagrange
equations yield the following eigenvalue problem:
M qR C .KE KG / q D 0 (8.322)
where KE and KG are the elastic and geometric stiffness matrices, respectively, and
is the load multiplier. The frequencies and mode shapes are found as the eigen-
values and eigenvectors of the associated algebraic eigenvalue problem. Solving the
eigenvalue problem for a given leads to the natural vibration frequencies !i of
the laminated plate under the pre-stresses S11 o
: The critical buckling condition
corresponds to the divergence condition at which the fundamental frequency
vanishes.
The selection of the trial functions depends on the kinematic boundary conditions
within the framework of the chosen variational approach. The considered rectangu-
lar laminated plates are simply supported; the kinematic boundary conditions are:
u2 D 0 D u3 and u1 D 0 D u3 for the edges with x1 D .0; a/ and x2 D .0; b/;
respectively. This implies, at each order of the out-of-plane expansion,
.n/ .n/ .n/ .n/

u 2D 0 D u 3 ; at x1 D .0; a/ and u 1D 0 D u 3 ; at x2 D .0; b/: (8.323)
The trial functions are chosen such that the boundary conditions are
fulfilled for each coefficient of the nth-order series expansion. By following
the Navier solution procedure, the trial functions that satisfy (8.323) are taken
.n/ .n/
as .cos rx1 =a/.sin sx2 =b/ for u 1 , .sin rx1 =a/.cos sx2 =b/ for u 2 , and
.n/
.sin rx1 =a/.sin sx2 =b/ for u 3 .
The discretization of the series expansion coefficients is truncated to .R’ ; S’ /
and .R3 ; S3 /, respectively. The trial functions also satisfy the mechanical boundary
conditions (referred to as SS-1 in the literature) according to which the moments on
the edges vanish.
A suitable nondimensional form of the equations of motion is introduced by
scaling lengthspby a, the span of the plate in the loading direction, and time by
1=!c D h=a2 E2 =, proportional to the characteristic period of a corresponding
isotropic plate having as longitudinal modulus that of the weak orthotropy axis
E2 : The elastic coefficients and stresses are rendered nondimensional using LN 11
as reference elastic coefficient. Each layer is made of the same ply material. The
nondimensional buckling load multiplier is thus D S11 o 2
a =E2 h2 where is the
multiplier of the prestress.
Comparison with other theories: multilayer plates for aerospace applications.
Some examples of multilayer plates in aerospace applications include 3- and 4-layer
symmetric cross-ply laminates and 16-layer angle-ply symmetric laminates [157].
The 3-layer square laminate with the symmetric cross-ply lay-up Œ0 ı =90 ı=0 ı
is subject, for the elastic response analysis, to a sinusoidal transverse pressure
while, for buckling, it is subject to a uniform compressive pressure applied to
8.15 Buckling of Thick Multilayer Plates 583
the boundaries x1 D .0; a/ in the e 1 -direction. The plate geometry is given by

h D 10 mm, a D b D 50 mm, with h=a D 1=5 and the material coefficients are
those of Material S (see Sect. 8.12).
An out-of-plane expansion order with N D 7 is employed for convergence
while the trial functions (Rj D 1 D Sj ) satisfy both the geometric and mechan-
ical boundary conditions. Three-dimensional FE calculations were performed for
comparison using eight-node solid elements (NASTRAN HEX8) with orthotropic
material properties. A mesh of 32 32 4 elements was introduced in each of
the layers, with a total of 589,824 dofs. The number of elements in the thickness
direction is four for each layer as suggested in [229]. The nodal displacements
are set to zero in the 2- and 3-directions on edges x1 D .0; a/ and in the 1- and
3-directions on x2 D .0; b/. The corner nodes are fully restrained. The resulting
through-the-thickness distributions of displacements and stresses show a very good
agreement between RHSDT and FE.
For the 4-layer square laminate with the regular symmetric cross-ply lay-up
Œ90 ı =0 ı =0 ı =90 ı, the RHSDT (N D 7) is also in good agreement with the FE
analysis with a major difference in computational cost. The RHSDT requires 17
unknowns. On the other hand, the number of degrees of freedom of the FE model
(786,432 dofs) is more than three orders of magnitude higher.
A quasi-isotropic plate with 16 layers, for which there is no closed-form
analytical solution, was calculated via HO hierarchical inhomogeneous solid finite
elements (referred to as B2000) in [229]. The laminate is symmetric and the
ply orientations are limited to Œ0 ı /C45 ı /45 ı /90 ı ], like some laminated panels
used in aeronautical structures. The stacking sequence is regular, quasi-isotropic,
ŒC45 ı =90 ı= 45 ı =0 ı ; and repeated four times. The orthotropic elastic coeffi-
cients are the following: e D .E1 ; E2 ; E3 / D .17:6; 1; 1/E2 , g D .G23 ; G13 ; G12 /
D .3:108; 5; 5/E2 ; n D .23 ; 13 ; 12 / D .0:48; 0:3; 0:3/, with E2 D 9:2 GPa. The
plate is simply supported over the full edges and the span-to-thickness ratio a= h is
set to the limit value of 4.
In [229], the stress distribution across the thickness of the reference plate under
a transverse sine-wave pressure obtained by B2000-FE was compared with that
computed by a full three-dimensional solid finite element analysis in NASTRAN
(MSC NASTRAN HEX8). The same loading case is investigated by employing the
RHSDT. The resulting nondimensional stresses S11 and S22 are depicted in Fig. 8.21
at x1 D x2 D 1=2 a. An accurate prediction is achieved by the RHSDT with N D 5
and R’ D 4 D S’ at a comparatively much lower computational cost (the RHSDT
dofs are 272, the B2000-FE dofs are 6,228, and the HEX8-FE dofs are 219,716).
8.15 Buckling of Thick Multilayer Plates
Two-dimensional HO theories have been previously used to study buckling in

isotropic plates subject to in-plane loads. These works have shown remarkable
effects of transverse shear and normal deformations. General HO theories, which
take into account the complete effects of transverse shear, normal deformations and
0.125
16
15
14
13
0.0625
12
11
10
9
z 0
8
7
6
5
-0.0625 3D FEM 4
B2000 (p=3, q=2) 3
2
RHSDT(N=5,R=S=4)
1
-0.125
-0.4 -0.2 0 S11 0.2 0.4
0.125
0.0625
z 0
-0.0625
3D FEM
B2000 (p=3, q=2)
RHSDT (N=5, R=S=4)
-0.125
-0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4
S22
Fig. 8.21 The nondimensional in-plane stresses (top) S11 and (bottom) S22 across the thickness at
x1 D x2 D 1=2 a for the 16-layer quasi-isotropic square laminate Œ.C45 ı =90 ı = 45 ı =0 ı /2 S
under a transverse half-wave sine pressure with N =5 and Rj D 4 D Sj . Reprinted with
permission [157]
rotary inertia, have also been used to study the vibration and stability of specific
laminates [304, 305]. Thermal buckling and modal vibration features have been
further investigated in angle-ply laminated plates [307, 308].
The reference benchmark laminated plates are those for which complete ana-
lytical solutions exist. For the case of simply supported boundary conditions, the
Table 8.2 Nondimensional uniaxial critical

buckling loads o for the square laminated
plate with simply supported (SS-1) boundary
conditions and symmetric cross-ply sequence
Œ0 ı =90 ı =90 ı =0 ı [378]. The polynomial order
of RHSDT is N D 5
a
h
CLPT FSDT TSDT RHSDT
5 36.160 11.575 11.997 11.601
10 36.160 23.453 23.340 23.043
20 36.160 31.707 31.660 31.529
50 36.160 35.356 35.347 35.321
100 36.160 35.955 35.953 35.946
benchmark cases are limited to symmetric and skew-symmetric cross-ply and skew-
symmetric angle-ply laminates.
The critical buckling loads obtained by ELS, CLPT, FSDT, and TSDT for square
symmetric and skew-symmetric cross-ply laminates subject to uniaxial in-plane
loads with the so-called SS-1 boundary conditions were compared in [378]. The 4-
layer square plate has the regular symmetric cross-ply lay-up Œ0 ı =90 ı=90 ı =0 ı and
the laminates are made of Material 1. Closed-form Navier solutions were obtained
according to CLPT, FSDT, and TSDT while the results given for ELS are taken
from [350]. Table 8.2 gives a comparison of results for the nondimensional critical
buckling loads o for different span-to-thickness ratios a= h. The RHSDT gives the
most accurate results as indicated by the lowest bounds of the fundamental buckling
loads.
Besides the comparisons for cross-ply laminates, the main focus here is on
angle-ply laminates. The fundamental buckling loads obtained by CLPT, FSDT, and
TSDT were compared in [378] for a square skew-symmetric angle-ply laminate.
The investigated square plate is a simply supported 2-layer skew-symmetric angle-
ply laminated plate with the so-called SS-2 boundary conditions for which a
closed-form analytical solution exists. For these boundary conditions, the in-plane
displacements normal to the edge, the out-of-plane displacement and the shear force
flow equate to zero at the plate boundaries. The lay-up is Œ45ı = 45ı and with
the orthotropic elastic coefficients of Material M (see Sect. 8.12). In Table 8.3, the
nondimensional uniaxial critical buckling loads o for different span-to-thickness
ratios a= h are compared. The RHSDT (N D 5; Rj D 1 D Sj ) gives the most
accurate results as indicated by the lowest bounds of the buckling loads. For the
thick plate (a= h D 5), an improvement of 13.3 % is achieved with respect to TSDT.
Buckling of cross-ply and angle-ply laminates. The absence of extension-shear
coupling at the ply level in cross-ply laminates makes their mechanical behavior less
complex and a wide range of results is available in the literature. The investigation
into the dependence of the nondimensional lowest buckling load on the span-to-
thickness ratio a= h 2 Œ3; 100 indicates that the transverse shear deformation has a
significant effect on the fundamental buckling load in the lower range, as indicated
Table 8.3 Nondimensional uniaxial critical buckling loads o for a

simply supported (SS-2) skew-symmetric angle-ply ŒC45ı = 45ı
square laminate [378]. In RHSDT, the polynomial expansion order is
N D5
a
h
CLPT FSDT TSDT RHSDT
5 21.709 9.385 10.881 9.437
10 21.709 17.552 18.154 16.195
20 21.709 20.495 20.691 19.981
50 21.709 21.505 21.539 21.411
100 21.709 21.658 21.666 21.634
by the decrease of the buckling load multiplier below a span-to-thickness ratio of

35. The fundamental buckling load is reduced by 10 % for a= h D 20 and by 30 %
for a= h D 10 compared to the values obtained by CLPT.
A high sensitivity of the buckling load is shown with respect to the ratio between
the two in-plane elastic moduli E1 =E2 in the range Œ1; 40 when a= h D 10. This
result is in agreement with the behavior of carbon nanotube-reinforced composite
plates having different alignments of CNTs [163].
Angle-ply laminates highlight a more complex mechanical behavior due to
the existence of extension-shear coupling at the ply level which slows down the
convergence. For example, for a 4-layer square laminate with regular symmetric
angle-ply lay-up ŒC45ı = 45ı = C 45ı = 45ı , convergence is reached for Rj D
4 D Sj and N D 5:
The study of the variation of the nondimensional lowest buckling load with
span-to-thickness ratio a= h in the range Œ3; 100 shows that the effect of the
transverse shear deformation is more significant for the angle-ply laminate than for
the corresponding cross-ply laminate. The critical buckling load is reduced by 10 %
for a= h D 20 and by 40 % for a= h D 10 compared to the values obtained via
CLPT.
A symmetric 4-layer angle-ply laminate ŒC'= '= '= C ' was studied
with respect to variation of the individual ply angle ' in the range Œ0 ı ; 90 ı . The
nondimensional lowest buckling load o and the nondimensional natural frequency
! vs. ' are shown in Fig. 8.22 for a= h D .5; 10; 20/. Figure 8.22a–c outline the
nonsymmetric variation of the fundamental buckling load o with respect to ' D
45 ı for the three selected values of the aspect ratio. In particular, consider a laminate
with ' D 0 ı that represents a single orthotropic layer with the major material
stiffness axis coinciding with the loading direction. As expected, the associated
critical buckling load is higher than that obtained for a ply orientation equal to 90 ı .
The latter also represents a single orthotropic layer, but with the major material
stiffness axis normal to the loading direction. Furthermore, note that the maximum
fundamental buckling load deviates significantly from 45 ı with a decrease in span-
to-thickness ratio. For thin laminated plates, it is known that, at a ply angle of 45 ı; a
crossover occurs between the lowest eigenvalues which in turn leads to a change of
the fundamental buckling mode shape. The phenomenon arises from the change of
45
40 a Λο
a
ϕ
b Λο
a
ϕ
c Λο
a
ϕ
35 a a a
30 a/h=5 a/h=10 a/h=20
Λο 25
20
15
10
5
0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 15 30 45 60 75 90
ϕ [deg] ϕ [deg] ϕ [deg]
22
20 d e f
18
16
ω
14
12
10
8
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 15 30 45 60 75 90
ϕ [deg] ϕ [deg] ϕ [deg]
Fig. 8.22 Variation with the ply angle ' of: (a)–(c) the critical uniaxial buckling load o for
a= h D .5; 10; 20/; and (d)–(f) the nondimensional natural frequency ! for a= h D .5; 10; 20/ of a
simply supported symmetric angle-ply square laminate ŒC'= '= '= C ' obtained by RHSDT
with N D 5 and Rj D Sj D 4 and by CLPT with R D S D 5. The dashed lines indicate
the CLPT results while the other lines with the superposed symbols denote the results of RHSDT.
the major in-plane stiffness direction. As observed in the previous sections, the same
phenomenon occurs in thin homogeneous plates when varying the aspect ratio. For
square laminated plates, a ply angle higher than 45 ı leads to a higher plate stiffness
in the direction normal to the loading direction compared to the one collinear with
the applied load, which causes the buckling shape to increase in the number of half-
waves in the loading direction. However, by increasing the transverse shear effects,
a higher magnitude of the coupling terms associated with a low span-to-thickness
ratio leads to a shift of this crossover point to lower ply angles.
The fundamental frequency vs. the ply angle ' is given for comparison in
Fig. 8.22d–f. Compared to the buckling load, the qualitative behavior of the funda-
mental frequency variation is recognized to be independent of the span-to-thickness
ratio. The maximum fundamental frequency is obtained for a ply-orientation of 45 ı
as is the case for thin laminates (CLPT). A deviation from the ply orientation of
45 ı ; obtained as result of an in-plane ply rotation, leads to a lower fundamental
frequency, which is independent of the rotation direction as indicated by the
symmetry of the curves with respect to this angle. For all three span-to-thickness
ratios, the fundamental frequency is associated with the (1,1)-mode.
Figure 8.22a–f also show the corresponding results (dashed lines) for the
buckling load and the fundamental frequency obtained by CLPT in conjunction
with the Rayleigh–Ritz method of Sect. 8.13. The comparison between the buckling
results obtained by CLPT and RHSDT for plates with a= h D .5; 10; 20/ shows that,
when the ply angle ' is ' D 45 ı ; CLPT predicts higher buckling loads by about
250 %, 60 %, and 10 %, respectively, because of the more constrained nature of the
16
a
Lo j
14
a
m=2
a/h=5
12
Lo
10 m=1
4
0 15 30 45 60 75 90
j [deg]
Fig. 8.23 The lowest two buckling loads together with the fundamental mode shape vs. the ply
angle ' for a simply supported symmetric angle-ply square laminate for a= h=5 when N D 5 and
Rj D Sj D 4. The stacking sequence is ŒC'= '= '= C '. The gray area indicates the
pre-crossover range. Reprinted with permission [158]
model that neglects transverse shear and normal deformations. On the other hand,
the differences are milder for the fundamental frequency and are, respectively, about
70 %, 20 %, and 6 %.
It is interesting to study the lowest crossover point in a few meaningful multilayer
plates: symmetric 4-layer angle-ply laminates, and 16- and 64-layer laminates with
arbitrarily oriented layers. For the 4-layer symmetric angle-ply laminates, Fig. 8.23
shows the lowest two buckling loads vs. the ply angle ' together with the contour
plots of the mode shapes. The dominant mode shape, for ply angles below the
crossover point, is the (1,1)-mode whereas, above the cross-over point, the critical
mode is the (2,1)-mode. The crossover point occurs for ' D 22ı :
For the 16-layer symmetric laminate with a regular and quasi-isotropic lay-
up, Œ.C45 ı =90 ı = 45 ı =0 ı /2 S , the orthotropic elastic coefficients are those of
material W (see Sect. 8.12).
The plate is simply supported over the full edges and has a span-to-thickness
ratio equal to 4. No analytical solution exists for such a multilayer plate. Variations
of the critical buckling load and of the mode shape contour plots with the ply angle
' are investigated in the range Œ0; 90 when the 16-layer quasi-isotropic laminate
is generalized to an anisotropic lamination scheme, Œ.C'=90 ı = '=0 ı /2 S : The
resulting behavior is depicted in Fig. 8.24a. The highest buckling load is exhibited
by a laminate with a ply ' in the range of Œ0 ı ; 15 ı . Further, the (1,1)-mode is
never associated with the lowest buckling load over the full range of ply angles.
a 7
b
7
6.5
6.5 ϕ
6
m=2
Λο
6 m=2
5.5
5 5.5
a
L ϕ
4.5 a 5 m=3
a/h=5
m=3
4
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 15 30 45 60 75 90
ϕ [deg] ϕ [deg]
Fig. 8.24 The nondimensional critical buckling load o and the associated mode shape contours
vs. the ply angle ' for (a) 16-layer anisotropic square laminate Œ.C'=90 ı = '=0 ı /2 S and
(b) 64-layer anisotropic square laminate Œ.C'=90 ı = '=0 ı /8 S obtained by the RHSDT when
N D 5 and Rj D 4 D Sj . The shaded area denotes where the mode shape has three half-waves
in the loading direction. Reprinted with permission [158]
The (2,1)-mode is the dominant mode shape in the range from 0 ı to 45 ı and when
approaching 90 ı . In the intermediate range, the critical plate buckling mode is the
(3,1)-mode.
Similar results are observed for a thick laminate with 64 layers (material W)
with the same span-to-thickness ratio, boundary conditions and quasi-isotropic
lamination scheme as those of the 16-layer laminate. The only difference is in
the individual ply thickness, which is reduced accordingly to maintain the same
plate thickness. The out-of-plane expansion order and the degree of in-plane
discretization are also the same.
Figure 8.24b shows the results for the 64-layer quasi-isotropic laminate, general-
ized to the following anisotropic stacking sequence: Œ.C'=90 ı = '=0 ı /8 S . Only
quantitative changes in the behavior can be observed, as a result of the changes in the
lamination scheme with a reduction of ply thickness. The resulting homogenization
of the plate stiffness properties causes the cross-over points between the (2,1)-
and (3,1)-modes to be shifted toward lower ply angles. The fundamental uniaxial
buckling load decreases, when ' D 0 ı ; with respect to the 16-layer plate.
Appendix II: Transformation of the Elasticity Tensor

for Laminated Plates
For notational simplicity, instead of using the notation eN l D Qml e m ; it is assumed

that eN 1 D li e i , eN 2 D mi e i ; eN 3 D ni e i ,
D ŒS11 ; S22 ; S33 ; S23 ; S13 ; S12 | ; N D ŒSN11 ; SN22 ; SN33 ; SN23 ; SN13 ; SN12 | (8.324)
where the overbar indicates the quantities expressed in the material axes.
In Voigt notation, the Green–Lagrange strain tensor is reduced to a six-
dimensional algebraic vector according to
D Œ11 ; 22 ; 33 ; 23 ; 13 ; ˜12 | and
N D ŒN11 ; N22 ; N33 ; Ñ 23 ; Ñ 13 ; Ñ 12 | where ij D 2ij . The transformation laws for

N SN (i.e., SN D Q| S Q) can be written as
E;
N D „1 ;
N D „2
(8.325)
where „1;2 are the transformation matrices.

For the case of the composite laminate with the .e 1 ,e 2 /-plane coinciding with the
plate midplane, only the rotation about the e 3 -axis is relevant in order to retrieve the
elastic coefficients in the fixed reference frame from those given in the ply material
coordinate system. In this case, the vectors collinear with the ply axes are eN 1 D
Œp; q; 0| , eN 2 D Œq; p; 0| and eN 3 D Œ0; 0; 1| where p D cos ' and q D sin ' and
' is the rotation angle between the material axis eN 1 and the fixed axis e 1 . Then, the
transformation matrix reduces to:
2 3 2 3
p 2 q 2 0 0 0 2pq p2 q2 0 0 0 pq
6 q 2 p 2 0 0 0 2pq 7 6 q 2 p 2 0 0 0 pq 7
6 7 6 7
6 7 6 7
6 0 0 10 0 0 7 6 0 0 10 0 0 7
„1 D 6 7 ; „2 D 6 7:
6 0 0 0 p q 0 7 6 0 0 0 p q 0 7
6 7 6 7
4 0 0 0q p 0 5 4 0 0 0q p 0 5
pq pq 0 0 0 p 2 q 2 2pq 2pq 0 0 0 p 2 q 2
(8.326)
Substituting (8.325) into N D LN

N and pre-multiplying it by „1
1 yield
L D „1 N
1 L „2 : (8.327)
The transformation matrices „1;2 are non-orthogonal matrices although det.„1;2 / D

1.
The elastic coefficients with respect to the fixed axes can be expressed as follows:
N 11 C 2p 2 q 2 .L
L11 D p 4 L N 12 C 2LN 66 / C q 4 LN 22 ;
L12 D p 2 q 2 LN 11 C .p 4 C q 4 /L
N 12 C p 2 q 2 .LN 22 4L
N 66 /; L13 D p 2 LN 13 C q 2 L
N 23 ;
LN 16 D pqŒp 2 .LN 11 LN 12 2LN 66 / C q 2 .LN 12 LN 22 C 2L

N 66 /; LN 14 D 0 D LN 15 ;
L21 D .p 4 C q 4 /LN 12 C p 2 q 2 .L
N 11 C LN 22 4L
N 66 /;
N 22 C q 4 LN 11 C 2p 2 q 2 .LN 12 C 2L
L22 D p 4 L N 66 /; L23 D p 2 LN 23 C q 2 L
N 13 ;
L26 D pqŒq 2 .LN 11 L

N 12 2LN 66 / C p 2 .LN 12 LN 22 C 2L
N 66 /; L24 D 0 D L25 ;
L33 D LN 33 ; L36 D pq.LN 13 LN 23 /; L34 D 0 D L35 ;
N 44 C q 2 LN 55 ;
L44 D p 2 L L45 D pq.LN 55 L
N 44 /; L41 D L42 D L44 D L46 D 0;
N 55 C q 2 LN 44 ; L66 D .p 4 C q 4 /LN 66 C p 2 q 2 ŒLN 11 2.L
L55 D p 2 L N 12 C LN 66 / C LN 22 :
For states of stress with S33 D 0, in the stress and strain vectors, the components
S33 and 33 are dropped. Consequently, the elasticity matrix is obtained by consid-
ering (8.327) when the matrices „1;2 are given by (8.326) reduced to a 55 matrix
by deleting the third column and third row and by taking LN as expressed by (8.218).
The resulting matrices „1;2 are
2 3 2 3
p2 q2 0 0 2pq p2 q2 0 0 pq
6 q2 p2 0 2pq 7 7 6 0 pq 7
6 0 6 q2 p2 0 7
6 7 6 7
„1 D 6 0 0 p q 0 7 ; „2 D 6 0 0 p q 0 7:
6 7 6 7
4 0 0 q p 0 5 4 0 0 q p 0 5
pq pq 0 0 p q
2 2
2pq 2pq 0 0 p2 q2
(8.328)
The coefficients of the transformed elasticity matrix are

L11 D LN 11 p 4 C 2 LN 12 C 2L N 66 p 2 q 2 C LN 22 q 4 ;

L12 D LN 12 p 4 C q 4 C LN 11 C LN 22 4LN 66 p 2 q 2 ;

L22 D LN 11 q 4 C 2 L N 12 C 2LN 66 p 2 q 2 C LN 22 p 4 ;

L44 D LN 44 p 2 C LN 55 q 2 ; L45 D pq L N 55 LN 44 ; L55 D LN 55 p 2 C LN 44 q 2 ;

L16 D pq LN 11 L N 12 2LN 66 p 2 C LN 12 LN 22 C 2LN 66 q 2 ;

L26 D pq LN 11 L N 12 2LN 66 q 2 C .LN 12 LN 22 C 2LN 66 /p 2 ;

L66 D p 2 q 2 LN 11 C LN 22 2LN 12 2L N 66 C LN 66 p 4 C q 4 :
Problems
8.4 (Rotation matrix and curvatures considering the drilling rotation).

(a) Show that the rotation matrix that arises from the sequence of rotations 2 !
1 ! 3 , with 3 being the drilling rotation, has the following entries:
R11 D cos 1 cos 3 ; R12 D cos 1 sin 3 ;

R13 D sin 1 ; R21 D cos 2 sin 3 C cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 ;
R22 D cos 2 cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 sin 3 ; R23 D cos 1 sin 2 ;
R31 D sin 2 sin 3 sin 1 cos 2 cos 3 ; R32 D cos 3 sin 2 C sin 1
cos 2 sin 3 ; R33 D cos 1 cos 2 : (8.329)
(b) Show that the curvatures . 1 ; 2 /; given by (8.8) and (8.9) and based on the
rotation matrix (8.329), are given by
’ D .@’ 2 C sin 1 @’ 3 /e 1 C .@’ 1 cos 1 @’ 3 cos 1 sin 2 /e 2

C .sin 2 @’ 1 C cos 1 cos 2 @’ 3 /e 3 : (8.330)
(c) Obtain ’ D 2’ b1 C 1’ b2 C 3’ b and ’ D 1’ b1 C 2’ b2 .
(d) Show that the linearization of (8.330) yields
2’ D @’ 2 ; 1’ D @’ 1 ; 3’ D @’ 3 : (8.331)
Problem 8.5 (Mass and stiffness matrices of CLPT via the Ritz method).
(a) Show that, with the adoption of the nondimensionalization (8.282), the
nondimensional form of the geometric stiffness matrix and the mass matrix
in (8.316) is
| |
M D hww| i C s12 hw;1 w;1 i C s22 hw;2 w;2 i (8.332)
| | |
KE D DN 11 =s 4 hw;11 w;11 i C hw;22 w;22 i C 4DN 66 =s 2 hw;12 w;12 i
| | |
C DN 12 =s 2 hw;11 w;22 i C DN 12 =s 2 hw;22 w;11 i C 2DN 16 =s 3 hw;11 w;12 i
| | |
C 2DN 16 =s 3 hw;12 w;11 i C 2DN 26 =shw;22 w;12 i C 2DN 26 =shw;12 w;22 i:
(8.333)
(b) Show that geometric stiffness matrix, for a biaxial state of prestress, is given by
| | |
KG D 1=s 2 hw;1 w;1 i C s12 =s 2 hw;11 w;11 i C s12 hw;12 w;12 i
| | |
C ~.hwo;2 w;2 i C s22 hw;22 w;22 i C s12 hw;12 w;12 i/: (8.334)
Chapter 9
The Nonlinear Theory of Cable-Supported
Structures
Cables, beams, and arches are archetypal slender members used as building blocks
of more complex structures. The arrangement of these elements in a structure should
be such as to maximize the overall capacity of withstanding dead and live loads. It
is well known that a single-span beam subject to uniform loads exhibits bending
moments proportional to the square of the beam span. Therefore, while trying to
reach a long span, a single-span beam-like structure would suffer high bending
stresses and deflections that, in turn, would require sufficiently deep cross sections
to even withstand the dead loads alone. On the other hand, if exceptionally strong
materials (both in tension and in compression) were available, a major structural
concern would be the high slenderness of these members that makes them prone
to vibrations and to wind-induced instabilities such as torsional divergence, flutter,
or galloping. These limit states can cause catastrophic failures as remarkable past
experiences have demonstrated (e.g., the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge).
An outstanding structural solution for a long-span structure is the combination
of cables and beams. In particular, a cable-supported structure is assembled by
hanging systems of cables (in different configurations) from massive towers and
letting the cables support a stiffened girder, as is the case for suspension bridges
(see Fig. 9.1) or for cable-stayed bridges (see Fig. 9.2). The funicular load-bearing
capacity of cables is thus combined with the bending capacity of beam-like deck-
girder systems. Among several formidable applications (cf. [177]), it is worth
mentioning, in particular, cable-supported bridges with spans ranging from 200 to
2,000 m (and beyond), guyed masts as high as greater than 600 m, and huge cable-
supported roofs (e.g., airport roofs).
This chapter illustrates state-of-the-art nonlinear theories of cable-supported
structures with emphasis on suspension bridges. The fundamental nonlinear static
and dynamic behaviors are outlined by considering typical equilibrium paths under
wind-induced forces. Most of the nonlinearities arise from the cables (either sus-
pension cables or stays) that exhibit a hardening or softening behavior, respectively,
caused by an enhancement or a loss of tension depending on the loading direction.
Coupled with flexurally stiff members (such as the deck-girder of a bridge, a mast,
or a bidimensional structure as in large roofs), the cables deliver their nonlinear
594 9 The Nonlinear Theory of Cable-Supported Structures
forces to the structure at moderate forcing levels well below the critical states such
as those associated with the loss of elastic stability due to wind-induced forces.
For example, the equilibrium paths of a suspension bridge under aerostatic forces
exhibit prominent nonlinear effects in the range below the loss of elastic stability.
These structures are said to exhibit nonlinear precritical behavior. The consequence
is that limit states such as torsional divergence, for example, are reached at
lower speeds compared with the speeds evaluated by linear theory. The nonlinear
theories presented here can be exploited for future bridge designs, especially for
investigating the limit states that result from the loss of elastic stability or dynamic
instabilities such as flutter, galloping, buffeting, vortex-induced vibrations, etc.
9.1 Cable-Supported Bridges
Cable-supported bridges, such as suspension or cable-stayed bridges, look like spun

webs of steel stretched across straits, bays, or rivers. They are among the most
graceful of bridge forms due to their architectural lightness, yet they possess a
monumental scale. At the same time, they exhibit a clarity of function so simple
that even the uninitiated can grasp their workings.
Cable-supported bridges consist of three main parts: (a) the stiffening girder with
the bridge deck; (b) the cable system (suspension cables or stays) supporting the
girder; and (c) the towers (or pylons) supporting the cables. In suspension bridges
(see Fig. 9.1), the cables hanging from the two towers are connected to the girder by
means of a number of closely spaced vertical (or slightly inclined) taut cables known
as hangers. Another important structural part is represented by the constraints of the
cables in the form of anchor blocks that hold the inclined suspension cables in place
at the two far ends of the side spans.
In cable-stayed bridges (see Fig. 9.2), nearly straight inclined cables (or stays)
connect the girder to the pylons. Different configurations of the stays are possible
such as the harp configuration of Fig. 9.2a, the symmetric fan configuration of
Fig. 9.2b, and the nonsymmetric fan configuration of Fig. 9.2c.
Nonlinear continuum models of cable-supported bridges undergoing three-
dimensional motion described by but one space coordinate are illustrated. Treatment
hT
l1 l l1
Fig. 9.1 Geometry of a three-span suspension bridge

9.2 From the Deflection Theory to Nonlinear Theories of Suspension Bridges 595
b
hT
l1 l l1
Fig. 9.2 Different geometries of cable-stayed bridges: (a) harp configuration, (b) symmetric,
(c) nonsymmetric fan arrangement
of the linearized equations of motion (employed only to obtain estimates of the

critical conditions) is shown to yield among other useful outcomes, closed-form
approximate expressions of the wind speed for torsional divergence. Reduced-order
models of the bridge response to aeroelastic forces are shown to describe the onset of
flutter with reasonable accuracy. The specialization of the three-dimensional motion
to the planar setting is carried out to study some baseline nonlinear dynamic features
of suspension bridges under dead and live loads. A revisitation of the deflection
theory for the investigation of the planar bridge response is also discussed.
9.2 From the Deflection Theory to Nonlinear Theories

of Suspension Bridges
In 1867, Roebling wrote: It is in large spans where the principle of suspension

will forever stand without a rival, no matter what novelties may turn up in the
future. Within the whole range of engineering, no system of construction presents
such favorable conditions as are offered by the suspension system. . . [414]. His
contemporaries of the caliber of Navier [341] held similar views and predicted spans
of the order of 900 m. In the past century, Amman, upon completing the George
Washington Bridge in 1933, asserted that spans exceeding 3,000 m could be built
with perfect safety, a view that was shared by Steinman.
The collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, four months after its opening in
1940, marked a turning point in bridge design, theory, and experimentation. The
collapse caused by a 67 kilometers-per-hour wind affirmed the necessity to study
bridge aerodynamics by sufficiently accurate models that also account for three-
dimensional behavior. In those times, the only available theory was the deflection
theory, an account of which is offered in the next sections together with some
improvements. The understanding of the aeroelastic behavior of suspension bridges
with bluff-shaped decks and the theories enabling alternative designs have evolved
considerably in the past decades.
The advances in design, computational theories, materials, and construction
methods have made possible suspension spans up to nearly 2,000 m (Akashi–Kaikyo
Bridge in Japan) and ultra-long spans are envisioned for the future (the crossings
of the Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily and the crossing of Gibraltar
between Europe and Africa). In particular, high-strength steels have allowed longer
and longer spans in suspension bridges, which can also carry greater loads such
as those of railroads. In addition, tremendous advances in construction techniques
have been achieved as a result of technological transfer from deep-see oil platform
technology. New stronger, lightweight materials, such as carbon composites or fiber
glass composites, and, in the future, carbon nanotube-based cables will soon start
to penetrate bridge construction and push forward the design of ultra-long span
bridges. There is a need for more advanced nonlinear theories which can enable
high-fidelity, computationally affordable, fast predictions of the response of these
formidable structures to wind and earthquake excitations.
From the modeling and computational points of view, the current vitality of
research on bridge dynamics and design moves along at least four directions: (a)
bridge aerodynamics, (b) nonlinear structural theories of suspension bridges, (c)
aeroelastic and vibration control so as to guarantee bridge serviceability under
wind, and traffic, and to avoid collapse during earthquakes, and (d) development
of structural health monitoring systems that allow diagnosis of the current bridge
health and prognosis for the assessment of its residual life.
In the following sections, the derivation of the structural theories based on
geometrically exact models of suspension bridges deforming in three-dimensional
space is illustrated. The very first theory of suspension bridges, the so-called
deflection theory, was established independently by Müller-Breslau and Melan
[313] in the late nineteenth century. Roebling’s Brooklyn Bridge, completed in
1884, was too early to be influenced by Melan’s deflection theory. The first bridge
design based on the deflection theory was carried out by Moisseiff in 1904 for
the Manhattan Bridge. Three decades later, Steinman [413] and Moisseiff [325]
proposed a generalized version of the deflection theory in order to account also
for lateral forces. The deflection theory [35, 371, 434] introduces in the classical
(linear) beam equation the cable load-bearing forces comprising the pretension
under dead loads and the incremental tension caused by live loads (truncated to
second-order terms).
Other ad hoc nonlinear theories were proposed to explain the nonlinear physical
characteristics of oscillating suspension bridges. These theories represent the
asymmetric behavior of the hangers by treating them as bilateral springs that can
only resist tensile loads [161, 180, 211, 266, 310].
Significant breakthroughs toward theories for three-dimensional flexural–
torsional motion are found in [1–3]. In particular, a general theory and analysis
of nonlinear free coupled vertical-torsional vibrations of suspension bridges are
reported in [3]. A few other works (cf. [81, 82]) presented nonlinear studies
of suspension bridges and footbridges based on the deflection theory. Recently,
nonlinearly coupled vertical-torsional vibrations of suspension bridges were
investigated by the asymptotic method of multiple scales [100].
The models illustrated in this chapter advance existing theories such as the
nonlinear theory of Abdel–Ghaffar [1–3]. The use of distributed-parameter models
for suspension bridges allows closed-form expressions of the limit states to be
obtained (e.g., torsional divergence or flutter) with much less computational effort
than finite element procedures. At the same time, the parametric models allow
extensive parametric investigations of the static and elastodynamic response in a
wide range of parameter variations toward design optimization, control, and layout
of structural health monitoring systems.
9.2.1 The Theory of Suspension Bridges Deforming

in Three-Dimensional Space
Exposition of the three-dimensional geometrically exact theory requires a prelimi-

nary discussion of a few central kinematic and mechanical aspects. The girder with
the deck is designed to be sufficiently stiff with respect to torsional excitations
and as such to preserve the cross-sectional shape. Thus the deck-girder system can
be reasonably modeled as a three-dimensional beam (cf. Chap. 5). The suspension
cables are constrained through the saddles atop the towers. These points can thus
be treated as immovable because of the high stiffness of the towers compared with
the deck stiffness and provided that the towers are not forced horizontally by strong
excitations.
The suspension cables are symmetrically arranged with respect to the plane of
symmetry of the deck-girder, thus an even number of cables is considered, although
for simplicity, the actual derivation of the model for two suspension cables is
presented here.
The static and dynamic response of the bridge is purely planar if the applied
forces can be reduced to resultant forces per unit reference length lying in the plane
of symmetry of the bridge. Under these circumstances, the ensemble of suspension
cables can be replaced by one single equivalent cable having its cross section equal
to the sum of the cross sections of all cables that lie in the bridge plane of symmetry.
The planar case is treated as a special case of the three-dimensional problem
presented in the following sections in its kinematic, dynamic, and constitutive
aspects.
The theory of deformation. The main kinematic assumptions for the model of
suspension bridges can be outlined as follows: (a) the towers are replaced by
immovable support points for the suspension cables; (b) the deck-girder system is
modeled as a beam (with rigid cross sections) deforming in three-dimensional space;
(c) the suspension cables are modeled as purely extensible cables and connected to
the bridge deck by means of distributed extensible hangers represented as purely
extensible taut cables. The constructed model is capable of describing accurately
the overall response of the bridge to static and dynamic excitation including global
instabilities such as torsional divergence or flexural–torsional flutter.
A total Lagrangian formulation of the bridge problem is employed starting with
the description of the reference configuration of the deck-girder system and the
cables. To this end, it is worth noting that the construction of the bridge girder
is typically achieved in incremental steps by hanging the midspan girder segment
from the suspension cables followed by a sequence of symmetric girder segments on
either side which are finally adjoined to form the whole deck-girder (cf. Chap. 3).
The reasonable assumption is made that the loads are applied on the deck-girder
all at once in the stress-free configuration of the girder supported as a whole
by the suspension cables (cf. Sect. 3.3.1 where the naturally discrete incremental
construction process of suspension bridges is discussed).
Prior to being loaded by the deck-girder weight, the suspension cables occupy the
catenary equilibrium states. The deck-girder system is constructed with an initial
small rise compared to the span so that under dead and live loads it does not
experience significant deflections that can result in downward bent configurations.
Here the initial rise is neglected and it is assumed that the stress-free configuration
is straight.
The fixed Cartesian reference frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / has its origin coincident with
the base point of the deck section sitting on the left tower (in the plane of symmetry
of the towers) and the axis e 1 is collinear with the longitudinal direction of the
bridge (see Fig. 9.3).
Reference configuration. The reference configuration B of the deck-girder is
represented by the position vector of the base line (for convenience taken as the
centerline) described by r D xe 1 , x 2 Œ0; l, and the set of directors .b2 ; b3 / D
.e 2 ; e 3 / which gives the orientation of the cross section shown in Fig. 9.4. For
the formulation of the bridge problem as a (space-wise) one-dimensional elastic
problem, x is selected as the single space coordinate (along the straight base line of
B). Hence, the material points of the deck-girder system are described by x D rCx S
where x S WD x2 b2 C x3 b3 is the position vector of the material points of the cross
section with respect to the base point (here, the center of mass of the cross section).
The hangers are anchored to the deck along the lines given by x ˙ D r ˙ b2 e 3 C ae 2
where b is the distance between the two systems of vertical hangers and a is the
vertical distance between the center of mass of the deck-girder cross section and the
upper (structural) plane of the deck.
The elastic catenary equilibrium states of the two suspension cables under their
own weight are described by r ˙ D x ˙ C h.x/e 2 ; where the superscript C denotes
B
e2 r-
r+
x-
O r x
e1 C
e3 x+
Fig. 9.3 Inertial reference frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / and the reference configuration B. The position
vectors of the suspension cables (catenary configurations) and the hanger attachment points to the
deck are described by r ˙ and x ˙ ; respectively; the position vector of the base line of the deck-
girder is described by r
v-
v+
φ1
2
e2 u-
2
u +
3
a
u
C
e3 3 B
Fig. 9.4 Kinematic descriptors: M 1 is the twist rotation of the deck-girder, uM is the displacement
of the base point (i.e., center of mass of the girder), vM C and vM are the displacements of the
suspension cables. The displacements of the hanger anchorage points are denoted by uM ˙
the cable that undergoes increments of tension when the deck is subject to a
counterclockwise rotation while the superscript denotes the cable that suffers a
loss of tension. h.x/ is a continuous function that describes the undeformed length
of the hangers according to h.x/ WD hT C y c .x/, where hT is the height of the towers
above the deck, and the function y c .x/ describes the catenary equilibrium1 given
in the nondimensional parametric form .x c .s/; y c .s// by (3.56) and (3.57) where
s is the arclength coordinate along the base curves of the undeformed cables. The
elastic catenary equilibrium depends on (L; l; H c ; %AC g; EAC /, where L is the
undeformed cable length, l is the bridge span, and EAC is the cable elastic stiffness.
An important unknown of the equilibrium is the horizontal projection H c of the
tension N c caused by the cable weight per unit length denoted by %AC g.
Because the elastic stretching contribution to the elastic catenary equilibrium is
inversely proportional to EAC =H c (typical values for long-span suspension cables
are of the order of 103 ), it is reasonable to assume that the cables are inextensible
under their own weight. The inextensible catenary equilibrium is given by (3.46).
Deformed configuration. To describe the actual configuration BM of the bridge, let
M
r.x; t/ represent the actual position of the chosen base line while the set of directors
.bM 2 ; bM 3 / together with bM 1 D bM 2 bM 3 describes the actual orientation of the deck-
girder cross sections shown in Fig. 9.4. The cross section-fixed directors bM k are
described by the orthogonal tensor R.x; M t/ through bM k D R M bM k : The tensor R
M
is parametrized by the angles M 1 (twist angle) and .M2 ; M 3 / (flexural angles). Hence,
the position of the material points of the cross section at x and t is r.x; M t/ C xM S with
xM D x2 bM 2 Cx3 bM 3 D R
S M x : On the other hand, the actual position of the suspension
S
cables is rM ˙ .x; t/.

Let uM be the displacement vector of the deck-girder and vM ˙ be the displacements
of the suspension cables so that the current position of the base line of the
1
Note that y c is negative since the cable configuration is downward, hence in the direction opposite
to e 2 : Moreover, H c is the horizontal projection of the tension N c caused by the weight mg per
unit reference length, where m WD %AC is the cable mass per unit reference length and g is the
acceleration due to gravity. The sag-to-span ratio is taken as a design datum for the suspension
cables, d WD y c .s D L=2/= l; where l is the bridge main span, the horizontal force H c is obtained
by solving, for the elastic catenary, the following two transcendental equations in .L; H c / W
2s 3
2
mgl 2
2 Hc 4 mgl L
L= l C 1C 15 D d;
8EAC mg 2H c l

L mgl mgl L Hc
D sinh 1 ; (9.1)
l 2H c 2H c l EA
while for the inextensible catenary, H c is obtained by solving

Hc mgl
cosh 1 D d: (9.2)
mg 2H c
deck-girder is expressed as rM C uM while the actual configurations of the cables are

described by rM ˙ .x; t/ WD r ˙ .x/ C vM ˙ .x; t/: To represent the actual position of
the hanger anchorage points to the deck, the displacement of the deck-girder cross
section and the contribution due to the rotation R M of the cross section are taken into
account. Thus the position vectors of these points are
xM ˙ .x; t/ D r.x; M
M t/ C R.x; t/ x S
˙
(9.3)
while the displacement vectors are
M ˙ b
uM ˙ .x; t/ D u.x;
M t/ C .R.x; t/ I/ x S D u C a.bM 2 e 2 / ˙ .bM 3 e 3 /
2
(9.4)
where x S ˙ D ae 2 ˙ b2 e 3 (see Fig. 9.4).

The vector that identifies the current direction of the hangers is the difference
between the vector of their attachment points to the cables and the vector of the
anchorage points to the deck: rM ˙ .x; t/ xM ˙ .x; t/ D h.x/e 2 C vM ˙ .x; t/ uM ˙ .x; t/:
The kinematic descriptors of the three-dimensional suspension bridge problem
are thus given by the following three vector-valued fields and one orthogonal tensor-
valued field (function of the three rotations):
M
u.x; M M1 .x; t/; M2 .x; t/; M3 .x; t/; x 2 Œ0; l; t 2 Œ0; 1/:
t/; vM C .x; t/; vM .x; t/; RŒ
Overall, 12 kinematic unknowns are thus necessary to describe the three-

dimensional motion of suspension bridges.
Strain parameters. Let s and s c , respectively, be the arclength coordinates along
the stress-free and the catenary configurations (each individual cable under its own
weight) of either suspension cable. A cable-fixed basis is chosen with ac1 in the
direction tangential to the catenary and ac2 in the normal direction, thus ac3 D ac1
ac2 e 3 . By denoting the angle between ac1 and e 1 by c , the unit vectors are
expressed in the fixed basis as ac1 D cos c e 1 C sin c e 2 and ac2 D sin c e 1 C
cos c e 2 : Here and henceforth, the subscript 1 in ac1 is dropped, hence ac1 DW ac .
The key to transform derivatives with respect to the arclength s or s c into
derivatives with respect to x is to use the Chain Rule according to which
@./ @./ dx ds c @./

D D c cos c (9.5)
@s @x ds c ds @x
since dx=ds c D ac e 1 D cos c and ds c =ds D c where c is the elastic stretch of

the cables in the catenary states.
Thus the total stretches M ˙ of the suspension cables, given by M ˙ WD jrM ˙ s j,
become
2 2 2 1=2
M ˙ WD c cos c 1 C @x vM1˙ C tan c C @x vM 2˙ C @x vM 3˙ : (9.6)
For the formulation of the dynamic bridge problem, it is useful to calculate

the unit vector tangent to the current configuration of the cables given by aM ˙ D
@s rM ˙ =M ˙ D . c cos c = ˙ /@x r ˙ which leads to
c cos c
aM ˙ D ˙
1 C @x vM 1˙ e 1 C tan c C @x vM 2˙ e 2 C @x vM 3˙ e 3 : (9.7)
M
The strain parameters for the deck-girder system are those introduced in the
three-dimensional theory of straight beams (cf. Chap. 5), with the difference that
the local axes are chosen here so as to have the unit vector bM 1 in the normal
direction to the rotated cross section. Consequently, rM x DW M bM 1 C M 2 bM 2 C M 3 bM 3
M bM k : The parameters .;
and @x bM k D M M 2 ; M 3 / represent the stretch and the shear
strains along the bM 2 and bM 3 directions, respectively, while M is the curvature vector.
Problem 9.1 (Nonlinear straindisplacement relationships). Show that the
straindisplacement relationships for the stretch and shear strains for the sequence
of rotations 3 ! 2 ! 1 are
M D .1 C @x uM 1 / cos M2 cos M3 C @x uM 2 cos M2 sin M 3 @x uM 3 sin M2 ; (9.8)

M 2 D .1 C @x uM 1 / sin M1 sin M2 cos M 3 cos M1 sin M 3

C @x uM 2 cos M1 cos M3 C sin M 1 sin M2 sin M 3 C @x uM 3 sin M1 cos M2 ; (9.9)

M 3 D .1 C @x uM 1 / cos M1 sin M 2 cos M3 C sin M1 sin M3

C @x uM 2 cos M1 sin M 2 sin M3 sin M1 cos M 3 C @x uM 3 cos M1 cos M2 : (9.10)
Problem 9.2 (Nonlinear curvaturedisplacement relationships). Show that the

components of the curvature vector , M M 1 (twist curvature) and .M 2 ; M 3 / (f lexural
M according to the sequence M 3 ! M 2 ! M1
curvatures), for the parametrization of R
are given (cf. 9.12) by
M 1 D @x M 1 @x M 3 sin M 2 ; (9.11)
M 2 D @x M 2 cos M1 C @x M 3 sin M1 cos M 2 ; (9.12)

M 3 D cos 1 cos 2 @x M 3 @x M2 sin M 1 : (9.13)
Unshearability of the deck-girder. The same considerations given about

unshearable beams in Chap. 5 can be applied to the deck-girder system which is
slender by design. The unshearability of the deck-girder system corresponds to
imposing M 2 D 0 D M 3 . These internal kinematic constraints yield
@x uM 2 D .1 C @x uM 1 / tan M3 ; @x uM 3 D .1 C @x uM 1 / tan M2 =cos M3 : (9.14)

Kinematically, the unshearability causes the cross sections to rotate flexurally about
bM 2 and bM 3 by angles M 2 and M3 , respectively, so as to maintain their orthogonality to
the deformed base line. In particular, the trigonometric functions of these angles are
given by
q
.1 C @x uM 1 /2 C @x uM 22 @x uM 3
cos M2 D q ; sin M2 D q ;
.1 C @x uM 1 /2 C @x uM 22 C @x uM 23 .1 C @x uM 1 /2 C @x uM 22 C @x uM 23
1 C @x uM 1 @x uM 2
cos M3 D q ; sin M3 D q : (9.15)
.1 C @x uM 1 /2 C @x uM 22 .1 C @x uM 1 /2 C @x uM 22
The resulting expression of the total bridge stretch is

q
M D .1 C @x uM 1 /2 C @x uM 22 C @x uM 23 : (9.16)
To complete the kinematic description of the bridge problem, the stretches of the
hangers (denoted by superscripts C and ) are given by
2 2 ˙ 2 1=2
M H˙ D vM 1˙ uM ˙
1 C h C vM 2˙ uM ˙
2 C vM3 uM ˙
3 = h: (9.17)
The unit vector collinear with the current configuration of the hangers is

eM ˙
H WD he 2 C vM ˙ uM ˙ =.hM H˙ /: (9.18)
Linearization of the strains. The major results of the linearized kinematic

M is
relationships can be summarized as follows. The superposed sign such as ./
omitted for ease of notation. The linearized rotation matrix is:
2 3
1 3 2
R(1) D 4 3 1 1 5 : (9.19)
2 1 1
Moreover, the linearized deck-girder stretch, shear strains, and flexural curvatures
are given by
(1) D 1 C @x u1 ; 2 D 3 C @x u2 ;
(1) 3 D 2 C @x u3 ;
(1) (9.20)
1 D @x 1 ;
(1)
2 D @x 2 ;
(1)
3 D @x 3 :
(1)
(9.21)
The linearized flexural rotation angles and flexural curvatures that take into account
the unshearability constraint read:
2(1) D @x u3 ; 3(1) D @x u2 ; 2 D @x u3 ;

(1) 2
3 D @x u2 :
(1) 2
(9.22)
On the other hand, the linearized stretches of the suspension cables and the
tangent vectors aM ˙ are given by
˙
(1) D c 1 C cos2 c @x v1˙ C @x v2˙ tan c ; (9.23)

˙ ˙ 1 ˙
a(1) D a C cos
c c
sin @x v1 sin 2 @x v2 e 1
2 c c
2

1 ˙ ˙ ˙
C sin 2 @x v1 C cos @x v2 e 2 C @x v3 :
c 2 c
(9.24)
2
Vectors a(1) ˙ resulting from the linearization of a˙ are not of unit length. If the
elasticity of the cables under their own weight is neglected, the elastic catenary
becomes the inextensible catenary with c D 1 and (9.23) and (9.24) are simplified
accordingly.
By linearizing the displacements of the hanger attachment points to the deck,
expressed by (9.4) and by accounting for b(1) 1 D e 1 C3 e 2 2 e 3 ; b2 D 3 e 1 C
(1) (1) (1) (1)
e 2 C 1 e 3 ; b3 D 2 e 1 1 e 2 C e 3 ; the displacements are obtained as

(1) (1) (1) (1)

˙ b (1) b (1)
u(1) D u(1) 1 ˙ a (1)
e 1 C u (1)
e 2 C u (1)
C a (1)
e 3 : (9.25)
2 2 3 2
2 1 3 1
The linearized stretches of the hangers thus become

˙
H(1) D 1 C .v2˙ u2 /= h ˙ b=.2h/1:
Equations of motion. The mechanical data of the problem are, for the cables, the
resultant forces f ˙ .x; t/ per unit reference length x, and, for the deck-girder, the
resultant forces and couples per unit reference length denoted by .f.x; t/; c.x; t//,
respectively. These resultants are defined by reducing the distributed forces applied
on the cables and bridge deck to the corresponding base curves. Dead loads (i.e.,
weight of the structural and nonstructural parts) and live loads (e.g., wind, traffic,
earthquake, etc.) are incorporated in the resultants which can be expressed in
component form of the fixed frame as

f ˙ .x; t/ D f1˙ .x; t/e 1 C f2˙ .x; t/ %AC .x/g e 2 C f3˙ .x; t/e 3 ;
f.x; t/ D f1 .x; t/e 1 C Œf2 .x; t/ %Ag e 2 C f3 .x; t/e 3 ;
c.x; t/ D c1 .x; t/e 1 C c2 .x; t/e 2 C c3 .x; t/e 3
where %AC .x/ WD %AoC sec c = c is the cable weight per unit reference length x, %AoC
is the cable mass per unit arclength, and %A is the mass of the deck-girder system
per unit reference length x.
First, the stress resultants in each structural deformed member are introduced;
subsequently, the same derivation of the equations of motion followed for cables
(cf. Chap. 3) and beams (cf. Chap. 5) is pursued. The purely extensible cables have
stress resultants in the form of contact force vectors directed in the current tangential
direction of the cables
nM ˙ .x; t/ D NM ˙ .x; t/aM ˙ .x; t/ (9.26)
where the unit vectors aM ˙ .x; t/ are given by (9.7) and the scalars NM ˙ denote the
tensions to be defined through suitable constitutive equations.
On the other hand, the generalized state of stress in the deck-girder is represented
by the following contact force and contact couple:
M
n.x; t/ D NM .x; t/bM 1 .x; t/ C QM 2 .x; t/bM 2 .x; t/ C QM 3 .x; t/bM 3 .x; t/;
M
m.x; t/ D TM .x; t/bM 1 .x; t/ C MM 2 .x; t/bM 2 .x; t/ C MM 3 .x; t/bM 3 .x; t/ (9.27)
where NM is the tension; .QM 2 ; QM 3 / are the shear forces in the bM 2 and bM 3 directions,
respectively; TM is the twisting moment, and .MM 2 ; MM 3 / are the two flexural moments.
By virtue of the unshearability constraint, the two shear forces are treated as reactive
forces to be eliminated from the equations of motion.
The suspension cables and the deck-girder interact through the tension forces
in the hangers which are obtained solely by equilibrium equations thus neglecting
inertia forces.2 Since the hangers are made of very slender and highly flexible
strands, they behave like taut cables, prestressed by constant tensions caused by
dead loads on the bridge. By adopting the same notation used for the two suspension
cables, the tension in the kth hanger at position xk is represented by nM ˙ H
.xk ; t/ D
M ˙ ˙
NHk .xk ; t/eM Hk .xk ; t/; while the overall distribution delivered by M hangers is
X
M
nM ˙
H .x; t/ D NM Hk˙ .x; t/eM ˙
Hk .x; t/ı.x xk / (9.28)
kD1
where ı./ denotes the Dirac-delta function. The balance of linear and angular
momentum of the individual members yields the equations of motion of the
suspension bridge. The equations of motion for the suspension cables are
2
The overall mass of the hangers is very small compared to the mass of the suspension cables and
of the deck-girder, thus their contribution to the balance of linear momentum can be neglected.
The Storebælt East Bridge [131] serves as a good example of a long-span suspension bridge.
The suspension cables having diameter equal to 0.827 m and length equal to 1,676 m possess a
mass per unit length equal to 8,703.39 kg/m which results in a total weight of 138,657.56 kN.
On the other hand, the two systems of 66 hangers, whose mass per unit length is 126.24 kg/m,
weigh 2,011.15 kN. The deck-girder is made of 48 m-long segments, each weighing 5,199.3 kN.
Therefore, the mass per unit reference length of the deck-girder is 11,041.67 kg/m and the overall
weight is 175,909.7 kN. Consequently, the mass of the hangers is only about 0.64 % of the total
mass of the suspension cables and deck-girder.
@x nM C nM C
H C f
C
D %AC .x/@t t rM C ; (9.29)
@x nM nM
H
C f D %AC .x/@t t rM : (9.30)
On the other hand, the equations of motion of the deck-girder system, obtained
by choosing the centerline as base line, originate from the balance of linear and
angular momentum of a finite segment of deck-girder whose cross sections, in the
reference configuration, are described by the coordinates xo and x: The local form
of the balance of linear and angular momentum is obtained as
@x nM C fM C nM C M
H C n H D %A@t t r;
M (9.31)
M C @x rM nM C .xM C r/
@x m M nM C M r/
H C .x M nM
H C c
M
D %J @t !
M C!
M .%J !/:
M (9.32)
The latter, by virtue of xM ˙ rM DW xM S˙ D abM 2 ˙b=2bM 3 obtained from (9.3), becomes

bM
M C @x rM nM C abM 2 .nM C
@x m M
H C nH/C b3 .nM C M
H nH/C c
M
2
D %J @t !
M C!
M .%J !/:
M (9.33)
Typical deck-girders are characterized by having a << b; hence the contribution

ab2 .nM C M
H C nH / can be neglected in favor of a simpler form of the angular
momentum equation:
bM

M C @x rM nM C
@x m b3 nM C
H
M
n
H
C cM D %J @t !
M C!
M .%J !/:
M (9.34)
2
Equations (9.29), (9.30), (9.31), and (9.34) lead to four vector-valued equations
of motion, which imply 12 scalar equations of motion in the 12 kinematic
unknowns: vM ˙ ; u; M .M1 ; M 2 ; M 3 / which, in fixed component form, read: .vM 1˙ ; vM2˙ ; vM3˙ /,
.Mu1 ; uM 2 ; uM 3 / and .M 1 ; M 2 ; M3 / for the cables and for the deck-girder, respectively. Six
scalar functions describe the dynamics of the two cables and six functions (three
displacements and three rotations) describe those of the deck-girder.
If the internally constrained model of the bridge with the unshearable deck-girder
is considered, the number of equations of motion goes down to 10 as does the
number of kinematic unknowns, namely .vM 1˙ ; vM 2˙ ; vM 3˙ ; uM 1 ; uM 2 ; uM 3 ; M 1 /:
equations of motion is obtained by choosing suitable reference frames for the
projection. One of such choices is the cable-fixed bases faM ˙ M˙
1 ;a M˙
2 ;a 3 g for the cables
and the deck-fixed basis fbM 1 ; bM 2 ; bM 3 g for the deck-girder. However, the projection
of the hanger forces and the inertia forces into these different frames can result in
complicated expressions. Another choice is to take the fixed basis for both systems
or for one of them. The deck-fixed basis is considered here for the deck-girder while
the fixed basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g is chosen for the cables.
The unshearability conditions for the deck-girder M 2 D 0 D M 3 give @x rM D M bM 1 .

The forces and couples are expressed in the local frame as fM D fM1 bM 1 C fM2 bM 2 C fM3 bM 3
and cM D cM1 bM 1 C cM2 bM 2 C cM3 bM 3 while the component representation for the hanger
tensions reads nM ˙
H
D hM ˙ M M˙ M M˙ M
1 b1 C h2 b2 C h3 b3 . Therefore, the local component form
of the equations of motion for the deck-girder is
@x NM M 3 QM 2 C M 2 QM 3 C fM1 C hM C M M bM 1 ;
1 C h1 D %A@t t r (9.35)
@x QM 2 C M 3 NM M 1 QM 3 C fM2 C hM C M M bM 2 ;
2 C h2 D %A@t t r (9.36)
@x QM 3 M 2 NM C M 1 QM 2 C fM3 C hM C M M bM 3 ;
3 C h3 D %A@t t r (9.37)
b MC M
@x TM M 3 MM 2 C M 2 MM 3 h2 h2 C cM1 D %J @t ! M C! M .%J !/M bM 1 ;
2
(9.38)
b
@x MM 2 CM 3 TM M 1 MM 3 M QM 3 C hM C hM
1 CcM2 D %J @t !C
M ! M bM 2 ;
M .%J !/
2 1
(9.39)

@x MM 3 M 2 TM C M 1 MM 2 C M QM 2 C cM3 D %J @t !M C! M bM 3 : (9.40)
M .%J !/
On the other hand, the six equations of motion for the cables in the fixed frame
are obtained letting the displacements and tensions be expressed as vM ˙ D vM1˙ e 1 C
vM 2˙ e 2 C vM3˙ e 3 and nM ˙ D NM 1˙ e 1 C NM 2˙ e 2 C NM 3˙ e 3 with NM k˙ WD NM ˙ aM ˙ e k . The
ensuing equations of motion read:
˙
@x NM 1˙ .hM ˙ M M˙ M M˙ M M M1˙ ;
1 b1 C h2 b2 C h3 b3 / e 1 C f e 1 D %AC .x/@t t v (9.41)
@x NM 2˙ .hM ˙ M M˙ M M˙ M M˙ M2˙ ;
@x NM 3˙ .hM ˙ M M˙ M M˙ M M˙ M3˙ :
To obtain the final form of the equations, the condensation of the girder shear
forces is pursued by solving (9.39) and (9.40) for the shear forces QM 2 and QM 3 thus
obtaining
QM 2 D Œ@x MM 3 C M 2 TM M 1 MM 2 cM3 C .%J @t ! C ! M bM 3 =;

M .%J !// M
b
QM 3 D Œ@x MM 2 CM 3 TM M 1 MM 3 C hM C M
1 h1 CcM2 .%J @t !C
M ! M bM 2 =:
M .%J !// M
2
(9.44)
The shear forces (9.44) are substituted into (9.35)(9.37) which together with
(9.38) and (9.41)(9.43) form the governing equations of motion of the internally
constrained suspension bridge.
Constitutive equations. The calculation of the global static and dynamic response
features, such as the mode shapes and associated frequencies or the aeroelastic limit
states (torsional divergence, flutter, etc.) can be carried out using linearly elastic
constitutive equations or linearly viscoelastic equations. The limit states associated
with static/dynamic instabilities are often induced within the linearly elastic range
of the construction materials such as composites, steel, metallic alloys, and concrete.
The total tensions in the cables are expressed within a total Lagrangian formula-
tion as
NM ˙ .x; t/ D EAC .x/ŒM ˙ .x; t/ 1 (9.45)
where the total stretches M ˙ incorporate the stretch of the catenary and the
incremental stretch due to the motion from the catenary to the current configuration.
However, the deformation from the catenary to the current configuration is what
matters for the problem associated with dead and live loads. The total tensions
are thus expressed as the summation of the initial tensions due to gravity in the
catenary and the incremental elastic tensions due to the subsequent deformation
whose associated incremental stretches are M ˙ .x; t/= c .x/ whereby

NM ˙ .x; t/ D N c .x/ C EAC .x/ M ˙ .x; t/= c .x/ 1 : (9.46)
Linearly elastic constitutive equations for the deck-girder system are introduced as
NM .x; t/ D EA.x/..x;
M t/ 1/;
TM .x; t/ D GJ1 .x/M 1 .x; t/; MM j .x; t/ D EJj .x/M j .x; t/; j D 1; 2: (9.47)
For the hangers, whose contact vectors are nM ˙

Hk
D NM Hk
˙ ˙
eM Hk ; the linearly elastic
constitutive equations are
˙
NM Hk
˙
.xk ; t/ D EAHk M Hk .xk ; t/ 1 (9.48)
where EAHk denotes the axial stiffness of the kth hanger.

Boundary conditions and nondimensionalization. The context of a single-span
suspension bridge is discussed to simplify the exposition. In this case, the boundary
conditions are such that the cables are fully constrained to the saddles atop the
towers while the end girder sections sitting on the lower supports of the towers are
subject to vertical/lateral constraints and torsional restraints, and are moment free.
Consequently, the boundary conditions can be expressed as
v1˙ .0/ D 0; v2˙ .0/ D 0; v3˙ .0/ D 0; v1˙ .l/ D 0; v2˙ .l/ D 0; v3˙ .l/ D 0;
u1 .0/ D 0; u2 .0/ D 0; u3 .0/ D 0; 1 .0/ D 0; M2 .0/ D 0; M3 .0/ D 0;
u1 .l/ D 0; u2 .l/ D 0; u3 .l/ D 0; 1 .l/ D 0; M2 .l/ D 0; M3 .l/ D 0:
(9.49)
The dependence of the functions on time is dropped here for ease of notation.
By scalingpthe lengths by the bridge span l and time by the characteristic

time 1=!b D %Al 4 =EJ3 ; the nondimensional displacements and curvatures, the
nondimensional forces and couples, are obtained as:
yc ˙ v˙ ui fi l 3 ci l 2
yN c WD ; vNi WD i ; uN i WD ; N i WD li ; fNi WD ; cNi WD :
l l l EJ3 EJ3
Furthermore, the independent elasto-geometric parameters of the suspension
bridge are
s
Nb WD b ; C WD %AC ; rN WD %J1
;
l %A %Al 2
H cl 2 EAC l 3 EAH l 2 EAl 2
˛ c WD ; C WD ; H WD ; D ;
EJ3 EJ3 LC EJ3 EJ3
GJ1 EJ2 GAj l 2
ˇ T WD ; ˇ F WD ; ˇjS D ; j D 2; 3: (9.50)
EJ3 EJ3 EJ3
Linearized equations of motion. The linearized constitutive equations are

˙ ˙
N (1) ˙ D N c C c cos2 c EAC @x v1(1) C @x v2(1) tan c ;
N (1) D EA@x u(1)
1 ; M2 D EJ2 @x u3 ; M3 D EJ3 @x u2 ; T
(1) 2 (1) (1) 2 (1) (1)
D GJ1 @x 1(1) ;
˙ ˙
NH(1) D EAH .v2(1) u(1)
2 /= h ˙ b=.2h/1 :
(1)
(9.51)
The pretension in the cables is the summation of the tension under their own weight
and the incremental tension caused by dead and live loads, namely N (1) ˙ D N c C
NQ (1)˙ where

N c .x/ D EAC . c .x/ 1/; NQ (1)˙ WD c cos2 c EAC @x v1(1)˙ C @x v2(1)˙ tan c :
The linearization of the equations of motion for the cables and the deck-girder
yields

@x N c a1(1)˙ C NQ (1)˙ cos c C f1˙ D %AC .x/@t t v1˙ ;

@x N c a2(1)˙ C NQ (1) ˙ sin c / NH(1)˙ C f2˙ D %AC .x/@t t v2˙ ;

@x cos c N c @x v3˙ C f3˙ D %AC .x/@t t v3˙ ; (9.52)
@x N (1) C f1 D %A@t t u1 ;
C
@x Q2(1) C NH(1) C NH(1) C f2 D %A@t t u2 ; @x Q3(1) C f3 D %A@t t u3 ;
b (1) C
@x T (1) NH NH(1) C c1 D J1 @t t 1 ; (9.53)
2
@x M2(1) Q3(1) C c2 D J2 @t t 2 ;
@x M3(1) C Q2(1) C c3 D J3 @t t 3
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
where h(1)
2 D NH(1) and h(1) 1 D 0 D h(1)3 and .x c .s/; y c .s// is the parametric
representation of the elastic catenary configuration of the suspension cables subject
to gravity, and ai(1)˙ D a(1)˙ e i is given by (9.24).
The linearized shear forces are

Q2(1) D J3 @t t 3 @x M3(1) C c3 ; Q3(1) D J2 @t t 2 C @x M2(1) C c2 : (9.54)
Thus the linearized condensed equations of motion of the deck-girder become

@x N (1) C f1 D %A@t t u(1)
1 ;
C
@2x M3(1) C NH(1) C NH(1) C f2 @x c3 D %A@t t u(1)
2 @x .J3 @t t 3 /;
(1)
@2x M2(1) C f3 C @x c2 D %A@t t u(1)

3 C @x .J2 @t t 2 /;
(1)
b (1) C
@x T (1) N NH(1) C c1 D J1 @t t 1(1). (9.55)
2 H
(1) (1)
where 2 and 3 are given by (9.22).
By assembling all equations of motion and dropping the superscript (1) , the
following 10 linearized equations of motion of the suspension bridge problem are
obtained:

%AC .x/@t t v1˙ @x N c a1(1)˙ CEAC c cos3 c @x v1˙ C@x v2˙ tan c D f1˙ ; (9.56)

%AC .x/@t t v2˙ @x N c a2(1)˙ CEAC c sin c cos2 c @x v1˙ C@x v2˙ tan c

C EAH .v2˙ u2 /= h ˙ b=.2h/1 D f2˙ ; (9.57)

%AC .x/@t t v3˙ @x N c cos c @x v3˙ D f3˙ ; (9.58)
%A@t t u1 @x .EA@x u1 / D f1 ; (9.59)

%A@t t u2 @x .J3 @t t 3 /C@2x .EJ3 @2x u2 /EAH .v2C Cv2 2u2 /= h Df2 @x c3 ;
(9.60)
%A@t t u3 C @x .J2 @t t 2 / C @2x .EJ2 @2x u3 / D f3 C @x c2 ; (9.61)
b
J1 @t t 1 @x .GJ1 @x 1 / C EAH .v2C v2 /= h C b= h1 D c1 : (9.62)
2
The derivation of the linearized boundary conditions is straightforward, thus not
reported here.
Equations of motion with inextensible hangers. The extensibility of the
hangers can be neglected without appreciably affecting the bridge response because
of the significant elasto-geometric stiffness of the hangers themselves. The internal
˙
kinematic constraint Hk D 1; 8k D 1; : : : ; M is obtained from (9.17) which gives
2 2 ˙ 2 ˇ
Œ vM 1˙ uM ˙
1 C h C vM2˙ uM ˙
2 C vM3 uM ˙
3 ˇxDx D h2 .xk /: (9.63)
k
Equation (9.63) is a point-wise kinematic constraint that forces the mutual distance
between the suspension cables and the deck attachment points of the 2M hangers
to remain unchanged. The consequence of the mechanical inextensibility constraint
is that the (2M ) hanger tensions NM Hk˙ must be treated as reactive forces and thus
eliminated from the equations of motion.
Note that it is the magnitude of the hanger forces that cannot be expressed consti-
tutively while the direction of these forces is determined through the kinematics of
the cables and the deck-girder. One way to eliminate the reactive part of the hanger
forces is to use the local equations of motion by considering two cross sections
of the suspension cables, chosen at infinitesimal distances (both to the right and
left) of the hanger locations, and project these equations along suitable directions
(e.g., in the e 2 direction). These equations deliver the 2M hanger forces from pure
balance equations that are in turn substituted into the local equations of motion of
the cables (in the two remaining directions for each cable) and of the deck-girder
system. However, this process is rather convoluted.
The construction of the three-dimensional model with inextensible hangers can
be remarkably simplified if the hanger forces are assumed to be continuously
distributed. This assumption corresponds to a closely spaced distribution of hangers
which in the limit becomes a unidirectional membrane. In this way, the kinematic
constraint between the cables and the deck-girder can be enforced in a continuous
fashion at all attachment points along the span of the bridge; hence, the hanger
reactive force can be easily eliminated using the local balance equations leading to
nM ˙ M˙ M˙
H .x; t/ D NH .x; t/e H .x; t/; (9.64)
where eM ˙ M˙
H .x; t/ is a continuous function of space and time while NH .x; t/,
calculated from (9.29), is given by
˙
NM H˙ .x; t/ D e 2 Œ@x nM ˙ C fM %AC .x/@t t rM ˙ =aH2
˙ (9.65)
where aHj˙
WD eM ˙
H e j . Note that the hangers are prevented from lying in the
˙
direction collinear with the bridge longitudinal direction which implies that aH2
never vanishes. Substituting (9.65) into the projections of (9.29) and (9.30) along the
two remaining directions, namely e 1 and e 3 , and into (9.34) yields the constrained
equations of motion in the form:
˙
@x nM ˙ e 1 e 2 Œ@x nM ˙ C fM %AC .x/@t t rM ˙ aH1
˙ ˙
=aH2 C fM1˙ D %AC .x/@t t rM ˙ e 1 ;
˙
@x nM ˙ e 3 e 2 Œ@x nM ˙ C fM %AC .x/@t t rM ˙ aH3
˙ ˙
=aH2 C fM3˙ D %AC .x/@t t rM ˙ e 3 ;
C
@x nM C e 2 Œ@x nM C C fM eM C C
H =aH2 C e 2 Œ@x n M C fM eM
H =aH2 C f
M

D %A@t t rM C %AC .x/ .e 2 @t t rM C /eM C C
M /eM
H =aH2 C .e 2 @t t r

H =aH2 ;
bM C
M
@x mC@ M nC
xr M b3 e 2 .@x nM C C fM /eM C C
H =aH2 e 2 .@x n M C fM /eM
H =aH2 Cc M
2
bM
M !.%J
D %J @t !C M !/C%A
M M C /eM C
C .x/ b3 .e 2 @t t r
C
M /eM
H =aH2 .e 2 @t t r

H =aH2 :
2
(9.66)
9.3 The Theory of Suspension Bridges Undergoing

Planar Motion
The equations of planar motion for suspensions bridges can be obtained from the
presented three-dimensional theory. To recognize quantities referred to different
configurations, the superscript c is again used to indicate the reference (elastic or
inextensible) catenary configuration of the cables subject to gravity. The superscript
o
is used to denote the prestressed equilibrium configuration B o under dead loads.
The notation (M) indicates total quantities referred to the current configuration.
The following kinematic constraints are enforced to obtain planar motions: vM ˙
e 3 =0=uM e 3 ; vM1C D vM 1 ; vM 2C D vM 2 ; M 1 =0=M 2 ; 8x 2 Œ0; l: Hence, the number
M with M WD M3
of independent kinematic variables becomes five: .vM 1 ; vM 2 ; uM 1 ; uM 2 ; /;
denoting the flexural rotation about e 3 :
The mechanical implications are that the two suspension cables exert the same
tension denoted by nM C .x; t/; and the two systems of hangers exhibit the same forces
denoted by nM H .x; t/: The torque per unit reference length exerted by the hangers
b

vanishes according to b3 nM C H
nM H
D o:
2
The equations of motion undergo a major simplification to the following set of
two vector-valued and one scalar partial differential equations:
@x nM C nM H C fM C D %AC .x/@t t v; (9.67)
@x nM C 2nM H C fM D %A@t t u; (9.68)
@x MM C e 3 .M n/
M C cM D %J3 @t t (9.69)
where %AC .x/ WD %AC sec c = c , %AC is the mass per unit undeformed length of the
cables, and %J is the mass moment of inertia of the deck-girder with respect to the
principal inertia axis collinear with e 3 .
A formulation of the planar problem consists of two phases: the prestressed
problem caused by dead loads and the subsequent incremental problem due to live
loads. This allows us to gain insights separately into the nonlinear equilibrium of
the suspension bridge under dead loads and the incremental problem about the
prestressed state. The nonlinear equilibrium of the bridge under dead loads is of
great importance since practically all limit states, including torsional divergence
and flutter, depend on the prestressed condition of the bridge.
9.3 The Theory of Suspension Bridges Undergoing Planar Motion 613
e2
O e1 x
r0
C B
B
0
hT rC
v
B
0
h
r h
r0 B
B
0
u
l
Fig. 9.5 Planar model of the suspension bridge: reference configuration B; equilibrium configu-
ration Bo under dead loads, and actual configuration BM due to live loads
9.3.1 Prestressed Equilibrium Under Dead Loads
The kinematics of the planar prestressed problem are described next followed by the
illustration of the prestressed equilibrium.
The theory of planar deformation. A fixed inertial reference frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 /
is considered. Let its origin coincide with the left support of the suspension cable
(top of the left tower), let .e 1 ; e 2 / lie in the plane of symmetry, x be the coordinate
along the e 1 direction, and s be the arclength along the base curve of the undeformed
cable (see Fig. 9.5).
The initial configuration B is the catenary equilibrium r c .s/ D x c .s/e 1 Cy c .s/e 2
given in nondimensional form by (3.56) and (3.57) for the elastic catenary or by
(3.46) for the inextensible catenary. In this state, the stretch vector is r cs D c ac1
where ac1 is the unit vector collinear with the direction tangential to the catenary.
A cable-fixed basis in B is made of the tangent unit vector ac .x/ WD ac1 , the unit
normal vector ac2 .x/; and ac3 D ac1 ac2 e 3 . Let c D arctan.ysc =xsc / denote
the angle between ac .x/ and e 1 . These unit vectors are thus expressed in the fixed
basis as ac .x/ D cos c e 1 C sin c e 2 and ac2 .x/ D sin c e 1 C cos c e 2 : The
contact force vector is nc .x/ D N c .x/ac .x/: The stress-free configuration of the
deck-girder is described by the position vector of the base line (here, the centerline):
B WD fr D xe 1 hT e 2 ; x 2 Œ0; lg where hT is the height of the towers above the
deck-girder centerline.
The aim of this section is to describe the bridge equilibrium B o under dead loads.
These comprise the weight of the cables, the hangers, the bridge deck-girder, and
the weight of the secondary supported elements. The construction of the bridge
girder is devised in incremental steps by hanging from the cables the midspan girder
segment, then a series of symmetrical girder sections on either side and adjoining
them to form the whole girder. A simplifying assumption is made on the fact that
the deck-girder loads are applied all at once in the stress-free configuration of the
girder supported by the cables through the hangers.
The configuration B o is described next. The position vector of the cable in B o is

expressed as

r oC .x/ D r c .x/ C vo .x/ D x c C v1o e 1 C y c C v2o e 2 (9.70)
where vo .x/ D v1o e 1 Cv2o e 2 is the displacement vector from the catenary equilibrium
to B o : The subscript C denotes quantities referred to the cable.
The cable-fixed basis in B o is denoted by fao1 ; ao2 ; ao3 g with ao1 DW ao tangent to B o
and forming the angle o with e 1 : If denotes the incremental angle (i.e., the angle
between ac and ao ), o D c C is given by the following geometric relationships:

cos o D cos c 1 C @x v1o =Co ; sin o D cos c tan c C @x v2o =Co : (9.71)
Equation (9.71) is obtained employing the expression for the total stretch M C D c Co .
The incremental cable stretch Co is given by
q
2 2
Co D cos c 1 C @x v1o C tan c C @x v2o : (9.72)
The girder configuration in B o is described by the position vector r o expressed as

r o .x/ D r C uo .x/ D x C uo1 e 1 C uo2 hT e 2 (9.73)
where uo .x/ D uo1 e 1 Cuo2 e 2 is the displacement vector from B to B o . The orientation
of the beam cross sections in B o is described by the two unit vectors .bo2 ; bo3 / with
bo1 normal to the cross section rotated by the angle 0 with respect to e 1 :
The beam strains are represented by the stretch o and the shear strain o obtained
from @x r o DW o bo1 C o bo2 with o and o given by (5.5) upon replacement of with
o and .u; v/ with .uo ; v o /. The bending curvature is o D @x o :
Due to its slenderness, the bridge girder is assumed to be unshearable by
imposing the internal kinematic constraint o D 0 which yields the expressions
for the rotation and stretch given by (5.19) and (5.20), respectively.
Next, the geometric transformations of the hangers are described. The actual
2 2
length in B o can be calculated as ho D Œ v1o uo1 C h C v2o uo2 1=2 ; from which
the hanger stretch is obtained as
q
2 2
H .x/ D h = h D 1= h v1o uo1 C h C v2o uo2
o o
(9.74)
where h .x/ D hT jy c .x/j is the stress-free length of the hangers.

Equilibrium under dead loads. The mechanical data are the resultant forces of
dead loads denoted by f oC D fCo 1 e 1 C fC0 2 e 2 and f o D f1o e 1 C f2o e 2 , both lying in
the .e 1 ; e 2 /-plane and the resultant couple c o D c o e 3 .
The two-dimensional specialization of the deck-girder contact force and couple
in B o leads to no .x/ D N o .x/bo1 .x/ C Qo .x/bo2 .x/ and mo .x/ D M o .x/e 3 : The
tension caused in the hangers by the interaction between the cables and the deck-
girder is given by the contact force vector
X
M
noH .x/ D NHko e oHk ı.x xk / (9.75)
kD1
where e oHk D .r oC r o /=jr oC r o jjxDxk ; with jr oC r o jxDxk D Hk

o
h.xk /: The
o
pretension nH in the hangers ensures that they can suffer negative incremental
elongations (before undergoing a total loss of tension) caused by live loads such
as those induced by an earthquake or an aerodynamic instability.
The equilibrium equations are given by (9.67)–(9.69) using the mechanical data
of the dead loads
@x noC noH C f oC D o;
@x no C 2noH C f o D o; (9.76)
@x M o C e 3 .@x r o no / C c o D 0:
The component form of the equilibrium equations in .e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / is

@x NCo cos o NHo e oH e 1 C fCo 1 D 0; (9.77)

@x NCo sin o NHo e oH e 2 C fCo 2 D 0; (9.78)
@x .N o cos o Qo sin o / C 2NHo e oH e 1 C f1o D 0; (9.79)
@x .N sin C Q cos / C 2N e e 2 C f2 D 0;
o o o o o
H
o
H
o
(9.80)
@x M o C o Qo o N o C c o D 0: (9.81)
The horizontal projection of the cable tension HCo WD NCo cos o plays an important
role in later treatments.
Problem 9.3 (Equilibrium equations for unshearable deck-girders.). Derive
the equilibrium equations of the planar suspension bridge problem with the unshear-
able deck-girder.
Solution. Solving (9.81) with o D 0 (and with c o D 0) gives Qo .x/ D
@x M o = o : The equilibrium equations become

@x NC0 cos o NHo e oH e 1 C fC0 1 D 0; @x NC0 sin o NHo e oH e 2 C fC0 2 D 0;
@x .N o cos o C @x M o sin o = o / C 2NHo e oH e 1 C f1o D 0; (9.82)
@x .N o sin o @x M o cos o = o / C 2NHo e oH e 2 C f2o D 0:
9.3.2 Dynamic Problem Due to Live Loads
This section treats the incremental problem that governs the motion from the
M
prestressed configuration B o to the actual configuration B:
Kinematics of the incremental problem. The position vectors of the base curves
of the cable and deck-girder system in BM are
rM C .x; t/ D r oC .x/ C v.x; t/ D r c .x/ C vo .x/ C v.x; t/; (9.83)

M
r.x; t/ D r .x/ C u.x; t/ D r.x/ C u .x/ C u.x; t/
o o
(9.84)
where r oC D r c C vo and r o D r C uo . The displacement vectors v and u describe

the change in configuration from B o to B: M
Let the arclength along the prestressed configuration B o of the cable be denoted
by s o , the arclength along the elastic catenary be s c , while s is chosen to denote the
arclength along the stress-free configuration B. Then, @s rM C D M C aM gives the total
stretch while @s o rM C D C aM gives the incremental stretch expressed as
q
cos c 2 2
C D 1 C @x v1o C @x v1 C tan c C @x v2o C @x v2 (9.85)
Co
where recall that Co represents the incremental stretch from the catenary to B o .
The trigonometric functions of the total angle M between the tangent unit vector
aM and e 1 are:
cos c cos c
cos M D o 1 C @x v1o C @x v1 ; sin M D o tan c C @x v2o C @x v2 :
C C C C
(9.86)
The change in configuration of the deck-girder is described by the displacement

u of the base line and by the rotation of the cross sections about e 3 so that the
section-fixed unit vectors in the current configuration are rotated with respect to
the reference configuration by M D o C : The total strains are obtained from
@x rM DW M bM 1 C M bM 2 , thus,

M D 1 C @x uo1 C @x u1 cos M C @x uo2 C @x u2 sin ;
M

M D 1 C @x uo1 C @x u1 sin M C @x uo2 C @x u2 cos :
M (9.87)
The unshearability of the deck-girder (i.e., M D 0), also in this context, gives
@x uo2 C @x u2

M D arctan ;
1 C @x uo1 C @x u1
2 2 1=2
M D 1 C @x uo1 C @x u1 C @x uo2 C @x u2 : (9.88)
The incremental stretch of the deck-girder is also obtained in a straightforward

manner as D = M o when the unshearability condition M D 0 is enforced.
Moreover, the total bending curvature is M D M x while the incremental bending
curvature is D 1= o@x where o is the stretch in B o :
M h while the incremental stretch is

The total stretch of the hangers is M H D h=
M
H D h= h where the actual length of the hangers is computed as
o
2 2
hM .x; t/ D f v1o C v1 uo1 C u1 C h.x/ C v2o C v2 uo2 C u2 g1=2 :
Equations of motion for the incremental problem. The mechanical data are
expressed as the summation of dead loads and incremental live loads for the cables
and the deck-girder:
fM C .x; t/ D f oC .x/ C f C .x; t/; M

f.x; t/ D f o .x/ C f.x; t/;
M t/ D c o .x/ C c.x; t/:
c.x;
The total contact force nM C .x; t/ D NM C .x; t/a.x;

M t/ of the cables can also be
expressed as the summation of the prestress contact force noC .x/ D NCo .x/ao .x/ and
the incremental force nC .x; t/: nM C .x; t/ D noC .x/ C nC .x; t/: The total tension NM C is
thus expressed as the summation of the prestress tension NCo .x/ and the incremental
tension NC .x; t/; namely, NM C D NCo .x/ C NC .x; t/: Consequently, the incremental
contact force can be written as
nC .x; t/ D NC .x; t/a.x;

M t/ C NCo .x/Œa.x;
M t/ ao .x/: (9.89)
The same decomposition holds for the hanger force vector that reads: nM H .x; t/ D
noH .x/ C nH .x; t/; nM H D NM H .x; t/eM H ; noH D NHo e oH : By letting NM H D NHo C NH ; the
incremental hanger force vector becomes
nH .x; t/ D NH .x; t/eM H .x; t/ C NHo .x/ŒeM H .x; t/ e oH .x/: (9.90)
An identical decomposition for the deck-girder contact force vector and bending
M
moment leads to n.x; t/ D no .x/ C n.x; t/ and MM .x; t/ D M 0 .x/ C M.x; t/ where
M M M M
nM D N b1 C Qb2 and no D N o bo1 C Qo bo2 : The total tension and shear force are
expressed as NM D N o C N and QM D Qo C Q which yields
n.x; t/ D N.x; t/bM 1 .x; t/ C Q.x; t/bM 2 .x; t/
CN o .x/ŒbM 1 .x; t/ bo1 .x/ C Qo .x/ŒbM 2 .x; t/ bo2 .x/: (9.91)
By substituting into the balance of total linear and angular momentum the
decompositions (9.89), (9.90), and (9.91) together with the equilibrium equations
given by (9.76) for the prestressed configuration, the equations of motion for the
incremental problem can be expressed in the form
M NH eM H NHo .eM H e oH / C @x ŒNCo .aM ao / C f C D %AC .x/@t t v;
@x .NC a/ (9.92)

@x .N bM 1 C QbM 2 / C 2NH eM H C 2NHo .eM H e oH / C @x N o .bM 1 bo1 / C Qo .bM 2 bo2 /
C f D %A@t t u; (9.93)
@x M C M Q N
M C .M /Q . M /N C c D %J @t t
o o o o
(9.94)
together with the relationships between the total and incremental strains.
In (9.92)(9.94), the terms .NCo ; NHo ; N o ; Qo ; M o / are related to the prestress state
and give rise to geometric stiffness terms. In particular, the prestress in the cables
and hangers induce positive geometric stiffness terms that make the bridge stiffer
and allow incremental loads to be carried at the expense of small incremental
displacements and rotations.
Constitutive equations. The baseline constitutive equations for the incremental
contact forces and moment are those valid for linearly viscoelastic cables and
beams:
NC .x; t/ D NO C .C ; P C / D EAC .M C .x; t/ 1/ C EADC @t C .x; t/ NCo .x/;
NH .x; t/ D NO H .H ; P H / D EAH .M H .x; t/ 1/ C EADH @t H .x; t/ NHo .x/;
N.x; t/ D NO .; /
P D EA ..x;
M t/ 1/ C EAD @t .x; t/ N o .x/;
M.x; t/ D MO .; / M
P D EJ3 .x; t/ C EJ3D @t .x; t/ M o .x/: (9.95)
Problem 9.4 (Equations of planar motion for the unshearable deck-girder).

Show that the equations of motion for the unshearable bridge become
M C @x Œ@x M sin =.

@x .N cos / M o
/ C 2NH eM H e 1 C 2NHo .eM H e oH / e 1
C@x ŒN o .cos M cos o / Qo .sin =
M sin o / C f1 C @x Œc sin =.
M o
/
M
D %A@t t u e 1 C @x Œ%J @t t sin =. o
/; (9.96)
M @x Œ@x M cos =.
@x .N sin / M o
/ C 2NH eM H e 2 C 2NHo .eM H e oH / e 2
C@x ŒN o .sin M sin o / C Qo .cos =
M cos o / C f2 @x Œc cos =.
M o
/
M
D %A@t t u e 2 @x Œ%J @t t cos =. o
/: (9.97)
Hint: The constraint o D M D 0 is enforced and (9.94) is solved for the incremental
shear force to give Q D Œ%J @t t @x M o . 1/Qo c=. o /:
9.3.3 The Revisited Deflection Theory
The deck-girder is assumed to be affected by purely transverse motion exhibiting

small amplitudes and small flexural rotations. Moreover, the hangers are considered
to be inextensible while the cables undergo moderately large-amplitude displace-
ments. The longitudinal motion of the deck is neglected and the kinematic unknowns
can be reduced to the two displacement components .uo ; v o / by imposing uo D v1o
and v o D uo2 D v2o in the prestressed equilibrium B o , and u D v1 and v = u2 = v2 in
the dynamic incremental deformation from B o to B. M
Performing Taylor series expansions and truncations relying on suitable kine-

matic assumptions yields equations for the equilibrium under dead loads and the
incremental equations of motion due to live loads, respectively, expressed as
Z l
EAC c 1 o 2
EJ3 vxxxx 2H vxx
o c o
2 c .yxx C vxx
o
/ yx vx C .vx / dx D f2o ;
c o
L 0 2
(9.98)
Œ%A.x/ C 2%AC .x/vt t C EJ3 vxxxx 2H o vxx
Z l
EAC o 1
2 o .yxx C vxx / yxo vx C vx2 dx D 2fC2 C f2 (9.99)
L 0 2
where .H c ; H o / are the horizontal projections of the cable tension in the catenary
configuration and in B o ; .Lc ; Lo / are given by (9.103)2 and (9.110)2 , respectively;
y o .x/ WD y c .x/ C v o .x/ is the equilibrium under dead loads; fC2 .x; t/ and f2 .x; t/
are the incremental dynamic loads applied on the cable and the bridge deck,
respectively.
Equation (9.98) corresponds to the equation expressed by the deflection theory
[35, 207] with the generalization that the cable equilibrium under its own weight is
given here by the elastic catenary.
The problem is suitably nondimensionalized by scaling lengths by the bridge
span l (i.e., xN WD x= l; yN WD y= l) and time t by the characteristic time
1=!b WD .%Al 4 =EJ3 /1=2 : The following nondimensional variables and parameters
are introduced: WD %AoC gl=H c ; .˛ c ; ˛ o / WD .H c ; H o /l 2 =EJ3 ; f o WD f2o l 3 =EJ3 ;
. c ; o / WD .EAC =EJ3 /.l 3 =Lc ; l 3 =Lo /; "C .x/ WD %AC .x/=%A. The nondimensional
vertical dead load f o applied on the deck is an important nondimensional parameter
for the subsequent elastodynamic problem since it mostly affects the final prestress
level in the bridge, prestress which causes stiffening in the bridge. Since Lo Lc ;
then o c DW C :
By dropping the overbar on the variables for ease of notation, the nondimensional
equilibrium equation under dead loads and the equation of motion become
Z 1
1
o
vxxxx 2˛ c vxx
o
2 c .yxx
c
C vxx
o
/ yxc vxo C .vxo /2 dx D f o ; (9.100)
0 2
Œ1 C 2"C .x/vt t C vxxxx 2˛ o vxx

Z 1
1 2
2 .yxx C vxx /
o 0
yx vx C vx dx D 2fC C f:
o
(9.101)
0 2
Given the geometric compatibility condition L= l D .2= / sinh.=2/; together

with ˛ o D ˛ c C ˛N and ˛N D HN o l 2 =EJ3 , there are five independent parameters
N C , f o , "C ).
governing the planar bridge elastodynamics: . , ˛,
Derivation of the enhanced deflection theory. The hanger forces are consid-
ered to be perfectly vertical in the static configuration B o . Furthermore, o 1;
cos o 1 and sin o 0 can be imposed in the equilibrium equations (9.83) so
that the two equilibrium equations become
Nxo D 0; o
Mxx 2HCo .tan o /x D 2%AC .x/g C f2o .x/ (9.102)
where tan o D .yxc C vxo /=.1 C uox / and the deck-girder dead load resultant per
unit reference length is f2o .x/ WD %A.x/g C f2 .x/: The subscript x indicates
differentiation with respect to x.
If the horizontal displacement gradients of the cable are assumed to be small (i.e.,
juox j << 1), besides o 1; the following approximations to (9.71) together with
the horizontal cable thrust force arise:
1 C uox
cos o D cos c cos c ; tan o D yxc C vxo ; HCo D .N c C NN o / cos o H c C HN o
Co
where the total cable tension in B o is NCo D N c C NN o , is the incremental tension and
HN o D NN o cos c is its horizontal component.
The constitutive law for the incremental tension of the cable under dead loads is
NN o D EAC Co , where Co WD Co 1 D jr oC 0 j 1 is the incremental elongation. The
prime indicates differentiation with respect to s c . The second-order Taylor expansion
of the incremental elongation is
1=2
Co D 1 C .uo 0 /2 C .v o 0 /2 C 2x c 0 uo 0 C 2y c 0 v o 0 1 1=2.v o0 /2 C x c 0 uo 0 C y c 0 v o 0
where the second-order horizontal displacement gradient .uo 0 /2 is neglected. Then,

by using d=ds c D cos c d=dx, the leading part of the elongation is found to be
Co D cos2 c Œuox C tan c vxo C 1=2.vxo /2 . Consequently, .HN o =EAC / sec3 c D uox C
yxc vxo C 1=2.vxo /2 : Integrating both members and enforcing the boundary conditions
(i.e., uo .0/ D uo .l/ D 0) yields
Z l Z l
EAC 1
HN o D yxc vxo C .vxo /2 dx; Lc WD sec3 c dx: (9.103)
Lc 0 2 0
Next, substituting the constitutive equation for the deck bending moment, MO o D
o
EJ3 vxx ; together with (9.103) into (9.102), yields the equilibrium equation (9.98).
Note that the nondimensional version of Lc was introduced in Sect. 3.3.1 of Chap. 3
R1
as N WD Lc = l D 0 sec c dx in which x is nondimensional (dimensional x divided
by the span l).
Incremental dynamic problem under transversal forces. The equations of
motion of the incremental problem can be obtained from (9.67)(9.69), by letting
M 1 C sin e
nM C D NM C aM with aM D cos e M 2 : By neglecting the bridge rotary inertia and
putting M D 1 and c D 0, the balance of angular momentum becomes MM x C QM D 0
which, solved for the shear force, yields QM D MM x : By accounting for the hanger
tension nM H D NM H e 2 ; the following expressions are obtained:
.NM C cos M /x D %AC .x/ut t ; M x NM H C fMC2 D %AC .x/vt t ;

.NM C sin / (9.104)
.NM cos /
M x C .MM x sin /
M x D 0; (9.105)
M x .MM x cos /
.NM sin / M x C 2NM H C fM2 D %Avt t : (9.106)
Live loads are often vertical. This allows the horizontal acceleration of the cable
to be considered as negligible (i.e., ut t 0). Hence, the balance equation (9.104)1
implies HM C WD NM C cos M D const. The latter, substituted into (9.104)2 and solved
for the reactive hanger force, yields
M x C fMC2 %AC .x/vt t :

NM H D HM C .tan / (9.107)
A few other approximations are introduced to obtain the final equation of motion.
The overall flexural rotations of the deck-girder cross sections are assumed small, an
assumption that has remarkable consequences. The equations of motion, to within
leading order, take the form
NM x D 0; MM xx C 2NM H C fM2 D %Avt t : (9.108)
The substitution of the hanger force given by (9.107) into (9.108) furnishes
M x C 2fMC2 C fM2 D Œ2%AC .x/ C %A.x/vt t

MM xx C 2HM C .tan / (9.109)
where the horizontal component HM C of the cable tension is as yet unknown.

Some further kinematic assumptions are made on the motion of the cable. Again,
the gradient of the dynamic horizontal cable displacement is considered to be small
(i.e., jux j << 1) which gives
tan M D .yxo C vx /=.1 C uox C ux / yxc C vxo C vx :
Moreover, cos M D cos o .1 C ux /=C cos o assuming the incremental

dynamic cable stretch as C 1. These approximations lead to the sought
constitutive expression for HM C : In fact, HM C D NM C cos M D .NCo C NC / cos M
.NCo C NC / cos o D HCo C HC where HC WD NC cos o is the horizontal projection
of the dynamic incremental cable tension NC D EAC .C 1/. By following steps
similar to those undertaken for the prestressed equilibrium, the expansion of the
incremental elongation is

C D C 1 cos2 o ux C yxo vx C 12 vx2
so that the horizontal projection of the incremental tension of the cable is ex-
pressed as
Z Z
EAC l l
HC D yx vx C
o 1
.v /2
2 x
dx; L WD
o
sec3 o dx: (9.110)
Lo 0 0
Next, by incorporating the prestressed equilibrium in B o governed by (9.102),

together with the constitutive law for the deck-girder bending, MM D MO o C EJ3 vxx ;
and by substituting the latter with (9.110) into (9.109), the governing equation of
motion (9.99) is obtained.
Problem 9.5 (Linear equilibrium of the suspension bridge problem). Obtain
the closed-form prestressed equilibrium solutions to the linearized suspension
bridge problem derived from (9.98)1 considering the dead load f o Dconst.
Let the initial cable profile be expressed by the dimensional parabola y c .x/ D
%AC g=.2H c /x.x l/:
Problem 9.6 (Nonlinear equilibrium of the suspension bridge problem). Ob-
tain (a) the closed-form nonlinear prestressed equilibrium solutions of the suspen-
sion bridge problem (9.98)1 subject to the dead load f o Dconst
(b) calculate the eigenvalue problem for the frequencies and mode shapes of the
prestressed bridge about B o .
9.4 Planar Equilibrium Response of Suspension Bridges
Equilibrium paths can disclose important properties of the nonlinear response of

suspension bridges to various loading conditions, including dynamic excitations
[80].
For the model of an unshearable bridge with extensible hangers, the governing
equations are obtained by substituting the constitutive equations into the equations
of motion.
The same nondimensionalization expressed by (9.50) is adopted here. Out of
the ten parameters of the general three-dimensional suspension bridge problem—
N r;
.˛ c ; C ; H / for the cables, .b; N ; ˇ T ; ˇ F ; ˇjS / for the deck-girder—only four pertain
to the planar problem, namely, .˛ c ; C ; H ; /. These nondimensional parameters are
the nondimensional prestress horizontal force in the elastic catenary configuration
of the cables and the ratios of the cable, hanger and deck-girder axial stiffness to the
bending stiffness of the deck-girder.
By considering the damping forces in the cables and deck-girder to be propor-
tional to the associated velocities, the modal damping factor k in the kth mode
whose nondimensional circular frequency is !N k D !k =!b is defined as k D
&k =.2!N k / where &k is the kth nondimensional combined modal damping coefficient.
For illustrative purposes, a relatively short-span suspension footbridge,
the Singapore Suspension Footbridge [81, 82], is considered as the reference
9.4 Planar Equilibrium Response of Suspension Bridges 623
a b
10 5
8 4
κC
6 3κ 3 κC
2 C 1κ 3κ
λ 2 C 2 C 1κ
4
2 C
2
2 1
λ λ
0 0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05
v v
Fig. 9.6 Nonlinear and linearized equilibrium paths of the suspension cables of the Singapore
Suspension Footbridge subject to a uniform downward (a) and upward (b) load for three values of
the nondimensional elastic stiffness: . 12 ; 1; 32 /Co with Co WD EAC =.%AC gl/ D 18224:5: Note that
here Co has the meaning of the ratio between the axial stiffness of the cable and its weight
single-span suspension bridge for parametric investigations obtained by varying

the independent parameters with respect to the reference values. Hinged–hinged
boundary conditions3 are considered for the calculation of the equilibrium paths:
u.0; t/ = 0 = v.0; t/, u.l; t/ = 0 = v.l; t/, MM .0; t/ = 0 = MM .l; t/. The elastic and
geometric properties of the Singapore Suspension Footbridge [82] are: (1) for
the deck-girder: l D 35 m, b D 1:6 m, A D 2:662 102 m2 ; %A D 209 kg/m,
E D 200 GPa, J3 D 1:666 104 m4 I (2) for the hangers: EH D 100 GPa,
AH D 2:01 104 m2 , (3) for the suspension cables: EC D 51:9 GPa, AC D
3:504 104 m2 , %AC D 5:569 kg/m. The sag of the catenary is 5:5 m for which
the horizontal force is H c D 1; 568:91 N which, under dead loads, becomes
H o D 30;000 N. The height of the towers is hT D 6 m. The experimentally
measured damping factor is 1 %. The ensuing nondimensional parameters are:
˛ c D 0:05767; C D 668:24; D 1:96 105 ; H D 739:024= h; "C D 0:02665:
Equilibrium paths for the individual suspension cables are shown first, followed
by equilibrium paths for the overall coupled structural system. For the cables, the
incremental load is assumed to be applied starting from the catenary (prestressed
condition under gravity) and the load multiplier is WD fC2 =.%AC g/.
In Fig. 9.6a, the incremental load is directed downward while in Fig. 9.6b, the
load is directed upward. Equilibrium paths portraying the nondimensional midspan
displacement are obtained from the nonlinear theory as well as from the linearized
theory for three values of the nondimensional elastic stiffness. As expected, the
response to a downward load is hardening and departs from the linear response
(represented by straight lines) at relatively low levels of the multiplier when
the incremental load is of the order of the weight per unit reference length of the
cable while the displacement is of the order of 1/100 th of the cable span. A detuning
3
These boundary conditions do not reflect the more typical circumstance of axially unrestrained
deck so as to prevent thermoelastic stresses.
a b
10 4
8 3κ
2 C
κC 3
1κ
6
2 C
λ 2
4
1
2
0 0
0 0.004 0.008 0.012 0.016 0 u2
u2 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01
Fig. 9.7 Equilibrium paths of the suspension bridge—the reference structure is the Singapore
Suspension Footbridge—subject to a uniform downward (a) and upward (b) load for three values
of the nondimensional elastic stiffness: . 12 ; 1; 32 /C with C WD EAC l 2 =EJ3 D 668:24
of the axial stiffness increases or decreases the tangent stiffness during the loading
process as shown in Fig. 9.6a. On the other hand, in Fig. 9.6b, the upward load
causes a softening response because of the gradual loss of tension and curvature
inducing negative geometric stiffness effects. The range of has been determined
so as to maintain a positive tension in the cable (i.e., such that NM C
0).
The equilibrium paths of the planar response of the suspension bridge subject
to an incremental downward and upward load are now analyzed by considering the
nondimensional axial stiffness parameter C D 668:24 of the Singapore Suspension
Footbridge and its variations obtained by decreasing or increasing the diameter
of the cross section of the cables by 50 %. In Fig. 9.7a, b, the equilibrium paths
highlight the hardening behavior under the downward load that stiffens both the
cables and the deck-girder (for the considered boundary conditions). On the other
hand, under upward loads, the softening behavior of the suspension cables due to
the gradual loss of tension and curvature prevails over the hardening behavior of the
deck-girder.
The prominent nonlinear behavior of suspension bridges makes the linearized
analyses not meaningful as the nonlinear stiffness variations are underestimated
or overestimated depending on whether the incremental load acts downward or
upward, hence the error depends on the direction of the loading process and
the magnitude of the load multiplier. When the load is upward, at a threshold
load magnitude, the cables suffer a total loss of tension signaled by NM C D 0:
Further load increments can be sustained by the cables only resorting to their small
flexural resistance. The threshold load multiplier is determined by considering the
prestressed equilibrium under its own weight without taking into account other
dead loads such as the weight of the supported nonstructural parts. The total
nondimensional tension of the suspension cables is shown in Fig. 9.8. The bridge
is subject to an incremental loading process expressed by f2 l 3 =EJ3 .1 C / so that
when D 1; the bridge is unloaded and the tension in the suspension cables is the
tension N c due to the cable weight only.
3 κC
3 2 κC
2 1 κC
2
λ
1
-1 c
N
0 1 2 3 4 5
NC
Fig. 9.8 Variation of the total nondimensional tension NM C during an incremental loading process
pointing downward > 0 or upward < 0, for which the multiplier is expressed by
f2 l 3 =EJ3 .1 C /
9.4.1 Planar Dynamic Response of Suspension Bridges
The modal properties of typical suspension bridges are first analyzed for the
illustrative cases of the Singapore Suspension Bridge (short-span bridge, l D 35
m) and the Runyang Bridge (long-span bridge, l D 1; 490 m).
For the Singapore Suspension Bridge, a Galerkin discretization is employed to
solve equations
|(9.100) and (9.101). By introducing the generalized coordinates
q.t/ D qj .t/ , j D 1; : : : ; n; where n is the number of trial functions (the
superscript | denotes the transpose), the vertical displacement field can be expressed
as v.x; t/ D ˆ | .x/ q.t/; where ˆ.x/ is the vector of trial functions, chosen
| as
the eigenfunctions of the simply supported beam: ˆ.x/ D sin.jx= l/ , j D
1; : : : ; n: Substituting the displacement field v.x; t/ D ˆ | .x/ q.t/ into equation
of motion (9.101) with the loads and damping set to zero, the Galerkin method
yields the following system of second-order differential equations governing free
oscillations:

MB C 2MC qR C KEB C 2KEC C 2KGC q D o (9.111)
where MB and MC are the deck-girder and cable mass matrices, respectively,
given by
Z 1 Z 1
MB D ˆ.x/ ˆ | .x/dx, MC D ˆ.x/C .x/ˆ | .x/dx: (9.112)
0 0
On the other hand, the deck-girder and cable elastic stiffness matrices K EB and K EC
and the cable geometric stiffness matrix K GC are expressed as
Table 9.1 Lowest four frequencies of the Singapore Suspension Footbridge: (skw) stands for
skew-symmetric mode while (sym) means symmetric mode
f1 (Hz) (skw) f2 (Hz) (skw) f3 (Hz) (skw) f4 (Hz) (skw)
Experimental 2.072 2.152 4.288 –
FE model 1.911 2.143 4.668 –
Continuum model 2.067 2.157 4.668 8.106
a b
c d
e f
Fig. 9.9 Lowest six mode shapes of the Singapore Suspension Footbridge: (a) first mode,
(b) second mode, (c) third mode, (d) fourth mode, (b) fifth mode, (c) sixth mode
Z 1 Z 1
KEB D ˆ xx ˆ |xx dx, KGC D ˛ o ˆ x ˆ |x dx; (9.113)
0 0
Z Z
1 1
KEC D C ˆ x y o x dx ˆ |x y o x dx (9.114)
0 0
where y o .x/ D y c .x/ C v o .x/ indicates the equilibrium profile of the suspension
cables under dead loads. The bridge natural frequencies and mode shapes are found
by solving the eigenvalue problem obtained from (9.111).
In Table 9.1, the frequencies of the lowest modes calculated by a detailed Finite
Element (FE) model and by the Galerkin-reduced equations (9.111) with n D 20
are compared with those identified by the experimental acquisitions in [82]. The
corresponding mode shapes are portrayed in Fig. 9.9 which shows the following: (a)
the lowest mode is a skew-symmetric mode with one node at the midspan; (b) the
second mode is a symmetric mode without nodes; (c) the third is also a symmetric
mode but with two nodes; (d) the fourth mode is skew-symmetric with three nodes.
The agreement between the experimental results and the results of the parametric
model is noticeable.
Table 9.2 The lowest eight frequencies (in Hz) of the Runyang Suspension Bridge [483]; sk,
skew-symmetric mode; sy, symmetric mode
u-component u3 sy u2 sk u2 sy u3 sk u2 sk 1 sk 1 sy
Continuum model 0.070 0.0962 0.1281 0.1707 0.1797 0.2291 0.2772
FE model [483] – – 0.126 – 0.172 – 0.241
Forced dynamic response. A bridge prestressed by dead loads and subsequently

subject to time-varying harmonic loads undergoes a periodic stiffening and loosen-
ing of the suspension cables which enhances the nonlinearity of the response.
The Runyang Suspension Bridge [483,484], built in China on the Yangtze River,
is a bridge of considerable span which lends itself as a useful benchmark for
nonlinear dynamic simulations. The properties of the deck-girder are: l D 1;490 m,
b D 35:9 m, A D 1:2481 m2 ; %A D 18;386:5 kg/m, %J1 D 1:852 106 kg m2 /m,
E D 210 GPa, G D 80:8 GPa, J3 D 1:9842 m4 ; J2 D 137:7541 m4 ; J1 D
5:034 m4 . The suspension cables exhibit the following properties: EC D 200 GPa,
AC D 0:47347 m2 ; %AC D 3;817 kg/m. The sag in the catenary equilibrium is 149 m,
and the horizontal force under its own weight is H c D 7:096 107 N.4 For the
hangers, the properties are EH D 210 GPa, and AH D 2:14 103 m2 . The height of
the towers is hT D 154 m. The experimentally measured damping factor is 0:5 %.
According to the given dimensional parameters, the associated nondimensional
parameters are: ˛ c D 366:57; C D 5:045 105 ; B D 1:396 106 ; H D
2394:42= h; C D 0:203073:
The lowest six frequencies of the bridge, calculated on a single-span model, are
given in Table 9.2. The eigenvalue problem is solved by considering the bridge
deformed under dead loads (here its own weight alone) so as to account for the
additional geometric stiffness of the prestressed state. The linearization is carried
out on the incremental nonlinear equations. The lowest few frequencies of the
bridge modes are illustrated and compared with the literature results obtained via
a FE model of the bridge. Slightly higher values are obtained with the proposed
continuum model because the adopted parameters for the deck-girder stiffness have
the meaning of average cross-sectional elastic stiffness values. At the same time,
another approximation is inherent in the single-span model versus the actual three-
span bridge geometry and the replacement of the real discrete distribution of the
hangers by a continuum equivalent distribution. There are only 10 global degrees
of freedom that govern such a rich mechanical continuum problem. If the attention
is restricted here to in-plane modes, the lowest in-plane mode is a skew-symmetric
bending mode with frequency 0.0962 Hz (period 10.395 s), while the second mode
is a symmetric bending mode with frequency 0.1281 Hz (period 7.806 s).
The incremental transverse harmonic load on the deck f2 .t/ D p cos ˝t is
allowed to have amplitudes that, in the worst case scenario, do not cause a total
4
If the horizontal force is computed accounting for the elasticity of the cable, H c turns out to be
slightly lower, 7:06 107 N, while the initial length of the cable is L D 1; 527:85 m.
x10-3
8
6
||u2||
0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3

Ω/ω2
Fig. 9.10 Frequency-response curves of the deck midspan maximum deflection (denoted by jju2 jj)
under a uniform incremental load f2 D p cos ˝t with p D .0:01; 0:025; 0:05; 0:1/p0 where p0
is the magnitude of the dead load
loss of tension in the suspension cables. The load multiplier is taken as the
ratio between the magnitude p of the incremental dynamic load f2 and the weight
p0 D %Ag of the deck-girder per unit reference length. The frequency ˝ is varied in
the vicinity of the frequency !2 of the second mode (i.e., lowest symmetric mode).
Figure 9.10 shows the frequency-response curves for the bridge excited by
a uniform load of increasing magnitude. The curves portray variation of the
maximum vertical oscillation amplitude at the midspan with the nondimensional
excitation frequency ˝=!2 . The frequency-response curves, obtained by a zeroth-
order sequential continuation approach, highlight the fact that the lowest symmetric
mode is hardening in consonance with the nonlinear properties manifested by the
equilibrium paths. The multi-valued range, where three periodic solutions (two
stable and one unstable solutions) coexist, due to the overhang of the resonant
branch (i.e., hysteresis effect), increases with the excitation amplitude. These ranges
are bounded by fold bifurcations at which the numerically obtained periodic
solutions jump up or down. The only way to obtain the unstable branches is to
employ path-following techniques.
Figure 9.11a,b show the time histories of the vertical deflection (part a) and
total cable tension (part b) at the bridge midspan when the excitation frequency
˝=!2 D 1:085 causes the largest resonant response. Figure 9.11b shows significant
excursions of the cable tension. Hence, if the excitation frequency is sufficient to
excite the bridge at resonance (here for frequencies higher than the natural frequency
due to the hardening feature of the mode), the phenomenon of total loss of tension
in the cables can be a likely occurrence.
9.5 Equilibrium Paths in Three-Dimensional Space 629
a b
0.015 2500
0.01
2000
0.005
1500
u2 0 NC
1000
-0.005
-0.01 500
-0.015 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 t 2 2.5 3 0 0.5 1 1.5 t 2 2.5 3
c
-2
10
-3
10
-4
u2 10
-5
10
f2 f 2f 3f 4f
-6
10
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65
f [Hz]
Fig. 9.11 Time histories of (a) the displacement, and (b) total cable tension at the midspan when
˝=!2 D 1:085 and p D 0:1 p0 ; (c) FFT of the deflection
Figure 9.11c shows the FFT of the deflection which exhibits all the characteristic
features of a nonsymmetric mechanical system with the presence of the zero-
frequency component (drift), the excitation frequency and its even (second and
fourth) and odd (third and fifth) multiple harmonics. This is clear manifestation
of the nonsymmetric behavior exhibited by the suspension cables (hardening for
downward loads and softening for upward loads) and, less importantly, by the
bridge deck-girder which is prestressed under dead loads into an initially curved
configuration.
9.5 Equilibrium Paths in Three-Dimensional Space
The governing equations are cast in nondimensional

p form by using the deck span
l as characteristic length and 1=!b D %Al 4 =EJ3 as characteristic time, where
%A is the deck-girder mass per unit length, and EJ3 is its bending stiffness about
the local axis b3 . The nondimensional variables and parameters expressed p by (9.50)
are: xN WD x= l; tN WD !b t; yN o WD y o = l; uN j WD uj = l; bN WD b= l; rN WD %J1 =.%Al 2 /,
C WD %AC =%A; ˛ o WD H o l 2 =EJ3 ; C WD EAC l 3 =.EJ3 L/; H WD EAH l 2 =EJ3 ; D
EAl 2 =EJ3 ; ˇ T WD GJ1 =EJ3 ; ˇ F WD EJ2 =EJ3 ; ˇjS D GAj l 2 =EJ3 ; .j D 2; 3/.
10
a b -
v2- NC NC +
8 u2 NC
6 v2+
λ
4
+ λ f2o -
2
λ c1o
0
0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012 0.014 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Fig. 9.12 Equilibrium paths for (a) the midspan vertical displacements v2˙ of the two suspension
cables and the deck u˙2 and for (b) the incremental tension in the cables under the loading process
(see part a bottom right) .f2 ; c1 / D .f2o ; c1o /; with jf2o j D %A g; c1o D %A gb=16
EAC , EAH , and EA denote the axial stiffness of the suspension cables, hangers, and
deck-girder, respectively; GAj is the shear stiffness of the deck-girder in the bj
direction, EJk is the principal bending stiffness about bk (k D 2; 3).
The nondimensional structural damping coefficients for the cables and deck-
girder are expressed as follows:
djc D 2!j "C ; dj D 2!j ; djT D 2!j JN (9.115)
where is the bridge damping ratio and !j is the nondimensional

natural frequency
of the j th vibration mode; JN D %J1 C 12 %AC b 2 = %Al 2 is the nondimensional
mass moment of inertia of the deck about b1 that accounts for the mass contribution
of the cables.
The nondimensional coupled governing equations—represented by equations of
motion (9.29)–(9.31) and (9.34) projected in the local basis, together with the con-
stitutive equations (9.46)(9.48) and boundary conditions (9.49) are numerically
integrated by the finite element method built in COMSOL Multiphysics [117]. The
one-dimensional domain Œ0; 1 is discretized into at least 15–20 mesh elements
with Lagrangian third- or fourth-order polynomials employed for each of the 10
independent variables.
In this section, some features of the three-dimensional nonlinear equilibrium
response of suspension bridges are highlighted through the equilibrium paths caused
by loads that are eccentric with respect to the shear center of the deck-girder
cross section. In particular, the deck-girder of the bridge under its own weight
%A g is subject to an eccentric incremental downward load f2 D .%Ag/,
proportional to the weight through the load multiplier , which gives rise to uniform
counterclockwise twisting couples given by c1 D .%Ag/e with e D b=16 being
the load eccentricity with respect to the shear center.
In Fig. 9.12, the equilibrium paths for the midspan vertical displacements of the
two suspension cables and of the deck exhibit a hardening behavior. Due to the
counterclockwise twisting of the deck, the right cable denoted by the superscript is
9.5 Equilibrium Paths in Three-Dimensional Space 631
10 + 7 −
NC NC
λ=10
λ=8
λ=6
λ=4
λ=2
λ=0 1
1
0 0
Q2 M3 λ=10
λ=8
λ=6
0.5
λ=4
0 λ=2
-0.5
−2 λ=0
2 10
M2 T
−3
4 10
−2
1 10
Fig. 9.13 Total contact forces and couples in the suspension bridge at various load multipliers
when .f2 ; c1 / D .f2o ; c1o /; with jf2o j D %A g; c1o D .%Ag/b=16
lifted while the other cable undergoes an incremental downward displacement

contributed by both the load and couple. Consequently, during the loading process,
the right and left cables suffer, respectively, a loss and an increment of tension.
For comparison NC indicates the tension in the planar model, which is clearly not
influenced by the nonsymmetric effect of the twisting couples.
Figure 9.13 shows the total contact forces and couples at various load multipliers
along the equilibrium path, namely, the total cable tensions NM C+ and NM C- , the
deck-girder shear force QM 2 ; the bending moments .MM 3 ; MM 2 /; and the torque TM :
The nonlinear effects due to the incremental loading process are appreciable
in all generalized stress and moment resultants. However, the most prominent
nonlinear effect is the appearance of the bending moment about b2 due to the full
nonlinear bending-bending and bending-twisting coupling. The curvaturerotation
relationships are given by (9.11)(9.13). In particular, the presence in (9.12) of the
gradient of the bending rotation about b3 and the twisting rotation about b1 ; both
directly activated by the loading components f2 and c1 , gives rise to a bending
curvature about b2 through the nonlinear term @x M3 sin M1 cos M 2 : This explains
the presence of the bending moment MM 2 which, however, is almost an order of
magnitude smaller than the leading moment MM 3 :
10
λ(f 2o, f 3o, c 1o )
λ(f 2o, c 1o )
8
v2-
u2
v2+
6
λ
4
+ -
λ f2o
2
λ f3o λ c1o
0
0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012 0.014
Fig. 9.14 Equilibrium paths for the midspan vertical displacements of the two suspension cables
and the deck under the incremental loading .f2 ; f3 ; c1 / D .f2o ; f3o ; c1o /; with jf2o j D %Ag; f3o D
.%Ag/=10; c1o D .%Ag/ b=16
The equilibrium paths for the midspan displacements of the cables and the deck
under the three-dimensional incremental loading .f2 ; f3 ; c1 / D .f2o ; f3o ; c1o /; with
jf2o j D %A g; f3o D .%Ag/=10; c1o D .%Ag/b=16; are shown in Fig. 9.14. The
loading condition that includes the horizontal component f3 gives rise to a slightly
increased deck stiffness. Thus the presence of this additional load component results
in an increased stiffness of the deck and the cable with superscript C whereas larger
displacements are experienced by the cable undergoing loosening.
The activation of flexural rotations M 2 due to fM3 entails a slight reduction of
the flexural curvature M 3 ; thus a reduction of the bending moment MM 3 D EJ3 M 3 .
Moreover, the torsional rotations M 1 also result in a reduced curvature M 3 according
to the term @x 2 sin 1 in (9.13).
M˙
stiffness˙increases monotonically with the tension NC D
The cable geometric
˙
NC C .EA/C C 1 , where C are the stretches associated with the incremental
o
deformation from the equilibrium under dead loads to the updated equilibrium due
to the incremental loads. The stretches are
˙ 2
˙ 2
˙ 2 1=2
C˙ D cos C =Co 1 C v1;x
o
C v1;x C tan c C v2;x
o
C v2;x C v3;x
where Co is the cable stretch due to the deformation from the elastic catenary (under
self-weight) to the equilibrium under dead loads. The stretches C˙ increase with the
˙
addition of the gradient of the out-of-plane displacement v3;x .x/: The nonsymmetry
of the two cables is generated by the torsional couples c1 :
9.6 Aeroelastic Analysis of Suspension Bridges 633
9.6 Aeroelastic Analysis of Suspension Bridges
The aeroelastic behavior of suspension bridges is the result of complex Fluid–

Structure Interaction (FSI) phenomena. In the following section, the key aspects are
also discussed in the context of a retrospective overview of bridge aerodynamics.
Introduction to bridge aerodynamics. Structures such as cable-supported bridges
are subject to aerostatic or aeroelastic forces induced by wind. The wind velocity
field Uw .x; t/ can be expressed as the superposition of a static component denoted
by U.x/ and a dynamic component denoted by u.x; t/: Uw .x; t/ D U.x/ C u.x; t/:
The aerostatic loads arising from the static component U.x/ comprise lift, drag,
and aerodynamic couples. These forces may induce a loss of elastic stability in
suspension bridges endowed with a relatively low torsional stiffness. The negative
geometric stiffness introduced by the aerostatic couples triggers a divergence
bifurcation in torsion, an instability known as torsional divergence. The ensuing
torsional buckling, accompanied by flexural deflections in the two directions due to
the concurrent drag and lift forces, is a serious elastic (static) instability which,
however, occurs at very high wind speeds. It can occur in more general bodies
with relatively flat shapes, such as airfoils and lifting surfaces. This aerostatic
phenomenon can be described using aerodynamic properties measured on the body
at rest.
On the other hand, at lower wind speeds, aeroelastic forces may induce flexural–
torsional flutter which manifests itself as sustained coupled flexural–torsional
oscillations of the bridge. There are other limit states associated with aeroelastic
effects such as vortex-induced oscillations (VIV), galloping, buffeting, and turbu-
lence [115, 406]. Yet today many of the aerodynamic phenomena are not fully
understood and continue to stir debate as to what their mathematical description
should be and which combination of them plays the role of triggering mechanism
for a specific aerodynamic instability. A closely associated area of research is the
field of passive and active vibration control aimed at devising systems to suppress
flutter, galloping or other instabilities in bridges (cf., e.g., [368, 369]).
Bridge aerodynamics is a relatively young science since it was initiated in
reaction to the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940. A good review
of the research in bridge aerodynamics was provided by [323]. The groundbreaking
work of Farquharson [154] paved the way for several other bridge aerodynamics
investigators such as Larsen, Bleich, von Karmann, Pugsley, Davenport, Simiu, and
Scanlan, to mention but a few.
Following Farquharson, Bleich’s description of flutter established a baseline
for other investigators who simplified or modified the theory of thin airfoils
due to Theodorsen [427–429] for use in bluff bodies like bridge decks [69].
Bleich attempted a description of the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge by
applying the Theodorsen aerodynamic formulation and found that the calculated
critical flutter speed was considerably higher than that of the Tacoma Bridge.
It was clear that the airfoil flutter coefficients were not applicable directly to
aerodynamically bluff sections. Bleich modified the Theodorsen expression without
success by considering an additional lift force term which corresponds to the

effects of vortex formation from the leading edge of the deck. Pugsley suggested
that experimentally determined aerodynamic coefficients rather than Theodorsen’s
thin airfoil coefficients could have circumvented the difficulty. Later, in the 1960s,
the advent of streamlined shallow box girders in suspension bridges, due to the
reduced flow separation effect, made Bleich’s original proposition of Theodorsen’s
theory acceptable for these kinds of bridges. Certainly, one of the groundbreaking
achievements of the early studies was the discovery that sectional models could well
simulate the response of full aeroelastic models, at least for relatively smooth wind
flows.
It is not surprising that, in the 1950s, some skepticism surrounded the possibility
of using mathematical approaches as they were perceived as difficult to apply.
Pugsley [371] concluded that, for a long time, designers would be forced to use
empirical methods for preliminary design, such as oscillation tests of sectional
models, to check the stability. Important contributions came from Asplund [35],
Selberg [399], and Hirai [191]. Hirai was an early Japanese investigator who sought
to explain the collapse of the Tacoma Bridge first in terms of lateral and torsional
buckling under static and lateral wind forces with the addition of aerodynamic
torsion [191].
Asplund investigated both vortex shedding and flutter and developed some
analytical methods useful in suspension bridge design. Through extensive testing of
sectional models, Selberg [399] developed approximate equations for flutter based
on thin airfoil theory. His equations proved useful in the design of intermediate-
span suspension bridges for which testing with sectional models was economically
prohibitive. The predictions turned out to be reliable for streamlined bridge sections
for which the wind disturbance at the leading edge was negligible.
The effects of wind turbulence on the critical flutter condition of suspended
structures was recognized early as a key factor in aerodynamic instabilities. It was
Davenport who first highlighted the importance of turbulence in increasing the
flutter velocity. Turbulence is generated in the so-called boundary layer in which
wind shear from the ground effect (variability in the topography) is affected by
friction from air viscosity. He demonstrated that turbulence generally disrupts the
periodic generation of vortices, thus reducing both their regularity and intensity. In
1966, Davenport [129] showed that, using a sectional model of the Golden Gate
Bridge, the predicted flutter velocity was 50 % higher in turbulent than in smooth
flow. This was confirmed in other experimental studies. It was also recognized that
turbulence can excite vertical and torsional motions in bluff structures at low speeds
through buffeting.
To a certain extent, subsequent advances in the field (cf., e.g., [115, 406]) have
decreased the reliance on wind tunnel tests and full aeroelastic models, although
it is common today to use both theoretical models and wind tunnel tests on cross-
sectional models to assess the aerodynamic stability of bridges.
Flutter derivatives and experimental methods. A significant tool for the theo-
retical assessment of aerodynamic stability is the use of the flutter derivatives (also
known as aeroelastic or aerodynamic derivatives). These dimensionless mathemat-
ical expressions have been used by most of the aerodynamicists, most notably by
Scanlan [398]. Flutter derivatives measure the ratio of wind energy input to the
motion of the suspended structure. Hence, they provide a simple way of expressing
the magnitude of the stiffness- and damping-type aerodynamic forces for given
bridge cross sections. Scanlan suggested the use of sectional models for measuring
the flutter derivatives as opposed to purely mathematical derivation of airfoil
derivatives with the explicit recognition of the fundamental difference between the
aerodynamic behavior of bluff bodies (such as deck cross sections) and airfoils.
There are two fundamental groups of experimental methods by which these
derivatives are determined; those involving free vibration tests and those relying
on forced vibration tests. These methods are also applied in the context of
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations which attempt to reproduce the
wind tunnel tests [33].
The forced vibration method measures and compares pressures from vibration
both in still air and in wind at the supports of a fixed model, whereas the free
vibration method interpolates the aerodynamic forces indirectly by measuring the
motion of a model hung elastically and driven by the fluidstructure interaction.
Forced vibration methods have the virtue of being able to deal with cases involving
larger reduced velocities or higher turbulence that would be difficult to measure by
free vibration tests.
Some Japanese researchers [441] were the first to experiment with the forced
vibration method and have persisted with a focus on this method while Scanlan
pursued the free vibration method [385]. Very few studies examined how results
from the free vibration method compare with those of the forced method. A recent
joint initiative in the USA and Japan carried out a systematic comparison of
the experimental results obtained by means of the two methods at two different
laboratories. They provided an interpretation of this comparison for cross sections
ranging from bluff (rectangular prisms) to streamlined sections [391].
To illustrate the methods, the aerodynamic forces are expressed in the following
standard form [406]:
1 h uP 2 P 1 u2
L.z/ D bU 2 KH1 C KH2 b C K 2 H3 1 C K 2 H4
2 U U b
uP 3 u3 i
CKH5 C K 2 H6 ; (9.116)
U b
1 h uP 2 P 1 u2
D.z/ D bU 2 KP1 C KP2 b C K 2 P3 1 C K 2 P4
2 U U b
P
u u i
CKP5 C K 2 P6
3 3
; (9.117)
U b
1 h uP 2 P 1 u2
M A .z/ D b 2 U 2 KA1 C KA2 b C K 2 A3 1 C K 2 A4
2 U U b
uP 3 u3 i
CKA5 C K 2 A6 (9.118)
U b
where L and D, respectively, are the lift and drag forces, M A is the aerodynamic
couple, and z D Œu2 ; u3 ; 1 ; uP 2 ; uP 3 ; P1 collects the states from which the aeroelastic
forces are assumed to depend. In consonance with classical notations, denotes
the air density, b is the deck width, U is the dimensional mean wind velocity, K
indicates the reduced frequency defined as K WD !b=U where ! is the (circular)
oscillation frequency. The reduced frequency can be interpreted as the number of
oscillations undergone by the bridge during the time taken for the airflow to travel
across the chord of the bridge section, multiplied by 2. In a more standard notation,
the heave, sway, and pitch motions, described here by .u2 ; u3 ; 1 /, are denoted by
.h; p; ˛/ while the deck width is denoted by B:
Equations (9.116)(9.118) indicate that the aeroelastic forces are taken to de-
pend on 18 f lutter derivatives (also known as Scanlan’s derivatives): .Ai ; Hi ; Pi /;
with i D 1; ::; 6: The flutter derivatives .H1 ; H2 ; H5 /; .A1 ; A2 ; A5 / and
.P1 ; P2 ; P5 / are the coefficients of the aerodynamic damping terms while
.H3 ; H4 ; H6 /; .A3 ; A4 ; A6 / and .P3 ; P4 ; P6 / are the coefficients of the
geometric stiffness terms.
Equations (9.116)(9.118) do not include explicitly terms in uR 2 ; R 1 ; and uR 3
(i.e., added inertia terms) which are negligible in wind engineering applications.
However, they include terms in u2 and u3 (i.e., geometric stiffness terms) which
introduce changes in the oscillation frequency of the body due to aeroelastic effects.
Since the heave and sway motions are out of phase with their first derivatives but
in phase with added-mass terms, the latter, often small in magnitude, are in practice
absorbed in the terms associated with u2 and u3 . The nondimensional variables 1 ,
uP 2 =U and b P 1 =U contribute to the effective angle of attack.
Most of the works on flutter derivatives assume a smooth wind flow using
nondynamically scaled sectional models. These models do not account for varying
vibration amplitude and aerodynamic forces across the length of the span nor do
they account for the effects of turbulence. This has raised some skepticism on the
usefulness of creating a catalogue of flutter derivatives for generic bridge sections.
Moreover, flutter derivatives represent the dimensionless coefficients of a linear
form of the truly nonlinear aerodynamic forces. Any experimental method designed
to extract flutter derivatives using sectional-model tests introduces intrinsic errors
associated with the data and algorithms used, and therefore yields only an estimate
of the actual values. A more reliable estimate could be obtained statistically using
separate sets of data in nondimensional forms as functions of reduced velocity and
reduced vibration amplitude, from several different laboratories that rely on different
techniques.
With the free vibration method, a system identification technique is employed to
extract the 18 flutter derivatives associated with the 3-dof motion of the sectional
model of the bridge. The identification technique exploits the experimentally
obtained free-vibration displacement time histories generated by a sectional model
supported by a 3-dof elastic suspension system inside a wind tunnel test section. The
method extracts the flutter derivatives by using an iterative technique to identify the
stiffness and damping matrices which are associated with the equations of motion at
a given wind speed. In most of the tests, the (chord-wise) sway motion is restrained;
thus (9.117) can be neglected and the states are reduced to z D Œu2 ; 1 ; uP 2 ; P1 . This
yields the following simplification in the aeroelastic forces:
1 h uP 2 P 1 u2 i
L.z/ D bU 2 KH1 C KH2 b C K 2 H3 1 C K 2 H4 ; (9.119)
2 U U b
1 h uP 2 P 1 u2 i
M A .z/ D b 2 U 2 KA1 C KA2 b C K 2 A3 1 C K 2 A4 : (9.120)
2 U U b
The flutter derivatives are thus reduced to eight, namely .A1 ; A2 ; A3 ; A4 / and
.H1 ; H2 ; H3 ; H4 /:
With the forced vibration technique, the sectional model is driven by a sinusoidal
motion and the pressure is measured on the top and bottom surfaces of the model
in the stream-wise direction. The pressure signals are integrated to obtain lift and
moment time series. A harmonic pitch motion is prescribed in the form 1 .t/ D
0 sin !1 t where 0 is the amplitude of the pitch angle and !1 is the driving
frequency [391]. According to (9.119), the resulting lift force and aerodynamic
moment become harmonic functions of time expressed as
L D L0 cos.!1 t L
/; M A D M0 cos.!1 t M
/ (9.121)
where .L0 ; M0 / are the amplitudes while . L ; M / are the phase legs. The phase
legs between the lift and the moment and the heave and pitch motion, respectively,
can be estimated using a frequency domain approach. The amplitudes .L0 ; M0 /
can be easily identified. By substituting (9.121) into (9.119), explicit expressions
of .A2 ; A3 ; H2 ; H3 / can be found in terms of the input data .0 ; U; !1 / and the
measured quantities .L0 ; M0 / and . L ; M /: To determine the dependence of the
flutter derivatives on the reduced frequency K D ! b=U , the frequency of the
prescribed motion is often held constant while the velocity U in the wind tunnel
is varied. To obtain the other four flutter derivatives, .A1 ; A4 ; H1 ; H4 /; a heave
motion is prescribed as u2 D h0 sin !2 t and the same procedure is applied again.
Each of the terms in (9.119)(9.120) can be cast in a different form resorting to
the aerodynamic coefficients:
ˇ
ˇ dC L ˇ
L D 12 U 2 b C L .˛ e / ' 12 U 2 b C L ˇ˛e D0 C 12 U 2 b e ˇˇ ˛e ;
d˛ ˛e D0
ˇ (9.122)
ˇ dC M ˇˇ
M A D 12 U 2 b 2 C M .˛ e / ' 12 U 2 b 2 C M ˇ˛e D0 C 12 U 2 b 2 ˛e ;
d˛ e ˇ˛e D0
in which the considered first-order approximation holds for small effective angles
of attack ˛ e .
The instantaneous angle of attack is the angle that the wind relative velocity
makes with the initial wind direction e w (see Fig. 9.15) which, for small angles and
φ1 e2
2
e3
3
L e w= U ew
2
φ1 S
w
e3 αw
C S αr
B d -v
D wr
ME
d3
b
Fig. 9.15 Aeroelastic forces with initial angle of attack ˛w : L D f A b2 , D D f A b3 , M E D

c E b3 , where f A and c E are the aerodynamic resultant force and moment (reduced to the elastic
center) per unit reference length
Q
˛W D 0, is .Pu2 C P1 b/=U where bQ is a known fraction of b.5 Thus, the effective
angle of attack, for nonzero initial angle of attack ˛w , is the sum of the pitch 1 and
the instantaneous angle of attack:
˛ e D 1 cos ˛W .Pu2 C bQ P1 /=U C sin ˛W uP 3 =U (9.123)
Therefore, (9.122) and (9.123) yield
1 dC L 1 dC L 1 dC L bQ
H3 D ; H1 D ; H2 D (9.124)
K 2 d1 K dPu2 K dP 1 b
where the derivatives of the aerodynamic coefficients are evaluated at zero effective
angle of attack. The terms KHi and K 2 Hi (KAi and K 2 Ai ) are also referred
5
In the expressions of lift and aerodynamic moment given by (9.119)(9.120), the width of
the deck b appears instead of b. Q The experimental identification of the aerodynamic derivatives
according to the described procedure takes care of finding the best fit of (9.119)(9.120) to
the measured aeroelastic forces. The alternative expressions of aeroelastic forces in terms of
aerodynamic coefficients taken as functions of the effective angle of attack are based on the
definition of the instantaneous angle of attack. This is the angle between the wind relative velocity
and the initial wind velocity. The wind relative velocity is the wind velocity relative to the velocity
of a special point of the lifting deck section usually taken as the point where the downwash force
is generated. For thin airfoils, the downwash point is at three-quarter of the chord from the leading
edge. For bluff bodies, this is not often the case [105,134], thus bQ indicates the distance (with sign)
of the downwash point from the center of mass (which can be taken to coincide, for all practical
Q
purposes, with the elastic center of the cross section). Thus the velocity of this point is .Pu2 C P1 b/:
to as motional aerodynamic derivatives in the sense that they are obtained for the
oscillating (not still) body.
Finite angles of attack. A quasi-steady aerodynamic model is considered to
hold for the lift, drag and aerodynamic moment at finite angles of attack. Let
w.x; t/ D U.x/e w .x; t/ be the (span-wise nonuniform) wind velocity field at an
angle ˛w .x; t/ with respect to e 3 (see Fig. 9.15). The aerodynamic forces depend on
the component of the relative wind velocity in the cross-sectional direction. Let wS
and vSw be the wind velocity and the downwash velocity lying in the current cross-
sectional plane, thus expressed as
wS WD w .w bM 1 /bM 1 D U Œe w .e w bM 1 /bM 1 ;
(9.125)
vSw WD v .v bM 1 /bM 1 C bQ P 1 eM 2
where v WD uP is the velocity of the elastic center (here taken to coincide with
the center of mass), bQ is the distance (with sign) between the elastic center and
downwash point, P1 is the torsional angular velocity, and eM 2 D .R (2) R (3) / e 2 .
The orthogonal tensors R (3) and R (2) describe the two incremental (finite) flexural
rotations of angles 3 and 2 , respectively. Thus, the cross-sectional wind velocity
relative to the deck is expressed as
wr D wS vSw DW Ur dM 3 (9.126)
where Ur D jwr j. The (current) drag and lift directions are obtained from (3.148) as
wr
dM 3 WD ; dM 2 WD dM 3 bM 1 : (9.127)
jwr j
The instantaneous angle of attack can thus be expressed as

!
.wS wr / bM 1
˛r D arctan (9.128)
wS wr
whose linearization furnishes
˛r .x; t/ D cos ˛w .x/ŒPu2 .s; t/ C bQ P1 .s; t/=U C sin ˛w .x/Pu3 .x; t/=U:
(9.129)
The effective angle of attack ˛ e .x; t/ is obtained by summing the initial angle of
attack ˛w .x/ C 1o .x/, the incremental twist angle 1 .x; t/, and the instantaneous
angle of attack ˛r .x; t/,
˛ e .x; t/ D ˛w .x/ C 1o .x/ C 3 .x; t/ C ˛r .x; t/: (9.130)

The dimensional drag and lift forces and the aerodynamic moment acting at the
aerodynamic center are thus expresses as f A D DM dM 3 C LM dM 2 , c A D M A bM 1 with
M 1 M 1
D.x; t/ WD Ur2 bCD .˛ e /; L.x; t/ WD Ur2 bCL .˛ e /;
2 2
(9.131)
1
M A D Ur2 b 2 CM .˛ e /
2
where is the air density and CD , CL , and CM are the drag, lift, and moment
coefficients, respectively.
Aerostatic forces. The limits of the aerostatic derivatives as K ! 0 (zero
oscillation frequency) are the steady-state aerodynamic derivatives obtained under
static conditions. The associated aeroelastic forces are known as aerostatic forces.
If the wind direction is collinear with the unit vector e w ; which is at an angle denoted
by ˛w with respect to e 3 (see Fig. 9.15), subsequent to a pitch rotation of the deck-
girder, the wind angle of attack equals the initial wind angle of attack plus the pitch
rotation angle, namely, ˛ e D ˛w C 1 :
The aerostatic forces per unit reference length—the lift L, the drag D, and the
aerostatic moment M A —are expressed in the form
1 1 1
LD U 2 bC L .˛ e /; DD U 2 bC D .˛ e /; MA D U 2 b 2 C M .˛ e / (9.132)
2 2 2
where C L .˛ e /; C D .˛ e /, C M .˛ e / are the aerostatic drag, lift, and moment coefficients.
Often the drag D is expressed as D D 12 U 2 hD C D .˛ e / where the transverse height
hD of the deck-girder is used instead of b: Some researchers use the height of the
deck projected onto the normal to the wind direction.
The aerodynamic coefficients are determined experimentally through wind
tunnel tests on cross-sectional models of the deck-girder. They are determined
as functions of the effective angle of attack ˛ e . At small angles of attack, these
coefficients are well described by a linear approximation in 1 :
ˇ dC J ˇˇ
C J .1 / C0J C C1J 1 ; C0J WD C J ˇ1 D0 ; C1J WD ; J=L,D,M: (9.133)
d1 1 D0
The linearization of (9.132) is carried out about 1 D 0 which means that the
effective angle of attack ˛ e in this state coincides with the initial wind angle of
attack ˛ w .
9.6.1 Torsional Divergence
The simplest analytical model for torsional divergence is based on a sectional

model that discards bending deformations induced by drag and lift. Let k T denote
the effective elastic torsional stiffness of the sectional model obtained by order-
reduction techniques such as the Galerkin method. The moment equilibrium
requires balance between the torsional elastic moment and the aerostatic moment,
namely, k T 1 D mA1 .1 / which, according to (9.132)3 and (9.133), can be written as
T
k k A 1 D b 2 C0M (9.134)
where WD 12 U 2 and k A WD b 2 C1M .

The term proportional to k A in (9.134) is a negative geometric stiffness term that
can cause the stiffness to vanish at the critical condition given by
k T o k A D 0 (9.135)
which, solved for o ; gives the critical multiplier and the critical wind speed as
s
kT 2k T
o D 2 M ; U o D : (9.136)
b C1 b 2 C1M
The limitation of the reduced-order linear approach is that it neglects flexural–

torsional coupling effects and the loss of tension in the suspension cables triggered
by lift. Drag and lift act to induce bending about both axes which contributes
nonlinearly to torsional curvature. The critical condition is attained when the tangent
stiffness becomes singular and the corresponding deformations comprise severe
torsional rotations accompanied by flexural rotations and deflections in both planes.
When the critical mode shape has comparable components in torsion and bending,
the critical condition is referred to as lateral buckling. If drag and lift are neglected
a priori, the critical condition is a purely torsional divergence.
Linear theory for aerostatic problems and torsional divergence. Linearization
of the equations of motion of the three-dimensional suspension bridge problem was
shown to yield (9.52)(9.53). The linear aerostatic forces are given by (9.132)
and (9.133). A suitable treatment of the equations of motion for the suspension
cables via condensation of the longitudinal motion together with the inextensibility
of the hangers the linear equations (9.55) for the deck yields the following reduced
linear equations which lend themselves to aerostatic studies:
Z l
b2 b2 EAC
.GJ1 1 ;x /x C H o 1 ;xx C y o xx o y o x 1 ;x dx
2 2 L 0
1 1
C U 2 b 2 C1M 1 D U 2 b 2 C0M ; (9.137)
2 2
Z l
EAC
.EJ3 u2; xx /xx 2H u2 ;xx
o
2y xx o
o
y o x u2 ;x dx
L 0
1 1
U 2 bC1L 1 D U 2 bC0L ; (9.138)
2 2
1 1
.EJ2 u3 ;xx /xx U 2 hD C1D 1 D U 2 hD C0D : (9.139)
2 2
Note that the only coupling term is due to torsion. This is due to the fact that
torsional rotations affect the angle of attack which, in turn, affects lift, drag, and
moment.
9.6.1.1 Closed-Form Expressions for Torsional Divergence

of Suspension Bridges
The equilibrium equation for the torsional problem given by (9.137) exhibits a
torsional geometric-type stiffness term. Hence, a critical wind speed exists at which
the overall stiffness in torsion vanishes. However, before reaching the critical
condition by increasing the wind speed, drag and lift, which depend on the torsional
angle, induce two bending deflections about e 2 and e 3 , respectively.
Closed-form expressions useful for preliminary, first-order assessment of tor-
sional divergence in suspension bridges can be obtained by order-reduction methods
such as the Galerkin method. Let 1 .x/ D q .x/ where is a trial function that
satisfies the boundary conditions. The best choice for the trial function is certainly
the one that best approximates the critical mode in torsional divergence. Applying
the Galerkin method, followed by integration by parts with incorporation of the
boundary conditions, and setting the effective stiffness to zero yield the following
approximate formula for the torsional divergence speed:
s " Z
2 1 l
Uo D x GJ1 x dx
C1M b 2 0
Z l Z l 2 #1=2
Ho EAC
C x x dx C y o
x x dx (9.140)
2 0 2Lo 0
Rl
where the following normalization on is employed: 0 dx D 1:
The cable equilibrium y o under dead loads is given in exact form by the solution
of (9.77)(9.81) which accounts for the full deformability of the deck-girder.
However, by employing the revisited deflection theory, an accurate estimate of the
nonlinear equilibrium can be found in closed form as shown in Problem 9.6. The
crudest approximation, yet still acceptable, is based on the assumption that all dead
loads are supported by the cables as uniform loads per unit reference length. By
considering two suspension cables, the weight per unit length on each individual
cable is expressed as %AB g where %AB WD %AC C %A=2 is the sum of the mass
density of the cable and half the mass of the bridge deck-girder. The solution is the
parabolic equilibrium (3.52) given by y o D %AB g=.2H o /x.x l/. By considering
the parabolic equilibrium and uniform torsional stiffness for the bridge, (9.140)
yields the following approximate formula of the critical speed:
s " #1=2
2 GJ1 Ho EAC l 3 %AB g 2 2
Uo D C /¦1 C ¦2 ;
lC1M b2 2 2 Lo H o
Z 1 Z 1
1
¦1 W D xN N
xN dx; ¦2 WD xN N
xN dx; xN WD x= l: (9.141)
0 0 2
By further using the relationship H o D %AB g l=.8dN / between the sag-to-span

ratio dN WD y.l=2/= l and H o ; (9.141) becomes
s 1=2
2 GJ1 %AB gl l
Uo D C ¦1 C 32EAC dN 2 o ¦22 : (9.142)
lC1M b 2
16dN L
In (9.140)(9.142), the horizontal force H o in the suspension cables affects the

bridge geometric stiffness and depends on the magnitude of the dead loads. Hence,
the dead loads have a stabilizing effect on the bridge aerodynamic stability, which
is well-known to the extent that, in order to increase the stability under adverse
weather conditions, the dead loads are increased by parking parallel lines of heavy
trucks on the lanes of the bridge. Furthermore, the term proportional to the cable
elastic stiffness accounts for the cable incremental elastic tension under the torsional
aerostatic moment which turns out to be proportional to the square of the sag-to-span
ratio dN . Therefore, the limit state of torsional divergence of suspension bridges can
be delayed by increasing: (1) the elastic torsional stiffness of the deck-girder, (2)
the dead loads, although this measure is conflicting with other requirements such as
strength, excessive deformations, etc., or (3) the sag-to-span ratio.
Of course, the estimate of the critical speed can be improved by considering a
higher-order
Pn Galerkin-reduced model for the torsional response based on 1 .x/ D
j D1 q j j .x/. The multi-dof system reads:
X n
1
kijE U 2 b 2 kijM qj D 0 (9.143)
j D1
2
where
Z l Z l Z l
H o b2
kijM WD M
i C1 j dx; kijE WD i;x GJ1 j;x dx C i;x j;x dx
0 0 2 0
Z l Z l
EAC b 2
C o
i;x y x dx
o
j;x y x dx: (9.144)
2Lo 0 0
Rl
The trial functions j .x/ satisfy the orthonormality conditions 0 i j dx D ıij .
9.6.1.2 Aerostatic Torsional Divergence/Lateral Buckling Within A Fully

Nonlinear Formulation
Torsional divergence and more general aerostatic divergences occur at the critical
wind speed where the destabilizing aerostatic lift, drag and moment are such that the
stiffness of the suspension bridge vanishes. In particular, in torsional divergence, it
is the torsional stiffness of the bridge that undergoes degradation up to reaching
singularity at the critical torsional condition. Torsional stiffness depends on the
elastic torsional stiffness of the deck-girder cross section, the tension of the cables
due to dead loads and the incremental elastic tension induced by the twisting of
the deck-girder. Lift and drag forces, which comprise a constant term at zero angle
of attack and a term proportional to the torsional angle, induce bending deflections
along both e 2 and e 3 . From a mechanical point of view, a simple reasoning shows
that lift induces a loosening of the suspension cables which in turn induces a gradual
loss of horizontal thrust force in the cables. While this effect cannot be captured
by a linearized approach (within which torsional divergence is not affected at all
by lift), the effect of the gradual loss of tension on the critical condition can be
well described only in the context of a nonlinear formulation [74]. An accurate
evaluation of the aerostatic limit state can thus be captured by the present nonlinear
three-dimensional model of suspension bridges.
This is achieved by a path-following analysis of the suspension bridge under
investigation subject to an incremental aerostatic loading process. The case study of
the Hu Men Suspension Bridge (over the Zhu Jiang river in China, main span l D
888 m) is illustrated. The elasto-geometric properties of the deck-girder of the Hu
Men Bridge can be summarized as follows [106, 107]: b D 35:6 m, hD D 3:012 m,
A D 1:2443 m2 ; %A D 18330 kg/m, %J1 D 1:743106 kg m2 /m, E D 210 GPa, G D
80:77 GPa, J3 D 1:98 m4 ; J2 D 124:39 m4 ; J1 D 5:1 m4 . On the other hand, the
suspension cables exhibit the following properties: EC D 200 GPa, dC D 0:623 m,
AC D 0:305 m2 , %AC D 2397 kg/m. The sag of the cables under their own weight
is 84.6 m and the horizontal force is HC D 2:779 107 N. The hangers have the
following properties: EH D 160 GPa, dH D 0:0529 m, AH D 2:19 103 m2 ; and the
distance between the hangers is 33 m. The height of the towers is hT D 90 m. The
damping factor is assumed to be 0:5 %.
Figure 9.16 shows the aerostatic coefficients for the Hu Men Bridge obtained
through wind tunnel tests on a cross-sectional model [107, 484]. While the lift
and moment coefficients exhibit a linear trend in the investigated range of angle
of attacks, the drag coefficient shows an eminently nonlinear behavior.
Lift and moment are neglected for the suspension cables while drag is assumed as
1
f3D D . Uo /2 dC CCD ; (9.145)
2
where CCD D 0:7, dC is the cable diameter, Uo is the wind speed at the bridge
site, and is the wind spatial distribution coefficient. For more realistic analyses,
the significant variations in height of the suspension cables are accounted for by
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4 CD
0.2
0
-0.2 CM
-0.4
-0.6 CL
-0.8
-1.0
-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
αe [deg]
Fig. 9.16 Experimentally obtained aerostatic coefficients, .C D .˛ e /; C M .˛ e /; C L .˛ e //, for the Hu

Men Suspension Bridge when ˛w D 0 [106, 107]
the space-wise scaling factor .x; y/ so that the wind distribution is expressed as
.x; y/Uo where
.x; y/ D .y=10/˛r f1 Œ.l 2x C & .l1 l//=l1 2 g (9.146)
where ˛r denotes a ground roughness coefficient y is the height from ground, x is the
horizontal coordinate along the bridge span, l is the bridge span, l1 is the width of the
wind distribution, & is a coefficient of asymmetry in the wind distribution (& D 0
for symmetric wind distributions with respect to the midspan). A uniform wind
(i.e., D 1) is considered for the path-following analyses conducted in COMSOL
Multiphysics [117].
Figure 9.17 shows the equilibrium paths obtained from the fully nonlinear
equilibrium equations (solid lines) and the linearized equations (dashed lines). As
expected, the critical wind speed predicted by the nonlinear equilibrium path (136.2
m/s) is about 20 % lower than that predicted by the linearized equations (157 m/s).
This is likely due to the cable loss of tension (softening behavior) induced by lift
and the destabilizing effect of the bending induced by drag. From an engineering
point of view, the overestimation of the critical wind speed leads to a dangerous
overestimation of the structure safety. Similar results were obtained in the literature
[106] which highlighted the fact that the coupling induced by all aerostatic loads
results in a lower critical wind speed.
Figure 9.18 shows the nonlinear precritical paths at different values of the initial
wind angle of attack ˛w . For an angle of attack ˛w D C2 ı (dashed-dotted lines),
the critical speed decreases by 20 %, from 136:2 m/s to about 109:5 m/s. On the
other hand, for ˛w D 2 ı (dashed lines), the static lift and moments are negative,
a b
180
150 Uo = 157 m/s Uo = 157 m/s
Uo = 136.2 m/s
150 Uo = 136.2 m/s
120
120
U [m/s]
90
90
60
60
30 30
0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
u2(l/2) [m] φ3(l/2) [deg]
Fig. 9.17 Hu Men Suspension Bridge: linear and nonlinear precritical equilibrium paths for
increasing wind speed with zero initial angle of attack, ˛w D 0 ı . (a) Vertical displacement and
(b) torsional rotation vs. wind velocity U . Reprinted with permission [32]
150 150
αW =−2° αW =0°
αW = 0°
120 120 αW = −2°
90 αW =+2° 90
U[m/s]
αW = +2°
60 60
30 30
0 0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
u2(l/2) [m] φ3(l/2) [deg]
Fig. 9.18 Hu Men Suspension Bridge: precritical equilibrium paths for increasing wind speed at
different initial wind angles of attack ˛w : (a) vertical displacement and (b) torsional rotation vs.
wind speed U . Reprinted with permission [32]
thus the tensioning effect in the cables induces an increase in the torsional stiffness
of the bridge and no torsional divergence occurs. Divergence is observed clearly in
the loci of the real and imaginary parts of the eigenvalues upon varying the wind
speed. The paths of the eigenvalues in the complex plane are shown in Fig. 9.19a
for ˛w D 0 ı ; C1 ı ; and C2 ı . The eigenvalues move down on the imaginary axis
going through zero on the real axis at the divergence bifurcation. The sensitivity
of the frequency of the bifurcating mode in the neighborhood of divergence is well
documented in Fig. 9.19b. A three-dimensional view of the critical mode is shown
in Fig. 9.19c.
The continuum formulation is employed in a straightforward manner to investi-
gate the sensitivity of the critical speed with respect to the initial angle of attack and
the bridge constitutive parameters. Figure 9.20a shows the high sensitivity of the
critical speed on the initial wind angle of attack.
60
a c
30
Im(σ)
-30
-60
0 10 20 30 40 50
Re(σ)
60
b
30
Im(σ)
-30
-60
110 115 120 125 130 135 140
U[m/s]
Fig. 9.19 Hu Men Suspension Bridge: (a) and (b) paths of the lowest eigenvalue for the evaluation
of the divergence condition: circles represent ˛w D C2 ı , triangles represent ˛w D C1 ı and
diamonds show ˛w D 0 ı . (c) Critical buckling mode for ˛w D 0 ı and Uo D 136:2 m/s. Reprinted
a b
140 180
170 βT/βT
130
160
κC/κC
Uo [m/s]
120 150
110 140 κH/κH
130
100 Hu Men βF/βF
120
90 110
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
αw[deg] Stiffness ratio
Fig. 9.20 Sensitivity analyses for the Hu Men Suspension Bridge: (a) influence of the initial angle
of attack ˛w and (b) the constitutive parameters on the critical wind speed. The overbar indicates
the parameter values for the Hu Men Bridge. Reprinted with permission [32]
Figure 9.20b shows the sensitivity of the critical wind speed with respect to
variations of (1) the cable elastic stiffness C , (2) the girder elastic torsional stiffness
ˇ T , (3) the deck-girder bending elastic stiffness ˇ F about b2 , and (4) the hanger
elastic stiffness H . The corresponding values for the Hu Men Bridge are denoted
by .N C ; ˇN T ; ˇN F ; N H /. The ratios of the stiffness parameters to the values for the Hu
Men Suspension Bridge enable parametric investigations within realistic ranges
of variation of the main bridge constitutive parameters. As expected, the critical

speed is a monotonically increasing function of the girder elastic torsional stiffness.
On the other hand, the critical speed increases with the nondimensional elastic cable
stiffness up to a threshold stiffness above which the aerostatic instability becomes
insensitive to the elasticity of the suspension cables. The critical speed is almost
insensitive to the stiffness ratio of the hangers H , as expected. Interestingly, the
critical speed exhibits a very mildly decreasing trend with ˇ F WD J2 =J3 due to the
destabilizing effect discussed above. The sensitivity of the critical wind speed with
respect to variations in the sag-to-span ratio reveals an increasing trend with the
sag-to-span ratio thus confirming the linear predictions obtained by the reduced-
order model. The sag of the cables, as noted, enhances the incremental elastic cable
elongation induced by the aerostatic moment.
The Runyang Bridge (span l D 1;490 m), studied in the context of the planar
dynamic response and flutter, has also been studied for torsional divergence.
Simulations carried out for three values of ˛w lead to a critical speed of about
111:2 m/s for ˛w D C1 ı . For zero or negative values of the initial angle of attack,
the static lift and moment acting on the bridge section are negative thus the effect
induced in the cables is such as to increase the effective torsional stiffness of the
bridge. The results of the calculations carried out by using the 1-dof reduced model
lead to Uo D 143:88 m/s if the trial function is D sin xN and Uo D 113:78 m/s
if the trial function is D sin 2 x.
N The critical speed is overestimated by about
29.4 % in the first case and by 2.3 % in the second case. The second trial function
is closer to the critical mode which exhibits two half-waves both in torsion and in
vertical bending.
9.6.2 Flutter Analysis
The flutter instability phenomenon is classically studied following either the

frequency-domain or the time-domain approach. The critical wind speed was
proposed to be found in [398] by solving an eigenvalue problem whose solution
represents the coupled flexural–torsional natural frequency at the flutter condition.
A modal analysis technique was applied in [9] to the evaluation of the critical flutter
speed of a suspension bridge by using a linear three-dimensional multi-dof frame-
work. A finite element implementation of the aerodynamic flutter phenomenon for
a cable-stayed bridge was presented in [365]. The eigenvalue problem was solved
by applying the mode-by-mode method proposed by Scanlan [393]. A multi-mode
flutter analysis was performed in [135] using finite elements. Up to the present time,
the study of the eigenvalue problem, associated with a finite element model of the
bridge, has been the most widely used approach to determine the flexural–torsional
aeroelastic flutter condition (e.g., cf. [199, 321]).
To take into account the spatial distribution of the wind forces, especially for
long-span bridges, some authors [110, 265] proposed a three-dimensional flutter
analysis of a simply supported bridge girder using the so-called finite-strip method.
This method allows the spatial wind distribution to be considered by applying wind
loads on different strips of the bridge girder. The advantages of the finite-strip
method compared to classical finite elements were shown in [108] due to the more
accurate representation of the mass and stiffness properties across the structure.
An alternative strategy to the eigenvalue approach is to perform a time-domain
analysis of the bridge response in a certain range of wind speeds (e.g., cf. [8]).
The critical Hopf condition is attained when the bridge undergoes limit cycle os-
cillations. Different from the linear eigenvalue approach, the time-domain analysis
allows structural and aerodynamic nonlinearities to be included which lead to post-
flutter LCOs (cf., e.g., [104, 482, 483]). The drawbacks of such an approach are the
high computational burden and the higher computational complexity necessary to
obtain appropriate analytical Theodorsen functions for typical cross sections of the
deck-girder (cf. [429]). In both approaches, the aerodynamic forces on the bridge
deck are modeled using the aeroelastic derivatives.
A recent approach to aeroelastic analysis of suspended structures is to couple the
equations of motion with an incompressible unsteady aerodynamic model obtained
via a reduced-order indicial formulation [33]. The space dependence was reduced
by using the Galerkin approach and time integration schemes were applied on
the governing set of ODEs that includes the modal reduced dynamic aeroelastic
ODEs and the added aerodynamic states. These are associated with the lag-state
formulation pertinent to the unsteady wind-induced loads. The onset of flutter was
predicted with high accuracy.
9.6.3 Linear Equations for Flutter
For the suspension bridge problem, the linearized reduced equations that govern
the flutter eigenvalue problem are obtained by substituting in (9.137)(9.139) the
aeroelastic forces (9.116)(9.118) in place of the aerostatic forces. The following
three integral partial differential equations are obtained:
1 1
%J1 C b 2 %AC .x/ R 1 C c1 P1 .GJ1 1;x /x b 2 H o 1;xx
2 2
Z
1 EAC l
1 uP 2 P 1
b 2 y o xx o y o x 1;x dx b 2 U 2 KA1 C KA2 b
2 L 0 2 U U
u2 uP 3 u3
C K 2 A3 1 C K 2 A4 C KA5 C K 2 A6 D 0; (9.147)
b U b
Œ%A C 2%AC .x/Ru2 C c2 uP 2 C .EJ3 u2;xx /xx 2H o u2;xx
Z
EAc l o 1 uP 2 P1
2y xx o
o
y x u2;x dx bU 2 KH1 C KH2 b
L 0 2 U U
u2 uP 3 u3
C K 2 H3 1 C K 2 H4 C KH5 C K 2 H6 D 0; (9.148)
b U b
1 uP 2 P 1
%ARu3 C c3 uP 3 C .EJ2 u3;xx /xx bU 2 KP1 C KP2 b
2 U U
u uP u
C K 2 P3 1 C K 2 P4 C KP5 C K 2 P6
2 3 3
D0 (9.149)
b U b
where c1 is the damping coefficient of the torsional motion, and .c2 ; c3 / are the
damping coefficients of the flexural motion along e 2 and e 3 ; respectively.
p The equations of motion are made nondimensional by scaling time by 1=!b D
%Al 4 =EJ3 and lengths by the span l which leads to the nondimensional variables
and parameters given by (9.50). In the following, the nondimensional damping
coefficients used are cN1 WD !b c1 l 2 =.EJ3 / and cNj WD !b cj l 4 =.EJ3 /; j D 2; 3:
In addition, the following nondimensional air density, oscillation frequency, wind
speed, and deck width are introduced:
b 2 ! U b
N WD ; !N WD ; UN WD ; bN WD : (9.150)
%A !b b! l
The nondimensional form of lift and aerodynamic moment is obtained as:

!
2
1 K K K
LN D NUN 2 bN !N 2 H1 uP 2 C H2 P1 C K 2 H3 1 C H4 u2 ;
2 UN bN !N UN !N bN
!
N 1 N 2 N2 2 K K P 2 K2
M D NU b !N A1 uP 2 C A2 1 C K A3 1 C A4 u2 (9.151)
2 UN bN !N UN !N bN
which, by virtue of the reduced frequency K D !b=U D 1=UN , is further

transformed into
!

1 H H H
LN D N!N bN
2 1
uP 2 C 2
P 1 C H3 1 C
4
u2 ;
2 bN !N !N bN
!

1 A A A
MN D N!N 2 bN 2 1
uP 2 C 2 P1 C A3 1 C 4 u2 : (9.152)
2 bN !N !N bN
Consequently, the nondimensional equations for span-wise uniform bridges,

become
Z 1
bN 2 R P 00 N 2 o 00 N o 00
ŒNr C C .x/1 C cN1 1 ˇ 1 b ˛ 1 b C y
2 T 2
y o 0 1 0 dx
2 0

1 2 N 2 A1 A2 P A
A
A
N!N b uP 2 C 3 C A3 1 C 4 u2 C 5 uP 3 C 6 u3 D 0;
2 bN !N !N bN bN !N bN
(9.153)
Z 1
Œ1 C 2C .x/Ru2 C cN2 uP 2 C u2 0000 2˛ o u2 00 2C y o 00 y o 0 u2 0 dx
0

1 2 N H1 H2 P H4 H5 H6
N!N b uP 2 C 1 C H3 1 C u2 C uP 3 C u3 D 0;
2 bN !N !N bN bN !N bN
(9.154)
0000 1 2 N P1 P2 P
uR 3 C cN3 uP 2 C ˇ u3 N!N b
F
uP 2 C 1 C P3 1
2 bN !N !N

P4 P5 P6
C u2 C uP 3 C u3 D 0 (9.155)
bN bN !N bN
where the overdot indicates differentiation with respect to nondimensional time, the
prime denotes differentiation with respect to x, N and the overbar of the nondimen-
sional variables is dropped for ease of notation.
The wind tunnel tests provide the flutter derivatives Ai ; Hi ; Pi as functions of
the reduced frequency K: The flutter condition is determined as follows. Assume
that .q1 ; q2 ; q3 / denote the generalized coordinates describing pitch, heave, and
sway in a reduced-order model as shown in the next section. Let the flutter solution
be .q1 ; q2 ; q3 / D .A1 ; A2 ; A3 / exp.i!t/ N or .q1 ; q2 / D .A1 ; A2 / exp.i!t/ N where !N
represents the flutter frequency and i is the imaginary unit. The assumed solution
is substituted into the reduced equations of motion cast in matrix form. The
determinant of the coefficient matrix is set to zero for nontrivial solutions yielding
the characteristic equation. For each value of K, a complex-valued equation in !N is
obtained. In the given range of K; the algorithm seeks iteratively to determine the
lowest value of K such that the corresponding characteristic equation yields a real
solution, denoted by !N o . Let the critical reduced frequency K be denoted by Ko : The
flutter speed is then calculated as
b !N o !b
Uo D : (9.156)
Ko
In the case of airfoil applications (streamlined deck-girders) both H1 and A2
are negative for all values of K [115]. The total damping is therefore positive for
both degrees of freedom. In incompressible flow, the airfoil cannot suffer flutter in
a single individual mode (vertical or torsional mode). Thus, the mechanism for the
occurrence of flutter in airfoils always involves coupling between pitch and heave
(i.e., bending and torsional modes).
Reduced-order multi-dof model for flutter. A multi-dof model of flutter can be
constructed by the Galerkin method by expressing the solution as a superposition of
trial functions
X
n1 X
n2
1 .x; t/ D qj(1) .t/ (1)
j .x/; u2 .x; t/ D qj(2) .t/ (2)
j .x/;
j D1 j D1
X
n3
u3 .x; t/ D qj(3) .t/ (3)
j .x/: (9.157)
j D1
Rl
The trial functions j(k) .x/ satisfy the orthonormality conditions 0 i(k) j(k) dx D ıij ,
k D 1; 2; 3. The number of degrees of freedom is n D n1 C n2 C n3 .
The obtained multi-dof system of n ODEs, for span-wise uniform wind speed
distributions, reads:
X
n1
1 X 2
K n
K 2 (2)
Œm(1)
ij jR
q (1)
C c ı P
q
1 ij j
(1)
C k (1)E (1)
ij qj U 2 2
b aij(12) A1 qPj(2) C A4 q
j D1
2 j D1
U b j
X
n1
K X n3
K K 2 (3)
C ıij A2 b qP j(1) C K 2 A3 qj(1) C aij(13) A5 qPj(3) C A6 q D 0;
j D1
U j D1
U b j
(9.158)
X
n2
1 X
n2
K (2) K 2
Œm(2)
ij qRj(2) C c2 ıij qPj(2) C kij(2)E qj(2) U 2 b ıij H1 qP C H4 q (2)
j D1
2 j D1
U j b j
X
n1
K X n3
K K 2 (3)
C aij(21) H2 b qPj(1) C K 2 H3 qj(1) C aij(23) H5 qPj(3) C H6 q D 0;
j D1
U j D1
U b j
(9.159)
X
n3
1 Xn2
K K 2 (2)
Œm(3)
ij jR
q (3)
C c ı P
q
3 ij j
(3)
C k (3)E (3)
ij qj U 2
b aij(32) P1 qPj(2) C P4 q
j D1
2 j D1
U b j
X
n1
K X n3
K K 2 (3)
C aij(31) P2 b qPj(1) C K 2 P3 qj(1) C ıij P5 qPj(3) C P6 q D 0:
j D1
U j D1
U b j
(9.160)
The coefficients of the mass, elasto-geometric stiffness and aerodynamic matri-
ces are
Z l
1
ij WD
m(1) .%J1 C b 2 %AC /
(1) (1)
i j dx;
0 2
Z l Z l
ij WD
m(2) .%A C 2%AC / ij WD
(2) (2)
i j dx; m(3) (3)
i %A (3)
j dx (9.161)
0 0
Z l Z l
H ob2
kij(1)E WD (1)
i;x GJ1 j;x dx C
(1) (1)
i;x
(1)
j;x dx
0 2 0
Z l Z l
EAC b 2
C (1) o
i;x y x dx
(1)
j;x y x dx;
o
2Lo 0 0
Z Z Z !
l l l
EAC
kij WD
(2)E (2)
i;xx EJ3
(2)
j;xx dx C 2H o (2)
i;x j;x dx C 2
(2) (2) o
i;x y x dx
0 0 2Lo 0
Z ! Z
l l
(2)
j;x y x dx
o
; kij WD(3)E (3)
i;xx EJ2
(3)
j;xx dx; (9.162)
0 0
Z l
aij(hk) WD i
(h)
j
(k)
dx; aij(kh) D aj(hk)i : (9.163)
0
The simplest model is a 2-dof model obtained by neglecting the lateral bending
mode and letting n1 D 1 D n2 , n3 D 0,
1 .x/ D q1 1 .x/; u2 .x/ D q2 2 .x/: (9.164)
The superscripts are dropped for ease of notation. The minimum number of trial
functions to be used in the reduced-order model is discussed in the context of the
Runyang Suspension Bridge in the next section.
Problem 9.7 (Two-dof reduced-order model for flutter). Show p that the nondi-
mensional equations of a two-dof model for flutter with 1 D 2 sin xN D 2
are
1 N N 2 1 N N
qR 1 C .21 !N 1 N 2 /qP1
b !A N 1 qP 2
b !A
2m N 11 2m N 11
h 1 N N 2 i 1 N N 2
C !N 12 N A3 q1
.b !/ b !N A4 q2 D 0; (9.165)
2m N 11 2mN 11
1 N 1 N N qP1
qR 2 C .22 !N 2 N 1 /qP2
!H !N bH
2m N 22 2m N 22 2
h 1 N 2 i 1 N N 2
C !N 22 !N H4 q2 b !N H3 q1 D 0 (9.166)
2mN 22 2mN 22
where .!N 1 ; !N 2 / are theqnondimensional frequencies of the torsional and bending
modes given by !N j WD kNjj E
=m N jj with
Z 1 ! Z 1
bN 2
mN 11 WD 1 rN C
2
C N
1 dx; N 22 WD
m 2 .1 C 2"C / 2 dx;
N
0 2 0
Z 1 Z 1 2
kN11
E
WD 0
1 .ˇ
T
C ˛ o bN 2 / 0
N
1 dx C C bN 2 yo0 0
N
1 dx ;
0 0
Z 1 Z 1 Z 1 2
kN22
E
WD 00
2
00
N
2 dx C 2˛ o 0
2
0
N
2 dx C 2C y o0 0
N
2 dx : (9.167)
0 0 0
Moreover, .1 ; 2 / are the damping ratios of the torsional and bending mode
calculated according to cNj D 2j !N j m
N jj (j D 1; 2/.
9.6.3.1 Flutter of the Runyang Suspension Bridge
Upon its completion in 2005, the Runyang Suspension Bridge over the Yangtze
River with its main span of 1;490 m became the fourth longest suspension bridge
in the world and the longest in China. The main span of the bridge consists of a
streamlined orthotropic steel box girder which is 3 m in depth while the structural
width of the deck is 35.9 m wide. The following elasto-geometric properties of the
Runyang Bridge can be noted to be very close to those of the Hu Men Suspension
Bridge [106, 107]: b D 35:9 m, hD D 3 m, A D 1:2481 m2 ; %A D 18; 387 kg/m,
%J1 D 1:852 106 kg m2 /m, E D 210 GPa, G D 80:77 GPa, J3 D 1:9842 m4 ; J2 D
137:75 m4 ; J1 D 5:034 m4 : The aspect ratio of the deck-girder is b=d 11:97. The
suspension cables exhibit the following properties: EC D 200 GPa, dC D 0:776 m,
AC D 0:47347 m2 ; %AC D 3817 kg/m. The sag of the cables under their own weight
is 149 m and the horizontal force is HC D 7:096 107 N. The hangers have the
following properties: EH D 160 GPa, dH D 0:0522 m, AH D 2:14 103 m2 ; and
the distance between the hangers is 34:3 m. The height of the towers is hT D 154 m.
The damping factor is 0:5 %:
The study of the modal features of the bridge is preliminary to the flutter analysis
as it paves the way for understanding which mode will bifurcate through the Hopf
bifurcation at the onset of flutter. The modal properties are studied in two conditions:
stress-free and prestressed under dead loads. In the first case, the lowest mode at
0:0454 Hz is a symmetric local mode affecting the cables alone moving in the out-
of-plane direction in a pendulum-type motion. The sequence of global modes is as
follows: the first mode (f1 D 0:06364 Hz) is the lowest symmetric lateral bending
mode, the second and third modes are the lowest skew-symmetric (f2 D 0:0505 Hz)
and lowest symmetric (f3 D 0:0740 Hz) bending modes in the vertical direction.
The fourth mode is the lowest skew-symmetric lateral mode (f4 D 0:1753 Hz),
and the fifth is the second skew-symmetric mode (f5 D 0:1080 Hz). The sixth and
seventh modes are the lowest skew-symmetric (f6 D 0:2111 Hz) and symmetric
(f7 D 0:2535 Hz) torsional modes. In the sequence, the second local mode of the
suspension cables (skew-symmetric mode) appears at 0:0903 Hz. The sequence of
three-dimensional global mode shapes is shown in Fig. 9.21.
On the other hand, if the prestressed condition is taken into account, the
local cable modes disappear but the sequence of global modes is preserved. The
difference is in the higher values of frequencies for all modes due to the positive
geometric stiffness of the tensioned cables which contributes in all directions
including torsion. The frequencies in the prestressed condition turn out to be: f1 D
0:0700 Hz, f2 D 0:0962 Hz, f3 D 0:1281 Hz, f4 D 0:1707 Hz, f5 D 0:1797 Hz,
f6 D 0:2291 Hz, f7 D 0:2772 Hz. The results from the literature [483, 484]
for the third, fifth, and seventh modes (f3 D 0:1262 Hz, f5 D 0:1721 Hz, and
f7 D 0:2411 Hz) compare very closely with the results of the present nonlinear
continuum model which gives slightly higher values of the frequencies due to the
assumed average elastic stiffness properties for the deck-girder.
The aeroelastic forces are introduced in the equations of motion (9.29), (9.30),
(9.31), and (9.34) together with the constitutive equations (9.46)(9.48) and
a b
c d
e f
Fig. 9.21 The lowest six mode shapes of the Runyang Suspension Bridge calculated about
the prestressed equilibrium state: (a) first mode (f1 D 0:0700 Hz), (b) second mode (f2 D
0:0962 Hz), (c) third mode (f3 D 0:1281 Hz), (d) fourth mode (f4 D 0:1707 Hz), (e) fifth mode
(f5 D 0:1797 Hz), (f) sixth mode (f6 D 0:2291 Hz). Reprinted with permission [32]
M
boundary conditions (9.49). The aeroelastic forces f.x; t/ and couples cM .x; t/ per
unit reference length read
fM D f Ao C L.x; t/dM 2 ; cM A D c Ao C M.x; t/bM 1

A
(9.168)
where lift and aerodynamic moment are given by (9.116) and (9.118) expressed in
terms of aeroelastic derivatives Hi .K/; Ai .K/ i D 1; : : : 4.
5 0.4
4
0
3
-0.4
A 2∗
A 1∗
2
-0.8
1
-1.2
0
-1 -1.6
0 4 8 12 16 20 0 4 8 12 16
8 1.5
1
6
0.5
A 3∗
4
A 4∗
0
2
-0.5
0 -1
0 4 8 12 16 0 4 8 12 16 20
Ur Ur
Fig. 9.22 Aeroelastic derivatives Ai for the Runyang deck-girder cross section (circles) and for
the rectangular cross section (diamonds) when ˛w D 0 ı . Reprinted with permission [32]
Figures 9.22 and 9.23 show the experimental values of the flutter derivatives
calculated for the deck cross section of the Runyang Suspension Bridge together
with the derivatives calculated for a rectangular section whose aspect ratio of
b=d 14:3 [388] is close to that of the Runyang Bridge (b=d 11:97). The
derivatives are computed for increasing values of the reduced velocity Upr WD 2=K.
The introduced nondimensionalization (time is scaled by 1=!b D %Al 4 =EJ3
and lengths by l) leads to the nondimensional form of lift and aerodynamic
moment (9.151).
The eigenvalue problem for flutter analysis is obtained by substituting in (9.151)
the assumed complex-valued exponential solution
h i h i
M
u.x; t/; Mj .x; t/; vM ˙ .x; t/ D u.x/;
N Nj .x/; vN ˙ .x/ e t ; j D 1; 2; 3:
The nondimensional inertia and damping forces of the cable per unit reference
length are ( 2 C sec o ˙ vN ˙ ; djc vN ˙ ). For the deck, the nondimensional inertia
and damping forces, respectively, in the translational and torsional motion are
N and . 2 J N3 ; djT N 3 /. Accordingly, the flutter condition is reached
M dj u)
( 2 u;
when one of the eigenvalues D R C i I becomes purely imaginary. At the critical
condition, the nondimensional flutter frequency is !N D I .
Figure 9.24a–d show the variation of the logarithmic decrement (left column)
and frequency (right column) of (a,b) the lowest two torsional modes and (c,d)
the lowest two bending modes. The results are obtained according to the Scanlan
procedure (dotted lines) suitable to determine the critical condition or according
0
-4
-1
H 1∗
-8
H2∗
-2
-12
-16 -3
0 4 8 12 16 20 0 4 8 12 16
1
0
-10
-1
H 4∗
H 3∗
-2
-20
-3
-30 -4
0 4 8 12 16 0 4 8 12 16 20
Ur Ur
Fig. 9.23 Aeroelastic derivatives Hi for the Runyang deck-girder cross section (circles) and for
the rectangular cross section (diamonds) when ˛w D 0 ı . Reprinted with permission [32]
to the refined procedure (solid lines) discussed in Sect. 2.8. The latter allows the
actual eigenvalues to be computed (i.e., frequency and damping) in the precritical
and postcritical range in the neighborhood of the Hopf bifurcation. Besides slight
deviations between the two procedures due to the gentle variations of the frequency
in the vicinity of flutter, the two approaches yield the same critical condition which
occurs for U D 69–70 m/s and involves the lowest symmetric torsional mode shown
in Fig. 9.25c. On the other hand, conducting the same analysis using the smoother
flutter derivatives for a rectangular deck section of comparable size to the Runyang
cross section yields the critical condition in the lowest skew-symmetric torsional
mode as shown in Fig. 9.26.
The computations of torsional divergence for this bridge give a critical speed
of about 111.2 m/s for an initial wind angle of attack ˛w D C1 ı [32]. For zero or
negative angles of attack, the static lift and moment are negative, thus they induce an
increase in the torsional stiffness of the bridge by the tensioning mechanism of the
cables, thus torsional divergence does not occur. The computed critical speeds for
flutter and torsional divergence indicate that torsional divergence occurs at a speed
which is about 60 % higher than the flutter speed.
Moreover, the results of the study on the fidelity of reduced-order models for
flutter discussed in Sect. 9.6.2 are shown in Fig. 9.27. Again, the Runyang Bridge is
used as a benchmark example. The thin line indicates the result of the full nonlinear
calculations (20 finite elements with quartic Lagrange polynomials) while the other
lines represent the reduced-order models where the subscripts in the three slots
between the vertical bars indicate the sine functions and their order number. For
0.0025 0.28
a b
0
0.27
-0.0025
0.26
f [Hz]
-0.005
Δ
-0.0075
0.25
-0.01
0.24
-0.0125
-0.015 0.23
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
0 0.14
c d
0.13
-0.02
0.12
f [Hz]
Δ
-0.04 0.11
0.1
-0.06 d)
0.09
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
U[m/s] U [m/s]
Fig. 9.24 Flutter analysis for the Runyang Bridge using aeroelastic derivatives for ˛w D 0 ı :
variations of the logarithmic decrement and frequency f of (a, b) the lowest two torsional
modes, and (c, d) the lowest two vertical bending modes; the dotted lines indicate the Scanlan
procedure, and the solid lines refer to the iterative procedure. The black lines refer to the symmetric
modes, the gray lines indicate the skew-symmetric modes. Reprinted with permission [32]
example, n1j2j0 means that n D 2 and the reduced-order model is based on trial
functions 1(1) D sin xN and 2(2) D sin 2 xN while the lateral component u3 is
discarded. Another example is n1j1j1 which means 1(1) D sin x, N 1(2) D sin x,
N
(3)
1 D sin N
x. While n1j2j0 (n D 2) does not predict flutter, a good estimate is
obtained by n1j1j0 with Uo D 76:6 m/s. Comparable estimates are obtained with
n12j12j0 (n D 4), n1j1j1 (n D 3) and n12j12j12 (n D 6). On the other hand, by further
increasing the number of functions to n D 9 or n D 12 as in n123j123j123 (n D 9) and
n1234j1234j1234 (n D 12), the estimate is improved to 72.5 m/s, which is fairly close
to the actual predicted value of 69.5 m/s.
9.7 Elements of Cable-Stayed Structures
The stays radiating from the towers of cable-stayed bridges are connected to the
deck at several locations. They act as point-wise nonlinear springs with nonsym-
metric behavior. Similarly, in land-based masts, guyed offshore wind turbines or
oil production platforms, the cable guys exert nonlinear restoring point forces at
the anchorage points of the floating structures. The key to the formulation of
geometrically exact equations of motion for cable-stayed structures is to either
9.7 Elements of Cable-Stayed Structures 659
800
a c
790
Im(σ)
780
770
760
-8 -6 -4 -2 0 2
Re(σ)
0.27 b
0.268
f [Hz]
0.266
0.264
0.262
-0.015 -0.012 -0.009 -0.006 -0.003 0
Δ [rad/s]
Fig. 9.25 (a) Paths of the eigenvalue for the bifurcating flexural–torsional mode of the Runyang
Bridge when ˛w D 0 ı , (b) variations of the frequency and logarithmic decrement vs. wind speed,
(c) lowest flutter mode shape. Reprinted with permission [32]
introduce the equations of motion of each individual stay cable and let the cable
forces be applied to the structure as point forces or to calculate the end forces
neglecting inertial forces thus using only equilibrium equations. Of course, the
former approach is far more expensive than the latter.
The problem of an inclined cable under its own weight and subject to three-
dimensional displacements of one of its support points is illustrated next.
The inclined cable problem. In Chap. 3, the analysis is restricted to the equilib-
rium configuration occupied by the inclined cable under its own weight with fixed
supports. The formulation is generalized to account for the motion of one of its
supports since this is the baseline feature of cable-stayed structures.
The geometry of the problem is shown in Fig. 9.28 together with the fixed frame
.O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / and the geometric data. Let s be the coordinate along a base curve
of the cable stress-free configuration whose length is L. The left support point A is
fixed at he 2 while the right support B is at position le 1 : This support point is subject
to the motion u.t/ N D uN .t/e 1 C v.t/e
N 2 C w.t/e
N 3:
In the horizontal configuration of the cable, the distance between the supports is
defined as the cable span p or chord; however, in the inclined configuration, the chord
is calculated as c D l 2 C h2 : By letting denote the angle between the chord
segment AB and the horizontal, this angle is given by D arctan.h= l/:
The initial configuration B o of the cable is described by r o .s/. On the other
hand, the actual position of the cable is described by r.s; t/, the cable stretch is
obtained from @s r D a where .s; t/ D j@s rj D Œ.@s r1 /2 C .@s r2 /2 C .@s r3 /2 1=2
0.08 0.28
0.06
a b
0.26
0.04
0.24
0.02
f [Hz]
Δ
0 0.22
-0.02
0.2
-0.04
0.18
-0.06
-0.08 0.16
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
0 0.14
c d
-0.1
0.12
-0.2
0.1
Δ
-0.3 f [Hz]
0.08
-0.4
0.06
-0.5
-0.6 0.04
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
U [m/s] U [m/s]
Fig. 9.26 Flutter analysis of the bridge having a rectangular cross section for ˛w D 0 ı : variations
of the logarithmic decrement and frequency f of (a, b) the lowest two torsional modes, and (c,
d) the lowest two vertical bending modes; the dotted lines indicate the Scanlan procedure, the solid
lines refer to the iterative procedure. The black lines refer to the symmetric modes, the gray lines
indicate the skew-symmetric modes. Reprinted with permission [32]
0.004
-0.004 n1234|1234|1234
n123|123|123
n12|12|12
Δ [rad/s]
-0.008 n1|1|1
n12|12|0
n1|1|0
-0.012
-0.016 n1|2|0
-0.02
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
U [m/s]
Fig. 9.27 Paths of the logarithmic decrement as the wind speed is varied across the onset of flutter
for ˛w D 0 ı obtained by the nonlinear continuum model and by various reduced-order models
Fig. 9.28 The inclined cable A

problem
h c
B
o
e2 ro(s) B
r (s) y
O B
e1 u
e3 l B
and a.s; t/ D @s r.s; t/=.s; t/ is the unit tangent vector. By letting n.s; t/ D
N.s; t/a.s; t/ be the contact force vector, the equation of motion reads
@s n mge 2 D %A@t t r (9.169)
where m WD %A is the cable mass per unit reference length. The boundary conditions
are r.0; t/ D he 2 and r.L; t/ D le 1 C u.t/:N In the context of this problem, the
subscript C is dropped in the quantities referring to the cable.
The equilibrium version of (9.169) in component form gives
@s .Na1 / D 0; @s .Na2 / mg D 0; @s .Na3 / D 0 (9.170)
where the tangent unit vector is expressed as a D a1 e 1 C a2 e 2 C a3 e 3 .

Integration of (9.170) yields Na1 =H =const, Na2 =V C mgs, Na3 =W =const.
The direction cosines of the unit tangent vector a are thus obtained as a1 D H=N;
a2 D .V C mgs/=N; a3 D W=N: Since the direction cosines must obey the
fundamental trigonometric identity a12 C a22 C a32 D 1; the tension is readily
obtained as
p
N.s/ D H 2 C .V C mgs/2 C W 2 ; n D H e 1 C.V Cmgs/e 2 CW e 3 : (9.171)
In addition, the chord force is defined as the projection of n.s/ along the chord
direction e c D cos e 1 sin e 2 ; Nc .s/ D cos H sin .V C mgs/:
The tension at the left fixed support turns out to be n.0/ D H e 1 C V e 2 C
W e 3 , and .H; V; W / are the horizontal force, the vertical force,
p and the out-of-
plane force at A. Consequently, the tension at A is N.0/ D H 2 C V 2 C W 2
while the chord force is Nc .0/ D cos H sin V: On the other hand, the tension
p the right support is n.L/ D H e 1 C .V C mgL/e 2 C W e 3 so that N.L/ D
at
H 2 C .V C mgL/2 C W 2 and Nc .L/ D cos H sin .V C mgL/:
Approach in flexibility. The unknowns .H; V; W / have still to be determined

together with the cable equilibrium configuration r.s/: To this end, the equilibrium
equations (9.170) are rewritten by substituting ak D @s rk = and using the inverse
linearly elastic constitutive function D 1 C N=EA; to obtain
p
@s r1 D H=EA C H= H 2 C .V C mgs/2 C W 2 ;
p
@s r2 D .V C mgs/=EA C .V C mgs/= H 2 C .V C mgs/2 C W 2 ;
p
@s r3 D W=EA C W= H 2 C .V C mgs/2 C W 2 : (9.172)
Integrating (9.172), together with the imposition of the boundary conditions

r1 .0/ D 0 D r3 .0/; r2 .0/ D h; furnishes
" p #
H H V C mgs C H 2 C .V C mgs/2 C W 2
r1 D sC log p ;
EA mg V C H2 C V 2 C W 2
.mg=2/s C V
r2 D h C s
EA
" #
1 p 2 p
C H C .V C mgs/2 C W 2 H 2 C V 2 C W 2 ;
mg
" p #
W W V C mgs C H 2 C .V C mgs/2 C W 2
r3 D sC log p : (9.173)
The other boundary conditions are enforced as r.L/ D .l C uN /e 1 C ve

N 2 C we
N 3 thus
obtaining
" p #
H H V C mgL C H 2 C .V C mgL/2 C W 2
LC log p l D uN ;

mg=2L C V
hC L
EA
" #
1 p 2 p
C H C .V C mgL/2 C W 2 H 2 C V 2 C W 2 D v;N
mg
" p #
W W V C mgL C H 2 C .V C mgL/2 C W 2
LC log p D w:
N (9.174)
Note that when the right support point is fixed, the problem is reduced to
the classical problem of the planar inclined cable occupying the elastic catenary
configuration in the plane .e 1 ; e 2 /. In this case, by accounting for the fact that
W D 0 as a consequence of (9.174)3 with wN D 0, (9.174)1 and (9.174)2 give
" p #
Ho Ho V o C mgL C H o 2 C .V o C mgL/2
LC log p l D 0;
EA mg V o C H o2 C V o2
"q #
mg=2L C V o 1 p
hC LC H o 2 C .V o C mgL/2 H o 2 C V o 2 D 0:
EA mg
(9.175)
Once the corresponding nondimensionalization is introduced, (9.175) reduces

to (3.2.1.2) using the transformation from logarithmic to hyperbolic functions and
considering the difference in the sign of h because of the opposite inclination of the
stay. In consonance with Irvine’s observation [207], note that it is better to use the
logarithmic functions instead of the hyperbolic function arcsinh whenever numerical
calculations are employed.
Equations (9.174) are nonlinear algebraic/transcendental equations whose so-
lutions can be sought effectively using a path-following technique for prescribed
three-dimensional displacement of the support point uN D uN 0 D .Nu0 ; vN 0 ; wN 0 /: The
equations are rewritten for convenience in compact form as
v1 .H; V; W / D uN ; v2 .H; V; W / D v;
N v3 .H; V; W / D w:
N (9.176)
The simplest approach [207] is to linearize (9.176) about the prestressed elastic
catenary for which the three force components are .H o ; V o ; 0/ and v1 .H o ; V o ; 0/ D
0; v2 .H o ; V o ; 0/ D 0; v3 .H o ; V o ; 0/ D 0: Let Fj1
o
WD @H vj .H o ; V o ; 0/; Fjo2 WD
@V vj .H ; V ; 0/; Fj 3 WD @W vj .H ; V ; 0/: The quantities Fjok are the elements of
o o o o o
the tangent flexibility matrix Fo : The j th equation is written as Fj1

o
dH C Fjo2 dV C
Fj 3 dW D dNuj : The calculations, as expected, lead to a block-diagonal matrix, with
o
0
F13 D F230
D F31 0
D F32
0
D 0; and
" # " #
L H o2 1 1 1 VLo C NLo
0
F11 D C C log ;
EA mg NLo .NLo C VLo / N o N o C V o mg No C V o
" # " #
Ho 1 1 L 1 VLo Vo
0
F12 D D F21 ; F22 D
o 0
C ;
mg NLo N o EA mg NLo N o
L 1 hV o C No i
0
F33 D C log Lo L
(9.177)
EA mg N CVo
where VLo WD V o C mgL is the q vertical component of the tension at B; while

p
N D H C V and NL D H o 2 C VLo 2 represent the tensions in the catenary
o o2 o2 o
equilibrium at points A and B, respectively. The flexibility matrix can be inverted to

obtain the forces in terms of the prescribed displacements by means of the stiffness
matrix Ko D .Fo /1 : The 22 stiffness matrix is readily obtained as
0
K11 D F22
0
= det Fo ; 0
K22 D F11
0
= det Fo ; 0
K12 D F12
0
= det Fo D K21
0
: (9.178)
The obtained linearization is often used for calculations and design of various
floating and mooring structures. Examples in civil engineering applications are
guyed masts or cable-stayed bridges. For instance, for planar transverse motion
N
of cable-stayed bridges with u=.0; N 0/, the following two linearized incremental
v;
forces are obtained:
dH o D K12
o
vN D .F21
o
N
= det Fo /v; dV o D K22
o
vN D .F11
o
N
= det Fo /v: (9.179)
The first-order tension exerted by the cable stay on the bridge deck at its anchorage
point can be calculated as the opposite of
n(1) D .H 0 C K12
o
N 1 C Œ.V o C mgL/ C K22
v/e o
N 2:
ve (9.180)
Calculation of the stay stiffness. The simplest approximation to the stiffness of

the stay is based on the assumption that the stay under pretension N o occupies
an ideally straight configuration (this configuration is considered ideal because,
in principle, it may only be achieved by exerting an infinite chord force or in the
absence of gravity). The horizontal and vertical components of N o are H o and V o :
In the case of a positive displacement vN in the e 2 -direction (see Fig. 9.28), the first-
order elongation of the stay is
h
WD c=c
M 1 D vN C O.vN 2 / (9.181)
c2
p
where the actual chord cM is cM D l 2 C .h v/N 2.
Consequently, the incremental elastic tension is dN E D EAh=c 2 vN and its
projection in the e 2 -direction is dV E D dN E sin D EAh2 =c 3 vN since sin D
h=c: On the other hand, the pretension that before the deformation was pointing
in the chord direction collinear with e c ; after the deformation points in the new
direction eM c that makes the angle M given by tan M D .h v/= M l: Therefore, the
vertical incremental force generated by the pretension N o is dV G WD N o .eM c e c /
e 2 D N o .sin M sin /: Since sin M ' sin .l 2 =c 3 /v,N the vertical incremental
geometric force is obtained as dV G D N o .l 2 =c 3 /v.
N Thus, the sum of the elastic
and geometric incremental force yields

N
dV o D dV E C dV G D EAh2 =c 3 C N o l 2 =c 3 v: (9.182)
The ensuing elasto-geometric stiffness can be expressed as

o
K22 D K22
E
C K22
G
D EAh2 =c 3 C N o l 2 =c 3 : (9.183)
The total vertical force exerted on the anchorage point at B is V o C dV o D h=cN 0 C

o
K22 N
v:
9.8 Cable-Stayed Bridges 665
Fig. 9.29 The cable-stayed A

beam problem
o
e2 rCo (s) B
e1 ro(x)
B
e3 B
l
Problem 9.8 (Equations of motion of a cable-stayed beam).

Show that the equations of motion of the cantilevered cable-stayed beam represented
in Fig. 9.29 are
@s nC C f C D %AC @t t r C ; (9.184)
@x n C f D %A@t t r; (9.185)
@x m C @x r n C c D %J @t ! C ! .%J !/ (9.186)
together with the boundary conditions
r C .L; t/ D r.l; t/; r C .0; t/ D he 2 ; r.0; t/ D 0; R.0; t/ D I (9.187)

nC .L; t/ C n.l; t/ D o; m.l; t/ D o: (9.188)
The cable and beam undeformed lengths are denoted by L and l, respectively. The
position vectors for the cable and beam are denoted by r C and r, while the contact
forces are nC (cable) and n (beam), respectively. This problem is an interesting
example suitable to investigate the effects of cable vibrations on the supported
structure [4, 172, 173].
9.8 Cable-Stayed Bridges
Figure 9.30 shows the reference configuration of a cable-stayed bridge. The fixed
frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / has the origin in the base point C (here, the center of mass) of
the deck-girder cross section lying on the left bridge pylon, e 1 is collinear with the
rj-
rj +
e2
xj-
O e1 x
xj+ C
e3
Fig. 9.30 Fixed frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / and the reference configuration of the bridge. The position
vectors of the stays and their anchorage points to the deck are denoted by r ˙ ˙
j and x j respectively,
while the position vector of the base line of the deck-girder is x
base line (here, the centerline), e 2 is collinear with the vertical upward direction,
and e 3 points in the out-of-plane direction.
The anchorage points atop the pylons (where all the cable stays radiate from
in the considered fan configuration, for sake of illustration) are described by
hT e 2 ˙b=2 e 3 with b being the distance between the two systems of stays, a distance
which can be taken to be the width of the bridge deck. The anchorage points atop
the pylons are considered immovable. Two parallel and symmetric systems of stays
radiating from the pylons are considered. For the j ˙ th parallel stays of undeformed
length Lj , let the distance of the anchorage points on the deck from the base point
of the left terminal section be denoted by xj . Let the arclength coordinate along the
stress-free stay be denoted by s. The deck anchorage points are thus represented by
x˙j D ˙b=2 e 3 C ae 2 C xj e 1 where a is the distance of the deck base point C from
the upper part of the deck. It is assumed that the stays are initially anchored to an
immovable deck, so that they occupy the elastic catenary equilibrium configurations
represented by the position vectors r ˙ j .s/ D xj .s/e 1 C yj .s/e 2 ˙ b=2e 3 : On
the other hand, the actual configurations of the j th stays are given by the position
vectors rM ˙
j .s; t/:
The reference configuration of the deck-girder is described by the position vector
r.x/ of its base line and by the orientation of the cross sections described by .b2 ; b3 /
so that the unit vector b1 D b2 b3 is collinear with e 1 : The actual configuration
is described by the position r.x;M t/ D r.x/ C u.x; M t/ of the base line and the
orientation of the cross sections by .bM 1 ; bM 2 ; bM 3 / with bM j D R M bj where RM is
the orthogonal tensor. If x S˙j D x ˙ xj e 3 are the positions vector of the stay
attachment points lying in the cross section at xj ; then the actual positions are
j Du
xM S˙ M C .RM I/ x S˙ :
j
The equations of motion for the j ˙ th stays are
˙
@s nM ˙ M M˙
j C f j D %Aj @t t r j (9.189)
˙
where the self-weight per unit reference length is fM j D mj ge 2 with mj WD %Aj
denoting the stay mass per unit length. The contact forces are nM ˙ M ˙ M˙
j D Nj a j where
aM ˙ M˙
j D @s r M j˙ and M j˙ D j@s rM ˙
j = j j are the total stretches of the stays. The total
tensions are expressed by a linearly elastic constitutive law NM j˙ D EAj .M j˙ 1/:
By letting nM ˙
j .Lj ; t/ denote the tensions at the stay anchorage points to the deck,
then the forces exerted on the deck at x D xj are nM ˙ j .Lj ; t/: If M denotes the
number of stays radiating from one side of the pylons, a group of M symmetrically
arranged stays radiates from the other pylon. The symmetric counterpart of the j th
stay is the stay denoted by j which has the anchorage point at x D xj DW l xj :
The system of stay forces can thus be expressed as
X
M X
M
hM ˙ .x; t/ D nM ˙
j ı.x xj / nM ˙
j ı.x xj / (9.190)
j D1 j D1
where ı./ denotes the Dirac delta function.

The local statement of the balance of linear momentum is
X
M X
M
@x nM nM ˙
j ı.x xj / nM ˙ M
j ı.x xj / C f D %A@t t r
M (9.191)
j D1 j D1
where both terms nM C M

j and n j are to be considered in the summation. On the other
hand, the balance of angular momentum can be expressed as
M
X
M C bM C
M C @x rM nM
@x m ab2 ŒnM j C nM j C b3 ŒnM j nM j ı.x xj /
j D1
2
M
X
M C bM C
ab2 ŒnM j C nM j C b3 ŒnM j nM j ı.x xj / C cM
2
j D1
D %J @t !
M C!
M .%J !/:
M (9.192)
The compatibility conditions between the stays and the deck displacements are
enforced through rM ˙ M˙
j .Lj ; t/ D x j .xj ; t/; hence,
rM ˙
j .Lj ; t/ D r.x j ; t/ C u.x
M j ; t/ x S˙
M j ; t/ C R.x j ;
rM ˙ M j ; t/ x S˙ :
j .Lj ; t/ D r.x j ; t/ C u.x
M j ; t/ C R.x j (9.193)
The other kinematic boundary conditions for the stays are rM ˙

j .0; t/ D h e 2 ˙ b=2e 3
T
˙
and rM j .0; t/ D le 1 C h e 2 ˙ b=2e 3 :
T
Since a << b; the following simplified equation for the balance of angular
momentum is obtained (9.192), which becomes
M
X
b Mb3 .nM C
M C @x rM nM
@x m j n
M j / ı.x xj /
j D1
2
M
X
bM C
b3 .nM j nM j / ı.x xj / C cM D %J @t !
M C!
M .%J !/:
M

2
j D1
(9.194)
Equations of planar motions for cable-stayed bridges and the lineariza-

tion. For purely planar motions, the displacement vector of the base line lies
in the .e 1 ; e 2 /-plane, hence u D ue 1 C ve 2 : Furthermore, the cross sections of
the deck-girder rotate by M about the e 3 -axis. The kinematic consequence for the
anchorage points of the stays is that, by neglecting the small effect6 of the flexural
M they suffer the same displacements of the base line, hence uM ˙ D uj
rotation , M xDxj :
j
C
Consequently, nM j D nM j ; which implies that there is no contribution to the balance
of angular momentum. Equations (9.191) and (9.194) become
X
M X
M
@x nM 2 nM j ı.x xj / 2 nM j ı.x xj / C fM D %A@t t r;
M (9.195)
j D1 j D1
M
@x MM C e 3 @x rM nM C cM D %J3 @t t : (9.196)
The linearization of the balance equations, except for the forces delivered by
the stays, is straightforward. The stay-induced forces, in a linearized sense, can be
calculated according to (9.180) which, for the j th stay, becomes
j D .Hj C K12 vj /e 1 C Œ.Vj C mj gLj / C K22 vj e 2 :

o(j) o(j)
n(1) 0 o
(9.197)
Upon condensation of the shear force, substitution of the linearized constitutive

equation M D EJ3 @xx v and neglecting the rotary inertia and couples c, the
equations of motion become
X
M X
M

%A@t t u @x .EA@x u/ C 2 o(j)
.K12 v/ı.x xj / C 2 o(j )
.K12 v/ı.x xj /
j D1 j D1
X
M X
M
D f1 2 Hjo ı.x xj / 2 Hjo ı.x xj /; (9.198)
j D1 j D1
6
The actual displacement of the anchorage points would be uM ˙ D uM Ca.bM 2 b2 / D uM a sin M e 1 C
a.cos M 1/e 2 : Clearly, the effects of the flexural rotation M are of higher order.
X
M X
M

%A@t t v C @xx .EJ3 @xx v/ C 2 o(j)
.K22 v/ı.x xj / C 2 o(j )
.K22 v/ı.x xj /
j D1 j D1
X
M X
M
D f2 2 .Vjo C mj gLj /ı.x xj / 2 .Vjo C mj gLj /ı.x xj /:
j D1 j D1
(9.199)
To account correctly for the influence of the bridge prestressed condition on the
dynamics (especially the geometric stiffness induced by the prestress compressive
forces in the deck-girder, Hjo e 1 C .Vjo C mgLj /e 2 , it is necessary to consider the
equilibrium problem first, letting @t t u=0=@t t v and f2 D .%Ag C f /, where %Ag
is the bridge weight per unit reference length and f denotes the other dead loads
(weight of nonstructural elements). The equilibrium equations become
X
M X
M

.EAuox /x C 2 v /ı.x xj / C 2
o(j) o
.K12 v /ı.x xj /
o(j ) o
.K12
j D1 j D1
X
M X
M
D 2 Hjo ı.x xj / 2 Hjo ı.x xj /; (9.200)
j D1 j D1
X
M X
M

o
.EJ3 vxx /xx C 2 .K22 v /ı.x xj / C 2
o(j) o
v /ı.x xj /
o(j ) o
.K22
j D1 j D1
X
M
D .%Ag C f / 2 .Vjo C mj gLj /ı.x xj /
j D1
X
M
2 .Vjo C mgLj /ı.x xj /: (9.201)
j D1
The solution of the linearized equilibrium leads to the solution of the prestressed
bridge given by .uo ; v o /; .N o ; Qo ; M o /: The tension in the stays is consequently
updated according to the solution v o (and by neglecting the effect of uo ), substituted
into (9.180) to give
j D .Hj CK12 vj /e 1 CŒ.Vj Cmj gLj /CK22 vj e 2 DW Hj e 1 CVj e 2 : (9.202)

o(j) o o(j) o
n(1) o o (1) (1)
o(j)
The stiffness term K22 needs to be updated for all stays accounting for the new
equilibrium configuration of the stays under the dead loads. The linearization of
F has to be carried out about .H (1) ; V (1) /. Then, by introducing the transformation
a b
hT =19 m
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
l=79 m
c d
Fig. 9.31 The lowest four transverse modes of the Meylan (cable-stayed) footbridge on the Isére
River
u ! uo C u and v ! v o C v in (9.198) and (9.199), the linear equation of

transverse motion is obtained as
X
M
%A@t t v C @xx .EJ3 @xx v/ C N o @xx v C 2 o(j)
.K22 v/ı.x xj /
j D1
X
M
o(j )
C2 .K22 v/ı.x xj / D f2 .x; t/ (9.203)
j D1
where N o is the deck-girder normal force of the equilibrium problem under dead
loads, f2 .x; t/ indicates the vertical live load. The longitudinal motions are hard
to excite due to the high frequencies of the longitudinal modes, hence they are
generally neglected.
Example 9.9 (Frequencies and mode shapes of a cable-stayed footbridge). The
transverse mode shapes and frequencies of the Meylan Footbridge on the Isére
River in France (Fig. 9.31) are calculated as described below. The two side spans are
neglected while the main span deck is considered as simply supported. Furthermore,
the anchorage points of the stays to the pylons are assumed to be immovable while
the stays are considered ideally straight under a pretension stress (25 % of the
ultimate stress S u ). The Galerkin method is used with shape functions sin x= l
to solve the eigenvalue problem obtained from (9.203) without considering the
compressive prestress N o of the deck.
The main span is 79 m while the two side spans are 20 m. The deck is made of
prestressed concrete, and the pylons are Y shaped and also made of concrete. There
is only one central system of stays radiating from the pylon and the distance of the
anchorage point atop the pylon from the deck is hT D 19 m. The properties of the
footbridge can be summarized as follows: l D 79 m, b D 6:70 m, A D 2:64 m2 ;
%A D 672:78 kg/m, E D 34 GPa, J3 D 0:59 m4 : The properties of the steel wire
stays are: EC D 196 GPa, S u D 1:86 GPa. The lengths of the stays, starting from 1
to 6 in Fig. 9.31, range from 26.84 to 40.82 m, the spacing for stays 1–5 is 5.06 m,
while the distance between stay number 6 and 7 is 6.75 m. The coordinates of stays
9.9 Guyed Structures 671
Fig. 9.32 Two examples of offshore wind turbines and their anchorage systems
1–6 are x1 D 10:83 m, x2 D 15:88 m, x3 D 20:95 m, x4 D 26:00 m, x5 D 31:07 m,

x6 D 36:13 m, x7 D 42:88 m.
9.9 Guyed Structures
There are various examples of guyed structures such as land-based masts, tall
guyed oil production platforms, etc. Current projects on megawatt-scale wind farms
comprising hundreds of large-scale offshore floating wind turbines are remarkable
examples of new technological challenges in the field of guyed structures. These
floating structures are typically installed in transitional water depths of 30–50 m up
to significant depths in the range 50–200 m. There are various designs such as those
featuring steel floaters filled with ballast of water and rocks that extend for about
100 m beneath the surface of the water and are fastened to the seabed by three (or
more) mooring cables (see Fig. 9.32 left). The other design consists of superficial
floaters anchored to the seabed by mooring lines (see Fig. 9.32 right).
The masts, the platforms, or the floating wind turbines are thus anchored to the
ground or to the seabed by means of a cluster of guys arranged symmetrically. A
concise nonlinear formulation of guyed structures is presented next.
In Fig. 9.33, the geometry of the problem is shown. The fixed frame .O; e 1 ;
e 2 ; e 3 / is such that its origin is conveniently located at the base of the mast or at
the seabed location on the vertical through the reference position of the floating
turbine. In view of generalizing the formulas for clusters of guys, let Ai be the point
on the mast (or floating body) where the guys of the i th cluster converge. The initial
configuration of the j th guy of the i th cluster is assigned knowing that its ground
A io ui
Ai
o
B
hi cj
g
e2 rjo(s)
O rj (s)
Bk Bj
e1
lj
e3
Fig. 9.33 Geometry of the guyed structure in its reference and deformed configurations
anchorage point Bj is at a distance lj from the base of the mast at O and making an
angle 'j with e 1 : A local frame is defined with e (j) 1 collinear with the line through
O and Bj ; e (j) 3 D e (j)
1 e 2 : The plane .e (j)
1 ; e 2 / is the plane in which the j th guy lies
in its initial prestressed configuration.
Let s be the coordinate along the cable stress-free configuration whose length is
Lj : The anchorage point Aoi is at position hi e 2 : This point is subject to the motion
uN i .t/ D uN i .t/e 1 C vNi .t/e 2 C wN i .t/e 3 : For the present kinematic formulation, uN j .t/
is the displacement of the anchorage of the j th guy expressed in the local frame as
uN j .t/ D uN j .t/e (j)
1 Cv Nj .t/e 2 C wN j .t/e (j)
3 : The guy chord in the reference configuration
is cj D .lj2 C h2i /1=2 :
It is assumed that r j .s; t/ D r1j e (j) 1 Cr2j e 2 Cr3j e 3 represents the actual position
(j)
of the guy and the same analysis of the previous sections holds with the only
difference that the boundary conditions are r j .0; t/ D hi e 2 C uN j .t/ (moving or
floating point) and r j .Lj ; t/ D lj e (j) 1 (fixed point).
By considering only gravity forces (thus neglecting buoyancy), integration
of (9.172) with the mentioned boundary conditions yields
Hj
r1j D lj C .s Lj /
EAj
" q #
Hj Vj C mj gs C Hj2 C .Vj C mj gs/2 C Wj2
C log q ;
mj g Vj C mj gLj C Hj2 C .Vj C mj gLj /2 C Wj2
mj g=2.sCLj /CVj
r2j D .sLj /
EAj
q q
1
C Hj C.Vj Cmj gs/ CWj Hj C.Vj Cmj gLj / CWj ;
2 2 2 2 2 2
mj g
Wj
r3j D .s Lj /
EAj
" q #
Wj Vj C mj gs C
Hj2 C .Vj C mj gs/2 C Wj2
C log q : (9.204)
mj g Vj C mj gLj C Hj2 C .Vj C mj gLj /2 C Wj2
Enforcing the other three boundary conditions r j .0; t/ D uN j e (j)

1 C .hi C v
N j /e 2 C
wN (j)
j 3 e (j)
gives
" q #
Hj Hj Vj C Hj2 C Vj2 C Wj2
lj Lj C log q D uN j ;
EAj mj g Vj C mj gLj C Hj2 C .Vj C mj gLj /2 C Wj2
mj g=2Lj C Vj 1 hq 2 q i
Lj C Hj C Vj2 C Wj2 Hj2 C .Vj C mj gLj /2 C Wj2 hi D vNj ;
EAj mj g
" q #
Wj Wj Vj C Hj2 C Vj2 C Wj2
Lj C log q DwNj: (9.205)
EAj mj g Vj C mj gLj C Hj2 C .Vj C mj gLj /2 C Wj2
It is necessary to enforce the compatibility of all anchorage points of the guys of the
i th cluster, subject to the same displacement uN i D uN i e 1 C vN i e 2 C wN i e 3 by requiring
uN j D uN i cos 'j wN i sin 'j ; vN j D vN i ; w

N j D uN i sin 'j C wN i cos 'j : (9.206)
The j th guy tension at point Ai is nj .0/ D Hj e (j) 1 C Vj e 2 C Wj e 3 ; hence the

(j)
reaction force exerted on the mast (or floating body) is nj .0/: In the prestressed
elastic catenary of the j th cable with fixed supports, the tension at Ai is noj .0/ D
1 C Vj e 2 : By substituting .Hj ; Vj ; 0/ into (9.205), the right-hand sides must
Hjo e (j) o o o
vanish and by letting ni denote the number of guys of the i th cluster, the equilibrium
of the mast in the initial configuration requires
X
ni X
ni
1 e 1 D 0;
Hjo e (j) 1 e 3 D 0;
Hjo e (j) 8i D 1; : : : ; nc
j D1 j D1
where nc is the number of clusters. Equations (9.205) are highly nonlinear algebraic
equations. The simplest approach to their solution is to linearize (9.205) about the
prestressed solution .Hjo ; Vjo ; 0/ and follow the same procedure as in the previous
sections.
Cluster of three guys at equal angles. The three guys of the i th cluster are
assumed to be deployed at equal angles, identical in their geometric and elastic
properties, and pretensioned at the same tension Nio (see Fig. 9.34). The simplest
approximation of the guys as taut and straight (neglecting gravity forces) is taken
into account. These guys are assumed to continue to be taut and straight after being
displaced by uN i . The linearization implies that the guys deliver to the mast, in the
a
h3
A2
h2
B3
b
A1
e1
B1
h1 e3
l1
ψ2 e2
ψ1 e1
B1 O B2 B2
l1
Fig. 9.34 The geometry of the guyed mast. (a) Side view; (b) Plan view
three directions, an equivalent stiffness which comprises a geometric and an elastic

part [207, 256]. The equivalent stiffnesses k1(i) ; k2(i) ; and k3(i) relating to the planes
.e 1 ; e 2 / and .e 2 ; e 3 /; respectively, are obtained as
3 EAi
li 2 No hi
k1(i) D C3 i ; k2(i) D 3Nio ; (9.207)
2 Li Li Li Li

3 EAi li 2 No
k3(i) D C i (9.208)
2 Li Li Li
where Li D ci ; and EAi is the axial stiffness of the individual guys in the cluster.
With the chosen approximation, the simplest model for the mast is that of a Euler–
Bernoulli beam with horizontal springs that represent the guys located at points Ai :
Note that the results can be generalized to general clusters of ni
3 for which the
stiffness components become
" !2 # !2
1 EAi li Nio hi 1 EAi li Nio
k1 D ni
(i)
C ; k2(i) D ni Nio ; k3(i) D ni C :
2 Li Li Li Li 2 Li Li Li
(9.209)
Example 9.10 (Mode shapes and frequencies of a guyed mast). The Ritz method is
employed to solve the eigenvalue problem in the plane .e 1 ; e 2 /: The kinetic energy
of the mast can be expressed as
Z h
1
KD %A.x/Pu2 .x/dx; (9.210)
2 0
where %A.x/ is the mass per unit length of the mast. The elastic and geometric
potential energy of the system, to within second-order terms, is expressed as
Z
1X
h cn
1
V D EJ3 u2xx dx C k (i) u2 (9.211)
2 0 2 i D1 1 i
where EJ3 .x/ is the bending stiffness of the mast about e 3 ; k (i) is the overall
stiffness of the i th cluster of guys in the pertinent direction, and the linear
curvaturedeflection relationship 3 D uxx is adopted. According to the Ritz
method, the displacement can be expressed as
X
N
u.x; t/ D qi .t/i .x/ D q.t/| ˆ.x/ (9.212)
i D1
where q indicates the vector of the generalized coordinates associated with the
displacement u of the mast and ˆ is the vector collecting the trial functions.
Here, the trial functions are determined so as to satisfy all boundary conditions,
namely, vanishing of the displacement and moment at the spherical bottom hinge
and vanishing of the moment and shear force at the free tip.
Substituting the velocity vector into the kinetic energy and substituting the
displacement into the potential energy yield the mass and stiffness matrices,
respectively, as
Z h
MD ˆ %A.x/ˆ | dx; (9.213)
0
Z h X
NG
KD ˆ xx EJ3 .x/ˆ |xx dx C k1(i) ˆ.xi / ˆ | .xi /: (9.214)
0 i D1
The resulting equations of motion are
R C K q.t/ D o:
M q.t/ (9.215)
The mast considered in the example [256] is supported at its base by a spherical
hinge and is 150 m high. It is a triangular truss mast made of three main rods
connected by three bars, 1 m long, placed at a distance of 1.25 m resulting in a
triangular cross section. Two groups of three guys are connected to the ground
support points at a distance of 70 m from the centerline of the mast and are attached
to the mast at a height of 60 m and 120 m from the ground, respectively. Each group
Fig. 9.35 The lowest three mode shapes of a guyed mast
of guys is at an angle of 120 degrees to the others. Figure 9.35 shows the lowest
three mode shapes of the mast. The frequencies (periods) of the three modes of the
structure are 0:44 Hz (2:28 s), 0:67 Hz (1:5 s), and 0:77 Hz (1:29 s).
Problems
9.11 (Displacement of the hanger anchorage points in suspension bridges).

Show that the displacement of the anchorage points of the hangers to the deck
simplifies to the following expressions if only the contribution due to the torsional
rotation M1 is considered and the center of mass and center of torsion coincide. Two
alternative expressions and the approximation (with a=b 1) are:
b
uM ˙ D uM C .sin.Q M1 / sin Q /e 2 ˙ .cos.Q 1 / cos Q /e 3 ;
2 cos Q

uM ˙ D uM ı cos ˇ ˙ e 2 C sin ˇ ˙ e 3 ;
bh
i
uM ˙ D uM sin M 1 e 2 C 1 cos M 1 e 3
2
where
M 1 M1 b M 1 2a
ˇC D Q ; ˇ D C Q ; ıD sin ; Q D arctan :
2 2 cos Q 2 b
9.12 (Reactive hanger tensions).

Assume the hangers are inextensible and show that the reactive hanger tension is
obtained from the balance equation (9.224)2 as
NH D f@x .NC a/
M NHo .eM H e oH / C @x ŒNCo .aM ao / C f C g e 2 =.eM H e 2 /
%AC .x/.@t t v e 2 /=.e H e 2 /: (9.216)
9.13 (Component form of the equations of motion for suspension cables).

By neglecting the elasticity in the catenary equilibrium, show that the component
form of the equations of motion for the suspension cables is

@x NM ˙ cos c 1 C @x vM 1˙ =M ˙ hM ˙ M˙ M 1˙ ;
1 C f1 D %AC .x/@t t v

@x NM ˙ cos c tan c C @x vM 2˙ =M ˙ hM ˙ M˙ M 2˙ ;
2 C f2 D %AC .x/@t t v

@x NM ˙ cos c @x vM3˙ =M ˙ hM ˙ M˙ M 3˙
3 C f3 D %AC .x/@t t v (9.217)
where %AC .x/ WD sec c %AoC :

9.14 (Component forms of vectors in local and fixed reference frames).
By assuming that bM k D R e k with R M parametrized according to the sequence
of rotations 1 ! 2 ! 3 , show that the vector fM D fM1 bM 1 C fM2 bM 2 C fM3 bM 3 is
M M M
transformed into fM D f1 e 1 C f2 e 2 C f3 e 3 in the fixed reference frame fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g
according to
f1 D fM1 cos 2 cos 3 fM2 cos 2 sin 3 C fM3 sin 2 ;

f2 D fM1 .sin 1 sin 2 cos 3 C cos 1 sin 3 /
CfM2 . sin 1 sin 2 sin 3 C cos 1 cos 3 / C fM3 cos 1 cos 2 ;
f3 D fM1 . cos 1 sin 2 cos 3 C sin 1 sin 3 /
CfM2 .cos 1 sin 2 sin 3 C sin 1 cos 3 / C fM3 cos 1 cos 2 :
9.15 (Equations of motion of suspension bridges with inextensible hangers).

Obtain the equations of planar motion for suspension bridges assuming continuously
distributed inextensible hangers.
By incorporating the hanger inextensibility constraint (i.e., h.x;M t/ D h.x/;
8.x; t/; where h and h, M respectively, indicate the undeformed and current lengths
of the hangers), the hanger tension can be obtained from the cable equation of
motion as
NM H D e 2 .@x nM C C fM C %AC .x/@t t v/=a
M H2 (9.218)
where aHj WD e H e j . This, in turn, is substituted into the remaining balance equations
of the deck-girder to obtain the condensed vector-valued equations of motion as
@x nM C e 1 C fM C e 1 e 2 .@x nM C C fM C /aH1 =aH2
D %AC .x/@t t vM .e 1 C e 2 aH1 =aH2 / ;

@x nM C fM C 2e 2 .@x nM C C fM C /eM H =aH2 D %A@t t uM C 2%AC .x/.e 2 vM t t /eM H =aH2 ;

@x MM C e 3 .@x rM n/ M
M C cM D J3 @t t : (9.219)
9.16 (Equilibrium equations for unshearable deck-girders and inextensible
hangers). Assume that the hangers are inextensible and show that
(a) The internal kinematic constraint yields.
o 2 2 1=2
v1 uo1 C h.x/ C v2o uo2 D h.x/ (9.220)
(b) The reactive hanger tension is NHo D Œ@x .NCo sin o / C fCo 2 =.e oH e 2 /.
(c) By enforcing the unshearability of the deck-girder, show that the equilibrium
equations become
eo e1
@x NC0 cos o C fC0 1 Œ@x .NC0 sin o / C fC0 2 Ho D 0;
eH e2
e oH e 1
@x .N o cos o C @x M o sin o = o / C f1o C 2Œ@x .NC0 sin o / C fC0 2 D 0;
e oH e 2
@x .N o sin o @x M o cos o = o / C f2o C 2@x .NC0 sin o / C 2fC0 2 D 0

(9.221)
(d) Under the dead loads f C .x; t/ D %AC .x/ge 2 and f.x/ D Œ%A.x/g C
f2 .x/e 2 ; where f2 is the weight of the nonstructural overlying parts and other
permanent loads, the equilibrium equations become

@x NCo cos o D 0;
@x .N o cos o C @x M o sin o = o / D 0;
@x .N o sin o @x M o cos o = o / C 2@x .NC0 sin o /
D Œ2%AC .x/ C %A.x/g C f2 .x/ (9.222)
(e) By letting HCo WD NCo cos o Dconst be the horizontal projection of the cable
tension in B o , the three equations can be reduced to the following two:
@x .N o cos o C @x M o sin o = o / D 0;
@x .N o sin o @x M o cos o = o / C 2HC0 @x .tan o /

D Œ2%AC .x/ C %A.x/g C f2 .x/: (9.223)
9.17 (Component form of the equations of planar motion).
Show that the component form of (9.92)(9.94) is
M e 1 NH eM H e 1 NHo .eM H e oH / e 1 C @x ŒNCo .aM ao / e 1

@x .NC a/
CfC1 D %AC .x/@t t v e 1 ;
M e 2 NH eM H e 2 NHo .eM H e oH / e 2 C @x ŒNCo .aM ao / e 2
@x .NC a/
CfC2 D %AC .x/@t t v e 2 ;
@x ŒN cos M Q sin
M C 2NH eM H e 1 C 2NHo .eM H e oH / e 1
C@x ŒN o .cos M cos o / Qo .sin M sin o / C f1 D %A@t t u e 1 ;

@x ŒN sin M C Q cos
M C 2NH eM H e 2 C 2NHo .eM H e oH / e 2
C@x ŒN o .sin M sin o / C Qo .cos M cos o / C f2 D %A@t t u e 2 ;

@x M C Q
M N
M C .M o /Qo . M o /N o C c D J @t t : (9.224)
9.18 (Linear equations of motion for suspension cables under aerostatic forces).
Obtain (9.137)(9.139) governing the linear theory of suspension bridges under
aerostatic forces.
9.19 (Effective torsional stiffness of suspension bridges).
(a) Show
p that, by the Galerkin method with D sin x= l; ¦1 D 2 , ¦2 D
2 2=, the effective torsional stiffness is given by
" Z !2 #
l
2 b2 EAC l
x
kT D GJ1 C H o C b 2 o y o x cos dx
2 l 2 L 0 l
1 1
U 2 b 2 C1M l (9.225)
2 2
and the critical velocity for torsional divergence is given by
s Z
2 h GJ1 Ho EAC
l
x 2 i1=2
Uo D C C y o x cos dx : (9.226)
l C1M b 2 2 Lo l 0 l
(b) By assuming the parabolic approximation y o %AB g=.2H o /x.x l/ for the
cable profile under dead loads, show that approximate closed-form expressions
of the critical velocity are given by
s " #1=2
2 GJ1 Ho 4EAC l 3 %AB g 2
Uo D C C ; (9.227)
l C1M b 2 2 4 Lo Ho
s
2 GJ1 %AB gl EAC l N 2 1=2
Uo D C C 256 d : (9.228)
l C1M b 2 16dN 4 Lo
9.20 (Nondimensional equations for the inclined cable problem).

Show that, by introducing the following nondimensional variables and parameters:
rk WD rk =c; uN WD u=c;
N L WD L=c; H D H=.mgc/; V D V =.mgc/; D
EA=.mgc/, the nondimensional version of (9.174) becomes
p
H h V C L C H 2 C .V C L /2 C W 2 i

L C H log p
V C H 2 C V 2 C W 2
cos D uN ;
q p
L C 2V
L C H 2 C .V C L /2 C W 2 H 2 C V 2 C W 2
2
C sin D vN ;
p
W h V C L C H 2 C .V C L /2 C W 2 i

L C W log p N :
Dw

V C H CV CW
2 2 2
(9.229)
9.21 (Mode shapes and frequencies of a footbridge).

Calculate the mode shapes and frequencies of the footbridge of Example 9.9
considering first the prestressed equilibrium under dead loads using (9.201).
In particular, take the initial length of the stays such that the stress in the elastic
equilibrium of the stays anchored to the immovable deck is 25 % of the ultimate
stress S u : Hence, proceed with the calculation of the equilibrium under a uniform
dead load of 64:5 kN/m and update the tension in the stays. The eigenvalue problem
associated with (9.203) is suggested to be solved in the following two cases:case (i)
consider the deck compressive prestress N o in (9.203); case (ii) neglect N o :
9.22 (Stiffness for clusters of guys).
Show that, by accounting for the fact that the guys sag under their own weight,
for a cluster of ni
3 guys, the linearization of the fully nonlinear equations of the
sagging inclined cable problem leads to a softer equivalent spring in the e 1 -direction
whose constant is given by [207]
hNo 1 EAi .li =Li /2 i
k1(i) D ni i
C : (9.230)
Li 2 Li 1 C .mi gli =Nio /2 EAi =12Nio
Chapter 10
The Nonlinear Theory of Arch-Supported
Structures
Arch-supported structures exploit the large load-bearing funicular capacity of

arches. Funicular arches have the opposite profile to that of a sagging cable and
work in pure compression under their own weight. Loading conditions associated
with live loads are typically non-funicular and give rise to the appearance of shear
forces and moments to compensate for the difference between the funicular profile
of the load and the profile of the arch.
By connecting a beam-like structure (such as a bridge deck-girder) to one or two
arches (often designed so as to have the funicular profile of the dead loads), the
deck-girder and the overlying loads are well supported by the compressed arches.
This concept has been employed in arch bridges since ancient times. Formidable
arch bridges have recently been constructed such as the steel Chaotianmen Bridge
in China with the main span of 552 m (the longest arch bridge in the world) and the
(composite concrete deck) arch bridge on the Colorado River in the USA with an
arch span of 323 m.
The prominent feature of arch bridges is that they respond nonlinearly to loads
before reaching a limit state. They exhibit a softening-type nonlinear behavior when
subjected to forces that induce compressional states in the arches as a consequence
of the arch profile becoming shallower. The loss of stiffness can lead to an elastic
instability in the form of snap-through or lateral buckling (cf. Chap. 6), depending
on whether the arches are shallow or non-shallow, respectively. Moreover, the
aerodynamic loads can induce flexural–torsional flutter when the arch-supported
structures are slender and lightly damped.
This chapter contains state-of-the-art three-dimensional nonlinear theories for
arch-supported bridges encompassing a wide range of bridge designs (see Fig. 10.1).
Generalized nonlinear theories are useful because: (1) semi-analytical closed-
form expressions of the instabilities are achievable; (2) fundamental properties
of the nonlinear behavior of various designs of arch-supported structures can be
unfolded via parametric analysis; (3) general three-dimensional conservative and
nonconservative loading scenarios can be investigated within the same framework.
For example, the accurate evaluation of the tangent stiffness in the bridge prestressed

682 10 The Nonlinear Theory of Arch-Supported Structures
condition induced by dead loads is an important step towards an accurate study

of the wind-structure interaction and the associated limit states such as flutter or
torsional divergence. Moreover, the torsional and out-of-plane components of the
motion are necessary for an accurate description of the bridge response to aeroelastic
forces. The proposed three-dimensional nonlinear parametric framework allows
efficient structural optimization studies, and the design of control and structural
health monitoring systems.
In this chapter, the static and dynamic stability problem of arch bridges is
illustrated by means of a case study, Ponte della Musica, an arch bridge recently
built on the Tiber river in Rome (Italy). The example features the study of the elastic
stability and flutter analysis based on the three-dimensional theory.
10.1 Arch-Supported Bridges
Arch-supported bridges are used to cross low-to-moderate spans. In practical

situations where the openings have considerable depths, as is the case for the
Colorado River, the choice of arch bridge is preferable since it overcomes the
problem of constructing very tall pylons. The arches of an arch bridge are supported
by blocks built into the natural walls of the opening, the latter being either the valley
between two mountains or the crossing of a deep river.
In Fig. 10.1, three typical designs of arch-supported bridges are shown: (top) the
deck-girder is on top of the supporting arches, (middle) the deck-girder intersects the
arches at an intermediate height, and (bottom) the deck is placed below the arches.
In the latter, the terminal sections of the arches are often hinged to the end sections
of the deck so that the arch thrust forces are absorbed by the deck-girder which, in
turn, is stiffened.
The theory presented in the next sections accounts for a generic bridge design,
also encompassing designs in which the arches are not vertically laid but inclined as
is the case for Ponte della Musica.
10.2 The Nonlinear Theory of Arch Bridges Deforming

in Three-Dimensional Space
The theory of arch bridges is formulated first in its broader generality. The deck-
girder and the arches are assumed to be fully deformable in shear, bending, twisting,
and extension. The connecting elements between the arches and the deck-girder are
considered to be fully deformable beams. At a later stage various internal kinematic
constraints are introduced such as the unshearability of the arches and the deck-
girder system, the undeformability of the connecting elements, etc.
10.2 The Nonlinear Theory of Arch Bridges Deforming in Three-Dimensional Space 683
l1 l l1
d d
Fig. 10.1 The geometry of three typical designs of arch-supported bridges
The theory of deformation. The main kinematic assumptions for the nonlinear
model of arch-supported structures described by one space coordinate can be
outlined as follows:
(a) The deck-girder system is modeled as a one-dimensional beam (with rigid cross
sections) deforming in three-dimensional space.
(b) The supporting arches are modeled as one-dimensional curved beams.
(c) The connecting elements are one-dimensional beams which can transfer all
contact force and moment components to the deck and arches unlike more
typical designs for which the connecting elements are treated as trusses under
purely normal forces.
The present model is capable of describing the global response of the bridge to
dead and live loads including global instabilities such as the flexural–torsional flutter
condition or torsional divergence. To this end, a total Lagrangian formulation of the
bridge problem is employed. First, the reference configurations of the deck-girder
system and the arches are described.
The deck-girder system is constructed with a relatively small initial rise com-
pared to the span so that under dead and live loads it does not undergo signifi-
cant downward deflections making the driving conditions problematic. However,
the initial rise can be neglected in the kinematic and mechanical formulations.
e2 j-
A- a j+ bo/2
e1
O +
x bo/2
A
e3
e+2 do
+
O+ e1
Fig. 10.2 Three-dimensional geometry of the supporting arches with the fixed frame
.O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 /
The fixed Cartesian reference frame .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / has its origin coincident with
the base point (here, the center of mass) of the left deck section. The axis e 1 is
collinear with the longitudinal direction of the bridge (see Fig. 10.2).
Reference configuration. The reference configuration B o of the deck-girder is
represented by the position vector of the base line (here, the deck-girder centerline)
described by r o D xe 1 , x 2 Œ0; l, and by the set of directors .bo2 ; bo3 / D .e 1 ; e 2 /
that gives the orientation of the cross-sectional plane. The material points of the
deck-girder system are thus described by x o D r o C x S where x S D x2 bo2 C x3 bo3
is the position of the material points in the cross-sectional plane with respect to the
base point. The lines along the deck where the connecting beams are clamped are
given by x ˙ D r o ˙ b2o e 3 Cae 2 where bo denotes the distance between the clamps of
the connecting beams across the deck while b denotes the overall width of the deck;
a is the offset between the upper plane of the deck-girder and the plane through its
base line (see Figs. 10.2 and 10.3).
The arches lie in planes inclined by angles ' ˙ with respect to the vertical plane.
The reference (stress-free) configuration of each individual arch can be described
by the position vectors
r o ˙ .x/ D x e 1 CŒ.y.x/do / cos ' ˙ Cae 2 CŒ.y.x/do / sin ' ˙ ˙bo =2e 3 (10.1)
where x is the reference coordinate collinear with e 1 (see Fig. 10.2); y.x/ describes
the shape of the arch base curve (here, the centerline) in the vertical (unrotated)
plane .e ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
1 ; e 2 / parallel to .e 1 ; e 2 / and having origin in O ; ' represent the arch
inclination angles with respect to the vertical plane (for symmetry, ' ˙ D ˙'); do
indicates the distance from the intersection points A˙ (between the arches and the
plane of the upper part of the deck) to the horizontal plane on which the supports of
the arches rest. As a consequence, the distance between the plane through the base
line of the deck-girder and the plane of the arches supports is ho D do a: The
superscripts C and denote the two arches, the plus refers to the arch undergoing
incremental compression, while the minus refers to that experiencing a loss of
compression when the deck is subject to a counterclockwise rotation about e 1 (see
Fig. 10.3).
A brief illustration of the steps to obtain (10.1) is provided next. A fixed reference
frame .O ˙ ; e ˙ ˙ ˙
1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / for each arch is set parallel to the fixed reference frame
b2-
b3-
v-
b2+ b2o+ b2o-
o-
v+ b3
o+
b3+ b
3
b2 bo2
φ1
u-
B
b3o e2
b3
u
u
+ o
a
e3 C B
bo/2 bo/2
b
Fig. 10.3 In-plane displacement and counterclockwise deck rotation about the e 1 -axis
.O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / with x O ˙ D ho e 2 ˙ bo =2e 3 : The arch base curves intersect the
horizontal plane through the deck base line at x A˙ D xo e 1 C ae 2 ˙ bo =2e 3 : The
arches are rotated by opposite angles ' ˙ about the line through A˙ and collinear
with e 1 : Thus, the positions with respect to A˙ of the material points of the vertical
arches are described by z˙ D .x xo /e ˙ ˙
1 C .y do /e 2 and are rotated through the
rotation tensor 2 3
1 0 0
Q˙ D 4 0 cos ' ˙ sin ' ˙ 5 : (10.2)
0 sin ' ˙ cos ' ˙
Hence, the position vectors of the rotated arches with respect to .O; e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 /
become r o ˙ D x A˙ C Q˙ z˙ which yields (10.1).
The orientation of the cross sections of the arches in the reference configuration
is described by the unit vectors .bo1 ˙ ; bo2 ˙ ; bo3 ˙ / with bo1 ˙ collinear with the normal
to the cross sections. These unit vectors can be obtained by a sequence of two
rotations of the unit vectors of the fixed reference frame described by Q˙ and Qo ,
respectively, so that bok ˙ D Qo Q˙ e k where the component representation of
Qo is
2 3
cos o .x/ sin o .x/ 0
Qo .x/ D 4 sin o .x/ cos o .x/ 0 5 : (10.3)
0 0 1
The resulting matrix is

2 3
cos o .x/ sin o .x/ 0
Ro WD Q˙ Qo .x/ D 4 sin o .x/ cos ' ˙ cos o .x/ cos ' ˙ sin ' ˙ 5 : (10.4)
sin o .x/ sin ' ˙ cos o .x/ sin ' ˙ cos ' ˙
Deformed configuration. The description of the actual configuration B comprises

the configurations of the deck-girder and the arches. As to the deformed state of
the deck-girder, this is described by the base line r.x; t/ and by the set of directors
.b2 ; b3 / representing the actual orientation of the deck-girder cross sections having
b1 D b2 b3 pointing in the orthogonal direction. The cross section-fixed directors
are described by the orthogonal tensor R.x; t/ according to bk D Rbok : Tensor R is
parametrized by the angles 1 (twist angle) and .2 ; 3 / (flexural angles). Therefore,
the actual position of the material points lying in the cross section at x is given by
r.x; t/ C xM S with xM S D x2 b2 C x3 b3 D R x S :
The actual positions of the base curves of the arches are given by r ˙ .x; t/. The
current orientations of the cross sections of the arches are described by the unit
vectors .b˙ ˙ ˙
1 ; b2 ; b3 / obtained from the unit vectors of the reference configuration
through the sequence of finite rotations 3˙ ! 2˙ ! 1˙ expressed by the
orthogonal tensors R ˙ . The component representation of R ˙ can be obtained from
(10.9) by the substitutions k ! k˙ : Hence,
b˙ ˙ o˙ ˙
k D R bk D R R e k :
o
Let u and v˙ denote the displacement vectors of the deck-girder and the two
arches, respectively. Hence, the current position of the deck-girder base line is r o Cu
while the actual positions of the base curves of the arches are given by r ˙ .x; t/ D
r o ˙ .x/ C v˙ .x; t/: Consequently,

r ˙ .x; t/ D x C v1˙ .x; t/ e 1 C Œ.y.x/ do / cos ' ˙ C a C v2˙ .x; t/e 2
CŒ.y.x/ do / sin ' ˙ ˙ bo =2 C v3˙ .x; t/e 3 : (10.5)
The actual positions attained by the clamping points of the connecting beams to
the deck are the result of the displacement of the deck-girder cross section and its
rotation described by R: Hence, these position vectors turn out to be
xM ˙ .x; t/ D r.x; t/ C R.x; t/ x ˙

S
(10.6)
while the associated displacement vectors are
u˙ .x; t/ D u.x; t/ C .R.x; t/ I/ x ˙ :

S
(10.7)
The displacement u˙ can be expressed in a more explicit fashion accounting for the
fact that x ˙ D ae 2 ˙ b2o e 3 (see Fig. 10.3) and bk D R e k :
S
bo
u˙ D u C a.b2 e 2 / ˙ .b3 e 3 /: (10.8)
2
Problem 10.1 (Component representation of the orthogonal tensor R).

Show that the component form in .e 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 / of the orthogonal tensor that describes
the sequence of finite rotations 3 ! 2 ! 1 is:
R11 D cos 2 cos 3 ; R12 D sin 1 sin 2 cos 3 cos 1 sin 3 ;

R13 D cos 1 sin 2 cos 3 C sin 1 sin 3 ; R21 D cos 2 sin 3 ;
R22 D cos 1 cos 3 C sin 1 sin 2 sin 3 ; R23 D cos 1 sin 2 sin 3 sin 1 cos 3 ;
R31 D sin 2 ; R32 D sin 1 cos 2 ; R33 D cos 1 cos 2 : (10.9)
Strain parameters for the deck-girder and the arches. The same strain param-
eters discussed, for beams, in Chap. 5 and, for arches, in Chap. 7 are adopted here.
The strains of the deck-girder are the components of the stretch vector @x r D
1 b1 C 2 b2 C 3 b3 and of the curvature vector defined according to @x bk D bk .
The strains .; 2 ; 3 / are the stretch and the shear strains of the deck-girder while
the components of D 1 b1 C 2 b2 C 3 b3 are the twisting curvature .1 / and
the bending curvatures .2 ; 3 /.
The nonlinear strains of the arches are expressed by introducing the arclength s
along the base curves of their reference configurations. Thus the finite strains of the
arches are given by the stretch vectors
˙ WD @s r ˙ D ˙ b˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
1 C 2 b2 C 3 b3 (10.10)
where ˙ are the stretches and . ˙ ˙

2 ; 3 / are the shear strains in the two local
directions, respectively. The strains are obtained explicitly as:
˙ D @s r ˙ b˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
1 ; 2 D @s r b2 ; 3 D @s r b3 : (10.11)
By recalling that @s bok ˙ D o ˙ bo ˙ k where

o˙
is the geometric curvature
vector of the base curves of the arches in the reference configuration, the curvatures
of the arches are obtained as
@s b˙ N o˙ C ˙ / b˙
k D . k (10.12)
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
where the components of ˙ D ˙ 1 b1 C2 b2 C3 b3 are the twisting curvatures
˙ ˙ ˙
(1 ) and bending curvatures (2 ; 3 ) while N have to be intended as the arch
o˙
geometric curvature vectors o˙ rotated by R. For the derivation of the equations

of motion, it is convenient to introduce the vector M˙ D N o˙ C ˙ .
The kinematic descriptors of the arch-bridge in three-dimensional space are thus
given by the three vector-valued fields .u.x; t/; vC .x; t/; v .x; t// and the nine
scalar functions .j .x; t/; jC .x; t/; j .x; t//, j D 1; 2; 3. As a consequence, the
present three-dimensional model of arch bridges is parametrized by 18 kinematic
unknown functions.
Unshearability of the deck-girder and the arches. The unshearability of the

deck-girder system is enforced as in Chap. 9 by putting 2 D 0 and 3 D 0 which
yields (see (9.14))
@x u2 D .1 C @x u1 / tan 3 ; @x u3 D .1 C @x u1 / tan 2 =cos 3
where @x ./ indicates partial differentiation with respect to x. In other places the
notation @x ./ is replaced by ./x . The unshearability of the arches is also enforced
by ˙ ˙
2 D 0 D 3 . These internal kinematic constraints allow the flexural angles
.2 ; 3 / and .2 ; 3˙ / to be expressed in terms of the displacement gradients @x u
˙
and @s v˙ : The stretch of the deck-girder is given by (9.16) while the curvatures are
given by (9.11)(9.13) in Chap. 9.
Strain parameters for the connecting beams. The connecting beams are subject
to the displacements and rotations of their terminal sections which, for compatibil-
ity, must correspond to the displacements and rotations of the clamping sections
of the deck and the arches. Let xk be the coordinate of the k ˙ th connecting
beam on either side of the deck. The position vectors of the clamping sections
where the connecting beams are joined to the deck are x ˙ k D xk e 1 C x
˙S
D
xk e 1 Cae 2 ˙bo =2e 3 while the position vectors of the clamping points to the arch are
r˙k D r
o˙
.xk / D xk e 1 C Œ.yk do / cos ' ˙ C ae 2 C Œ.yk do / sin ' ˙ ˙ bo =2e 3
with yk WD y.xk /. Then the displacement and rotation of the deck-girder section
at x ˙ ˙
k are .u .xk /; R.xk // while those of the arch cross sections at r k are
˙
˙ ˙
.v .xk /; R .xk //: Therefore, the position vectors of these sections in the actual
configuration are xM ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ o˙ ˙
k D x k C u .xk ; t/ and r k D r k C v .xk ; t/:
The unit vectors collinear with the base lines of the connecting beams are
expressed in the reference configuration as
r˙ ˙
k xk
e˙
k D : (10.13)
jr ˙ ˙
k xk j
10.3 The Equations of Motion
The mechanical data for the arch bridge problem are the forces applied on the deck-
girder and the supporting arches. These forces, the sum of dead and live loads,
are reduced to the associated base curves. The resultant force and couple per unit
reference length x are denoted by f and c; for the deck-girder, and by f ˙ and c ˙ ;
for the two arches.
The generalized stress resultants are the contact force n.x; t/ and couple m.x; t/
for the deck-girder whose component form is
n.x; t/ D N.x; t/b1 .x; t/ C Q2 .x; t/b2 .x; t/ C Q3 .x; t/b3 .x; t/;
m.x; t/ D T .x; t/b1 .x; t/ C M2 .x; t/b2 .x; t/ C M3 .x; t/b3 .x; t/: (10.14)
10.3 The Equations of Motion 689
The generalized stress resultant N is the tension and .Q2 ; Q3 / are the shear forces
in the b2 and b3 directions, respectively. On the other hand, T is the torque and
.M2 ; M3 / are the bending moments collinear with b2 and b3 ; respectively. Similarly,
the contact forces and couples in the arches are expressed as n˙ .x; t/ and m˙ .x; t/.
In turn, the component form
n˙ .x; t/ D N ˙ .x; t/b˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙

1 .x; t/ C Q2 .x; t/b2 .x; t/ C Q3 .x; t/b3 .x; t/;
m˙ .x; t/ D T ˙ .x; t/b˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙

1 .x; t/ C M2 .x; t/b2 .x; t/ C M3 .x; t/b3 .x; t/ (10.15)
gives the arch tensions N ˙ , the shear forces .Q2˙ ; Q3˙ /, the torques T ˙ and bending
moments .M2˙ ; M3˙ /. Since x is chosen as the independent space variable, then n˙
and m˙ are taken to be functions of x instead of the natural arclength coordinate s.
The beam elements that connect the arches to the deck are modeled as three-
dimensional Euler–Bernoulli beams whose nodal forces and couples, given in terms
of nodal displacements and rotations, are expressed as delta Dirac functions of the
considered position xk . Each connecting beam is elastically forced solely by the
displacements and rotations of the terminal sections while no applied forces are
taken into account.
Let nhk ˙ and mhk ˙ be the contact force and couple exerted by the k ˙ th connecting
beam to the deck (h D I ) and to the arches (h D J ). The superscript h D I denotes
the end section clamped to the deck while h D J is the section clamped to the
arches.
The distribution of the reaction forces and reaction moments due to the connect-
ing beams acting on the deck and on the arches can thus be defined as
X
Nh
˙
X
Nh
˙
n˙
I .x; t/ D ı .x xk / nI k .t/; n˙
J .x; t/ D ı .x xk / nJ k .t/;
kD1 kD1
X
Nh X
Nh
m˙
I
.x; t/ D ı .x xk / mI ˙
k .t/; m˙
J
.x; t/ D ı .x xk / mJ ˙
k .t/ (10.16)
kD1 kD1
where Nh is the total number of connecting beams per side.

The equations of motion are obtained by enforcing the balance of linear and
angular momentum for the arches and the deck-girder as
˙
@x n˙ C n˙
J C f D %A˙ .x/@t t v˙ ; (10.17)
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
@x m C @x r n C mJ C c D %J .x/ @t !
C!˙ .%J ˙ .x/ !˙ /; (10.18)
C
@x n C nI C nI C f D %A@t t u; (10.19)
bo
@x m C @x r n C b3 nC
I nI C ab2 nC
I C nI
2
CmC
I C mI C c D %J @t ! C ! .%J .x/ !/ (10.20)
where %A˙ .x/ WD %A˙ o

sec o ; %J ˙ .x/ WD %J ˙
o
sec o ; .%A˙
o
; %J ˙
o
/ are the mass
and mass moment of inertia tensors of the arches per unit arclength. The base curves
of the arches and the deck-girder are assumed to be the associated centerlines.
equations of motion requires some preliminary considerations. All quantities are
expressed as functions of x, also those that naturally depend on the arclength s. The
Chain Rule is used to obtain the identity @x ./ D @s ./ ds=dx D @s ./ sec o .
Therefore, by projecting the equations of motion of the arches in their local bases,
the following component form is obtained:
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
@x N ˙ M ˙ ˙
M˙
3 Q2 C
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
2 Q3 C nJ b1 C f b1 D %A .x/.@t t v / b1 ;
(10.21)
@x Q2˙ C M ˙
3 N
˙
M ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
(10.22)
@x Q3˙ M ˙
2 N
˙
C M ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
(10.23)
@x T ˙ M ˙ ˙
M˙
3 M2 C
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
2 M3 C 2 Q3 3 Q2 C mJ b1
˙ ˙
˙
Cc ˙ b˙1 D %J @t !˙ C !˙ .%J ˙ !˙ / b˙
1 ; (10.24)
@x M2˙ C M ˙
3 T
˙
M ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
1 M3 Q3 C 3 N C m˙ ˙
J b2

Cc ˙ b2 D %J ˙ @t !˙ C !˙ .%J ˙ !˙ / b˙
2 ; (10.25)
@x M3˙ M ˙
2 T
˙
C M ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
1 M2 C Q2 2 N
˙ ˙
C m˙ ˙
J b3
˙
Cc ˙ b˙
3 D %J @t !˙ C !˙ .%J ˙ !˙ / b˙
3 (10.26)
where M ˙ o˙ ˙
k .x; t/ WD sec .k .s.x/; t/ C k /; .x; t/ WD sec .s.x//;
o o
j .x; t/ WD sec j .s.x//; j D 2; 3:

o

By assuming a bo and neglecting ab2 nCI C nI

; the component form of
the equations for the deck-girder becomes
@x N 3 Q2 C 2 Q3 C .nC
I
C n
I
/ b1 C f b1 D %A.@t t u/ b1 ; (10.27)
@x Q2 C 3 N 1 Q3 C .nC
I C nI / b2 C f b2 D %A.@t t u/ b2 ; (10.28)
@x Q3 2 N C 1 Q2 C .nC
I C nI / b3 C f b3 D %A.@t t u/ b3 ; (10.29)
@x T 3 M2 C 2 M3 C 2 Q3 3 Q2 C .mC
I
C m
I
/ b1
bo C
.nI n
I
/ b2 C c b1 D %J @t ! C ! %J ! b1 ; (10.30)
2
@x M2 C 3 T 1 M3 Q3 C 3 N C .mC
I
C m
I
/ b2
bo C
C .nI n
I
/ b1 C c b2 D %J @t ! C ! %J ! b2 ; (10.31)
2
@x M3 2 T C 1 M2 C Q2 2 N

C.mC
I C mI / b3 C c b3 D %J @t ! C ! %J ! b3 : (10.32)
Constitutive equations. The materials of the deck-girder and the arches are
assumed to be elastic, homogeneous, and isotropic. The focus of the present
treatment is the limit states of the arch bridge that occur within the elastic domain
of the materials. Moreover, the amplitudes of the strains and stresses during the
motion are such that the material behaves as a linearly elastic medium; the contact
force and couple components of the shearable deck-girder and those associated with
the shearable arches are given by the following constitutive equations:
˙ ˙
NO ˙ D EA˙ ˙ 1 ; QO 2˙ D GA2 ˙ 2 ; QO 3˙ D GA3 ˙3 ;
TO ˙ D GJ ˙ ˙
1 1 ; MO 2˙ D EJ ˙ ˙
2 2 ; MO 3˙ D EJ ˙ ˙
3 3 ;
NO D EA . 1/ ; QO 2 D GA2 2 ; QO 3 D GA3 3 ;
TO D GJ 1 1 ; MO 2 D EJ 2 2 ; MO 3 D EJ 3 3 (10.33)
where E and G are Young’s modulus and the shear modulus while A and Ji
(i D 1; 2; 3) indicate the cross-sectional area and the principal moments of inertia
of the structural members; Ak denote the shear areas in the bk direction (k D 1; 2).
Similarly, the connecting beams between the deck and the arches are modeled as
linearly elastic Euler–Bernoulli beams whose constitutive equations for the kth
beam are
NO (k) D EA(k) .(k) 1/; TO(k) D GJ 1(k) 1(k) ;

MO 2(k) D EJ 2(k) 2(k) ; MO 3(k) D EJ 3(k) 3(k) : (10.34)
The overall elastic constitutive parameters of the arch bridge are:
for the deck-girder: .EA; GJ 1 ; EJ 2 ; EJ 3 ; GA2 ; GA3 /

˙ ˙
for the arches: .EA˙ ; GJ1˙ ; EJ ˙ ˙
2 ; EJ 3 ; GA2 ; GA3 /
for the connecting beams: .EA(k) ; GJ 1(k) ; EJ 2(k) ; EJ 3(k) /:
Overall, 18 constitutive parameters govern the deck and arches and 8Nh parameters
relate to the 2Nh connecting elements. In practical designs, the two arches are
identical and the connecting beams on either side are also identical, which implies
that the overall number becomes 4.3 C Nh /: The number of constitutive parameters
is reduced to 4.2 C Nh / when the deck-girder and the arches are modeled as
unshearable, but purely extensible, flexurally and torsionally deformable.
Connecting beams. Let sk be the arclength along the kth connecting beam
running from the deck-fixed section to the arch-fixed section and r k be the position
vector of the beam deformed configuration. By letting nk and mk represent the
contact force and couple, respectively, the equations of equilibrium are
@sk nk D o; @sk mk C @sk r k nk D o: (10.35)
By virtue of the first equation, n.0/ D n.Lk /: By letting R k .sk ; t/ represent the
rotation tensor across the connecting beam span, the kinematic boundary conditions
that enforce the full compatibility between the connecting beams and the deck and
between the beams and the arches are
r k .0; t/ D xM ˙ .xk ; t/; R k .0; t/ D R.xk ; t/;

r k .Lk ; t/ D r ˙ .xk ; t/; R k .Lk ; t/ D R ˙ .xk ; t/ (10.36)
where Lk is the undeformed length of the connecting beam.

The strains of the kth unshearable connecting beam are the stretch (k) obtained
through the stretch vector @sk r k D (k) b1(k) where fb1(k) ; b2(k) ; b3(k) g is the frame fixed
to the actual cross section of the connecting beam with b1(k) being collinear with the
normal to the cross section. The curvature vector is obtained according to @sk bi(k) D
(k) bi(k) : It is assumed that the material of the connecting beams is linearly elastic,
homogeneous, and isotropic. Thus, the constitutive equations are
NO k D EAk . (k) 1/; m

O k D GJ1(k) 1(k) b1(k) C EJ2(k) 2(k) b2(k) C EJ3(k) 3(k) b3(k) :
(10.37)
The shear forces are expressed as Q2(k) D .@sk MO 3(k) C 2(k) TO(k) 1(k) MO 2(k) /=(k) and
Q3(k) D .@sk MO 2(k) C 3(k) TO(k) 1(k) MO 3(k) /=(k) if nk D N(k) b1(k) C Q2(k) b2(k) C Q3(k) b3(k) .
The unit vectors fb1(k) ; b2(k) ; b3(k) g are fixed to the connecting beam cross section with
b1(k) collinear with the current longitudinal direction of the beam.
After solving the stated equilibrium problem, the reaction forces and couples
at the end sections of the connecting beam can be expressed, according to the
mechanical boundary conditions, as
(k) D nk .0; t/; m(k) D mk .0; t/; n(k) D nk .Lk ; t/; m(k) D mk .Lk ; t/
nI˙ I˙ J˙ J˙
(10.38)
where superscript I denotes the end section clamped to the deck and J denotes that
clamped to one of the arches.
Problem 10.2 (Linearly elastic constitutive equations for the connecting
beams).
Find the solution of the linearized problem for the connecting beams obtained from
(10.35)(10.37) and express their elastic reaction forces and couples according to
(10.38).
Solution. Henceforth, for ease of notation, the superscripts ˙ are dropped in all
quantities to denote the connecting beams belonging to the different sides of the
bridge. Consider the reference frame fbo1(k) ; bo2(k) ; bo3(k) g fixed to the connecting beam
in its stress-free state with bo1(k) collinear with the longitudinal direction of the beam
and bo3(k) collinear with e 1 : Since each connecting beam lies in one of the planes
of the arches inclined by ' D ' C or ' D ' with respect to the vertical plane,
the beam-fixed frame can be obtained from the global fixed frame through b(k) j D
Q1 Q3 Q e j where Q denotes the rotation of angle ' around e 1 ; Q3 is a =2-
rotation around the rotated e 3 and Q1 is a =2-rotation around the rotated e 1 : The
algebraic representation for the orthogonal tensors is
2 3 2 3 2 3
1 0 0 10 0 0 1 0
Q D 4 0 cos ' sin ' 5 ; Q1 D 4 0 0 1 5 ; Q3 D 4 1 0 0 5 : (10.39)
0 sin ' cos ' 01 0 0 0 1
The algebraic relationships between the local unit vectors bo(k)

j and the fixed unit
vectors e j and the resulting rotation matrix are
2 3 2 3 2 3
bo1(k) e1 0 0 1
4 bo 5 D .Q Q3 Q1 /| 4 e 2 5 ; .Q Q3 Q1 / D 4 cos ' sin ' 0 5 :
2(k)
bo3(k) e3 sin ' cos ' 0
The displacement and infinitesimal rotation vectors of the two end sections are
expressed in the local basis as uh(k) D uh1(k) bo1(k) Cuh2(k) bo2(k) Cuh3(k) bo3(k) and h(k) D 1(k)
h
bo1(k) C
2(k) b2(k) C3(k) b3(k) where h D I; J . Likewise the elastic reaction forces and moments
h o h o
are expressed in the beam-fixed frame as
nI(k) D N(k)h bo1(k) C Q2(k)

I
bo2(k) C Q3(k)
I
bo3(k) mI(k) D T(k)I bo1(k) ; CM2(k)
I
bo2(k) C M3(k)
I
bo3(k)
where
EA(k) I
N(k)I D u uJ1(k) /;
L(k) 1(k)
EJ3(k) I EJ3(k) I
I
Q2(k) D 12 3
u2(k) uJ2(k) C 6 2 3(k) C 3(k)
J
/;
L(k) L(k)
EJ2(k) I EJ2(k) I
I
Q3(k) D 12 u3(k) uJ3(k) 6 2 2(k) C 2(k)
J
;
L3(k) L(k)
GJ1(k) I
T(k)I D 1(k) 1(k)
J
;
L(k)

EJ2(k) I EJ2(k) 1 J
I
M2(k) D 6 u u J
C 4 I
C ;
L2(k) 3(k) 3(k)
L(k) 2(k)
2 2(k)

EJ3(k) I EJ3(k) 1 J
I
M3(k) D 6 2 u2(k) u2(k) / C 4
J
3(k) C 3(k) :
I
(10.40)
L(k) L(k) 2
The reaction forces at node J are nJ(k) D nI(k) ; the twist moments are opposite,
T(k)J D T(k)I ; while
I I
J
M2(k) D M2(k) C Q3(k)
I J
L(k) ; M3(k) D M3(k) Q2(k)
I
L(k) : (10.41)
If f˙ D Œ nI˙ | is the vector collecting all terminal forces

| | | |
(k) (k)
; mI˙
(k)
; nJ˙
(k)
; mJ˙
(k)
and couples of the connecting beams and u˙ J˙ |

| |
k D Œ u(k) ; ™(k) ; u(k) ; ™(k) is the

I˙ | |
I˙ J˙
I˙
vector of end displacements and rotations (the column vectors uI˙ (k) and ™ (k) list the
components of the associated vectors in the local basis), the elastic reaction forces
and moments can be concisely expressed as f˙ ˙
(k) D K(k) u(k) , where K(k) is the 12
12 linear stiffness matrix of the kth connecting beam obtained from (10.40) and
(10.41).
In the elastic reaction forces and moments (10.40) and (10.41) transferred by the
connecting beams to the deck and arches, the displacements of the end sections are
expressed in the connecting beam-fixed local basis. The local displacements of the
end sections are to be expressed in terms of the generalized displacements of the
connecting sections of the deck and the arches. Since boj(k) D .Q1 Q3 Q/ e j ; it
is e j D .Q1 Q3 Q/| boj(k) . By letting u˙ .xk / D u˙ ˙ ˙
i e i and v .xk / D vi e i (the
summation convention is tacitly used) denote, respectively, the displacements of the
deck and of the arch clamping points, then
uIi(k) D .u˙ o J ˙
j .xk /e j / bi(k) ; ui(k) D .vj .xk /e j / bi(k) :
o
(10.42)
It is more convenient to express the displacements of the arches in the local arch-
fixed basis fbo1 ˙ ; bo2 ˙ ; bo3 ˙ g as v˙ .xk / D vio ˙ boi ˙ ; so that
uJi(k) D .vjo ˙ boj ˙ / boi(k) : (10.43)
If the rotations of the deck and arches at x D xk are assumed to be infinitesimal

and expressed in the fixed basis and local arch basis, respectively, as .xk / D
i .xk /e i and ˙ .xk / D jo ˙ boj ˙ ; then
I
i(k) D .j .xk /e j / boi(k) ; i(k)
J
D .jo ˙ boj ˙ / boi(k) : (10.44)
Finally, (10.42) and (10.44) can be substituted into (10.40) and (10.41).
Problem 10.3. Carry out explicitly the computations in (10.42)(10.44) to express

the linearized reaction elastic forces of the connecting beams in terms of the
displacements and rotations of the deck and the arches.
Boundary conditions. The boundary conditions of actual arch bridge designs, both
of the geometric and mechanical type, can be rather complex depending on the
design details of the constraining mechanisms. The example of an arch bridge is
illustrated in which the arch ends are hinged to the deck and the right hinge is sitting
on a roller support. The thrust of the arch is absorbed by the deck thus causing a
geometric stiffening effect. The boundary conditions include torsional restraints at
both ends. For this example, the geometric boundary conditions are:
u.0; t/ D o D v˙ .0; t/; 1 .0; t/ D 0 D 1˙ .0; t/;

Œv˙ .l; t/ u.l; t/ e j D 0; u.l; t/ e 2 D 0; j D 1; 2; 3;
u.l; t/ e 3 D 0; 1 .l; t/ D 0 D 1˙ .l; t/
where l is the span of the bridge. The mechanical boundary conditions are:
M3 .0; t/ D 0 D M3 .l; t/; M2 .0; t/ D 0 D M2 .l; t/;

Œn.l; t/ C n .l; t/ C n .l; t/ e 1 D 0:
C
Linearization of the equations of motion. The linearization of the equations

of motion for the arches gives the following linear partial differential equations:
@x N ˙ o3 .x/Q2˙ Co2 .x/Q3˙ C nJ˙ bo1 ˙ C f ˙ bo1 ˙ D %A˙ .x/@t t v1˙ ;
(10.45)
@x Q2˙ C 3 .x/N
o ˙
1 .x/Q3˙
o
Cn J˙ o˙
b2 C f b2 ˙ o˙
D %A ˙
.x/@t t v2˙ ;
(10.46)
@x Q3˙ 2 .x/N
o ˙
C1 .x/Q2˙
o
Cn J˙ o˙
b3 C f b3 ˙ o˙
D %A ˙
.x/@t t v3˙ ;
(10.47)
˙
@x T 3 .x/M2˙ Co2 .x/M3˙
o
Cm J˙ o˙
b1 C c b1˙ o˙
D %J1˙ .x/@t t 1˙ ;
(10.48)
o˙ o˙
@x M2˙ C 3 .x/To ˙
1 .x/M3˙
o
Q3˙ Cm J˙ ˙
b2 C c b2 D %J2˙ .x/@t t 2˙ ;
(10.49)
@x M3˙ 2 .x/To ˙
C1 .x/M2˙
o
C Q2˙ Cm J˙ o˙ ˙
b3 C c b3 o˙
D %J3˙ .x/@t t 3˙
(10.50)
where oj .x/ WD sec o .x/oj .s.x// and v˙ D v1˙ bo˙ ˙ o˙

1 C v2 b2 C v3 b3 .
˙ o˙
Moreover, (10.45)(10.50) exhibit the linearized parts of the constitutive equations

.N ˙ ; Q2˙ ; Q3˙ ; T ˙ ; M2˙ ; M3˙ / and .nJ˙ ; mJ˙ /. For ease of notation, the linearized
parts of the generalized stress and moment resultants are denoted by the same
notation as that used for the fully nonlinear resultants. The linearization of the
equations of motion for the deck-girder leads to
@x N C .nI+ C nI– / e 1 C f e 1 D %A@t t u1 ; (10.51)

@x Q2 C .n C n / e 2 C f e 2 D %A@t t u2 ;
I+ I–
(10.52)
@x Q3 C .nI+ C nI- / e 3 C f e 3 D %A@t t u3 ; (10.53)

@x T C .m C m / e 1
I+ I- bo
2 .n
I+
n / e 2 C c e 1 D %J1 @t t 1 ; (10.54)
I-
@x M2 Q3 C .mI+ C mI- / e 2 C bo
2 .n
I+
nI- / e 1 C c e 2 D %J2 @t t 2 ; (10.55)
@x M3 C Q2 C .mI+ C mI- / e 3 C c e 3 D %J3 @t t 3 : (10.56)
Moreover, the projections of the elastic reaction forces of the connecting beams
in the local bases of the arches and in the fixed basis, respectively, are given by
nJ˙ bo1 ˙ D N(k)J sin o C Q3(k)

J
cos o ;
nJ˙ bo2 ˙ D N(k)J cos o Q3(k)
J
sin o ; n˙ o˙
J b3 D Q2(k)
J
;
nI˙ e 1 D Q3(k)
I
; n˙
I e 2 D N(k) cos '
I ˙
Q2(k)
I
sin ' ˙ ;
nI˙ e 3 D N(k)I sin ' ˙ C Q2(k)
I
cos ' ˙ (10.57)
upon considering the transformations
boj ˙ D .Qo Q˙ / e j ; boj(k) D .Q1 Q3 Q˙ / e j : (10.58)
10.4 The Theory of Arch Bridges Undergoing Planar Motion
Most of the time, typical designs of arch bridges exhibit symmetry with respect to
the vertical plane. The symmetry is in the geometric and elastic properties as well
as in the boundary conditions. The plane of vertical symmetry is taken to be the
plane .e 1 ; e 2 / of the fixed reference frame. If the applied forces possess resultants
in the plane .e 1 ; e 2 /; then the bridge is expected to exhibit planar motion except
for occurrences of instabilities/bifurcations giving rise to a multiplicity of three-
dimensional responses.
Remarkable kinematic simplifications take place since u D u1 e 1 C u2 e 2 I vC D

v D v D v1o ao1 C v2o ao2 I the rotations of the cross sections, denoted by WD 3 for
the deck, and by WD 3C D 3 for the arches, take place about e 3 .
The simpler case of vertical arches (i.e., ' ˙ D 0) is considered here. The local
cross section-fixed bases of the arches are denoted by .ao1 ; ao2 ; e 3 / in the reference
configuration and by .a1 ; a2 ; e 3 / in the current configuration. The position vectors
of the actual base curves of the two arches are represented by r A D r oA C v D
.x Cv1 /e 1 C.y do Cv2 /e 2 (see Fig. 10.4) while the position vector of the clamping
points of the connecting beams, assumed to be aligned with the deck-girder base
line, is xM k D x k C u˙ .xk ; t/ D .xk C u1 .xk ; t//e 1 C u2 .xk ; t/e 2 :
Consequently the deck contact force is n D N b1 C Qb2 and the contact couple
is m D M e 3 : Both arches exhibit the same contact force and couple nA D NA ao1 C
QA ao2 and mA D MA e 3 :
10.4 The Theory of Arch Bridges Undergoing Planar Motion 697
0 0
rA rA0
r0
A x
r do
Fig. 10.4 Geometry of the planar arch bridge problem
The equations of planar motion for both arches become
@x nA C nJ C f A D %AA .x/@t t v;
@x MA C .@x r A nA / e 3 C mJ e 3 C cA D %JA .x/@t t ; (10.59)
while for the deck the equations of motion read
@x n C 2nI C f D %A@t t u;
@x M C .@x r n/ e 3 C 2mI e 3 C c D %J @t t (10.60)
where %AA .x/ D %A˙ sec o ; %JA .x/ D %J3˙ sec o ; %J WD %J3 . The effect of the
offset between the upper plane of the deck and the plane through its base line (i.e.,
a bo ).
Clamped connecting beams. For connecting beams that are clamped, the local
axes fixed to the terminal cross sections of the connecting beams are collinear with
the deck cross section-fixed axes .b1 ; b2 / for node I and with the arch-fixed axes
.a1 ; a2 / for node J. Hence, the contact forces and couples at section I are nI D
QI b1 C NI b2 and mI D MI e 3 ; while at section J, they are nJ D QJ a1 C NJ a2 and
mJ D MJ e 3 :
By projecting the equations of motion for the arches in their local bases, the
following component form is obtained:
@x NA M A QA C nJ a1 C f A a1 D %AA .x/.@t t v/ a1 ; (10.61)

@x QA C M A NA C nJ a2 C f A a2 D %AA .x/.@t t v/ a2 ; (10.62)
@x MA C A QA A NA C MJ C cA D %JA .x/@t t (10.63)
where
M A WD sec o .o3 C 3 /; A .x/ WD sec o .@s r A a1 /; A .x/ WD sec o .@s r A a2 /:

(10.64)
The component form of the equations of the deck-girder is
@x N Q C 2nI b1 C f b1 D %A.@t t r/ b1 ; (10.65)
@x Q C N C 2nI b2 C f b2 D %A.@t t r/ b2 ; (10.66)
@x M C Q N C 2MI C c D %J @t t : (10.67)
The final governing equations of motion are obtained after substituting the
constitutive equations for the deck-girder and the arches and once the planar
version of the end elastic reaction forces and moments of the connecting beams
is considered.
Hinged connecting beams. A simpler situation occurs if the connecting beams
are weakly clamped or are hinged to the deck and to the arches at the outset.
In this case, the connecting beams are subject only to tension forces and remain
straight for equilibrium. The unit vector collinear with the current configuration
of the connecting beams is e (k) D .r A(k) xM (k) /=jr A(k) xM (k) j where xM (k) D .x(k) C
u1(k) /e 1 C u2(k) e 2 is the position vector in the plane (e 1 ; e 2 ) of the connecting points
to the deck and r A(k) D .x(k) C v1(k) /e 1 C .y(k) do C v2(k) /e 2 is the position vector
of the connecting points to the arches. The notation f(k) D f .x(k) ; t/ is adopted
for ease of notation. PTherefore, the tension force in the connecting beams becomes
nB D nI D nJ D k N(k) e (k) ı.x xk /:
The limit case of a continuous distribution of connecting beams for which nB D
NB .x/e B .x/ is illustrated next.
The component equations of motion become
@x NA M A QA NB e B a1 C f A a1 D %AA .x/.@t t v/ a1 ; (10.68)
@x QA C M A NA NB e B a2 C f A a2 D %AA .x/.@t t v/ a2 ; (10.69)
@x MA C A QA A NA C cA D %JA .x/@t t ; (10.70)
@x N Q C 2NB e B b1 C f b1 D %A.@t t u/ b1 ; (10.71)
@x Q C N C 2NB e B b2 C f b2 D %A.@t t u/ b2 ; (10.72)
@x M C Q N C c D %J @t t : (10.73)
The tension of the connecting beams is related to the elongation by a linearly elastic
constitutive equation, NB D kB .B 1/ where kB is the stiffness per unit reference
length x and
B D Œ.v1 u1 /2 C .y do C v2 u2 /2 1=2 =jy do j:
Inextensible connecting beams. A condensed planar model is obtained by

enforcing the inextensibility of the connecting beams (i.e., B D 1). The tension
NB in the connecting beams becomes a reactive force obtained from (10.69) as

NB D %AA .x/@t t v a2 C @x QA C M A NA C f A a2 =.e B a2 / (10.74)
where e B a2 ¤ 0 at all times. The notation eak WD e B ak and ebk WD e B bk is adopted.
By substituting (10.74) into (10.68) and (10.70)(10.73), the reduced equations are
obtained as

@x NA M A QA .@x QA C M A NA /ea1 =ea2 C f A a1 a2 ea1 =ea2
D %AA .x/@t t v a1 %AA .x/.@t t v a2 /ea1 =ea2 ; (10.75)
@x MA C A QA A NA C cA D %JA .x/@t t ; (10.76)
@x N Q C 2.@x QA C M A NA /eb1 =ea2 C f b1 C 2.f A a2 /eb1 =ea2

D %A.@t t r b1 / C 2%AA .x/.@t t v a2 /eb1 =ea2 ; (10.77)
@x Q C N C 2.@x QA C M A NA /eb2 =ea2 C f b2 C 2.f A a2 /eb2 =ea2

D %A@t t r b2 C 2%AA .x/.@t t v a2 /eb2 =ea2 ; (10.78)
@x M C Q N C c D %J @t t : (10.79)
The unshearability of the arches and the deck (i.e., A D 0 D ) introduces

a simplification of the governing equations. The shear forces QA and Q become
reactive forces obtained from (10.70) and (10.73) as QA D .%JA .x/@t t @x MA
cA /=A and Q D .%J @t t @x M c/=: The obtained shear forces are substituted
back into the other balance equations to derive the final reduced equations of motion.
Equations of linear planar motion. The arch displacement in the fixed reference
frame .e 1 ; e 2 / is expressed as v D ue 1 C ve 2 : The displacement of the deck is
the same as the arch displacement because of the assumed inextensibility of the
connecting beams. This motivates the use of the arch displacement components in
the fixed basis rather than the tangential and normal displacement components in the
fa1 ; a2 g-basis. The unshearability of the deck yields the bending rotation as D vx
and the bending curvature as D vxx :
To obtain the reduced strain–displacement relationships for the arches, the
linearized strains of the unconstrained arch are obtained first as
1
A D 1 C ux cos2 o C vx sin 2 o ;
2
1
A D ux sin 2 o C vx cos2 o A (10.80)
2
where o D arctan.yx / is the angle between the tangent to the undeformed base
curve of the arch and the horizontal. Moreover, cos o D .1 C yx2 /1=2 ; and
sin o D yx .1 C yx2 /1=2 : The unshearability of the arches enforced by A D 0
yields the arch section rotation and bending curvature as
1
A D ux sin 2 o C vx cos2 o ;
2

1
A D .A /s D cos .ux sin 2 /x C .vx cos /x :
o o 2 o
(10.81)
2
The linear equations of motion of the unshearable bridge with inextensible
connecting beams are thus expressed as
1
%AA .x/@t t u @x .NA cos o / @x .@x MA sin 2 o / D fA(1) ; (10.82)
2

%A C 2%AA .x/ @t t v 2@x .NA sin o / C 2@x @x .MA / cos2 o
C@xx M D 2fA(2) C f2 (10.83)
where %AA .x/ WD %AA sec o , and f A .x/ D fA(1) e 1 C fA(2) e 2 is the force applied
on each arch per unit reference length x: Equation (10.83) is the balance of linear
momentum in the vertical direction. It exhibits two load-carrying terms induced by
the restoring forces of the arches: @x .NA sin o / is providedby the arch tension and
is coupled with the arch curvature while @x @x MA cos2 o is associated with the
arch flexural term. Of course the bending load-carrying term @xx M is due to the
horizontal deck-girder. The relative magnitude of these two terms depends on the
loading conditions of the bridge and the arches.
Linearly elastic constitutive laws are adopted in the standard form:
1
NA D EAA .A 1/ D EAA Œux cos2 o C vx sin 2 o ;
2
1
MA D EJA A D EJ A ux sin 2 C vx cos
o 2 o o
cos ;
2 x
M D EJ D EJvxx (10.84)
where EAA and EJ A indicate the axial and bending stiffness of the arch, respectively;
EJ is the bending stiffness of the bridge deck-girder.
If the arch and deck have uniform properties, by scaling lengths by the bridge
span l and time by 1=!bo D .%Al 4 =EJ/1=2 , the following nondimensional parameters
are introduced:
%AA 2 EAA l 2 EJ A
A WD ; ˛A WD ; ˇA WD : (10.85)
%A EJ EJ
The forces are made nondimensional by multiplying them by l 3 =EJ. The nondimen-
sional equations of planar motion for arch bridges can be expressed as

1
A sec o @t t u ˛A2 @x @x u cos2 o C @x v sin 2 o cos o
2

1 1
ˇA @x sin 2 o @x @x @x u sin 2 o C @x v cos2 o cos o D fA(1) ;
2 2
(10.86)

1
.1 C 2A sec /@t t v 2˛A @x @x u cos C @x v sin 2 sin
o 2 2 o o o
2

1
C 2ˇA @x cos2 o @x @x @x u sin 2 o C @x v cos2 o cos o
2
C @xxxx v D 2fA(2) C f2 (10.87)
where all variables and parameters are intended to be nondimensional. Equations

(10.86) and (10.87) are complemented by the boundary conditions. These equations
were employed in [251] to study the resonances in arch-supported bridges traversed
by high-speed trains.
10.4.1 Nonlinear Planar Response of Arch Bridges
Linearly elastic unshearable arch bridges are considered for parametric investiga-
tions assuming hinged extensible connecting beams. When the couples and rotary
inertia are neglected, the reactive shear forces are obtained from (10.70) and
(10.73) as QA D @x MA =A and Q D @x M=: Substituting QA and Q into
(10.68)(10.69) and (10.71)(10.72) delivers the following equations of motion:
sec o %AA .@t t v/ a1 @x NA sec o .oA C A /@x MA =A
CNB e B a1 D f A a1 ; (10.88)
sec o %AA .@t t v/ a2 C @x Œ@x MA =A sec o .oA C A /NA

CNB e B a2 D f A a2 ; (10.89)
%A.@t t u/ b1 @x N @x M= 2NB e B b1 D f b1 ; (10.90)
%A.@t t u/ b2 C @x Œ@x M= N 2NB e B b2 D f b2 (10.91)

where, according to (10.64), A .x/ D sec o .@s r A a1 /. Linearly elastic constitutive
equations for the arches, the deck-girder, and the connecting beams are assumed in
the form
NA D EAA .A 1/; MA D EJA A ;
N D EA. 1/; M D EJ; NB D kB .B 1/ (10.92)
where, in addition to .EAA ; EJ A ; EJ/, two new parameters are introduced, namely,
the axial stiffness EA of the deck-girder and the extensional stiffness kB of the
connecting beams per unit reference length x: By assuming uniform arch and
deck properties and the same nondimensionalization of (10.85), the two additional
nondimensional parameters are: ˛ 2 WD EAl 2 =EJ and ˛B2 WD kB l 4 =EJ. The
nondimensional curvature is N D l both for the geometric and elastic curvature.
The nondimensional equations of motion for planar arch bridges thus become
"A sec o @t t v a1 ˛A2 @x A ˇA sec o .oA C A /@x A =A

˛B2 .B 1/e B a1 D f A a1 ; (10.93)
"A sec @t t v a2 C ˇA @x Œ@x A =A ˛A sec . C A /.A 1/
o 2 o o
A
˛B2 .B 1/e B a2 D f A a2 ; (10.94)
@t t u b1 ˛ 2 @x @x = 2˛B2 .B 1/e B b1 D f b1 (10.95)
@t t u b2 C @x Œ@x = . 1/ 2˛B2 .B 1/e B b2 D f b2 : (10.96)
The equilibrium paths are analyzed under two loading conditions: a uniform
load pointing (a) downward and (b) upward. The elastic equilibrium response of
the linearly elastic unshearable arch bridge with extensible connections depends on
the following four nondimensional constitutive parameters: .˛; ˛A ; ˇA ; ˛B / while,
for the case of inextensible connections, there are three parameters: .˛; ˛A ; ˇA /:
The response also depends on the arch geometry through the rise-to-span ratio,
curvature, etc. The parameters .˛; ˛A ; ˛B / scale the relative slenderness of the
different structural members.
For illustrative purposes, the arch geometry is assumed to be parabolic with the
arch overlying the deck and its ends hinged on the deck terminal sections. The
geometric boundary conditions are: u.0; t/ D o D v.0; t/; u.1; t/ D o D v.1; t/;
while the mechanical boundary conditions are A .0; t/ D 0 D .0; t/; A .1; t/ D
0 D .1; t/: The nondimensional rise-to-span ratio is d= l given that d indicates
the dimensional rise. Let h and hA denote the thickness of the deck and arch cross
sections, respectively; let WD l= h be the (true) deck slenderness ratio. With the
assumption that the bridge deck and arches are made of rectangular cross sections
of the same material and same width and that the hinged connecting beams are
inextensible, the equilibrium response depends on threep parameters .; p hA = h; d= l/:
The constitutive parameters are expressed as ˛ D 12, ˛A D ˛ hA = h, ˇA D
.hA = h3 /.
Figures 10.5–10.7 show the equilibrium paths (variation of the nondimensional
load with the nondimensional vertical displacement of the midspan arch section)
obtained by varying , hA = h, and d= l: A few preliminary comments can help
understanding the nonlinear response of arch bridges. In Chap. 5 it is shown that the
geometric nonlinearities in axially restrained straight beams only become significant
for displacement amplitudes higher than 1 % of the beam span whereas a deviation
from the linear response occurs in arches at significantly lower displacement
amplitudes (cf. Chap. 7). Hence, it is expected that the nonlinearity of the arches
is manifested at relatively low amplitudes, although the influence of the arch load-
carrying terms depends on the relative stiffness of the arches with respect to the
stiffness of the deck. Practically, in classical design situations, the arches dominate
the nonlinear response of the arch bridge. The arch bridge is softening since it suffers
a stiffness degradation as the downward load increases due to the stiffness loss in the
compressed arches (see Fig. 10.5). To understand the results of Fig. 10.5, note that
2
10
3
fl
EJ Λ = 10 2
5 10 1
A
4 10 1
3 10 1
f
l/2 l/2
0 -2
0 2 10
vA/l
Fig. 10.5 Nonlinear (solid lines) and linear (dashed lines) equilibrium paths of unshearable
hinged–hinged parabolic arch bridges for various deck slenderness ratios when d= l D 0:1;
hA = h D 1: The load is uniform and directed downward thus causing compression in the arches
2
10
hA/h = 5
3 2
fl
EJ
1
0.5 A
l/2 l/2
0
-2
0 2 10
vA/l
hinged–hinged parabolic arch bridges for various hA = h when d= l D 0:1; D 5 101 : The
load is uniform and directed downward
the nondimensional load is proportional to 3 . Therefore if the deck slenderness

is increased, much higher nondimensional loads are necessary to appreciate the
deviations of the nonlinear response (thick lines) from the linear response (dashed
lines). Moreover, with an increase in the stiffness of the arches compared to the
stiffness of the deck, the overall arch bridge becomes stiffer, hence, at the same load
levels, lower displacement magnitudes and a smaller deviation from linear behavior
are observed (see Fig. 10.6). Increasing the rise-to-span ratio, the bridge becomes
stiffer and a smaller deviation from linear behavior occurs (see Fig. 10.7).
2
10 A
f
d/l = 0.3
l/2 l/2
0.2
3 0.15
fl
EJ
0.1
0.05
0
-2
0 vA/l 2 10
hinged–hinged parabolic arch bridges for various rise-to-span ratios d= l when hA = h D 1 and
D 5 101 : The load is uniform and directed downward
2
10
3
fl
EJ Λ = 10 2
5 101
4 101 A
3 101
f
l/2 l/2
0
-2
0 vA/l 2 10
hinged–hinged parabolic arch bridges for various deck slenderness ratios when d= l D 0:1;
hA = h D 1: The load is uniform and directed upward
Unlike downward loads, upward loads cause the arches to become hardening (see
Figs. 10.8 and 10.9). At the same load multipliers, the nonlinear deviation from the
linear response is higher for lower values of , hA = h and d= l:
The arch bridge response is thus nonsymmetric, softening under downward loads
and hardening under upward loads. This behavior is typical of systems with initial
curvature that exhibit mechanical asymmetry in the response due to nonlinear terms
of the even (nonsymmetric) and odd type (symmetric).
10.5 A Case Study: Ponte della Musica 705
2
10
d/l = 0.3
0.2
3 0.15
fl
EJ
0.1
A
f
0.05
l/2 l/2
0
0 2 10
-2
vA/l
hinged–hinged parabolic arch bridges for various rise-to-span ratios d= l when hA = h D 1 and
D 5 101 : The load on the deck is uniform and directed upward
10.5 A Case Study: Ponte della Musica
The case study of an arch bridge on the Tiber River in Rome (IT), Ponte della Mu-
sica, is illustrated following [257]. The bridge was architecturally designed by Buro
Happold Consulting Engineers in association with Powell–Williams Architects. The
structural analyses and designs were carried out by M. P. Petrangeli and Associates
[360]. An unusual design feature of the bridge lies in the fact that the arches are
inclined with respect to the vertical plane (see Fig. 10.10). As a consequence, the
torsional stiffness of the bridge is lower with respect to more usual arch bridge
designs featuring vertical arches. Moreover, the deck is fairly large and slender and
the thrusts of the arches are transferred to the deck using a sophisticated constraining
mechanism at the boundary.
The two parabolic arches are inclined by ' D 15 ı with respect to the vertical
plane and connected to the deck by 12 inclined steel beams [360]. Furthermore, the
arches are constrained to the deck at nodes T1 and T2 for the vertical and lateral
(out-of-plane) displacements, as shown in Figs. 10.10 and 10.11.
The arches are made of steel for the structural part above the deck, otherwise
they are made of reinforced concrete. The variation of the sectional properties is
accounted for by modeling the elastic properties of the arches as a summation of
Heaviside functions across the deck span.
The structural elements at the boundaries are connected by reinforced concrete
plates that ensure the transfer of the thrusts of the arches to the deck; each plate is
built on piles modeled as equivalent translational springs of stiffness ki in the three
fixed directions e 1 , e 2 , and e 3 , respectively.
Fig. 10.10 Ponte della Musica, courtesy of Luca Simoni. Reprinted with permission
e2
e2
e1 e3
D3 D2 D1 D2 D3
Fig. 10.11 Ponte della Musica: reference geometry (lengths are expressed in meters). Reprinted
The equations of motion (10.17)(10.20) including the aeroelastic forces,

together with the associated boundary conditions, are then transformed in nondi-
mensional form. The usual nondimensionalization
p consisting of scaling lengths by
the span l and time by 1=!bo D %Al 4 =EJ 3 is adopted.
The vector-valued equations of motion (10.17)(10.20), projected in the fixed
basis fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g, yield 18 nonlinear partial-differential equations in 18 independent
kinematic unknowns. Such equations, together with the boundary conditions,
are implemented and solved in PDE mode by the finite element computational
platform COMSOL Multiphysics [117]. The finite elements used for the analysis are
Lagrangian quadratic elements and the degree of mesh refinement has been adapted
to optimize the accuracy and computational time of the numerical solution.
Table 10.1 Cross-sectional geometric and elastic properties of the arches made of steel and
reinforced concrete (RC) and connecting beams of Ponte della Musica
Arch steel section Arch RC section Beams
2
Cross-sectional area A (m ) 0.1804 3.6108 0.0241
Shear area A 2
2 (m )0.1 3.009 –
Shear area A3 (m 2
) 0.1179 3.009 –
Moment of inertia J1 (m4 ) 0.0793 1.8069 3:70 106
Young’s modulus E (kN/m2 ) 2:10 108 3:30 107 2:10 108
Shear modulus G (kN/m2 ) 8:08 107 1:43 107 8:08 107
10.5.1 Elastic Stability Analysis
Various numerical models of arch bridges are proposed in the technical literature
to investigate their elastic response and stability. For example, the linear buckling
method was employed for the evaluation of the ultimate load multiplier of steel
arch bridges in [342, 459]. This kind of approach does not allow us to evaluate
the precritical behavior as well as the stiffness degradation induced by incremental
compressive loads. Conversely, a nonlinear buckling approach, based on geometric
and material nonlinearities, was proposed in [223] to investigate the buckling
limit state of steel arches described by a three-dimensional analytical model
based on elasto-plastic constitutive equations, small-strain finite kinematics, and
unshearability of the arch cross sections.
In the context of the present case study, the loss of elastic stability of Ponte della
Musica subject to increasing downward loads is investigated. The stability analysis
seeks to determine the load multiplier at which the structure suffers elastic instability
at the divergence bifurcation.
Equilibrium paths are constructed starting from the prestressed configuration
of the bridge under its dead loads. An incremental load is applied by increasing
the load multiplier of the live loads associated with the passage of vehicles and
pedestrians. The incremental load pattern is determined according to the European
design codes (Eurocodes) [442, 443]. For vehicles, the worst case loading scenario
is represented by a three-point load distribution centered about the deck midspan
and by two uniform distributions on the rest of the deck whereas, for a pedestrian-
induced load, it is represented by a uniform distribution across the whole deck span.
Vehicles and pedestrians are considered as simultaneous loads acting on the bridge.
The geometric and material properties of the bridge are given in Table 10.1. The
constitutive parameters for the deck-girder are: EA D 1:143 1011 N, GA2 D 7:054
109 Nm2 , GA3 D 3:274 109 Nm2 , EJ 3 D 1:517 1010 Nm2 , EJ 2 D 5:931 1011
Nm2 , GJ 1 D 1:938 1010 Nm2 , %A D 10; 254 kg/m, %J1 D 154; 000 kg m2 : The
mass density of steel is D 7; 850 kg/m3 : The equivalent springs simulating the
a b
16 16
12 12
λ 8 λ 8
4 4
0 0
0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2 2.4 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
u2(l/2) [m] u2(l/4) [m]
Fig. 10.12 Nonlinear equilibrium paths: deck vertical displacements u2 at (a) l=2 and (b) l=4.
The dashed lines indicate the results of the linear model, the solid lines denote the results of the
fully nonlinear model. Reprinted with permission [257]
a b
16 16
12 12
λ 8 λ 8
4 4
0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
v2(l/2) [m] v2(l/4) [m]
Fig. 10.13 Nonlinear equilibrium paths: arch vertical displacements v2 at (a) l=2 and (b) l=4. The
dashed lines indicate the results of the linear model, the solid lines denote the results of the fully
nonlinear model. Reprinted with permission [257]
foundation on poles are: k1r D k3r D 2:457 109 N/m, k2r D 2:049 1010 N/m,
k1l D k3l D 3:456 109 N/m, k2l D 2:687 1010 N/m, where superscript r stands for
the right boundary and l stands for the left boundary. Left and right refer to the view
in Fig. 10.11 from south to north.
As expected, the nonlinear softening characteristic feature exhibited by the
equilibrium paths of the bridge in Figs. 10.12 and 10.13 is due to the arches
that, under compression, suffer a significant stiffness degradation. These nonlinear
effects become appreciable at relatively low values of the load multiplier ( '
5–6) (see Fig. 10.12). The vanishing of the bridge tangent stiffness is reached when
'14–15, in agreement with the results of previous structural analyses of the
bridge [360].
A L
M U
D
aw
a
C
Fig. 10.14 Aeroelastic forces under a wind at an initial angle of attack ˛w : L, D and M A denote
lift, drag, and aerodynamic resultant moment per unit reference length
10.5.2 Flutter Analysis of Ponte della Musica
The description of the aerodynamic forces exerted on the bridge deck is based on
their representation in terms of flutter derivatives (cf. Chaps. 2 and 9). The effects
of aeroelastic forces on the arches are neglected. The aeroelastic forces on the deck
are assumed to be linear functions of the vertical displacement and velocity of the
deck .u2 ; uP 2 /; and the torsional rotation and velocity .1 ; P1 / in consonance with
the experimental wind tunnel tests carried out at the CRIACIV laboratory in Prato
[37, 48, 296].
According to the literature [406] and the discussion in Chap. 9, the effects
induced by drag can be neglected without appreciable errors. Thus, the following
classical form of the aerodynamic loads (see Fig. 10.14) is considered [406]:

1 H H H
LDbU 2 K 1 uP 2 C Kb 2 P1 C K 2 H3 1 C K 2 4 u2 ;
2 U U b

1 2 2 A1 A2 P 2 2 A4
M D b U K
A
uP 2 C Kb 1 C K A3 1 C K u2 : (10.97)
2 U U b
In consonance with classical notations, denotes the air density, b is the deck width,
U is the dimensional wind speed and K is the reduced frequency defined as K D
! b=U where ! is the circular oscillation frequency.
The lift force and moment given by (10.97) are substituted into the equations of
motion (10.17)(10.20) as components of f.x; t/ in the direction collinear with e 2
and of c.x; t/ in the e 1 -direction, respectively. The coefficients Ai and Hi are the
flutter derivatives determined in a series of tests at the CRIACIV wind tunnel facility
in Prato [37, 48, 296].
The flutter speed is determined by solving the complex-valued eigenvalue

problem governing the aeroelastic phenomenon in a range of reduced wind velocity,
Ur WD 2U=.!b/, so as to determine the critical condition at which a pair of purely
imaginary eigenvalues signal the onset of flutter. By introducing the nondimensional
eigenvalue , the solution of the dynamic problem is assumed to be in the form
Œuj .x; t/; j .x; t/; vj˙ .x; t/; j˙ .x; t/ D ŒNuj .x/; Nj .x/; vNj˙ .x/; Nj˙ .x/ei t :
Accordingly, the flutter condition is obtained when one of the eigenvalues ( D R C

iI ) becomes purely real. The values of the aeroelastic derivatives were identified by
considering two angles of attack: ˛ D 0ı and ˛ D C3ı . Moreover, the flutter
condition was calculated for both the undamped and the damped condition with
D 0:5 %.
The finite element solver allows us to calculate the eigenvalue problem associated
with the flutter condition obtained from linearization of the equations of motion
about the prestressed condition. The prestressed condition is often neglected in
flutter analyses. The prestress is shown to be important in the evaluation of the
critical speed because it is responsible for a loss of stiffness which affects the
evolution of the eigenvalues.
Aeroelastic analysis via experimental flutter derivatives. The aeroelastic sta-
bility analysis is conducted in two different ways [257]. In the first analysis, the
equations of motion are linearized about the stress-free configuration; in the second
case, the linearization is carried out about the in-service prestressed configuration.
The objective is to evaluate the effects of the lower stiffness induced by the
compressive prestresses in the arches on the flutter condition.
The problem is cast in the following matrix form so as to set up the eigenvalue
problem in a form amenable to computations:

R C CA uK
I .x/ uC P A
u D b.vj˙ ; j˙ ; uj ; j /Ch.vj˙ ; j˙ ; uj ; j / (10.98)
where b represents the coupled nonlinear stiffness differential operator, h contains

the connecting beam elastic forces and couples, I .x/ is the distributed bridge inertia
operator and C is a diagonal matrix defined in terms of the structural damping
ratios for the selected degrees of freedom (in this case, u2 and 1 ). Vector u and
its time derivatives contain the 18 independent kinematic parameters whereas CA
and KA contain the aeroelastic terms. In particular, the only nontrivial terms are
those referring to the deck displacement components u2 and 1 ; that is,

Oa Oad Oa Oad
CA D ; K A
D (10.99)
Oda CAd Oda KAd
Table 10.2 Frequencies of the lowest six modes of Ponte della Musica
about the stress-free and prestressed configurations. The notations sym
and skew stand for symmetric and skew-symmetric modes
f1 (Hz) f2 (Hz) f3 (Hz)
flex-tor sym flex skew flex sym
u3 ; v3˙ ; 1 ; v2˙ u2 ; v2˙ ; .v3˙ / u2 ; v2˙ ; .v3˙ /
Stress-free 0.729 0.773 1.054
Prestressed 0.686 0.767 0.910
f4 (Hz) flex f5 (Hz) f6 (Hz)
sym flex-tor sym flex-tor skew
u2 ; v2˙ ; .v3˙ / u3 ; 1 ; v3˙ ; v2˙ u3 ; 1 ; v3˙ ; v2˙
Stress-free 1.265 1.354 1.696
Prestressed 1.217 1.326 1.605
where the 4 4 matrices CAd and KAd have the following nontrivial entries:
N
CAd .2; 2/D H1 ; CAd .2; 4/D H2 ; CAd .4; 2/D A1 ; CAd .4; 4/D bA 2;
!N bN !N !N !N
N :
KAd .2; 2/D H4 ; KAd .2; 4/D H3 ; KAd .4; 2/D A4 ; KAd .4; 4/D bA
bN
3
(10.100)
The nondimensional parameters appearing in the previous expressions are given by
b 1
bN D ; D N!N 2 bN (10.101)
l 2
where bN represents the ratio between the deck width and the bridge span, N WD
b 2 =%A is the nondimensional air density, !N WD !=!bo and is the nondimensional
strength of the wind pressure per unit nondimensional reference length. Operators
Oa ; Oad and Oda are matrices of zeros applied on the arch dofs (subscript a) and
on the arch-deck dofs (subscript ad).
Setting the aerodynamic forces to zero (i.e., putting CA D O D KA ) together
with damping, and linearizing the nonlinear stiffness operator b yield the eigenvalue
problem for the frequencies and mode shapes of the unperturbed bridge. The results
for the lowest six natural frequencies of the bridge and the associated mode shapes
are summarized in Table 10.2 and shown in Fig. 10.15. These results are in good
agreement with those obtained by structural finite element models [360]. The modal
analysis outcomes show that (1) the fundamental mode shape of the bridge is a
coupled lateral flexural–torsional vibration mode (u3 ; 1 ), (2) the frequency of the
lowest flexural vertical mode (u2 ) is near the frequency of the fundamental (flexural–
torsional) mode (Fig. 10.15).
The flutter results obtained by solving the eigenvalue problem, based on the flut-
ter derivatives shown in Fig. 10.16, (the associated variational equation is obtained
by linearization of the equations of motion about the undeformed configuration
Fig. 10.15 Three-dimensional views of the lowest six mode shapes of Ponte della Musica
calculated about the undeformed configuration : (a) first mode (f D 0.729 Hz), (b) second mode
(f D 0.773 Hz), (c) third mode (f D 1.054 Hz), (d) fourth mode (f D 1.265 Hz), (e) fifth mode
(f D 1.354 Hz), (f) sixth mode (f D1.696 Hz). Reprinted with permission [257]
of the bridge) turn out to be in close agreement with the values of the flutter
speed experimentally measured in the wind tunnel tests; the difference is bounded
between 1 % and 5 %. Furthermore, by accounting for the bridge prestressed state,
as expected, a lower value of the flutter wind speed is obtained. Table 10.3 displays
a summary of the comparison carried out between the numerical results and the
experimental measurements. In the same table, Uro > Ur .D 16:3/ indicates that the
flutter condition is not reached in the given range of reduced velocity Ur .
2 1
1
0 0
H *, A *
i
-1
-1
i
-2
H1* H2*
-3 H4* -2 H3*
A1* A*2
-4
A*4 A*3
-5 -3
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
UR UR
Fig. 10.16 Flutter derivatives of Ponte della Musica for ˛ D C3ı obtained by means of wind
tunnel tests. Data provided by CRIACIV (unpublished CRIACIV internal report, 2009). Reprinted
Table 10.3 Critical wind speed at the onset of flutter of Ponte della Musica
Undamped u D D 0:5 %
˛ Uro fo (Hz) Uo (m/s) Uo (km/h) Uro fo (Hz) Uo (m/s) Uo (km/h)
Wind tunnel experimental results
0ı > 16:3 > 16:3
C3 ı 3:61 0.66 46.7 168.12 4:21 0.65 53.4 192.24
Nonlinear continuum formulation (stress-free condition)
0ı > 16:3 > 16:3
C3 ı 3:29 0.729 47.18 169.85 4:275 0.728 60.68 218.45
Nonlinear continuum formulation (prestress contribution)
0ı > 16:3 > 16:3
C3 ı 3:275 0.689 43.97 158.31 4:305 0.688 57.74 207.86
The paths of the critical eigenvalue in the complex plane are shown in Fig. 10.17
by increasing the wind speed. The crossing of the real axis signals the flutter
condition and the corresponding real part of the eigenvalue represents the circular
flutter frequency. Figures 10.18 portrays a three-dimensional view of the critical
flutter mode shape of Ponte della Musica. The flutter mode shape is reminiscent
of the fundamental mode with comparable contributions in the lateral bending
displacement u3 and in the torsional component 1 with the addition of a small
in-plane bending component u2 .
Figures 10.19a,b show the sensitivity of the flutter speed with respect to the
damping ratio. The flutter speed increases by over 30 % when the damping increases
from 0 % to 0.7 %. Figure 10.20a shows the sensitivity of the flutter speed with
respect to the multiplier of the live loads. As expected, when the bridge is subject to
increasingly higher downward live loads, it undergoes flutter at increasingly lower
wind speeds. This is due to the softening precritical behavior of the arch bridge. An
opposite trend is exhibited by suspension bridges where the presence of downward
loads increases the tension in the suspension cables. The consequence is that the
bridge stiffness becomes higher (hardening effect) and the torsional divergence
0.015
0.02
0.01
Ur
Ur
0.005 0.01
σI 0 σI 0
-0.005 -0.01
-0.01
-0.02
-0.015
77.96 78 78.04 78.08 78.12 78.16 77.88 77.92 77.96 78 78.04 78.08
σR σR
0.015
0.02
0.01
Ur
0.01
Ur
0.005
σI 0 σI 0
-0.005 -0.01
-0.01
-0.02
-0.015
73.68 73.72 73.76 73.8 73.84 73.88 73.6 73.64 73.68 73.72 73.76 73.8
σR σR
Fig. 10.17 Flutter (gray zone) and stability (white zone) regions for ˛ D C3ı . Top row: (left)
undamped case and (right) damped case when the initial bridge configuration is stress-free. Bottom
row: (left) undamped case and (right) damped case when the bridge is prestressed by dead loads.
Fig. 10.18 Ponte della

Musica: lowest flutter mode
shape (f D 0.729 Hz).
Reprinted with permission
[257]
as well as the flutter speed occur at higher wind speeds. In Fig. 10.20b, one can
appreciate the effects of the geometric nonlinearities caused by the aeroelastic forces
through the variation of the lowest three natural frequencies with the wind speed in
the precritical range. In particular, the frequency of the lowest mode monotonically
decreases up to about 20 % of the stress-free frequency due to the fact that the
aerodynamic moments act to decrease the torsional stiffness. On the other hand,
the frequencies of the second and third modes show an increase at low speeds,
followed by a monotonic decrease. The second mode at the critical speed undergoes
a decrease of about 20 % while the third mode experiences a decrease of about
a b 62
0.03
0.7%
ζu= ζφ
0.02 Ur 58
Uo [m/s]
0.01
0%
54
σI 0
-0.01 50
-0.02
46
-0.03
77.9 77.95 78 78.05 78.1 78.15 0 0.15 0.3 0.45 0.60 0.75%
σR ζu= ζφ
Fig. 10.19 (a) Flutter (gray zone) and stability (white zone) regions, (b) critical wind speed Uc for
different damping ratios when the wind angle of attack is ˛ D C3 ı . Reprinted with permission
[257]
a 60
b 0.3
Mode 1
0.2 Mode 2
50 ζu = ζφ = 0.5% Mode 3
Uo 0.1
[m/s] Δ
40 [%] 0
ζu = ζφ = 0 -0.1
30
-0.2
20 -0.3
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
λ U[m/s]
Fig. 10.20 (a) Critical wind speed Uo for different prestress levels corresponding to increasingly
higher values of the multiplier of the live loads, (b) variation of the lowest three natural
frequencies of the bridge in the precritical range of wind speeds. The angle of attack is ˛ D C3 ı .
10 %. These modes possess prevalent flexural contributions, the second is skew-

symmetric while the third is symmetric. At low speeds, the lift forces likely induce
tension in the deck, hence they deliver a positive geometric stiffness contribution,
while, at higher speeds, the coupling between bending and torsion in the nonlinear
equilibrium is such that the negative geometric stiffness in torsion also affects the
flexural modes.
Chapter 11
Discretization Methods
Chapter 1 sheds light on the intricacies associated with the problem of computing
equilibrium paths and bifurcation diagrams of general nonlinear structures subject
to static and dynamic excitation. Two prominent aspects are inherent in such
a problem. One concerns space-time discretization, the other aspect pertains to
the choice of proper path-following strategies. This chapter (conceived as an
appendix) mainly covers the problem of space discretization. General properties and
methodologies typical of space discretization approaches employed in mechanics
and dynamics are illustrated with a focus on semi-analytical methods. Recent
advances on finite element formulations of dynamic distributed-parameter systems
coupled with continuation techniques are reported at the end of the chapter.
11.1 Discretization of Distributed-Parameter Systems
Equilibrium paths and more general bifurcation diagrams of nonlinear distributed-

parameter systems (such as cables, beams, plates, shells, and their structural
ensembles) are found by employing one of the many available path-following
techniques in conjunction with a discretization procedure. One can resort to a
variety of computational techniques whose choice depends on the structural problem
and the objectives of the analysis. There are two main groups of discretization
techniques: fully numerical approaches and semi-analytical methods. A typical
example of a fully numerical approach is the method of finite differences whereby
a direct discretization of the balance equations (the so-called strong form of the
problem) is carried out assuming a discretization grid of the domain and the discrete
values of the unknown field variables at the grid points are taken as the algebraic
unknowns.
Weak formulations are frequently employed instead of attacking the strong form
of the problem. These formulations are often based on a variational treatment
consisting of minimizing a suitable functional which typically corresponds to the

718 11 Discretization Methods
total potential energy or some other mixed functionals for equilibrium problems
or applying Hamilton’s Principle for dynamic problems. A weak formulation may
also be obtained by applying one of the variants of the method of weighted residuals
directly to the governing equations. The virtue of this approach is that it is applicable
to nonconservative problems which do not bear a variational structure. Once the
discretized form of the governing equations is determined, the approximate solution
of the original partial differential problem is sought as the solution of a discrete set
of nonlinear equations (equilibrium problem) or as the solution of a set of Ordinary
Differential Equations (ODEs) in time (dynamic problem).
Semi-analytical approaches are often based on weak formulations which, how-
ever, exhibit a major difference with respect to the formulations that resort to fully
numerical approaches. The unknown field is expressed as a superposition of suitable
trial functions defined throughout the domain of the problem and chosen to form a
complete set of functions and to satisfy the boundary conditions. The unbalanced
residual forces in the equilibrium equations or in the equations of motion are
minimized according to one of the variants of the method of weighted residuals
as the Bubnov–Galerkin (or the Faedo–Galerkin) method. This process leads to the
determination of the coefficients of the trial functions also known as generalized
coordinates. The ensuing approximate solution of the original equilibrium problem
is delivered in semi-closed form; in this sense, these methods are referred to as
semi-analytical methods.
A rich class of semi-analytical discretization techniques is available. The choice
is mainly dictated by the fact that the structural problem is conservative or
nonconservative. For the former, a variational problem can be cast as minimization
of the total potential energy associated with certain admissible functions or as
a stationarity condition of Hamilton’s action according to the Principle of Least
Action. This leads to the Ritz method. For nonconservative problems, the method
of weighted residuals is often applied in the form proposed by Galerkin [170]
or Faedo [152]. This method has gained a wider dissemination since it does not
pose restrictions on the type of constitutive functions, force fields, and boundary
conditions. The following sections offer an overview of the method of weighted
residuals (in particular, the Galerkin method) and variational methods (in particular,
the Ritz method). The general forms of the method of weighted residuals and the
Ritz method are illustrated in the context of a paradigmatic example: the elastica
problem.
11.2 The Method of Weighted Residuals
The Method of Weighted Residuals (MWR) represents a broad class of discretiza-

tion methods that exhibit wider general applicability than the methods based on
variational statements such as the Ritz method. The most famous version of MWR
is the Galerkin method whose original idea was proposed by Bubnov in the context
of a variational formulation for solving eigenvalue problems [317].
11.2 The Method of Weighted Residuals 719
The general form of MWR is illustrated in the context of the elastica problem.
Its generalization to dynamic problems is presented in Sect. 11.4. There are
eminently different ways of introducing the method of weighted residuals, chiefly
depending on the emphasis on mathematical or mechanical aspects. The mono-
graphs on discretization methods often adopt one of these views and seldom try
to reconcile them. The mechanical view is illustrated first, followed by the more
abstract approach.
Let the equilibrium problem of interest be governed by the following boundary-
value problem:
f .u; us ; : : : I c/ D 0;
b1 .u; us ; : : :/ D 0 at s D 0 and b2 .u; us ; : : :/ D 0 at s D 1 (11.1)
where u.s/ is the unknown function, f and bi are functionals of u and its space
derivatives (up to the pth order for f and .p 1/th order for bi ), and c is a
control parameter. Assume that an approximation to the solution u.s/ is the function
u(n) .s/ expressed as a superposition of suitable functions j .s/ with unknown
coefficients qj :
X
n
u.s/ ' u(n) .s/ D qj j .s/: (11.2)
j D1
The trial functions j .s/ 2 Cp .0; 1/ [159] are chosen so as to satisfy both the
geometric and mechanical boundary conditions. By substituting (11.2) into the equi-
librium equation (11.1), the equilibrium is not exactly satisfied so that unbalanced
forces arise in the form of residuals
r.s/ WD f .u(n) ; us(n) ; : : : ; sI c/: (11.3)
The core of all discretization techniques lies in devising effective criteria that
allow a suitable minimization of the residuals. Perhaps the very first primitive idea
of the method of weighted residuals was originated by Gauss (1795) and Legendre
(1806) in the proposition of least squares estimations. At the beginning of the last
century, Picone [362] proposed the least squares method as a method of solving
differential equations. Let the integral of the squared residual be
Z 1
r.s/2 ds: (11.4)
0
Substituting (11.2) into (11.4) and imposing its minimization via stationarity
conditions with respect to variations of the coefficients qj lead to the following
algebraic equations:
Z 1
@qi rŒqj j .s/; : : : ; sI crŒqj j .s/; : : : ; sI cds D 0; i D 1; : : : ; n (11.5)
0
where the summation convention on the repeated indices is tacitly adopted and
@qi ./ D @./=@qi .
Let the derivatives of the residual forces with respect to the generalized coordi-
nates qi be
wi .s/ WD @qi rŒqj j .s/; : : : ; sI c: (11.6)
This implies that according to (11.5) the residual forces r.s/ are made orthogonal
to wi . The functions wi .s/ play the role of weighting functions in the minimization
of the residuals. This method gives the best possible bounds on the error, however,
it leads to cumbersome equations.
The method of weighted residuals, in its most general formulation [122], is based
on the idea that a suitable set of linearly independent functions wi .s/ can be chosen
as weighting functions. By imposing that the residual forces “projected” throughout
the domain onto the weighting functions (projections called weighted residuals)
vanish independently, the following equations are obtained:
Z 1
wi .s/r.s/ds D 0; i D 1; : : : ; n: (11.7)
0
Therefore, the desired minimization of the residual forces is carried out in

weighted/average sense throughout the space domain. The form of MWR expressed
by (11.7) is here said to be the direct (or primitive) form of the method of weighted
residuals.1
The elastica problem. The linear equations of planar equilibrium of the elastica
problem under transverse forces f2 and an end thrust force are given by (6.12)
and (6.13) as
ŒB.s/s s D f .s/; (11.8)
together with the boundary conditions
Bs .0/ D 0 D Bs .1/ (11.9)
where indicates the rotation of the cross sections and

Z 1 Z 1
f .s/ WD sf2 .s/ds f2 . /d : (11.10)
0 s
The equations permit (strong) solutions for .s/ expressed as
X
n
.s/ ' (n) .s/ D qj j .s/; j .s/ 2 C1 .0; 1/: (11.11)
j D1
1
A similar expression is not found in the literature, but it helps to clarify important aspects of the
method. There is another form of the method obtained via integration by parts of the integrals in
the direct form, a form that corresponds to the principle of virtual work or to the so-called weak
form of the original differential problem.
11.2 The Method of Weighted Residuals 721
The functions j .s/ in this context are chosen to satisfy the geometric boundary
conditions on the transverse displacement v (i.e., v.0/ D 0 D v.1/) together
with the mechanical boundary conditions (11.9). Substituting (11.11) into the
equilibrium equation (11.8) gives rise to the residuals
r.s/ WD ŒB.s/s(n) s (n) f .s/: (11.12)
Substituting the residual (11.12) into (11.7) yields the following set of n linear
algebraic equations:
n Z
X 1 Z 1 Z 1
wi ŒB.s/j0 0 wi j ds qj wi .s/f .s/ds D 0 (11.13)
j D1 0 0 0
where, for ease of notation, the prime denotes differentiation with respect to s: Let
Z 1 Z 1 Z 1
Kij WD wi ŒB.s/j0 0 ds wi j ds; pi WD wi .s/f .s/ds (11.14)
0 0 0
be the .i; j /th element of the stiffness matrix and the i th component of the
generalized force. Let q D Œq1 ; : : : ; qn | be the vector of n generalized coordinates,
p D Œp1 ; : : : ; pn | the vector of generalized forces, and K D ŒKij be the stiffness
matrix. Equation (11.13) can thus be written in matrix form as
K q D p: (11.15)
The weighting functions appearing in the stiffness matrix and the expression of
the generalized forces need not be continuous. These can be chosen as piecewise
continuous2 or can be generalized functions (e.g., the Dirac delta function).3
The space of functions wi may be restricted by relaxing the space of trial
functions j in the following manner. Let the first integral in (11.13) be integrated
by parts4 to obtain
2
Piecewise continuous functions are continuous everywhere except at a finite number of points
in Œ0; 1 where they exhibit left and right limits w ¤ wC : This is the case of the subdomain
method introduced by Biezeno and Koch [67]. The domain D D Œ0; 1 is subdivided into N smaller
subdomains Di D Œsi1 ; si and the weighting functions are chosen as piecewise continuous
functions that are 1 within the subdomain and 0 outside it, namely, wi .s/ WD H.ssii /
H.ssi / where H./ is the Heaviside function. By increasing the number of subdomains, the
differential equation is required to be satisfied in the average over smaller and smaller subdomains.
3
A discretizing grid for the domain D D Œ0; 1 is introduced as D .n/ D Œs1 ; : : : ; sn : By choosing
the weighting functions to be the Dirac delta functions, wi D ı.s si /; centered at the nodes
si (otherwise referred to as collocation points), the weighted residuals become the residual forces
calculated at the collocation points. This is known as the Collocation Method.
4
In treating a higher-dimensional problem (in space coordinates), the Gauss–Green Theorem is
employed to perform integration by parts.
2 31
X
n n Z
X 1 Z 1
4wi Bqj j0 5 w0i B.s/j0 C wi j ds qj
j D1 j D1 0 0
0
Z 1
wi .s/f .s/ds D 0: (11.16)
0
By incorporating the boundary conditions, the boundary terms vanish for any
choice of wi ; under the presumption that the trial functions individually satisfy the
boundary conditions.
The stiffness matrix ensuing from (11.16) can be expressed as
Z 1 Z 1
Kij WD w0i B.s/j0 ds C wi j ds: (11.17)
0 0
The elements of the stiffness matrix are the summation of two contributions, the first
is associated with the elastic bending stiffness, and the second term is associated
with the geometric stiffness:
Z 1 Z 1
KijE D w0i Bj0 ds; KijG D wi j ds: (11.18)
0 0
Thus the equations delivered by the method can be written as
.KE C KG / q D p: (11.19)
The substantial novelty introduced by the formulation based on integration by

parts is in the fact that both the weighting and trial functions are required to be
at least C 0 .0; 1/. Thus they can be chosen within the same function space. The
Galerkin method is based on the choice that the weighting functions coincide with
the trial functions j : wi .s/ D i .s/.
If the direct/primitive form of MWR given by (11.13) is chosen, the trial
functions must possess a higher degree of continuity, j 2 C 1 .0; 1/; and satisfy all
boundary conditions, here given by (11.9). On the other hand, with the form based
on integration by parts, a lower order of smoothness is required, j 2 C 0 .0; 1/:
Two subtle points arise: 1) whether the formulation (11.16) obtained by inte-
gration by parts is necessary or can be avoided and (2) whether this formulation
stringently requires the mechanical boundary conditions to be satisfied exactly
by the trial functions. These points have triggered some disputes in the literature
[159,361]. For example, in [15] it was stated that “it is useful, but not mandatory, to
apply Green’s theorem to : : : incorporate second and third boundary conditions”5.
On the other hand, in [324] it was stated that “the Galerkin method will yield better
results if integration by parts is used to reduce the order of the governing differential
5
Typically, the boundary conditions with higher-order derivatives are mechanical boundary
conditions.
11.3 The Method of Weighted Residuals and the Principle of Virtual Work 723
equation”. These points are further elaborated in the following section starting from
showing the well-known result that the integral formulation corresponds to the
principle of virtual work.
Historical note. Bubonv was inspired by a work of Timoshenko on the stability
of rods and plates based on the Ritz method. He required that the trial and weighting
functions be orthogonal to each other. It was in 1915 that B. G. Galerkin [170],
starting from Bubnov’s observations, while studying equilibrium and stability of
rods and thin plates, presented the method in its general formulation without resort-
ing to any variational statement. In the 1940s, the Galerkin method gained wider
popularity in its applications to certain integral equations or some general fourth-
order differential equations. In 1947, S. Faedo [152] presented the general lines of
the theory enabling application of the method of weighted residuals to evolution
or dynamic problems governed by partial differential equations. He studied the
following initial-boundary-value problem6:
uxx C a1 uxt C a2 ut t C a3 ux C a4 ut C a5 u D f .x; t/; x 2 .0; c/;

u.0; t/ D f1 .t/; u.c; t/ D f2 .t/; u.x; 0/ D g.x/; ut .x; 0/ D g1 .x/:
He proved conditions on the coefficients ai and their derivatives ensuring the

existence and uniqueness of the solution and, by using the sine functions j D
sin.jx=c/ as trial and weighting functions at the same time, he showed that the
approximate solution, obtained by the weighted residuals procedure, converges to
the actual solution. He named this procedure the method of moments. This was the
first application of MWR to a dynamic problem. Thus the method should be referred
to as the Faedo–Galerkin method. Since, in the literature, both the Bubnov–Galerkin
and the Faedo–Galerkin methods are commonly referred to as the Galerkin method,
this terminology is adopted throughout this book.
11.3 The Method of Weighted Residuals and the Principle

of Virtual Work
By substitution of D vs , the nondimensional equilibrium equation (11.8) reads
Ms vs D f .s/ (11.20)
6
This partial differential equation governs the forced longitudinal dynamics of a uniform viscoelas-
tic rod with a3 D a5 D 0; .a1 ; a2 ; a4 / > 0:
where the bending moment M.s/ is left unexpressed constitutively. For the sake of
generality, more general mechanical boundary conditions are considered, featuring
two counter-clockwise couples, denoted by MN 0 and MN 1 ; applied to the left and right
end sections of the rod. Thus, the mechanical boundary conditions become M.0/ D
MN 0 and M.1/ D MN 1 : Both members of (11.20) are multiplied by a continuous
function w.s/, integrated over Œ0; 1 by parts to obtain
Z Z Z
1 1 1 1 1
M w 0 vw 0 M ws ds C .v/ws ds D f wds: (11.21)
0 0 0
The boundary terms Œvw10 vanish due to the geometric boundary conditions given
in terms of the transverse displacement, v.0/ D 0 D v.1/: Furthermore, if w is
interpreted as virtual rotation, ws represents the virtual curvature. Thus (11.21) can
be rewritten as
Z 1 Z 1 Z 1
M ws ds D f wds C .v/ws ds C MN 0 w.0/ C MN 1 w.1/: (11.22)
0 0 0
The left-hand side of (11.22) is the work of the bending moments in the virtual
rotation field w.7 The right-hand side is the summation of the virtual works of the
external forces f .s/; the thrust force that generates the bending moment v and
the terminal couples MN 0 and MN 1 :
Equation (11.22) is the statement of the principle of virtual work. If (11.22) is
enforced for any possible choice of admissible virtual rotations w, the principle of
virtual workdelivers the balance equations, both in the local form (11.20) valid in the
domain .0; 1/; as well as in the boundary conditions, M.0/ D MN 0 and M.1/ D
MN 1 : The principle of virtual work furnishes the so-called integral formulation of
the equilibrium or dynamic problem. In the latter case, it is the principle of virtual
power. The form of the MWR expressed by (11.22) is known as the weak form.
An approximate solution is sought according to MWR as a superposition of trial
functions expressed by (11.11). However, this time the trial functions are not strictly
required to satisfy the mechanical boundary conditions. By substituting (11.11)
into (11.22), the boundary terms MN 1 w.1/ C MN 0 w.0/; which appear explicitly as
weighted boundary residuals, take care of the mechanical boundary conditions.
The formulation (11.22), in the form of the principle of virtual work, seeks to
minimize the residuals through the kinematically admissible weighting functions
which correspond to independent virtual displacements. Thus, by increasing the
number of trial functions and weighting functions, the residuals in the domain and
at the boundary are forced to become increasingly smaller.
7
The elementary work, to within first order, performed by the bending couples acting on two
interior adjacent cross sections at a distance ds is M ws ds where ws ds is the relative rotation
between the two adjacent cross sections.
The Galerkin method is practically applied to the rod problem by first substituting
the constitutive equation MO .; s/ D B.s/s into (11.22), letting
X n Z 1 Z 1
D qj j .s/; wi D i ; .v/ws ds D wds
j D1 0 0
to obtain the following set of algebraic equations:

X
n
.KijE C KijG /qj D pi : (11.23)
j D1
The stiffness coefficients are

Z 1 Z 1
KijE WD i0 Bj0 ds; KijG WD i j ds; (11.24)
0 0
while the generalized forces are given by

Z 1
pi WD i .s/p.s/ds C MN 0 i .0/ C MN 1 i .1/ (11.25)
0
with p.s/ WD f .s/: In the specific example of the rod in Fig. 6.1, the mechanical
boundary conditions lead to MN 0 D 0 D MN 1 in (11.25).
Example 11.1 (Elastica problem: cosine series). One of the many possible choices
p the trial functions of the rod problem (Fig. 6.1) is the series of cosines j .s/ D
for
2 cos.js/: The cosine functions are infinitely differentiable and satisfy the
orthonormality conditions:
Z 1
hi ; j i WD i j ds D ıij (11.26)
0
Rs
where ıij is the Kronecker delta. The transverse displacement is v.s/ D 0 .x/dx;
p
thus the functions vj .s/ D 2=.j/ sin js satisfy the geometric boundary
conditions vj .0/ D 0 D vj .1/: Moreover, since the first derivatives are j0 D
p
2j sin.js/; the trial functions also satisfy the mechanical boundary condi-
tions Bj0 .0/ D 0 D Bj0 .1/: The elastic and geometric stiffness matrices and the
generalized forces are given by
Z 1
Kij D 2ij
E 2
sin.i s/B.s/ sin.js/ds;
0
Z 1 Z 1 p
KijG D 2 cos.i s/ cos.js/ds D ıij ; pi D 2 cos.i s/ p.s/ds:
0 0
(11.27)
In particular, for a rod of uniform cross section for which B D 1; the elastic
stiffness becomes KijE D ij 2 ıij . The equations are all decoupled, thus the solution
can be obtained in closed form as
pj
qj D 2 2 : (11.28)
.j C /
Let the rod be subject to a constant transverse load of magnitude p0 . Then, according
to (11.10), the force field p.s/ D f .s/ and the generalized force, respectively,
become

1 p
p.s/ D p0 s ; pj D 2p0 .1 cos j/=.j 2 2 /: (11.29)
2
Consequently, the solution for the rotation of the rod cross sections is
X
n
2p0 .1 cos j/
.s/ D cos js: (11.30)
j D1;3;:::
j 4 .1 C =.j/2 /
4
For the equilibrium problem of the uniform rod, subject to a constant transverse
load and to an end thrust force, the exact solution can be found in closed form. It is
the solution of the following two-point boundary-value problem:

1
ss D p0 s (11.31)
2
together with the boundary conditions (11.9). The solution is
" #
p0 1
p p 1
D p p e s e .1s/ s C (11.32)
.1 C e / 2
whose associated Fourier series

1
X
D h; j ij .s/ (11.33)
j D1
coincides with (11.30) for n ! 1. Hence, the Galerkin solution delivers the exact
solution in Fourier series of odd cosine functions.
A different solution is obtained when the end force is a compressive force that
induces a negative geometric stiffness. In this case, the equilibrium equation is

1
ss C D p0 s : (11.34)
2
p p
The solution of the homogeneous problem is D c1 cos s C c2 sin s; a
particular solution is D p0 =.s 12 /: Therefore, the general solution is
p p
p0 1
D c1 cos s C c2 sin s C s : (11.35)
2
The boundary conditions are enforced to give two algebraic equations in c1 and c2
whose solution leads to
" p ! #
p0 1 1 cos p p 1
D p p cos s sin s C s : (11.36)
sin 2
Again, the Fourier series expansion of (11.36) furnishes (11.30) provided that the
sign of in the denominator is changed. Note that when D .j/2 the solution
breaks down. This singularity signals a critical condition. At these levels of end
compressive force, the rod experiences a loss of stability in the form of buckling (cf.
Chaps. 2 and 6). Linear theory is insufficient to describe the solution at the onset of
the critical condition as shown in Chap. 6.
Example 11.2 (Elastica problem: Legendre series). In this second example, the
choice of a different set of functions that do not satisfy a priori the mechanical
boundary conditions is shown to slow down the convergence but it is perfectly
justified when the weak form of the Galerkin method is employed. Legendre
polynomials represent good candidates as trial functions. Legendre polynomials,
functions belonging to L2 .1; 1/; are solutions of

d dLk
.1 x 2 / C k.k C 1/Lk D 0:
dx dx
The polynomials can be expressed by the Rodrigues formula as
1 dk
Lk .x/ D Œ.x 2 1/k
2k kŠ dx k
or can be generated recursively by the following three-term relationship:
(
L0 .x/ D 1; L1 .x/ D x;
LkC1 .s/ D kC1 xLk .x/ kC1 Lk1 .x/;
2kC1 k
k D 1; 2; : : :
Legendre’s polynomials enjoy the orthogonality property

Z 1
hLi ; Lj i WD Li Lj dx D ıij =.i C 1=2/; i; j D 0; 1; 2: : : :
1
p p
Thus, jjLk jj D hLk ; Lk i D 2=.2k C 1/:
Note that Lj .1/=1=Lj .1/ for j being even, otherwise Lj .1/=1=Lj .1/.
The symmetry of the problem suggests that only the even Legendre polynomials
are good for expressing the transverse displacement function. To this end, the
coordinate transformation sN WD 2s 1 is introduced so as to redefine the domain

as Œ0; 1. Moreover, 1 is subtracted from all Legendre polynomials so as to fulfill
the geometric boundary conditions (i.e., vanishing of the transverse displacements
at both ends). Consequently,
vj .Ns / WD L2j .Ns / 1; j D vj0 D L02j .Ns /
where ./0 WD d./=ds D 2d./=dNs. The Legendre-derived trial functions are

normalized:
s
Z 1
j D L02j .Ns /=jjL02j .Ns /jj; jjL02j .Ns /jj D ŒL02j .Ns /2 dNs :
0
Note that, as a consequence of the introduced shift, the trial functions do not satisfy
p orthogonality conditions any more. By using only the first trial function 1 D
the
3.2s 1/; the solution becomes
p0
(1) D .1 2s/: (11.37)
2.12 C /
p
By adding the second trial function 2 D 10.14s 3 21s 2 C 9s 1/;
p0
(2) D 560s 3 840s 2 2s C C 140 : (11.38)
2 .2 C 180 C 1680/
It is interesting to compare the end rotations/moments delivered by the cosine ptrial

functions
p and Legendre
p polynomials with those of the exact solution D p 0 Œ
2 tanh. =2/=.2 3 / :
˚ (1) (1) ˚
C ; L D 4=Œ 2 . 2 C /; 1=Œ2.12 C / ;
˚ (2) (2) ˚
C ; L D 4 9=. 2 C / C 1=.9 2 C / =.9 2 /;

1=2.140 C /=.1680 C 180 C 2 / ;
˚ (1) ˚ ˚ (2) ˚
MC ; ML(1) D 0; 1=.12 C / ; MC ; ML(2) D 0; =.1680 C 180 C 2 /
where the subscript C denotes the results of the cosine series, L indicates those of the
Legendre series, and the scaling load amplitude p0 is dropped for ease of notation.
In practice, the cosine series attains convergence with only one term, whereas
the Legendre series requires at least two terms. The ratio between the boundary
moment in the two-term series with respect to that with one term is 13=1861 '
6:98 103 when D 1: The two-term Legendre series and the exact solution are
nearly indistinguishable. The Galerkin solution indeed corresponds to a Legendre-
derived series expansion of . Although the Legendre-derived trial functions do not
satisfy the mechanical boundary conditions, the error associated with the residual
both in the domain and at the boundary tends to die out rapidly.
The Method of Weighted Residuals and the Weak Formulation. A more abstract
way of deriving the method of weighted residuals in its weak form is based on
straightforward integration by parts of the equilibrium equation (11.8) multiplied
by a suitable function. By such an approach, the mechanical meaning inherent in
the minimization of the residual forces is lost. A form equivalent to the principle
of virtual work is obtained. The elastica problem serves again the purpose of
illustrating the theory in a more comprehensible fashion.
Both members of the elastica equation (11.8) are multiplied by the function w
called the test function. This is the same as the weighting function of MWR or the
generalized virtual displacement (rotation) of the principle of virtual work. Let the
resulting expressions be integrated over Œ0; 1 by parts to give
Z 1 Z 1 Z 1
ŒM w10 B.s/ 0 w0 ds wds D pwds (11.39)
0 0 0
where the constitutive function M.s/ D B.s/ 0 .s/ is considered. The boundary
terms become ŒM w10 D MN 1 w.1/ C MN 0 w.0/, upon consideration of the boundary
conditions M.0/ D MN 0 ; M.1/ D MN 1 :
The test functions w cannot be chosen arbitrarily. The integrals in (11.39) make
sense, according to the Lebesgue theory [402], provided that the test functions
are continuous with piecewise continuous derivatives. The space of test functions
denoted by W for the problem at hand is the space of square integrable functions
with square integrable first derivatives.
The two integrals on the left-hand side of (11.39) are linear in both arguments
and w, hence their sum is represented by the following bilinear form:
Z 1 Z 1
0 0
b.; w/ WD B.s/ w ds C wds: (11.40)
0 0
R1
The generalized force is 0 pwds DW hp; wi:
The function 2 C 2 .0; 1/ is the classical solution of the (differential) strong
form of the problem given by (11.8) and (11.9). A suitable approximation of
this classical solution may be sought within the relaxed function space H 1 .0; 1/8
according to the following statement:
find W 2 H 1 such that

b. W ; w/ D hp; wi C MN 1 w.1/ C MN 0 w.0/; 8 w 2 W: (11.41)
8
H 1 .0; 1/ denotes a Hilbert space, the space of square integrable functions possessing square
integrable derivatives. A function f; defined in Œa; b; is said to be square integrable if and only if
Z b
the following Lebesgue integral exists: jf .x/j2 dx < 1:
a
Equation (11.41) is the so-called weak form of the problem and its solution W ,
the weak solution, belongs to the larger function space H 1 .0; 1/: Hence, the weak
formulation (11.41) may encompass more general situations, namely, those in which
a classical solution 2 C 2 .0; 1/ of (11.8) does not exist although the problem is
mechanically well formulated.
An illuminating example is that in which the force field f is represented by a
point force which causes the shear force to jump where the point force is applied. In
turn, this causes a discontinuity in the first derivative of the bending moment MO s D
.EI s /s : Therefore, the classical solution 2 C 2 .0; 1/ does not exist. Conversely,
the solution to this problem is 2 C 1 .0; 1/: Another example is that of a rod
subject to a bending couple. In this case, it is the bending moment MO that suffers
a discontinuity at the position where the external couple is applied. Hence, 2
C 0 .0; 1/.
11.4 The Method of Weighted Residuals for Dynamic

Problems
The application of the method of weighted residuals is illustrated in the context of

one-dimensional viscoelastic distributed-parameter systems subject to aeroelastic
and direct forces. The equations of motion are represented by the following system
of partial (or integral partial) differential equations:
M @t t u.s; t/ C .C C C A / @t u.s; t/ C L u.s; t/ C bŒu.s; t/ D f (11.42)
where s2Œ0; l is the coordinate by which a base curve of the one-dimensional

system is parametrized9; t2Œ0; 1/ indicates time; and u.s; t/ is the unknown
kinematic vector that collects all generalized kinematic descriptors. The geometric
and mechanical boundary conditions10 are expressed in the general form:
B1 u.0; t/ D uN 1 .t/ and B2 u.l; t/ D uN 2 .t/;

L1 u.0; t/ D f1 .t/
B
and LB2 u.l; t/ D f2 .t/; t 2 Œ0; 1/; (11.43)
while the initial conditions are
u.s; 0/ D u0 .s/; @t u.s; 0/ D v0 .s/; s 2 Œ0; l: (11.44)
In (11.42)(11.43), L is the stiffness operator, represented by a linear, homoge-

neous, self-adjoint, positive-definite differential or integral-differential operator of
order 2p; M is a self-adjoint, positive-definite differential or integral-differential
9
The base curve is a convenient longitudinal fiber for straight rods/beams or a curved fiber for
arches, rings or cables.
10
Without loss of generality, there are no lumped masses at the boundaries.
11.4 The Method of Weighted Residuals for Dynamic Problems 731
inertia operator of order < 2p 11 ; C A is a general non-self-adjoint differential

operator (of order < 2p) (e.g., C A @t u may represent linear aeroelastic or gyroscopic
forces); LBj are the boundary stiffness operators of order .2p 1/; C is the
positive-definite damping operator; b is the vector of nonlinear stiffness terms, a
function of u and its space derivatives; Bj are the geometric boundary operators that
transform the vector u into the prescribed geometric data represented by uN j .t/12 ;
f.s; t/ is the vectors of forces and moments per unit reference length; fj .s; t/ are the
vectors of boundary forces and moments, j D 1 indicates the end s D 0 and j D 2
the end s D l.
Since the equations of motion (in classical form) involve spatial derivatives of
maximum order 2p; the classical solution u.s; t/ (and its first and second time
derivatives) must be 2 C 2p .0; l/ at all times. Furthermore, the initial data .u0 ; v0 /
must be 2 C 2p .0; l/: The initial conditions and the boundary data satisfy the
compatibility conditions
Bk u0 .0/ D uN k .0/; LBk u0 .0/ D fk .0/;
(11.45)
Bk v0 .0/ D uPN k .0/; LBk v0 .0/ D Pfk .0/; k D 1; 2:
Let uo .s; t/ 2 C.2p1/ denote any function that satisfies all stated boundary
conditions so that
B1 uo .0; t/ D uN 1 .t/; B2 uo .l; t/ D uN 2 .t/;
LB1 uo .0; t/ D f1 .t/; LB2 uo .l; t/ D f2 .t/: (11.46)
Assume that an approximation to u.s; t/ is the function u(n) .s; t/ expressed as the
summation of uo .s; t/ and a superposition of suitable functions j .s/ 2 C.2p1/
with time-varying coefficients qj .t/:
X
n
u.s; t/ ' u(n) .s; t/ D uo .s; t/ C qj .t/j .s/: (11.47)
j D1
All of the trial functions j .s/ are chosen so as to satisfy the homogeneous
boundary conditions associated with (11.46):
B1 j .0/ D o; B2 j .l/ D o; LB1 j .0/ D o; LB2 j .l/ D o: (11.48)
11
The self-adjoint, positive-definite nature of M stems from the positive-definite nature of the
kinetic energy function.
12
Often this operator is the unitary operator; in this case the geometric boundary conditions are said
to be of the Dirichlet type. In some instances, such as in the linear Euler–Bernoulli beam theory,
the rotations of the cross sections are the first space derivative of the transverse displacement. Thus,
if the rotation is prescribed, as in the cantilevered rod problem (clamped boundary condition), the
first derivative of the displacement is assigned, whereby Bj ./ WD @=@s. Although this is clearly
a geometric boundary condition, it is of the Neumann type. This situation occurs invariably in all
internally constrained systems.
Substitution of (11.47) into (11.42) gives rise to the following residual vector due to
unbalanced linear and angular momentum:
r.s; t/ WD M @t t u(n) C .C C C A / @t u(n) C L u(n) C bŒu(n) f: (11.49)
By exploiting the linearity of the relevant operators, the residual forces turn out
to be:
h X
n i
r.s; t/ D M @t t uo C .C C C A / @t uo C L uo C b uo C qj j (11.50)
j D1
X
n X
n X
n
C qRj M j C qPj .C C C A / j C qj L j f:
j D1 j D1 j D1
According to the direct form of MWR, a set of independent weighting functions

wi .s/ is chosen so that the resulting weighted residuals are forced to vanish
independently thus yielding the following equations:
Z l
wi .s/ r.s; t/ds D 0; i D 1; : : : ; n; 8 t 2 .0; 1/: (11.51)
0
These conditions have a clear mechanical interpretation: they enforce minimization

of the residual unbalanced forces in an average sense at each instant of time.
Substituting the residual vector (11.50) into (11.51) yields the following set of n
nonlinear ODEs cast in matrix form as
M qR C .C C CA / qP C K q C n.q/ D p (11.52)
where q is the n1-vector of generalized coordinates. The elements of the (gener-

alized) mass matrix M, stiffness matrix K, structural and aerodynamics damping
matrices C and CA , nonlinear generalized restoring force vector n, and vector p of
direct forces are, respectively, given by
Z l Z l
Mij WD wi M j ds; Kij WD wi L j ds; (11.53)
0 0
Z l Z l
Cij WD wi C j ds; CijA WD wi C A j ds; (11.54)
0 0
Z X
n
l
ni .qk / WD wi b uo C qk k ds; (11.55)
0 kD1
Z Z
l l
pi WD wi f ds wi M @t t uo C .C C C A / @t uo C L uo ds: (11.56)
0 0
11.5 The Galerkin Method 733
The major drawbacks inherent in the direct form of MWR are related to the
requirement that the trial functions satisfy all boundary conditions (geometric and
mechanical) and possess an order of continuity equal to 2p 1; namely, j 2
C .2p1/ .0; l/: This requirement may turn out to be too demanding. For example,
in treating the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory, the equations of motion are such that
p D 2; hence j 2 C 3 .0; l/:
The method of weighted residuals can be employed in the weak form which
corresponds to the principle of virtual power. The weighting vector w.s/ is chosen
as the virtual velocity that vanishes at the boundaries where the geometric conditions
are prescribed. From a mathematical point of view, the weak form of MWR can be
derived by integrating (11.51) by parts (in space) and moving the derivatives from
the trial functions to the weighting functions w so as to make the derivatives on
and w appear with the same differential order. For example, in the stiffness-related
terms, an equal number of derivatives is expected to appear in and w. Therefore,
the method of weighted residuals in its weak form requires 2 C .p1/ .0; l/ and
w 2 C .p1/ .0; l/.
11.5 The Galerkin Method
The effectiveness of minimization of the residuals, for a given number of terms,

depends on two crucial elements: the choice of the trial functions and the choice of
the weighting functions. In the Galerkin method (in the form first proposed by Faedo
[152]), the trial functions are also used as weighting functions: wj .s/ D j .s/.
Therefore, the elements of the matrices and vectors become
Z l Z l
Mij WD i M j ds; Kij WD i L j ds; (11.57)
0 0
Z l Z l
Cij WD i C j ds; CijA WD i C A j ds; (11.58)
0 0
Z X
n
l
ni .q/ WD i b uo C qj j ds; (11.59)
0 j D1
Z Z
l l
pi WD i f ds i M @t t uo C .C C C A / @t uo C L uo ds: (11.60)
0 0
P
The vector u.s; t/13 can be expressed as u.s; t/ ' uo .s; t/ C nj D1 qj .t/j .s/.
The calculation of ni .q/ cannot in general be achieved in closed form (see the next
subsection).
13
For a shearable rod deforming in three-dimensional space,
| t / collects the three
the vector u.s;
displacement components and the three rotations: u WD u1 u2 u3 1 2 3 .
For convergence, the trial functions i must be linearly independent and

form a complete set. A standard way to find one of such sets is to exploit the
basis of solutions of the associated undamped unforced linearized problem with
homogeneous boundary conditions, the so-called linear free vibration problem, cast
in the form
M @t t u C L u D o; (11.61)
B1 u.0; t/ D o and B2 u.l; t/ D o;
LB1 u.0; t/ D o and LB2 u.l; t/ D o: (11.62)
The solutions of the stated eigenvalue problem are the eigensolutions u.s; t// j .s/
exp.j t/ with j being the eigenfunctions.
If the problem is self-adjoint and the stiffness operator L is positive-definite,
j D ˙i!j where i denotes the imaginary unit and !j > 0 is the j th circular
eigenfrequency. The eigenfunctions j .s/ form an orthonormal and complete set
of functions. The orthonormality conditions in canonical form are
Z l Z l
i M j ds D ıij ; i L j ds D !i2 ıij : (11.63)
0 0
The initial conditions (11.44) can be expressed conveniently in the eigenbasis f j g

pre-multiplying both members of .u0 .s; 0/; v0 .s// by j M and integrating the
result between 0 and l thus yielding
Z l Z l
qj .0/ D j M u0 ds; qPj .0/ D j M v0 ds (11.64)
0 0
where use of the linearity of M and the orthonormality conditions is made.

Space integration. Viable strategies for space integration of the vector of
nonlinear forces are the Simpson rule or Gaussian quadrature rules. As suggested in
[463], the composite Simpson rule is a good compromise:
Z l X
n
ni .q/ ' i b uo .s/ C qj .t/ j .s/ ds
0 j D1
X
n X
n
h
D i .0/ b uo .0/ C qj .t/ j .0/ C i .l/ b uo .0/ C qj .t/j .0/
3
j D1 j D1
X
N=21 X
n
C2 i .s2k / b uo .s2k / C qj .t/j .s2k /
kD1 j D1
X
N=2 X
n
o
C4 i .s2k1 / b u .s2k1 / C qj .t/j .s2k1 / ; (11.65)
kD1 j D1
11.6 The Ritz Method 735
where the summation on j is assumed for j D 1; : : : ; n; N is the number of equal

integration subintervals of length h WD l=N , and sk WD kh; k D 1; :::; N 1:
11.6 The Ritz Method
Systems are said to be conservative when the constitutive equations for the gen-
eralized stress resultants or more general electro-magneto-thermo-chemical forces
are derivable from a stored-energy function. When the system is subject to external
force fields, the ensuing elasto-dynamic problem is said to be conservative provided
that also the external forces are conservative in the sense that they are derivable
from a potential energy. If the elastic equilibrium or the elastodynamic problem is
conservative, one of the alternatives to MWR is a variational treatment that exploits
the stationarity of the Total Potential Energy (equilibrium problem) or the Principle
of Least Action (dynamic problem).
Modified variational treatments can also be used in the presence of some
nonconservative constitutive forces14 or in the presence of some nonconservative
external forces.15
In the context of variational methods, there are semi-analytical methods such
as the Ritz method (also known as the Rayleigh–Ritz method) or fully numerical
methods such as the finite element method [126, 127, 200]. The Ritz method is
illustrated making use of the elastica subject to the end thrust P , the end couples
MN 0 and MN 1 , and conservative transverse forces f2 .s/. All forces and moments are
applied quasistatically for the equilibrium problem.
The total potential energy is expressed as the summation of the stored-energy
function and the potential energy of the external loads. The stored-energy function
is straightforward for planar bending deformations of the elastica (inextensible and
unshearable rod) since only the elastic energy is stored in bending; thus,
Z l
1
V D
E
s EI s ds: (11.66)
2 0
On the other hand, in the calculation of the potential energy of the external forces,
the only difficulty arises in the potential energy of the thrust force that requires the
computation of the horizontal displacement of the cross section at s D l: To this end,
consider the kinematic relationship that ensues from inextensibility. In the context
of the linearized treatment of the problem, only second-order terms are retained in
14
This is the case, for example, when the dissipative parts of the generalized stress resultants are
considered to be proportional to the system mass and stiffness.
15
This is the case, for example, when the forces are time varying or arise from some kind of
interaction between the structure and the surrounding medium as is the case for aerodynamic
forces.
the potential energy. The constraint equation D 1 is solved for us , expanded up to

second order, and integrated to yield the horizontal displacement of the end section
of the rod as Z
1 l 2
u.l/ D v ds: (11.67)
2 0 s
Thus the work of the external forces turns out to be
Z l Z l
1
W D f2 .s/v.s/ds P vs2 ds C MN 0 .0/ C MN 1 .l/: (11.68)
0 2 0
The combination of (11.62) and (11.60) leads to the total potential energy in the
form
Z l Z l
1 1
V DVEW D s EJ.s/s ds C P vs2 ds
2 0 2 0
Z l
f2 .s/v.s/ds MN 0 .0/ MN 1 .l/: (11.69)
0
The Ritz method consists of choosing trial functions j .s/ that only satisfy
the geometric boundary conditions. Accordingly, the nth approximation of the
rotation is given by (11.11) for which the trial functions j need to satisfy the
Rl
geometric boundary conditions v.0/ D 0 D v.l/ written as 0 j ds D 0; 8 j .
Substituting (11.11) into (11.69) and imposing the stationarity of V .qj / (i.e.,
@qi V .qj / D 0) yields the following set of linear algebraic equations:
"Z Z #
X
n l l
i0 EJ.s/j0 ds CP i j ds qj
j D1 0 0
Z l Z s
f2 .s/ N N
i . /d ds C M0 i .0/ C M1 i .l/ D 0: (11.70)
0 0
The elastic and geometric stiffness matrices appearing in (11.70) coincide

with those obtained by the Galerkin method in its weak form. Moreover, the i th
generalized force calculated through the variational approach is
Z l Z s
pi WD f2 .s/ i . /d ds C MN 0 i .0/ C MN 1 i .l/: (11.71)
0 0
The generalized force seems to be different from (11.25) in the term associated with
the transverse forces f2 : A straightforward integration by parts shows that these
terms are indeed the same as those calculated by the Galerkin method in the form
of the principle of virtual work.
Thus the Ritz method delivers a system of equations in qj after obtaining the
total potential energy and choosing the trial functions, for the problem at hand, in
the space of square integrable functions with square integrable first derivatives. The
trial functions satisfy the geometric boundary conditions.
The existence of a potential energy enabling the variational treatment underlying
the Ritz method has to be ascertained together with the conservative nature of the
problem. To this end, use of the concept of adjointness of the strong form of the
problem can be an effective approach.
Self-adjointness. After dropping the inhomogeneous term, the nondimensional
governing equation (11.8) is multiplied by the function w and integrated twice by
parts thus giving
Z 1
Œ.B 0 /w10 Œ.B/w0 10 C Œ.Bw0 /0 wds D 0: (11.72)
0
Making use of the boundary conditions ŒB 0 10 D 0 leads to the following simplified
version of (11.72):
Z 1
ŒBw0 10 Œ.Bw0 /0 wds D 0: (11.73)
0
The requirement that (11.73) be satisfied for any choice of leads to
.Bw0 /0 C w D 0; Bw0 .0/ D 0 D Bw0 .1/: (11.74)
The differential problem (11.74) for w is said to be the adjoint problem to the
original problem. Since the adjoint problem coincides with the original problem, the
rod problem is said to be self-adjoint. The general property of self-adjoint problems
is that they can be obtained by means of a variational process. In particular, a
potential energy can be defined and a variational statement like the one that leads to
the Ritz method can be pursued.
The procedure for determining the adjoint problem can be generalized. Consider
a general strong form of the balance equations as
Lu D f; s 2 D; (11.75)
Li u D 0;
B
s 2 @D; (11.76)
where D D Œ0; 1 is the one-dimensional domain spanned by the coordinate s.

Multiply both members of (11.75) by a function v; integrate the result by parts
to move all derivatives from u to v; drop the inhomogeneous term, and obtain
Z 1 Z 1
v .Lu/ds D .L v/uds C B.u; v/: (11.77)
0 0
L is called the adjoint operator of L: The boundary terms B.u; v/ arise from
integration by parts. The boundary conditions (11.76) are substituted into the
boundary terms and the conditions on v that make B.u; v/ vanish on the boundary
@D are determined. Let these conditions be expressed as
i v D 0;
LB* s 2 @D: (11.78)
LB*
i is known as the adjoint boundary operator that governs the adjoint boundary
conditions. The problem is said to be self-adjoint if and only if
L D L and LB*
i D Li :
B
(11.79)
11.6.1 The Ritz Method for Dynamic Problems
The Ritz method can be generalized to dynamic problems of conservative systems

under general nonconservative forces by exploiting the Principle of Least Action due
to Hamilton. For n-dof systems having n generalized coordinates q D Œq1 ; : : : ; qn | ;
the following Hamilton function is calculated:
Z t2
S WD P t/dt
L.q; q; (11.80)
t1
where L.q; q; P t/ WD T U is the Lagrangian function, T is the kinetic energy,

and U is the total potential energy. Hamilton’s Principle states that the trajectory
of the system between two specified states q1 and q2 at two specified times t1 and
t2 is an extremum of the action functional S . The stationarity of Hamilton Action
corresponds to requiring that the trajectory satisfies a set of ODEs, known as the
Euler–Lagrange equations, in the form
d
L P Lq D Q (11.81)
dt q
where Q is the vector of the generalized nonconservative forces.
Provided that the restoring forces of the system and some of the external forces
are derivable from a potential, the total potential energy U can be defined as
the summation of the positive-definite stored-energy function V and the potential
energy of the external conservative forces (the opposite of the work performed by
the forces along any arbitrary admissible path):
U.u/ WD V .u/ W .u/ (11.82)
where u is the vector listing all generalized displacements and rotations by which
the kinematics are described.
The most general form of the kinetic energy is T .u; u/: P Both potential and
kinetic energies are defined for all admissible displacements u 2 C .p1/ since the
integrands in the stored-energy function involve derivatives of order p: The nth

approximation of u can be expressed as
X
n
u.s; t/ u(n) .s; t/ D qj .t/j .s/ (11.83)
j D1
where the functions j .s/ are chosen to satisfy the homogeneous geometric
boundary conditions. Equation (11.83) is then substituted into the total potential
energy (11.82) and into the kinetic energy T: The Lagrangian function is thus
parametrized as L.q; q/ P WD T .q; q/P U.q/: The associated Euler–Lagrange
equations yield the following system of ODEs:
M qR C KE q C n.q/ f D o (11.84)
where the derivatives of the kinetic energy with respect to the generalized velocities
P The elastic stiffness matrix is
are taken, without lack of generality, as TqP WD M q.
expressed as
KE WD Vqq
o
(11.85)
where the superscript o means that the function is evaluated at q D o.

When the systems are subject to prestress forces, let these forces be parametrized
by the load multiplier , W denote the associated work when D 1; and WN be the
work of other incremental forces. Thus the work is .W C WN / and the stiffness
matrix comprising elastic and geometric parts can be expressed as
K D KE KG WD Vqq
o
Wqq
o
: (11.86)
Example 11.3 (Application of the Ritz method to the dynamic elastica problem). In
Problem 6.11 of Chap. 6 where the elastica problem is treated from a variational
point of view, the kinetic energy is shown to be given, up to second-order terms, by
Z
1 l
T D %AvP 2 C %J vPs2 ds: (11.87)
2 0
Since the velocities are related directly to the deflection v and its gradient, it is more
convenient to express the deflection as a superposition of trial functions:
X
n X
n X
n
v (n) D qj .t/j .s/; vP (n) D qPj .t/j .s/; vPs(n) D qPj .t/j0 .s/ (11.88)
j D1 j D1 j D1
where the prime indicates differentiation with respect to s: Substituting (11.88) into
(11.87) yields
"Z #
1 XX
n n l
P D
T .q/ qP i .%Ai j C %Ji0 j0 /ds qPj : (11.89)
2 i D1 j D1 0
The mass matrix is thus obtained as

Z l
@2 T
Mij WD D .%Ai j C %Ji0 j0 /ds: (11.90)
@qPi @qPj 0
Due to the different choice of v as primary kinematic unknown, different ex-

pressions for the stiffness matrices and generalized forces are obtained. First, the
potential energy U D V W is calculated in terms of the new generalized
coordinates of the deflection to obtain
Z
1 XX
n n l
U.qj / D i00 EJ.s/j00 ds
2 i D1 j D1 0
Z l X
n Z l
CP i0 j0 ds qi qj qj f2 .s/j .s/ds: (11.91)
0 j D1 0
Therefore, the elastic and geometric mass matrices are

Z l Z l
@2 V @2 W
KijE D D i00 EJj00 ds; KijG D D i0 j0 ds: (11.92)
@qi @qj 0 @qi @qj 0
By considering transverse forces only, the generalized forces become pi WD

Rl
0 i .s/f2 .s/ds.
The trial functions for the deflection v are chosen to be
r
2 js
j D sin ; j D 1; 2; : : : : (11.93)
l l
The beam is considered to be of uniform cross section. Carrying out the integrations
yields

ij 2 i 2j 2 4 ij 2
Mij D %A C %J 2 ıij ; KijE D EJ ıij ; KijG D ıij : (11.94)
l l4 l2
Thus, based on the given trial functions, the Ritz method delivers the following set
of uncoupled ODEs:

j 2 2 j 44 j 2 2
%A C %J 2 qRj C EJ 4 C P 2 qj D pj : (11.95)
l l l
11.7 A Nonlinear Finite Element Formulation for Continuation Analysis 741
11.7 A Nonlinear Finite Element Formulation

for Continuation Analysis
Numerical path-following techniques are often applied to low-dimensional systems

of ODEs to extend the predictions of local analysis studies to wider regions of
state-control space. Such methods allow to trace families of solutions (equilibrium
states and periodic solutions) parameterized by one or several system parameters
and enable systematic bifurcation analysis. These kinds of tools allow the design
space of mechanical or multi-physics systems to be explored overcoming the huge
computational costs and times of brute-force, time-marching numerical simulations.
These techniques can also be useful to overcome the limitations of perturbation
methods, which unfold local properties, by highlighting global connections between
solutions found analytically or by any theoretical means. Moreover, these techniques
allow streamlined investigations into the dynamical integrity of nonlinear systems.
The application of path-following techniques to high-dimensional systems of
ODEs, such as those originating from space discretizations or projections of partial
differential equations, can pose significant challenges. Some works have combined
continuation methods with multigrid methods for solving large-scale continuation
problems arising from discretization of elliptic problems via finite-difference meth-
ods (cf., e.g., [45, 101, 322]). Another area where large-scale continuation problems
have been treated concerns finite element discretizations of elliptic problems, which
are then combined with a conjugate gradient solver in the continuation algorithm.
Dedicated tools that exploit sparsity and computational decomposition tech-
niques have been developed for tracing equilibrium solutions of spatial boundary-
value problems (cf. software packages LOCA [387] and PLTMG [46]).
One viable strategy to perform continuation analysis of space-wise continuous
systems is to couple efficient discretization schemes that enable the computation of
the vector field ensuing from the original infinite-dimensional problem for a given
state-control vector to a continuation toolbox that can handle vector fields of high
dimension. Of course the discretization can be performed by constructing problem-
oriented finite element schemes or other MWR-based schemes of the system at
hand. Alternatively, finite element discretizations of coupled systems of PDEs can
easily be attained within general-purpose codes (e.g., COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS or
FREEFEM, which can be used directly in the MATLAB or CCC environments) that
take as input the strong form or the energy function of the problem. In the next
section, the construction of a Galerkin-based finite element scheme is illustrated
following [27, 164].
Finite element discretization. Suppose that the equations of motion of a one-
dimensional deformable system are governed by a set of partial differential equa-
tions cast in first-order form (in time and space) as follows:
I @t u D fu .u; s; tI c/ (11.96)
where s 2 Œ0; 1 denotes the nondimensional space coordinate, t indicates the

nondimensional time, I is a generalized inertia operator, the state vector u.s; t/ D
Œu1 ; u2 ; : : : ; um | contains the unknown variables (these can be both kinematic and
mechanical as is the case for mixed finite element formulations) and the associated
velocities, together with the space gradients up to suitable order (i.e., 2p 1 with
2p being the highest derivative in s); and c is the vector of control parameters (e.g.,
excitation amplitude, constitutive parameters, etc.).
Assume that the system is nonautonomous in time. In order to rely on continu-
ation tools suitable for autonomous temporal boundary-value problems, the system
is transformed into autonomous form by introducing ODEs which can describe the
excitation. For harmonic excitations with frequency ˝, the phase D ˝t can
be introduced as an additional state variable such that P D ˝ and require that
the values of at the beginning and end of the time interval differ by 2, i.e.,
.t/ .t C T / D 2. Alternatively, two ODEs in two additional state variables
h1 and h2 can be introduced as (see equations (2.23))

@t h1 h C ˝h2 h1 .h21 C h22 /
D 1 (11.97)
@t h2 h2 ˝h1 h2 .h21 C h22 /
which admit the asymptotically stable solution h1 D sin .˝t C '/ and h2 D
cos .˝t C '/ for some phase shift '. This is the methodology followed, for
example, in the continuation package AUTO [140]. Let h be the vector of augmented
states introduced to make the system autonomous (e.g., for harmonic forcing,
h D Œh1 ; h2 | ) so that the augmented system becomes
I @t u D fu .u; s; hI c/ ;
@t h D fh .hI c/: (11.98)
Henceforth, the explicit dependence of fu on h is dropped since it is immaterial for
the space discretization problem.
The space domain Œ0; 1 is discretized into ne finite elements of length l e . A local
coordinate WD .s soe /= le is introduced along the eth finite element B e whose left
node is at soe so that 2 Œ0; 1 and the kth internal node within B e is described by
k 2 .0; 1/.
Within the eth finite element B e , each state variable uei is expressed as a linear
combination of trial functions pi;j . / (e.g., Lagrange’s or Legendre’s polynomials,
etc.) with the coefficients of linear combination represented by the generalized
e
coordinates xi;j .t/ (the first index denotes the i th state variable while the second
indicates the j th trial function):
e
nN i
X
uei . ; t/ D e
xi;j .t/pi;j . / (11.99)
j D1
p0 p1 p2
ξ0 ξ1 ξ2 ξ3 ξ4
p3 p4
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 10 0.25 0.5 0.75 1

ξ ξ
Fig. 11.1 The fourth-order Lagrange polynomials p0 . /; p1 . /; p2 . /; p3 . /; p4 . / with the

nodes 0 ; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4
where nN ei is the number of nodal values (i.e., number of degrees of freedom of the
i th variable within the eth finite element). For the sake of illustration, nN ei is the same
for all variables.
Let xe .t/ denote the vector of generalized coordinates (typically arranged in
consecutive subcolumns made of the coordinates of each state variable) and Ne . /
be the matrix that lists all trial functions of the eth finite element (i.e., the i th row
lists the trial functions of the i th state variable). The discretization of the state vector
can thus be expressed as
ue . ; t/ D Ne . / xe .t/: (11.100)
A typical choice for the trial functions is the set of nth-order Lagrange’s
polynomials given by (see Fig. 11.1)
Y k
pj . / D ; j D 0; :::; n (11.101)
j k
k¤j
where the subscript i is dropped for ease of notation and pj . / such that pj . k / D
ıj k .
Construction of Galerkin-type finite elements. The objective of the discretiza-
tion is to evaluate the discrete form of the vector field fu .u; sI c/ in (11.94) for a
given set of variables u.s; t/ and control parameters c at a certain instant of time
t. The substitution of (11.100) into (11.96) yields the residual vector on the eth
element as
re . ; t/ WD I @t ue . ; t/ fu .ue . ; t/; I c/ : (11.102)
According to the direct form of MWR the overall span-wise residual accumulating
from the summation of the residuals on all finite elements is sought to be minimized
by choosing suitable weighting functions denoted by we . /. Thus,
XZ
we . / re . ; t/ D 0 (11.103)
e Be
which gives
XZ XZ
we . / I @t ue . ; t/ D we . / fu .ue . ; t/; I c/ : (11.104)
e Be e Be
According to the Galerkin method, the weighting functions w. / are taken to be the
same as the trial functions:
we . / D Ne . / ye : (11.105)
Therefore, substituting (11.99) and (11.105) into (11.104) yields

X X
ye Ae xP e .t/ D ye Ofe xe .t/I c (11.106)
e e
where the following (generalized) inertia matrix and (generalized) vector are
introduced: Z
A WD
e
Ne| . / Ne . / (11.107)
Be
and Z

Ofe xe .t/I c WD Ne | . / fu Ne . / xe .t/I c : (11.108)
Be
The generalized coordinates xe of the eth finite element are related to the vector of
global generalized coordinates x 2 IRn by means of the Boolean matrix Te :
xe .t/ D Te x.t/; xP e .t/ D Te xP .t/: (11.109)
These linear relationships account for inter-element compatibility and for the
boundary conditions. One possible choice is to take the weighting functions of the
eth element as ye .t/ D Te y.t/ in consonance with (11.109) which mimicks the
Galerkin method.
Equation (11.106) is thus transformed into

y.t/ A xP .t/ D y.t/ Of x.t/I c (11.110)
where
X X
A WD Te| Ae Te ; Of x.t/I c WD Te| Ofe Te x.t/I c : (11.111)
e e
Since (11.110) has to be satisfied for all y 2 IRn ; the following system of coupled
ODEs is obtained:
A xP .t/ D Of.x.t/I c/: (11.112)
By assuming A to be nonsingular, (11.112) can be cast as the following decoupled

(in time) system of ODEs:

xP .t/ D A1 Of x.t/I c : (11.113)
For general mixed formulations (force-displacement), the original system may

contain both balance and compatibility equations, thus the state vector contains
both active coordinates (also known as master coordinates) and passive coordinates
(also known as slave coordinates). Accordingly, the state vector x is partitioned
into active and passive coordinates as x D Œz; xo where z denotes the vector of
active coordinates and xo is the vector of passive coordinates. Thus (11.112) is
rearranged as
" #
A11 0 zP .t/ Of1 z.t/; xo .t/I c
D O : (11.114)
0 A22 o f2 z.t/; xo .t/I c
The second set of equations in (11.114) is the system of algebraic equations

Of2 z.t/; xo .t/I c D o which can be (at least formally and, in some cases, also
explicitly) solved to give the passive coordinates as
xo .t/ D g.z.t//: (11.115)
In turn, substituting (11.115) into the reduced set of equations gives the governing
equations in the active coordinates z alone as:

A11 zP .t/ D Of1 z.t/; g.z.t//I c : (11.116)
With the assumption that A11 be nonsingular, the final set of governing ODEs can
be cast in the following reduced form:

zP D f.zI c/; with f D A1 O
11 f1 z.t/; g.z.t//I c : (11.117)
where f.zI c/ is the (reduced) vector field.
The final system of ODEs is then treated by one of the continuation tech-
niques discussed in Chap. 1. In cases when an explicit dependence of the passive
coordinates from the active coordinates cannot be obtained, the system (11.114)
of differential-algebraic equations (DAEs) is directly attacked by a continuation
strategy that can handle DAEs.
Example 11.4 (Finite element formulation of the Mettler beam model). The nondi-
mensional Mettler equation of motion (5.97) is cast in the following mixed form:
uP 1 .s; t/ D u2 .s; t/;

uP 2 .s; t/ D @s u5 .s; t/ cu2 .s; t/ C f h2 .t/
Z 1
1 2 2
C ˛ u4 .s; t/ u3 .s; t/ ds; (11.118)
2 o
0 D u3 .s; t/ @s u1 .s; t/;

0 D u4 .s; t/ @s u3 .s; t/;
0 D u5 .s; t/ C @s u4 .s; t/;
where h2 is one of the added states h governed by (11.97), the state vector u
comprises u1 WD v, u2 WD @t v, u3 WD @s v, u4 WD @ss v, and u5 WD @sss v. Therefore,
u2 is the velocity, u3 is the rotation, and .u4 ; u5 / are the bending moment and shear
force, respectively. The mixed form (11.118) allows to account for all suitable
boundary conditions and at the same time to retain approximants of high degree
for the various space derivatives of the deflection v in the discretization scheme.
The nondimensional parameter f denotes the amplitude of the harmonic trans-
verse force f2 WD f cos ˝t per unit length having frequency p ˝, c WD 2!1 is the
nondimensional linear damping coefficient, and ˛ WD EAl 2 =EJ2 is related to
the slenderness ratio. Note that the integral term is related to the uniform tension
R1
in the beam given by N.t/ WD 1=2˛ 2 o Œu3 .s; t/2 ds: This example was studied
in [27, 164]. In these works, the path-following procedure, encoded in a general-
purpose continuation package [128], employed only the evaluation of the vector
field provided by the above-described finite element discretization or by a black-
box discretization delivered by COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS.
In consonance with previous observations, the imposition of (spatial) boundary
conditions at the beam ends entails a reduction in the number of unknown
time-dependent values of the approximants of the functions ui at the end nodal
points (or in intermediate nodes for multi-span beams). For example, a hinge at
one of the beam ends is such that u1 , u2 , and u4 vanish at the corresponding end,
whereas, in the case of a clamped condition, u1 , u2 , and u3 must all vanish at
the corresponding end. In either case, the number of unknown nodal functions is
reduced by three. To obtain a number of DAEs equal to the remaining number
of unknowns, the nodal values of the test functions cannot all be independent. As
discussed in the context of weak formulations, suitable conditions are enforced on
the test functions to ensure stable discretization schemes. For example, with the
Galerkin method, the test functions are taken to coincide with the trial functions
which implies that they satisfy the same conditions as the trial functions (in terms
of smoothness and boundary conditions).
The formulation presented here seeks to achieve a broader generality having
both displacements and forces (stress resultants) as part of the unknowns. Strictly
speaking, the adopted space discretization procedure mimicks the direct form of
the Galerkin method adapted to the context of finite elements. Therefore, the test
functions must vanish where both geometric and mechanical boundary conditions
are imposed. For hinged-hinged boundary conditions, investigated in this example,
the test functions w1 , w2 , and w4 (displacement, velocity, and moment) are set
to zero on each of the two boundaries. In the context of the algebraic equations,
this choice entails a linear relationship between the nodal unknowns for u3 , u4 ,
and u5 and the nodal unknowns for u1 that can be solved for the former in terms
of the latter by a full-rank matrix. The solution for u3 ; u4 ; u5 in terms of u1 is
substituted into the remaining ODEs thus obtaining a set of equations in terms of
only the nodal unknowns for u1 and u2 of the form (11.117). In the context of the
considered unshearable beam model, care must be exercised for special boundary
conditions (involving rotations such as for doubly clamped boundary conditions)
for which singular matrices may be obtained. A discretization of the space domain
Œ0; 1 is considered into ne finite elements: 0 D s0 < < sne D 1. In addition,
each finite element is further partitioned introducing .p C 1/ equally spaced nodes
0 D 0 < < pj < < p D 1 for some integer p. The unknown functions are
chosen to be approximated, in each interval, by .p C 1/ Lagrange’s polynomials of
degree p.
Continuation analysis is performed by first locating an initial point on the
solution path. This initial point on the path is obtained as an initial solution guess
determined by either analytical or numerical means such as forward integration of
the closed system of ODEs. For the given initial solution guess, periodic boundary

conditions are imposed on the nodal unknowns over the time-interval 0; 2=˝ .
Besides these temporal boundary conditions, in order to define a finite-dimensional
continuation problem, it is necessary to discretize the time-dependent nodal point
functions as well as the corresponding differential equations. In [27, 164], the
discretization of the unknown functions was accomplished by approximating each
function by a continuous, piecewise polynomial function, defined on each of N
intervals by a Lagrange polynomial of degree m and parametrized by its values
at m C 1 equally spaced points. The discretization of the differential equations is
achieved by the imposition of equality when substituting the piecewise polynomial
approximant and evaluating the equations at m internal collocation nodes for each
interval. The peculiarity of the adopted approach is that the space dependence of
the field equations is discretized using a weak formulation, whereas the time depen-
dence is discretized according to a strong formulation (i.e., collocation method).
Sets of frequency-response curves are obtained for excitation frequencies ˝
close to the natural frequency of the first, second, third, and fourth symmetric
modes (i.e., primary resonances of the lowest four symmetric bending modes).
The reference parameter values are: f D f0 D 0:075; ˛ D ˛0 D 109:55, and
D 0:02. As an example, Fig. 11.2 shows frequency-response curves obtained
using continuation. Typical values adopted for the discretization within the mixed
Mettler formulation are: ne D 3, p D 4, N D 5, and m D 4. The results confirm
the expected hardening response of the beam due to increasingly nonlinear effects
associated with the tensioning/stretching at large oscillating amplitudes.
The frequency-response curves shown in Fig. 11.2a are representative of the
converged response near the primary resonance of the lowest bending mode. As
a consequence of the uniformity of the beam and the loading conditions, close
quantitative agreement can be achieved by a single finite element with a polynomial
degree equal to 4. In contrast, the curves in Fig. 11.2b–d show the influence of the
a b
x 10-2 -2
7.5 1.8 x 10
4 FE
1.5 5 FE
6.0
6 FE
1.2 7 FE
4.5
a fcosΩt 0.9
3.0
0.6
1.5
0.3
0 0
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0
Ω/ω1 Ω/ω1
c d
x 10-3 x 10-3
5
4 FE 6 FE
1.6
5 FE 7 FE
4
6 FE 8 FE
1.2
3
a
0.8
2
1 0.4
0 0
24.5 25.0 25.5 48.6 48.8 49 49.2 49.4
Ω/ω1 Ω/ω1
Fig. 11.2 Frequency-response curves of a hinged-hinged beam [164] subject to a primary

resonance of (a) the first mode obtained by 3 FEs with f D .0:25; 0:5; 1; 3; 10/f0 , (b) the second
symmetric mode with f D .10; 50/f0 , (c) the third symmetric mode with f D .10; 50/f0 ), and
(d) the fourth symmetric mode with f D .10; 50/f0 . Reprinted with permission [164]
number of finite elements on the evaluation of the nonlinear dynamic response of

the beam subject to a primary resonance of the second, third, and fourth symmetric
modes. At high excitation amplitudes, it is found that the geometric nonlinearities
are such as to introduce significant nonlinear spatial distortions (spatial over-tones)
in the primary resonances of the higher modes. Refined finite element discretizations
are thus needed to describe correctly the dynamic behavior of the mechanical system
at such levels of excitation.
Two–parameter continuation of fold bifurcations bracketing the multi-stability
frequency ranges was carried out out by varying the nonlinearity coefficient ˛ and
the damping ratio so as to show the sensitivity of the multi-stability regions with
respect to the strength of the nonlinear stretching effect and the system dissipation.
Figures 11.3a,b show the loci of the fold bifurcations that merge at a cusp point
when varying ˛ and . Three damping scenarios are considered: L stands for very
lightly damped ( D 0:01), W for weakly damped ( D 0:02), and M for moderately
damped ( D 0:04).
a b
1.50
1.25
f cosΩt
1.0
q 0.5
0.75 1
2
0.50
0.25 M
W
L
0
1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7
Ω/ω1 Ω/ω1
Fig. 11.3 Multi-stability regions associated with the primary resonance of the lowest mode
obtained by continuation of the fold bifurcations [164] with 3 FEs for (a) different values of
the nonlinearity coefficient ˛ (the boxed numbers mean ˛ D .0:5; 1; 2/˛0 ) and (b) for different
damping ratios: L stands for very lightly damped ( D 0:01), W for weakly damped ( D 0:02),
and M for moderately damped ( D 0:04). Reprinted with permission [164]
Solutions
Solutions to Problems in Chap. 2
2.4 To prove this result, it is first shown that the matrix ˆ.t C T / is also a
fundamental matrix. Let
D t C T and the subscript
denote differentiation with
respect to
from which y
D A.
T / y D A.
/ y since A.
T / D A.t/ D
A.t C T / D A.
/: Therefore, ˆ.
/ D ˆ.t C T / is a fundamental matrix. The
matrices ˆ.t/ and ˆ.
/ must be linearly dependent so that there exists a nonsingular
n n constant matrix C such that ˆ.
/ D ˆ.t/ C: It can be shown that there
exists another constant matrix B such that C D eBT : According to (2.30), it must
be proved that P.t/ D ˆ.t/ eBt is T -periodic. The evaluation of P.t/ after one
period T yields
P.t C T / D ˆ.t C T / eB.t CT / D ˆ.t/ C eBT eBt D ˆ.t/ eBt D P.t/:
2.5 Differentiate along the equilibrium path with respect to q and set the result
to zero to obtain the locus of fold bifurcations as sin3 q sin qo D 0. Substitute
the solution obtained as qL D arcsin.sin qo /1=3 into the locus of fold bifurcations L
expressed by cos3 q D 0 to obtain (2.95).
2.1 To prove (2.209) and (2.110), consider the trajectory '.tI zQ ; c/ that must satisfy
P zQ ; c/ D f.'.tI zQ ; c/I c/: Differentiating both
the governing equation (2.1) so that '.tI
sides with respect to z and using Schwarz’s Theorem yield
ˇ ˇ
d @'.tI z; c/ ˇˇ @f.'I c/ @'.tI z; c/ ˇˇ
ˇ D ˇ: (1)
dt @z xQ @x @z xQ
Therefore, by letting ˇ
@'.tI z; c/ ˇˇ
ˆ.tI zQ ; c/ D ˇ ; (2)
@z xQ

Phenomena and Modeling, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-1276-3,
752 Solutions
it is proved that the matrix ˆ.tI zQ ; c/ is the solution of (2.209). To prove (2.210),
ˇ
from '.0I zQ ; c/ D zQ , by direct differentiation with respect to z, @'.0I z; c/=@zˇzQ D
ˆ.0I zQ ; c/ D I. In conclusion, the matrix-valued expression that ˆ.tI zQ ; c/ attains at
t D T is
@'.T I zQ ; c/
ˆ.T I zQ ; c/ D (3)
@z
which coincides with the monodromy matrix C.T I zQ ; c/ calculated at the periodic
solution xQ .t/, according to (1.62).
2.7 There are at least two possible strategies. One approach resorts to expanding
each individual nonlinear term in (2.183) and (2.184) about .1 ; P1 ; 2 ; P2 / D
.0; 0; 0; 0/. The resulting expansions are then summed to obtain simplified expres-
sions. The other approach is to consider that the angles and angular velocities are
functions of the small parameter ". The Taylor expansion of the equations with
respect to " up to fifth order in " yields the same result.
3.2 The inverse linearly elastic constitutive law, integrated over Œ0; 1, is substituted
into (3.28) to yield (3.172).
3.3 Compute the horizontal projection of the tension at O from the moment
equilibrium of the half cable (see Fig. 3.5). At the midspan, the tension is H o and
the moment equation with respect to O enforces
Z L=2
H oyo D x.s/mg ds DW MO
0
where MO is the moment of the weight of half cable with respect to O and
y o WD y.s D L=2/: This equation can be made nondimensional by introducing
the nondimensional quantities xN WD x= l, yN WD y= l, sN WD s= l, yN o WD y.N
N s D =2/
thus obtaining
Z =2
N
MO D yN = D
o
N s /dNs :
x.N
0
According to (3.47), yN o D .cosh =2 1/= . Obtain the distance of the resultant
weight of the half cable, equal to mgL=2; from O by imposing MO D xo .mgL=2/
from which xo D MN O =.mgl =2/: Substitute into the latter the expression of given
by (3.40) to obtain the nondimensional form of xo as
1 1 2
xN o D tanh D C O. 3 /:
4 4 192
This result shows that, for < 1 (i.e., for shallow cables), the weight resultant is at
one-quarter of the cable span. For > 1; the resultant moves slightly to the left of
the quarter-span position.
Solutions 753
3.4 The catenary solution

(a) To change parametrization, consider the Chain Rule: d./=ds D .dx=ds/d./=dx
together with dx=ds D cos o ¤ 0 in Œ0; L. The transformed form of the
equilibrium equation becomes
@x no C f o .x/ D o (4)
where f o .x/ D f o .s/ds=dx D f o .s.x// sec o .x/ and f o .s.x// is the force
per unit reference cable arclength s which, for self-weight, becomes f o .s/ D
mge 2 .
(b) By putting no D N o ao D N o .cos o e 1 C sin o e 2 /, obtain the component form
of the equilibrium equations as
@x ŒN o .x/ cos o D 0; (5)

@x ŒN o .x/ sin o mg sec o D 0: (6)
Integrate (5) and (6) to obtain the horizontal projection of the tension which
turns out to be constant according to H o WD N o cos o D const. Substitue H o
into (6) to give
@x ŒH o tan o mg sec o D 0: (7)
Equation (7), which reduces to (3.172), is a nonlinear ordinary differential

equation in o .x/: In general, the boundary conditions formulated in o .x/ are
not directly available. In the case of horizontal suspended cables, the boundary
conditions on o ensue from the symmetry of the solution: o .l/ D o .0/ or
o .l=2/ D 0:
(c) To obtain (3.177), consider ao D r ox =jr ox j D cos o e 1 C sin o e 2 and r o D
xe 1 C y.x/e 2 ; with
q q
cos o D 1= 1 C yx2 ; sin o D yx = 1 C yx2 ; tan o D yx : (8)
Consequently, substitute xo D yxx .cos2 o / into (3.172) to obtain (3.173).

(d) The integration of (3.173), by enforcing the boundary conditions y.0/ D 0 and
y.l/ D 0; gives the pcatenary expressed by (3.46).
(e) Substitute sec o D 1 C yx2 D coshŒ.mgl=H o /.1=2 x= l/ into the expres-
sion of H o to obtain (3.175).
(f) The nondimensional catenary and tension are obtained by introducing the
nondimensional variables xN WD x= l; yN WD y= l, and the parameter D
mg l=H o into (3.46) and (3.175).
(g) The sag-to-span ratio, here given by d D y. N xN D 1=2/; corresponds to the same
expression in (3.47).
754 Solutions
Another expression for the sag-to-span ratio is
sinh2 .=4/
dN D 2 :

3.5 The gradient of the position vector within the total Lagrangian formulation, in
the cable-fixed basis, becomes
@ r D .@ y1 o o y2 /ao C .@ y2 C o o y1 /bo C @ y3 c o (9)
from which M D j@ rj gives (3.178). The gradient of the position vector, within the
updated Lagrangian formulation, is @s p D ao C @s u with u.s; t/ D u1 .s; t/ao .s/ C
u2 .s; t/bo .s/ C u3 .s; t/e 3 : The result is
@s r D .1 C @s u1 o u2 /ao C .@s u2 C o u1 /bo C @s u3 c o (10)
from which D j@s rj gives (3.179).

3.7
(a) Show (3.180) by using the Chain Rule: d./=ds D .dx=ds/d./=dx D
cos o d./=dx.
(b) The current configuration BL is described by r.x; t/ WD r o .x/ C u.x; t/ D .x C
u.x; t//e 1 C .y.x/ C v.x; t//e 2 C w.x; t/ e 3 where r o .x/ D xe 1 C y.x/e 2 :
Compute the incremental stretch arising in the change of configuration from B o
to BL as
q
D jr s j D dx=dsjr x j D cos o .1 C ux /2 C .tan o C vx /2 C w2x (11)
where cos o is given by (8) and tan o D yx : Thus obtain the current tangent
unit vector as
a WD r x =jr x j cos o Œ.1 C ux /e 1 C .tan o C vx /e 2 C wx e 3 =: (12)
3.8 From the following Cartesian expression of vector ai in BLi : ai D .ao C

us.i / /=i D cos i e 1 C sin i e 2 ; compute i through
cos i D Œcos o C us.i / =i ; sin i D Œsin o C vs.i / =i : (13)
Next, carry out the calculations of ai C1 and NO i C1 considering both a and NO
as functions of us according to
p
a D r s =jr s j D Œao C us =; D jao C us j D .cos o C us /2 C .sin o C vs /2 :
Furthermore, consider also the axial force as function of us : NO D NO ..us //.

Compute the first-order terms of the incremental quantities as
Solutions 755
ˇ ˇ
NO i C1 D @us NO ˇi us.i C1/ C @vs NO ˇi vs.i C1/
ˇ ˇ (14)
ai C1 D @us aˇi us.i C1/ C @vs aˇi vs.i C1/
where ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
@us NO ˇi D EA@us ˇi ; @vs NO ˇi D EA@vs ˇi :
Perform the differentiations to obtain
ˇ ˇ
@us ˇi D Œcos o C us.i / =i ; @vs ˇi D Œsin o C vs.i / =i ; (15)
ˇ nh i o
@us aˇi D 1i2 .cos o Cus.i / /2 e 1 i2 .cos o Cus.i / /.sin o Cvs.i / /e 2 =i ;
ˇ n h i o
@vs aˇi D i2 cos o Cus.i / .sin o Cvs.i / /e 1 C 1i2 .sin o Cvs.i / /2 e 2 =i :
The notation us.i / and vs.i / indicates the gradients us and vs evaluated at BMi : By
introducing the operator form, obtain the incremental equations as (3.97).
.j / .j / .j / .j / .j /
3.9 Note that ai C1 D r s.i C1/ =i C1 D .ao C us.i C1/ /=i C1 : Substitute the previous
.j /
expression of ai C1 into (3.100) to obtain the residual forces in component form.
4.16
(a) The injectivity of p: B ! BM 8x 2 B is ascertained if kerp D foB g where
kerp WD fx 2 B j p.x/ D 0BM g. The only solution of the system of equations
.p1 D 0; p2 D 0; p3 D 0/ is the trivial solution .x1 ; x2 ; x3 / D .0; 0; 0/ for
x 2 B.
(b) The deformation gradient and its determinant are
2 3
1 C 6"x1 " 0
@p
F WD D4 0 1 C 4"x2 " 5 ; (16)
@x
" 0 1 C 8"x3
det F D .1 C 6"x1 /.1 C 4"x2 /.1 C 8"x3 / C "3 > 0 8 x 2 B: (17)

Moreover, the Cauchy–Green tensor C D F| F is
2 3
"2 C .6"x1 C1/ 2 " .6"x1 C1/ " .8"x3 C1/
1
CD4 "2 C .4"x2 C1/ 2 " .4"x2 C1/ 5 ; ED .CI/:
2
" C .8"x3 C1/ 2
2
756 Solutions
(c) The stretches, elongations, and shear strain for " D 1 are given by
p
m D m| C m D 5:67; m D m 1 D 4:67;
p
n D n| C n D 2:93; n D n 1 D 1:93;
m| C n
sin mn D D0:0892; mn D5:12ı ; #M mn D mn D95:12ı :
m n 2
(d) The eigenvalues of C are the roots of the characteristic polynomial
1750 2 36977
3 I1 2 C I2 I3 D 3 C 20736 D 0
9 9
which yields 1 D 7:836;p2 D 15:462; 3 D 171:146. Hence, the

principal stretches .k D k / are .1 D 2:799; 2 D 3:932; 3 D
13:082/ with principal elongations .1 D 1:799; 2 D 2:932; 3 D
12:082/.
(e) The principal directions of stretch are the eigenvectors of C obtained as
n1 DŒ0:0652; 0:9218; 0:3822| ; n2 DŒ0:0538; 0:3792; 0:9237| ;

n3 D Œ0:9964; 0:08084; 0:02486| :
If the eigenvectors are arranged as columns of the matrix A (the associated

tensor A rotates the fixed basis into the principal basis as nk D A e k ), the
Cauchy–Green deformation tensor in the principal basis is obtained as
Co D A| C A: (18)
The obtained matrix is diagonal with entries k D k2 .

p
(f)(g) Compute Uo D Co D diag.1 ; 2 ; 3 / D diag.2:799; 3:932; 13:082/, to
obtain the stretch tensor U in the fixed basis and in turn, the rotation tensor
by the polar decomposition as R D F U1 .
U D A Uo A| (19)
2 3 2 3
13:012 0:805 0:198 0:99543 0:07385 0:06053
UD4 3:029 0:417 5 ; R D 4 0:06339 0:98518 0:15937 5 :
3:772 0:07140 0:15480 0:98536
(h) The stretches, elongations, and shear strain calculated by the finite defor-
mation theory for " D 103 are: m D 1:00393 (m D 3:93 103 ),
n D 1:00174 (n D 1:74 103 ), sin mn D 1:458 104 .
Solutions 757
4.18
(a) Let the displacement vector be expressed in cylindrical coordinates as u D
u1 b1 C u2 b2 C u3 b3 : Compute the infinitesimal strain tensor,
the symmetric
part of the displacement gradient, as E(1) =Œ.r u/| C .r u/ =2. To this end, the
(transposed) displacement gradient, tensor product between r and u, can be
calculated as
r u D .b1 @r C b2 1=r@ C b3 @z /.u1 b1 C u2 b2 C u3 b3 /

D @r u1 b1 b1 C @r u2 b1 b2 C @r u3 b1 b3 C 1=r@ u1 b2 b1 C u1 =rb2 b2
C1=r@ u2 b2 b2 u2 =rb2 b1 C 1=r@ u3 b2 b3 C @z u1 b3 b1
C@z u2 b3 b2 C @z u3 b3 b3
while the displacement gradient is
.r u/| D @r u1 b1 b1 C @r u2 b2 b1 C @r u3 b3 b1 C 1=r@ u1 b1 b2 C u1 =rb2 b2

C1=r@ u2 b2 b2 u2 =rb1 b2 C 1=r@ u3 b3 b2 C @z u1 b1 b3
C@z u2 b2 b3 C @z u3 b3 b3 :
Sum the two tensors and divide by two to obtain the infinitesimal strain tensor
in cylindrical coordinates as
E(1) D Ei(1)i bi bi CE12

(1)
.b1 b2 Cb2 b1 /CE23
(1)
.b2 b3 Cb3 b2 /CE31
(1)
.b3 b1 Cb1 b3 /:
(b) The linearized equations of motion are
r T C b D @t t u
where the Cauchy stress tensor is symmetric, Tij D Tj i and the body forces per
unit volume are b D b1 b1 C b2 b2 C b3 b3 . Compute the divergence r T of the
stress tensor (a tedious but unavoidable process) to obtain
r T D.b1 @r C b2 1=r@ C b3 @z/ ŒT11 b1 b1 C T22 b2 b2 C T33 b3 b3

C T12 .b1 b2 C b2 b1 / C T13 .b1 b3 C b3 b1 / C T23 .b2 b3 C b3 b2 /:
(20)
This leads to (4.263)(4.265).
4.19 Let a volume element in the reference configuration be constructed by three

infinitesimal material segments, dx.1/ ; dx .2/ ; and dx .3/ : The volume of the material
element is dV D .dx.1/ dx.2/ / dx .3/ : Compute the vector product as .dx .1/
.1/ .2/
dx.2/ /L D LMN dxM dxN and dot it with dx .3/ to obtain the expression
.1/ .2/ .3/
dV D LMN dxM dxN dxL : (21)
where LMN is the permutation symbol.

758 Solutions
Under the motion, the deformed material segments become dp.m/ D F dx.m/ ;
m D 1; 2; 3: The transformed volume is dVM D .dp.1/ dp.2/ / dp.3/ D
.1/ .2/ .3/ .1/ .1/ .2/ .2/
ijk dpj dpk dpi which, by substitution of dpj D FjM dxM ; dpk D FkN dxN ;
and dpi D FiL dxL ; gives dVM D ijk FiL FjM FkN dxM dxN dxL : By recognizing that
.3/ .3/ .1/ .2/ .3/
ijk FiL FjM FkN D LMN .det F/ and, by using (21), compute the transformed volume as
dVM D .det F/LMN dxM dxN dxL D .det F/dV

.1/ .2/ .3/
(22)
which proves (4.266). The principal stretch vectors are k D k nM k : Thus,
. 1 2 / 3 .nM 1 nM 2 / nM 3
D D 1 2 3 D 1 2 3 ; (23)
.n1 n2 / n3 .n1 n2 / n3
where .n1 n2 / n3 D .nM 1 nM 2 / nM 3 D 1: The expression of the volume dilatation

given by (23) can be further generalized by defining . (1) ; (2) ; (3) / as the stretches
of three linearly independent fibers fm(1) ; m(2) ; m(3) g and by expressing the stretch
vector associated with fiber m(k) as (k) D F m(k) D (k) mM (k) : Therefore, the volume
ratio can be expressed as
. (1) (2) / (3) M (1) m

.m M (2) / m
M (3)
D D (1) (2) (3)
:
.m(1) m(2) / m(3) .m(1) m(1) / m(3)
4.20 Consider a material surface through x with unit normal n and two infinitesimal
material segments in the plane tangential to the surface, dx .1/ and dx.2/ : The
vectorial area element is thus da D dx .1/ dx.2/ whose component form is daL D
.1/ .2/
LMN dxM dxN : Under the motion p.x; t/, the material segments are deformed into
dp .1/
D F dx.1/ and dp.2/ D F dx .2/ : The transformed vectorial area is
.1/ .2/
daM D dp.1/ dp.2/ whose component form becomes daM i D ijk dpj dpk : Since
.1/ .1/ .2/ .2/
dpj D FjM dxM and dpk D FkN dxN ; the i th component of the transformed
.1/ .2/
area becomes daM i D ijk FjM FkN dxM dxN : Next, rewrite the permutation symbol
ijk as ijk D mjk ımi and ımi D FmL FLi1 : Thus, daM i D mjk FLi1 FmL FjM FkN dxM dxN :
.1/ .2/
Further, mjk FmL FjM FkN D LMN .det F/ is substituted into the former equation which
thus yields the expression
daM i D .det F/FLi1 LMN dxM dxN D .det F/FLi1 daL :

.1/ .2/
(24)
This proves (4.267). To obtain the area dilatation, consider the transformed area
M D det FjF| njdA.
jdaj
4.22 Consider a Cartesian reference frame with e 1 m1 ; e 2 m2 ; e 3 D e 1 e 2

and express the unit vector m3 as m3 D cos m1 C sin m2 : By definition, 12 D
Solutions 759
m1 C m1 D C11 ; 22 D m2 C m2 D C22 ; and 32 D m3 C m3 : Substituting

the expression of m3 yields 32 D cos2 C11 C sin 2C12 C sin2 C22 : The three
equations, solved for .C11 ; C22 ; C12 /; with k D k 1, yield
C11 D 12 D .1 C 1 /2 ; C22 D 22 D .1 C 2 /2 ;

.1 C 3 /2 cos2 .1 C 1 /2 sin2 .1 C 2 /2
C12 D :
sin 2
4.23 Since fibers should not suffer any shearing, but only stretching, under the
dilatational (shape-preserving) part FV ; then Vm Vn D m .FV /T FV n D m
CV n D m V V V
n sin mn : Thus, the shear strains vanish identically for any pair of
material fibers m and n if and only if FV D ˛I: The volume dilatation induced by
FV is V D det FV D ˛ 3 : On the other hand, the distortional part must be volume
preserving, thus D D det FD D 1: Exploiting the form of the dilatational part
of F yields the distortional part as FD D ˛ 1 F; from which D D ˛ 3 det F D 1:
Solved for ˛; this gives ˛ D .det F/1=3 ; consequently (4.270). Consider the principal
directions of stretch and associated principal stretch vectors k D F nk D k nM k :
Substitute the decomposition FV FD nk D .det F/1=3 FD nk D k nM k to obtain
FD nk D kD nM k with kD D .det F/1=3 k :
A similar decomposition can be computed for the Cauchy–Green strain tensor,
C D .FV FD /| .FV FD / D .FD /| .FV /| .FV FD / from which the following
expressions are obtained:
C D .FD /| CV FD ; CV D .det F/2=3 I; CD D .det F/2=3 C: (25)
4.24 Solving (4.65) with respect to L M yields L M D F PM F

M 1 : By using the polar
decomposition, differentiate with respect to time F M D R M UM D VM R M to obtain
PF
M DR P
M UM C R P P
M UM D VM R P
M C VM R:
M Thus L M can be expressed with respect to the
time rate of change of R M and UM or VM as in (4.272).
Differentiating, with respect to time the equality R M R M | D I yields
RPM R
M|CRR PM | D O which implies that R PM RM | is skew-symmetric, hence
sym.R PM R |
M / D O. Therefore, the stretching and spin tensors become, respectively,
D M DR M sym.UMP UM 1 / R
M | and WM D R MP R
M |CR M skw.UMP UM 1 / R
M | : Carry out
the calculations to show (4.272).
4.25 For a rigid body, the (internal) kinematic constraint of rigidity is
U D I; 8 x 2 B: Thus, by virtue of the polar decomposition, F D R; 8 x 2 BI
R is a constant tensor (throughout the body) that parametrizes its rotations. If
an arbitrary material fiber dx in the neighborhood of a point x is considered,
then dp D F dx D R dx: All fibers such as dx are only rotated by R: The
position of the material point x is expressed as x D x C C r where x C is the
position vector of the center of mass of the body B and r indicates the position
vector relative to C I r may be viewed as a body-fixed fiber from C to point P,
760 Solutions
the position at time t is given by p D p C C R r; and the velocity vector is

pP D pP C C RP r: Differentiating the equality R R | D I with respect to time yields
P |
R R CR R P | D O from which R P R | D R RP | : The latter equality implies that
the tensor ˝ WD R P R | is skew-symmetric. The associated axial vector, denoted
by !, represents the (instantaneous) angular velocity vector. Thus, by considering
RP rDR P I r DR P .R | R/ r D ˝ rM D ! r; M the velocity vector can be
written as pP D pP C ! r;
C
M where rM WD R r:
Compute the linear momentum of the rigid body as
Z Z
P
pdV D .pP C C ! r/dV
M D mpP C ; (26)
B B
R
M
where B rdV D o due to the choice of the base point as the center of mass and
m is the total mass of the body. Furthermore, by accounting for p D p C C R r D
pC C r;
M compute the angular momentum as
Z Z Z
P
p pdV D p pP dV C
C C
rM .! r/dV
M D mpC pP C C%J C !: (27)
B B B
R
In (27) the expansion of the triple vector product is used according to B rM
R
.! r/d
M VM D B Œ.rM r/! M .rM !/rdV
M D %J C ! where J c is the
(symmetric and positive-definite) tensor of mass moments %J C D %JijC e i e j with
R
%J Cij D B .jjrjj2 ıij xi xj /dV in which jrj D jrj.
M This tensor is referred to the
center of mass C: Thus (4.92) and (4.93) directly deliver Euler’s equations of motion
Z Z
fdA C bdV D mpR C ; (28)
@B B
Z Z
p fdA C p bdV D p C .mpR C / C %J C !
P C ! .%J C !/: (29)
@B B
Equations (28) and (29) are the equations of motion for a rigid body.
4.26 Write the component form of the balance of angular momentum as
Z Z Z
ij k yj tMk dAM C ij k yj bMk dVM D ij k yj vPM k d
M VM (30)
@BM o BM o BM o
where p tM D ij k yj tMk ; p bM D ij k yj bMk ; p vMP D ij k yj vPMk . By using the
Divergence Theorem and the notations f;l :=@f =@yl and yj;l =@yj =@yl =ıj l , rewrite
the first integral term, according to the Cauchy Stress Theorem, as
Z Z Z
ij k yj TMkl nM l dAM D .ij k yj TMkl /;l dVM D ij k .yj;l TMkl C yj TMkl;l /dVM :
@BM o BM o BM o
Solutions 761
Z
This integral term is thus simplified into ij k .TMkj C yj TMkl;l /dVM by which
BM o
equation (30) can be rewritten as
Z Z
ij k yj .TMkl;l C bMk MvPMk /dVM C ij k TMkj dVM D 0, 8 BM o B:
M (31)
BM o BM o
The first integral vanishes according to the first equation of motion (4.108).
Consequently, the balance of angular momentum is satisfied if and only if ij k TMkj D
0; 8 y 2 B;M which is the statement of symmetry of TM :
4.27 First, express the Cauchy stress tensor in terms of the first Piola–Kirchhoff
tensor. Equation (4.117), solved for the Cauchy stress tensor, gives
TM D .det F/1 T F| : (32)

|
Rewrite the second Cauchy equation of motion TM D TM (symmetry of the Cauchy
tensor) by substitution of (32) to obtain .det F/1 .T F| /| D .det F/1 T F| ,
hence (4.122).
4.28 Let the deformation gradient and first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor be given
in component form as F D Fi k e i e k and T D Tj l e j e l whence F| D Fi k e k e i and
T | D Tj l e l e j : By tensorial multiplication, it can be shown that
F T | D .Fi k e i e k / .Tj l e l e j / D Fi k Tj l ıkl e i e j D Fi k Tj k e i e j (33)
T F| D .Ti k e i e k / .Fj l e l e j / D Ti k Fj l ıkl e i e j D Ti k Fj k e i e j (34)
which entails (4.273). The consequential identity when i D j is trivial. If the

indices i and j are interchanged, from (4.273), it follows that Fj k Ti k D Tj k Fi k .
The independent equations are obtained as
F11 T21 C F12 T22 C F13 T23 D T11 F21 C T12 F22 C T13 F23 ; (35)
F21 T31 C F22 T32 C F23 T33 D T21 F31 C T22 F32 C T23 F33 ; (36)
F31 T11 C F32 T12 C F33 T13 D T31 F11 C T32 F12 C T33 F13 : (37)
These algebraic equations can be solved for .T12 ; T13 ; T23 / yielding
762 Solutions
h
T12 D .F13 F31 F11 F33 /T21 C .F21 F33 F23 F31 /T11 C .F13 F32 F12 F33 /T22
i
C .F11 F23 F13 F21 /T31 C .F23 F12 F13 F22 /T32 =;
h
T13 D .F13 F32 F21 F11 F22 F33 /T31 C F33 .F22 F31 F21 F32 /T11
C .F12 F32 F33 F13 F32

2
/T22 C .F13 F22 F32 F12 F22 F33 /T32 C
i
C .F13 F23 F32 F13 F22 F33 /T33 =.F33 /;
h i
T23 D F22 T32 F32 T22 C F21 T31 C F23 T33 F31 T21 =F33 ;
(38)
where WD F23 F32 F22 F33 : It is straightforward to verify that for infinitesimal
displacement gradients (say of order ") Fij D ıij C O."/, hence (4.273) reduces,
to within O.1/, to Tij D Tj i : This is the statement of symmetry of the first Piola–
Kirchhoff stress tensor in the limit of infinitesimal deformations.
4.29 By a straightforward calculation, the following chain of equalities is obtained:
.A | w/ n D Œ.AMN e N e M / .wP e P / .nL e L / D AMN wP nL ıMP e N e L

D AMN wP nL ıMP ıNL D AML nL wM D .A n/ w
where the second-order tensor A can be replaced with the first Piola–Kirchhoff
tensor T .
4.30 The proof can be shown employing the Cartesian orthonormal basis fe k g: Let
r D e L @=@xL ; A D AMN e M e N ; and w D wP e P in the left-hand side of (4.146) to
obtain
.r A | / w D Œ.e L @xL / .AMN e N e M / wP e P D .@xL AMN ıLN e M / wP e P

(39)
D .@xL AMN /wP ıLN ıMP D .@xL AML /wM :
Calculate the terms in the right-hand side of (4.146) separately as
r .A| w/ D .e L @xL / Œ.AMN e N e M / wP e P

D .e L @xL / .AMN wP ıMP e N / D @xL .AMN wP /ıLN ıMP (40)
D @xL .AML wM /;
A | W .r w/ D .AMN e N e M / W Œ.e L @xL /.wP e P / D AMN @xL wP .e N e M / W .e L e P /
D AMN @xL wP ıMP ıNL D AML @xL @wM : (41)
Therefore, subtracte (41) from (40) to obtain (39).

Solutions 763
4.31 Express the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor in terms of the second tensor S
as TiM D FiL SLM from which T W ıF D TiM ıFiM D SLM FiL ıFiM : Two terms can be
highlighted next in the summation over L and M,
T W ıF D SLM FiL ıFiM C SML FiM ıFiL :
Since the Cauchy–Green deformation tensor is CLM D FiL FiM ; the deformation
tensor associated with the virtual displacement ıu is ıCLM D ıFiL FiM C FiL ıFiM .
Thus, S W ıC can be calculated as
S W ıC D SLM ıCLM D SLM FiL ıFiM C SLM FiM ıFiL :
The summation over L and M in S W ıC, terms with the interchanged indices are
encountered so that
SLM ıCLM D SLM FiL ıFiM C SLM ıFiL FiM C SML FiM ıFiL C SML ıFiM FiL :
Exploiting the symmetry of S gives
S W ıC D SLM ıCLM D 2.SLM FiL ıFiM C SML FiM ıFiL / D 2T W ıF:
Furthermore, E D 12 .C I/; hence the Green–Lagrange strain tensor associated

with the virtual displacement is ıE D 12 ıC; thus, the stress work per unit reference
volume can be written in three different ways according to (4.277).
4.32 Write the work of the prescribed forces in the virtual displacement as
Z Z
ıW ext
D f ıudA C b ıudV: (42)
@Bf B
The term to be treated for the proof is the virtual work of the surface forces. The
mechanical boundary conditions in material description are t D f. According to
Cauchy’s Stress Theorem (4.118), express the boundary conditions as t.x; n/ D
t L nL D f: Thus
Z Z Z Z
f ıudA D .t L nL / ıudA D .t L ıu/nL dA D @xL .t L ıu/dV:
@Bf @B @B B
Since @xL .t L ıu/ D @xL t L ıu C t L @xL ıu, it follows that the virtual work of the
external forces is
Z Z

ıW ext D @xL t L C b ıudV C t L @xL ıudV: (43)
BM B
764 Solutions
Substitute t L D TiL e i and ıu D ıui e i into (43) to obtain
t L @xL ıu D TiL e i @xL .ıui e i / D TiL @xL ıui :
Since u D p x; then ıu D ıp; @xL ıui represents the virtual deformation

gradient ıF whose components are .ıF/iL WD @xL ıui : According to equations of
motion (4.119) and the previous expressions, the external work (43) turns out to be
Z Z
ıW ext D @t t p ıu dV C T W ıF dV: (44)
B B
4.33 The forces and stresses satisfy equations of motion (4.107) and boundary
conditions (4.113), explicitly written in Cartesian coordinates, as
PM
@yj tM j C bM D Mv; M
y 2B; M
.tM j nM j / D f; y 2@BMf : (45)
For the sake of simplicity, the proof is carried out considering the Cartesian basis
fe 1 ; e 2 ; e 3 g. The workZ spent by the forces M M
Z .f; b/ in the virtual displacement ı uM is
computed as ıW D ext
fM ı ud
M AM C bM ı ud
M VM : According to (45), express the
@BMf BM
surface integral (i.e., the work of the external surface forces) in terms of the stresses
as
Z Z Z Z
M
f ı ud M
M AD M
.t j nM j / ı ud M
M AD M
.t j ı u/ M
M nM j dA D M VM
@yj .tM j ı u/d
@BMf @BM @BM BM
(46)
where the integral on @BMf is substituted by the integral on the whole boundary @BM by
virtue of the fact that ı uM D o on @BM u : The Divergence Theorem is further exploited
to transform the surface integral into a volume integral.
Consider @yj .tM j ı u/
M D @yj tM j ı uM C tM j @yj ı uM to obtain the external virtual work
in the form
Z Z

ıW D ext
M M
@yj t j C b ı ud M
M V C M VM :
tM j @yj ı ud (47)
BM BM
Substitute tM j D TMij e i and ı uM D ı uM i e i into the argument of the second integral to

obtain
tM j @yj ı uM D TMij e i @yj .ı uM i e i / D TMij @yj ı uM i D TMij ı EM ij :
Consider the symmetric and skew-symmetric parts of the (transposed) virtual spatial
displacement gradient rM ı uM defined as
1 1
ı EM ij D @yj ı uM i C @yi ı uM j ; ı WM ij D @yj ı uM i @yi ı uM j :
2 2
Solutions 765
The product of the symmetric tensor TM with the skew-symmetric tensor ı WM

vanishes. The tensor ı EM is the first variation of the Euler–Almansi strain tensor
given by (4.60) in which only first-order terms induced by the virtual change of
configuration from BM to BM are retained. By using (45), the virtual work of the
external forces can thus be obtained as
Z Z
ıW ext D MvPM ı ud
M VM C TM W ı Ed
M VM :
BM BM
4.34 The forces and stresses satisfy equations of motion (4.107) and boundary
conditions (4.113).ZThe power spent by the forces in the virtual velocity ı vM is P ext D
Z
fM ı vd
M AM C bM ı vd
M VM : By invoking the mechanical boundary conditions,
@BMf BM
express the surface integral (i.e., the power of the surface forces) as
Z Z Z Z
fM ı vd
M AM D M AM D
.tM j nM j / ı vd M nM j dAM D
.tM j ı v/ M VM ;
@yj .tM j ı v/d
@BMf @BM @BM BM
where the integral on @BMf is substituted by the integral on the whole boundary @BM
by virtue of ı vM D o on @BMu : Hence, rewrite the external power as
Z Z

P ext
D @yj tM j C bM ı vd
M VM C M VM :
tM j .@yj ı v/d (48)
BM BM
Letting tM j D TMij e i ; ı vM D ı vM i e i gives
tM j @yj ı vM D TMij e i @yj .ı vM i e i / D TMij @yj ı vMi D TMij ı LM ij D TM W ı L

M
M is the virtual spatial velocity gradient.

where ı L
Substitute this expression together with equations of motion (4.107) into (48) to
obtain Z Z
P ext D MvPM ı vd
M VM C TM W ı Ld
M VM :
BM BM
4.35 Start
Z with the external
Z virtual power expressed in material description as
P ext
D f ıvdA C b ıvdV: Compute the (transposed) virtual velocity
@Bf B
gradient in material coordinates as
.r ıv/iL D @xL ıvi D @yj .ıvi /.@xL yj / D ıLij FjL H) .r ıv/| D ıL F (49)
where F is the deformation gradient of the actual motion p.x; t/: Furthermore,
consider
@ıv P
@.ıu/
@ıu
.r ıv/| D D D Dt P
D .ıF/
@x @x @x
766 Solutions
P D ıL F and, in turn,
and substitute (49) into the latter expression to obtain .ıF/
P F1 :
ıL D .ıF/ (50)
Transform the stress power into material description as

Z Z
.TM W ı L/d
M VM D P F1 /.det F/ dV;
TM W .ıF/ (51)
BM B
in which the stress power per unit reference volume can be further written as
P F1 /.det F/ D .det F/ TMij .ıFPiL /.F/1

TM W .ı F P P
Lj D TiL .ıF /iL D T W .ıF/
by virtue of TiL D .det F/TMij .F/1

Lj :
4.36 The constitutive equation is objective if and only if satisfies (4.170). Take
Q D I and t S D 0: Then, (4.170) holds if and only if c.t/ D o: Next, put Q D I
and c D o in (4.170). Consequently, the objectivity holds if and only if there is no
explicit dependence on t: which proves (4.171).
Substitute the polar decomposition F D R U into the reduced form
TO .F.x; t/; x/ that satisfies (4.170) and choose Q D R | to show the necessary
condition (4.172).
Next, the sufficient condition is dealt with. Consider (4.172) premultiplied by Q
to obtain
Q TO .F; x/ D Q R TO .U ; x/: (52)
Since (4.172) must hold for all F; consider the motion po for which TO .Fo ; x/ D
R o TO .U o ; x/ with Fo D Q F D Q R U ; U o D U and R o D Q R:
Thus, (4.172) applied to this motion becomes
TO .Q F; x/ D Q R TO .U ; x/: (53)
Substitute (52) into (53) to obtain the objectivity equation (4.170):
TO .Q F; x/ D Q TO .F; x/: (54)
4.38 Compute the power spent by the contact surface and volume forces acting on
@BM o and BM o respectively, as
Z Z
PW D tM vM dAM C bM vM dVM : (55)
@BM o BM o
Solutions 767
By the Cauchy Stress Theorem, express the power of the surface forces as
Z Z
M AM D
.tM j nM j / vd M VM :
@yj .tM j v/d
@BM o BM o
and rewrite P W as
Z
Z
PW D @yj tM j C bM vd
M VM C tM j @yj vdVM : (56)
BM o BM o
Put tM j D TMij e i and vM D vMi e i to obtain by a chain of equalities the following:
tM j @yj vM D TMij e i @yj .vM i e i / D TMij @yj vMi D TMij LM ij D TM W L

M D TM W D:
M
Substitute this expression together with equations of motion (4.107) into (56) to
show
Z Z Z Z
P M M d
P DW
MvM vd M
M V C M
T W DdV D M vj
j 2 M
M dV C TM W Dd
M VM :
BM o BM o dt BM o BM o
Equate the obtained expression with P W given by (55) to obtain the energy
equation (4.289).
4.39 Use (24) and transform the integrals from the actual to the reference volumes
to obtain the absorbed thermal power through @BM o as
Z Z Z Z
hM dAM D qMi nM i dAM D qM i daM i D qM i .det F/.F1 /Li daL
@BM o @BM o @BM o @Bo
Z Z Z
D qMi .det F/.F1 /Li nL dA D qL nL dA D h dA
@Bo @Bo @Bo
and, in turn,
qL D .det F/.F1 /Li qMi H) q D .det F/ F1 q:
M
4.41 Substitute (4.200) into T D F S to obtain
1 @ 1 @ 1 @
T D .F n1 /n1 C .F n2 /n2 C .F n3 /n3 : (57)
1 @1 2 @2 3 @3
Since F nk D k nM k , equation (57) is shown to give (4.292).
5.1 Integrate (5.33) with f D o and @t t r D o to obtain n.s; t/ D n.l; t/ D P e 1 C

V e 2 where V is the vertical reaction at the roller support. Enforce the moment
768 Solutions
balance of the overall beam with respect to O to yield V D 0: Hence, insertion

of n.s; t/ D P e 1 into (5.34), together with r s D b1 (the rod is unshearable),
furnishes (5.82) on account of .r s n/ e 3 D .b1 P e 1 / e 3 D P sin :
Furthermore, consider the linearly elastic, Euler–Bernoulli constitutive equation
M.s/ D MO ./ D EJ, which, substituted into (5.82), gives (5.83). This equation
is extensively treated in [23] and, for the specific case of beams with varying cross
sections, in [253].
5.2 Obtain from the balance of linear momentum at the roller support, whose mass
is m and is acted upon by the force P .t/, the following end contact force:
n.l; t/ D ŒP .t/ C mu.l; t/t t e 1 C V .t/e 2 (58)
where V .t/ denotes the time-dependent vertical reaction at the roller support.
Integrate (5.33) with f D o to derive the span-wise contact force in the form
Z Z
l l
n.s; t/ D n.l; t/ %Ar t t d D P .t/Cmut t .l; t/ e 1 CV .t/e 2 %Ar t t d :
s s
(59)
Enforce the overall balance of angular momentum of the beam with respect to O
(the base curve coincides with the centerline, thus %I D 0 D %J23 ) to get
Z l Z l
Œr.l; t/ V .t/e 2 e 3 D %Ar r t t ds e 3 C %J t t ds (60)
0 0
from which the vertical reaction is obtained as

Z l
V .t/ D Œl C u.l; t/1 f%AŒ.s C u/vt t vut t C %J t t gds: (61)
0
Substitute (61) into (59) and, in turn, into (5.34).

An alternative form of the equation of motion can be obtained by differentiat-
ing (5.84) with respect to s thus yielding
Z l
MO ss CP .t/s cos D .%J t t /s Œm ut t .l; t/ C %Aut t d s cos
s
(Z Z l( ) )
l
%Avt t d Œl C u.l; t/1 %AŒ.s C u/vt t vut t ds
s 0
s sin C %Aut t sin %Avt t cos : (62)
A naive linearization of (62) can be carried out by recognizing first that cos D
1 C O. 2 /; sin D C O. 3 /: Moreover, the kinematic relationship sin D vs ,
as a consequence of the approximation, yields to within leading order the rotation
angle D vs C o.vs ; vss /: Hence, (62) delivers the final equation of motion as
Solutions 769
%Avt t .%J vst t /s C ŒEJ vss ss C P .t/vss D 0: (63)
5.6 By (5.142), 3 D Fe 3 D @s r C x. N Then compute, by use of @s bj D bj ,

@s .rj bj / D @s rj bj C rj bj D .@s r1 3 r2 C 2 r3 3 x2 /b1 C .@s r2 C 3 r1
1 r3 C 3 x1 /b2 C .@s r3 2 r1 C 1 r2 2 x1 C 1 x2 /b3 .
R
5.7 The symmetry that ensures the planar motions entails S xM e 3 dA D 0: Hence,
@t ! %i D @t t %I b1 ; ! .! %i / D .@t /2 %I b2 :
Differentiate b2 once with respect to t to obtain @t b2 D @t b1 and, in turn, @t t b2 D

@t t b1 .@t /2 b2 . Moreover, since %J D %J11 b1 b1 C %J22 b2 b2 C %J33 b3 b3 ,
%J @t ! D %J @t t e 3 ; %i @t t r D %I b2 @t t r; ! .%J !/ D o
where %J D %J33 is the moment about b3 . By a different approach, consider p D

r C xM D r C x2 b2 C x3 b3 to obtain the linear momentum l D %A@t r C %I @t b2 and
angular momentum h D r l C b2 Œ%I @t r C %J @t b2 .
5.8 Straightforward calculations lead to ! D @t e 3 , ! %J ! D %J.@t /2 ,
. n/ ! D .Q N /@t , @s ! D @s @t e 3 D @t e 3 .
5.9 The kinematic boundary conditions of the beam in Fig. 5.4 are: u D o at
the hinge and v D 0 (the vertical displacement vanishes) at the roller support.
Hence, the kinematic boundary conditions imposed on the test function w are
w1 .0; t/ D 0 D w2 .0; t/ and w2 .l; t/ D 0: On the other hand, the mechanical
boundary conditions are M.0; t/ D 0 D M.l; t/ and n.l; t/e 1 ku.l; t/CP .t/ D
ˇl
mut t .l; t/: Let w D w1 e 1 C w2 e 2 in the mechanical boundary condition Œn wˇ0
ˇl ˇ
to obtain Œw1 n e 1 C w2 n e 2 ˇ0 D .mut t C ku P .t//w1 ˇsDl : Moreover,
the introduction of the boundary conditions M.0; t/ D 0 D M.l; t/ leads to
ˇl
ŒM ˇ0 D 0; 8 :
5.10 Compute the matrix as R D R3 R2 R1 where R1 , R2 , R3 are the rotation

matrices about axes 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Let p D .s C u1 /e 1 C u2 e 2 C u3 e 3 and
compute the strains as
D@s r b1 D cos 2 cos 3 .1 C @s u1 /

(64)
C cos 2 sin 3 @s u2 sin 2 @s u3 ;
770 Solutions
2 D@s r b2 D .cos 3 sin 1 sin 2 cos 1 sin 3 /.1 C @s u1 /
C .sin 1 sin 2 sin 3 C cos 3 cos 1 /@s u2 C sin 1 cos 2 @s u3 ;
3 D@s r b3 D .cos 3 cos 1 sin 2 C sin 1 sin 3 /.1 C @s u1 /

(65)
C .cos 1 sin 2 sin 3 cos 3 sin 1 /@s u2 C cos 1 cos 2 @s u3 ;
1 D@s 1 sin 2 @s 3 ; 2 D cos 1 @s 2 C sin 1 cos 2 @s 3 ;
3 D sin 1 @s 2 C cos 1 cos 2 @s 3 :
6.7 The calculations of the 16 16 eigenvalue problem .KE KG / q D o yield

the critical buckling loads for ˛ D .0; 0:1; 1/ as .767:12; 767:03; 766:03/ when the
columns are oriented in such a way that they offer their weakest bending stiffness
to buckling. On the other hand, when they are oriented in the critical strongest
direction, the critical buckling loads become .1013:20; 1013:02; 1011:27/.
6.11 Obtain the kinetic energy in the form
Z Z Z
1 l
1 l s
vP v
T D %A.Pu C vP /ds C
2 2
%J P 2 ds; uP D q d ; (66)
2 0 2 0 0 1 v 2
where the horizontal velocity uP is computed using (5.21)1 . At the same time,
p given by (5.21)2 with respect to time to obtain the rotational velocity
differentiate
P D vP s = 1 vs2 .
Rl
Compute the work of the conservative external forces as W D P u.l; t/C 0 f
R l
uds: Consider the stored energy function V E D 1=2 0 s EJ s ds with the bending
curvature s given by (5.21)3 . To expand the Lagrangian function up to second-
order terms, parametrize the motion by a small formal parameter " that describes
the deviations from the reference configuration. To this end, let u D u."/; v D v."/;
D ."/; uP D uP ."/; vP D v."/;
P P D ."/
P with u.0/ D 0; v.0/ D 0; .0/ D ˇ 0;
uP .0/ D 0; v.0/
P P
D 0; .0/ D 0: By employing the notation w(k) WD dk w=d"k ˇ"D0 ,
obtain the second-order series expansion of the kinetic energy as
Z Z
l l ˇ
T ."/ D T .0/ C " %A.PuuP " C vP vP " /ds C %J P P" ˇ"D0
0 0
Z Z
1 l l
C "2 %A.Pu2" C vP"2 C uP uP "" C vP vP "" /ds C %J.P"2
2 0 0
Z
ˇ 1 l
CP P"" /ds ˇ"D0 C O."3 / "2 Œ%A.vP (1) /2 C %J.vP s(1) /2 ds (67)
2 0
Solutions 771
ˇ
where uP " .0/ D 0, vs ."/ˇ"D0 D 0, and P" .0/ D vP s : Expand the stored-energy
.1/
function in series of " to obtain

Z Z
l ˇ 1 l ˇ
V E ."/ D V E .0/ C " EJ s s" ds ˇ"D0 C "2 2
EJ.s" C s s""
2
/ds ˇ"D0 C O."3 /
0 2 0
Z l
1
"2 (1) 2
EJ.vss / ds
2 0
where s .0/ D 0 and s(1) D vss

(1)
: Finally, expand the work of the external forces to
obtain
" Z l #
ˇ
W ."/ DW .0/ C " .P u.l; t//" C ..f1 u/" C .f2 v/" /ds ˇ "D0
0
" Z l #
1 2 ˇ
C " .P u.l; t//"" C .f1 u/"" C .f2 v/"" /ds ˇ"D0 C O."3 /
2 0
Z l Z l Z s
1 1
"2 P (o) .vs(1) /2 ds C "2 f1(o) .v (1) /2 d C 2f2(1) v (1) / ds
2 0 2 0 0
R s (1) 2
where u" .0/ D 0 and u"" .0/ D 0 .v / d : In the expansion of the work of the
external forces, these are also parametrized by " as f1 ."/ and f2 ."/; with f1 .0/ D
f1(o) ; f2 .0/ D 0 and f2" .0/ D f2(1) ¤ 0: This means that the transverse force f2 is
O."/ which is consistent with the assumption that the transverse motion is O."/ at
leading order; on the other hand, the horizontal force P is O."o / which is consistent
with the fact the horizontal motion u is O."2 /: Thus, by dropping all superscripts
in u; v; P; .f1 ; f2 /; obtain the Lagrangian at leading order in the form expressed
by (6.212).
7.7 Substitute the local force components f bo1 D f sin o and f bo2 D f cos o
into (7.76) where o D so : Carry out the substitutions and differentiation to obtain
(7.222). The solution of (7.222) can be sought by a suitable variable transformation,
putting w.s/ D tan o .s/ and taking the second derivative to obtain
wss D sec2 o Œsso C 2 tan o .so /2 :
Recast equation (7.222) as Œsso C 2 tan o .so /2 D 0 provided that o ¤ .2n C

1/=2; n D 0; 1; : : : : Thus transform (7.222) into wss D 0; whose solution is
w D c1 s C c2 with the constants determined such that o .s D L=2/ D 0 and
o .s D L/ D Lo : The solution yields c WD c1 D 2 tan Lo =L and c2 D c1 L=2:
Consequently,
772 Solutions
L
o D arctanŒc.s /: (68)
2
Substitute (68) into (7.74) and substitute for .x.s/; y.s// to obtain (7.223)–(7.224).
7.8 Start with the parametric representation of an elliptical arch as
x.s/ D a.1 cos s/; y.s/ D b sin s; s 2 Œs1 ; s2 (69)
which leads to cos o D a sin s; sin o D b cos s; and o .s/ D
arctanŒc=.tan s/; c WD b=a: Compute the geometric curvature of the elliptical
arch as
ab
o .s/ D : (70)
b sin s C a2 cos2 s
2 2
Substitute f bo1 D f .s/ sin o and f bo2 D f .s/ cos o into (7.75) to obtain
2
fs C f D 0: (71)
tan s
The solution of (71) is f .s/ D f .sin s/2 :

Some additional technical aspects about the analysis and design of elliptical
arches [12] can be unravelled by further elaborations. The parameters .a; b/ do not
bear a clear geometric meaning until some convenient choices on the arch geometry
are made. In structural design, a typical datum is the arch span (e.g., the span of the
bridge). The rise-to-span ratio is often fixed as part of the design choices. Another
important arch parameter, for its consequences on the mechanical behavior, is the
angle at which the arch starts off at its sides, denoted here as o .s1 /: In fact, this
angle regulates the magnitude of the thrust force that pushes horizontally on the
arch shoulders. The thrust force can be obtained as HN .s1 / D N.s1 / cos o .s1 /: Once
N o WD o .s1 / is chosen, the arclength coordinate can be determined as
s1 D 1 arctanŒc=.tan N o /: (72)
Furthermore, the arch symmetry condition can be prescribed through o .s/ D 0

at s D .s1 C s2 /=2 where s2 is the arclength coordinate at the other end of the
arch which yields s1 C s2 D 1: Since the arch span can be calculated as l D
a.cos s1 cos s2 /; the parameter c can be computed once (72) is substituted into
the following equation that delivers the rise-to-span ratio: c.cos s1 cos s2 /1 D
d: Once N o and d are prescribed, s1 given by (72) together with s2 D 1 s1 are
substituted into the above equation to obtain c. For a given arch span l, a and b are
thus determined.
Solutions 773
7.9 It is straightforward to show that .r s n/ e 3 D M QN while r s r os D us ; and

the ensuing component form of the equations of motion is given by
NN s .o C /QN C f b1 D %A@t t u b1 ;

QN s C .o C /NN C f b2 D %A@t t u b2 ; (73)
Ms C . o /QN C S o C c D %J @t t :
Solve (73)3 for the reactive incremental shear force QN to obtain
QN D .Ms C S o C c %J @t t /=. o /: (74)
Substitute the shear force QN into (73)1 and (73)2 to get (7.226). If the inextensibility
constraint o D M D 1 is enforced, then S o D .cos 1/Qo .sin /N o :
7.11 The key step is to obtain the incremental axial force N from (7.2281) in the
form
Z l Z " Zl
!# Z l
N D N .l/ N o o v d N o . o /2 o vd d C o M d
s s 0 s
Z Z !
l
%A o @t t vd d :
s 0
9.5 The nondimensional parabola yN D y= l is given by y. N x/

N D =2x. N xN 1/
where WD mgl=H c and m WD %AC : The overbars are dropped for ease of
notation. To simplify the expressions appearing in the upcoming solution, .˛ c ; ˛ o ; /
are redefined according to: ˛ c WD 2H c l 2 =EJ3 ; ˛ o WD 2H o l 2 =EJ3 ; WD
2EAC l 3 =.EJ3 Lc /, NC .x/ WD 2%AC .x/=%A. By dropping the superscript o in v o ;
the nondimensional linearized equilibrium equation becomes
Z 1
vxxxx ˛ c vxx yxx yx vx dx D f o ; yxx D : (75)
0
Let
Z 1
˛N D yx vx dx: (76)
0
774 Solutions
The general solution of (75) is the summation of the solution of the associated
homogeneous equation and the particular solution where

p
p ˛N f o 2
v D c1 C c2 x C c3 cosh ˛ c x C c4 sinh ˛c x ; vp D x :
2˛ c
(77)
By enforcing the boundary conditions, v.0/ D 0 D v.1/, vxx .0/ D 0 D vxx .1/, the
constants (c1 ; c2 ; c3 ; c4 ) are obtained as
h i N h
f o ˛ ˛c p i
c1 ; c2 ; c3 ; c4 D c 2
1; ; 1; tanh. ˛ c =2/ : (78)
.˛ / 2
The closed-form static equilibrium of the bridge is thus given by
N h
f o ˛ ˛c
p
v.x/ D 1 x.1 x/ cosh ˛ cx
.˛ c /2 2

p i (79)
p
C tanh. ˛ c =2/ sinh ˛c x :
The incremental nondimensional parameter ˛N is obtained by substituting (79)

into (76) which is thus solved for ˛N to give
p p
.˛ c /2 12 ˛ c C 24 tanh. ˛ c =2/
˛N D f
o
p p : (80)
12.˛ c /5=2 C 2 Œ.˛ c /3=2 12 ˛ c C 24 tanh. ˛ c =2/
For dead loads represented only by the weight of the girder-deck, f o WD

Agl 3 =EJ3 :
9.6 By letting ˛ o D ˛ c C ˛N and dropping the cubic terms, the equilibrium equation
becomes
o
vxxxx ˛ o vxx
o
D ˛y
N xx f o ; (81)
where
Z Z
1
1 1 o 2
˛N D yx vxo dx C vx dx : (82)
0 2 0
The general solution of (81) is the summation of the solution of the associated
homogeneous equation and the particular solution (taking y as the catenary solution)
according to

p
p
v o D c1 C c2 x C c3 cosh ˛ o x C c4 sinh ˛o x ; (83)
Solutions 775

˛N 1 f
v D
o
cosh x C o x2 : (84)
p
. 2 ˛ o / 2 2˛
By enforcing the boundary conditions, v.0/ D 0 D v.1/ and vxx .0/ D 0 D vxx .1/,
the constants (c1 ; c2 ; c3 ; c4 ) are obtained as
fo ˛N cosh .=2/ fo fo N cosh .=2/
˛
c1 D C ; c 2 D ; c3 D C o o ;
o 2
.˛ / ˛ o
2˛ o o 2
.˛ / ˛ .˛ 2 /
o
p
f N cosh .=2/
˛
c4 D C tanh ˛ o =2 :
o 2
.˛ / ˛ .˛ /
o o 2
(85)
The closed-form static equilibrium of the bridge is thus given by
fo ˛N cosh .=2/ f o fo 2
v o .x/ D 2
C xC x (86)
.˛ o / ˛o 2˛ o 2˛ o

p
˛N 1 fo N cosh .=2/
˛
C 3 o cosh x C o 2 C o o 2 cosh ˛o x
˛ 2 .˛ / ˛ .˛ /
o p o
p
f N cosh .=2//
˛ ˛
C tanh sinh ˛o x :
o 2
.˛ / ˛ .˛ /
o o 2 2
The incremental nondimensional parameter ˛N is obtained substituting (86) into (82).
In turn, this can be solved for ˛N by any root-finding scheme.
The eigenvalue problem, which governs the frequencies and mode shapes, is
obtained by linearizing (9.101) and dropping the forcing terms. The resulting linear
boundary-value problem is
Z 1
o
.1 C "NC /vt t C vxxxx ˛ o vxx o yxx
o
yx vx dx D 0 (87)
0
supplemented by the kinematic and mechanical boundary conditions given by
v.0; t/ D 0 D v.1; t/ and vxx .0; t/ D 0 D vxx .1; t/:
9.20 According to the Galerkin method, consider an approximation to the torsional

angle in the form 1 .x/ D q1 sin.x= l/ where q1 is the generalized coordinate.
Substitute the trial function into (9.137), multiply it by sin.x= l/, and integrate the
result between 0 and l to obtain

2 b 2
2 o 1 1
q1 GJ1 H C U 2 b 2 C1M l
l 2 l 2 2
Z l ! (88)
b 2
2 EAc
x 2
q1 yx cos dx D 0:
2 l Lo 0 l
776 Solutions
Therefore, the effective torsional stiffness is

2 !2 3

2 2 2 Z l
x
k D
T 4 1 lGJ1 C 1 l b H o C b EAc yx cos dx 5 1 U 2 b 2 C1M 1 l:
l 2 2 2 2 Lo 0 l 2 2
(89)
Determine the critical condition at which k T D 0 as
2 !2 31=2
Z
q GJ1 1 EAC l
x
Uo D 2=.C1M / 4 2 C H o C o yx cos dx 5 : (90)
l b 2 Ll 0 l
10.3 First express the connecting beam-fixed basis as
bo1(k) D cos ' ˙ e 2 C sin ' ˙ e 3 ; bo2(k) D sin ' ˙ e 2 C cos ' ˙ e 3 ; bo3(k) D e 1 : (91)
Then consider the arch-fixed basis (fixed to the arch in the reference configura-
tion) which, according to (10.4), reads
bo1 ˙ D cos o e 1 C sin o .cos ' ˙ e 2 C sin ' ˙ e 3 /;
bo2 ˙ D sin o e 1 C cos o .cos ' ˙ e 2 C sin ' ˙ e 3 /; (92)
o˙ ˙ ˙
b3 D sin ' e 2 C cos ' e 3 :
Substitute (91) into (10.42) to obtain
uI1(k) D u˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
2 cos ' C u3 sin ' ; u2(k) D u2 sin ' C u3 cos ' ; u3(k) D u1 : (93)
I I
Furthermore, substitute (92) into (10.43) to get
uJ1(k) D v1o ˙ sin o C v2o ˙ cos o ; uJ2(k) D v3o ˙ ; uJ3(k) D v1o ˙ cos o v2o ˙ sin o : (94)
I J
Similar expressions are obtained for i(k) and i(k) by substituting (92) into (10.44):
I
1(k) D 2 cos ' ˙ C 3 sin ' ˙ ; 2(k)
I
D 2 sin ' ˙ C 3 cos ' ˙ ; 3(k)
I
D 1 : (95)
J
1(k) D 1o ˙ sin o C 2o ˙ cos o ; 2(k)
J
D 3o ˙ ; 3(k)
J
D 1o ˙ cos o 2o ˙ sin o : (96)
Carry out the linearization of the unit vectors of the deck-fixed actual basis
.b1 ; b2 ; b3 / to obtain b1 D e 1 C 3 e 2 2 e 3 ; b2 D 3 e 1 C e 2 C 1 e 3 ;
Solutions 777
b3 D 2 e 1 1 e 2 C e 3 which, in turn, furnish the linearized displacements of

the clamping sections of the connecting beams to the deck as

˙ bo bo
u D u 1 ˙ 2 e 1 C u 2 1 e 2 C u 3 e 3 (97)
2 2
where the terms multiplied by a << b are neglected without appreciable error.
Substitute (97) into (93) to derive the following expressions:

bo
uI1(k) D u2 1 cos ' ˙ C u3 sin ' ˙ ;
2
(98)
bo ˙ ˙ bo
u2(k) D u2 1 sin ' C u3 cos ' ; u3(k) D u1 ˙ 2
I I
2 2
where the superscripts ˙ are dropped in uI1(k) etc., for ease of notation.
Substitute (94) and (98) into (10.40) and (10.41) to express the elastic reaction
forces and moments in terms of the displacements of the deck and the arches as
EA(k) bo
N(k)I D u2 1 cos ' ˙ C u3 sin ' ˙ .v1o ˙ sin o C v2o ˙ cos o / ;
L(k) 2
EJ3(k) 1
I
Q2(k) D12 3
u2 bo 1 sin ' ˙ C u3 cos ' ˙ v3o ˙
L(k) 2
EJ3(k)
C6 2
1 C 1o ˙ cos o 2o ˙ sin o ;
L(k)
EJ2(k) bo
I
Q3(k) D12 3
u1 ˙ 2 .v1o ˙ cos o v2o ˙ sin o /
L(k) 2
EJ2(k)
6 2 sin ' ˙ C 3 cos ' ˙ C 3o ˙ ;
L2(k)
GJ1(k)
T(k)I D 2 cos ' ˙ C 3 sin ' ˙ .1o ˙ sin o C 2o ˙ cos o / ;
L(k)
EJ2(k) 1
I
M2(k) D6 2
u1 ˙ bo 2 .v1o ˙ cos o v2o ˙ sin o /
L(k) 2
EJ2(k) 1
C4 2 sin ' ˙ C 3 cos ' ˙ C 3o ˙ ;
L(k) 2
EJ3(k) bo
I
M3(k) D6 2
u2 1 sin ' ˙ C u3 cos ' ˙ v3o ˙
L(k) 2
EJ3(k) 1
C4 1 C .1o ˙ cos o 2o ˙ sin o / :
L(k) 2
The reaction forces at node J are obtained from the forces at node I according
to (10.41) and to nJ(k) D nI(k) and T(k)J D T(k)I :
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Index
A Cable-stayed bridges, 164, 200, 483, 593–595,

Aeroelastic flutter 648, 658, 664–671
of bridges, 126, 648 Catenary, 166–167, 169–173, 185, 188, 189,
of wings, 425 201, 202, 204, 206–207, 489, 598–601,
Aeroelastic torsional divergence, 608, 633, 604, 608, 610, 612–614, 616, 619, 622,
640–648 623, 627, 632, 661, 662, 666, 673, 677
Arches, 31, 115, 118, 328, 409, 433, 449, Cauchy-Green strain tensor, 226, 504
467–469, 593, 681–705, 707–710, 730 Cauchy polar decomposition, 219–220
Arch-supported bridges, 681–683 Cauchy stress, 232, 235–240, 242, 249, 250,
257, 259, 280, 514
Clausius-Duhem inequality, 48, 255, 256, 274,
B 275, 283
Beams, 285–367, 433–496, 680, 720 Constitutive equations, 46, 48, 54, 55, 108,
Bending curvature, 289, 291, 296, 310, 311, 147, 148, 163, 177, 211, 251–257,
313, 316, 317, 332–334, 359, 366, 368, 260–265, 268, 273, 281–283, 297, 298,
369, 383, 394, 421, 439, 446, 448, 455, 300, 301, 303, 304, 311, 313, 316, 317,
456, 465, 475, 494, 614, 616, 631, 687, 342–344, 358, 370, 371, 422, 444–448,
699 450, 462, 466, 475, 486, 487, 501,
Bending moment, 294, 297–299, 304, 305, 522–527, 529, 534, 536, 547–557, 564,
308, 317, 339, 357, 366, 368–370, 372, 605, 608, 609, 618, 620, 622, 654,
375, 380, 382, 385, 388, 442, 446, 460, 691–695, 698, 704, 725, 735
465, 469–471, 474, 478–482, 487–491, Contact couple, 294, 314, 338, 339, 343, 357,
515, 516, 593, 620, 631, 632, 689, 724, 406, 442, 459–461, 605, 696
746 Contact force vector, 303, 495, 605, 613, 614,
Bouc-Wen hysteresis, 59, 92 617, 659
Buckling, 38, 81, 96, 118–121, 367–405, 427, Curvature vectors, 333, 347, 354–356, 358,
428, 533–536, 564–579, 582–590, 633, 360, 421, 456, 458, 503, 505, 506, 527,
681, 727 602, 687, 692
Buckling of frames Cylindrical/spherical shell, 145, 148–150
of arches, 467
of frames, 368, 373–379
of plates, 564, 585 D
Deformation gradient, 213–215, 220, 227,
229, 230, 242, 248, 249, 251, 252, 254,
C 256, 258, 270, 277, 279, 289, 291, 331,
Cable, 155–209, 482–493, 593–681 436–438, 458, 503, 504, 523, 524, 529,
Cable-beam systems, 665 543, 548, 550

800 Index
E Generalized stress resultants, 294, 344, 368,

Elastica theory, 368, 370 442, 513–516, 525, 549, 554, 564, 631,
Elastic catenary, 172, 598, 600, 604, 610, 613, 688, 695, 735
616, 619, 622, 632, 662, 666, 673 Geometrically exact plate theory, 497, 500
Equations of motion, 21, 67, 175–177, 211, Geometric nonlinearity, 1, 2, 144, 177, 348,
232, 237–246, 248–251, 269, 270, 350, 405, 499, 702, 714
278–280, 285, 405, 442, 497, 595, Geometric stiffness, 6, 9–11, 34, 35, 99, 105,
688–696, 718 117–119, 134, 173, 177, 181, 182, 186,
Equilibrium path, 6–12, 15, 17, 18, 30–38, 188, 190, 192, 193, 208, 244, 305, 373,
64–66, 76, 94, 96, 102–104, 107, 110, 376, 383, 385, 386, 388, 415, 429, 452,
111, 113, 115–117, 155, 185, 186, 305, 477, 533, 536, 564, 573, 574, 581, 592,
306, 348, 349, 425, 467, 468, 489, 500, 610, 618, 624, 625, 627, 632, 633, 636,
538, 541–543, 545, 558–560, 593, 594, 639, 641, 651, 654, 664, 669, 715, 722,
622–624, 628–632, 644, 645, 702–705, 725, 726, 736
707, 708, 717 Green-Lagrange strain tensor, 223, 227, 231,
Euler-Almansi strain tensor, 227 263, 271, 277, 282, 394, 523, 527, 528,
Euler-Bernoulli arch, 445446 543, 579, 590
Euler-Bernoulli beam, 292, 303, 327–329, 335, Guyed structures, 671–675
350, 445–446, 689, 691, 731, 733
Experimental equilibrium paths, 558–561
Experimental frequency-response curves, 414 H
Extensible-inextensible connecting beams, Hardening nonlinearity, 44
318, 699 Hopf bifurcation, 52, 53, 75, 76, 82–85, 90, 99,
Extensible/inextensible hangers, 610, 611, 121, 129, 204–205, 367, 420, 658
678 Hu Men Suspension Bridge, 645–648
Hydrostatic pressure, 148, 164, 206, 264, 444,
445, 473, 474
F
Faedo-Galerkin method, 423, 479, 718, 723
Finite element continuation of periodic I
solutions, 741–749 Infinitesimal strain tensor, 223–225, 262, 278,
Finite rotations, 11, 223, 361, 364, 502, 686, 283
687
Flexural-torsional buckling, 389–405
Floquet multipliers, 39, 43, 50, 52, 86–88, 90, K
91, 134 Kirchhoff-Love plate theory, 499, 512,
Flutter, 53–63, 67, 75, 121, 124–130, 367, 499, 521–522, 537–539, 562–565, 574
593, 681–683, 709–715
Flutter control of wings, 121–130
Flutter derivatives, 126–130, 634–638, 649, L
654, 656, 709, 710, 713 Lateral buckling, 450, 454, 467, 640, 642–647,
Fold bifurcation, 33, 40, 50, 78–79, 81, 82, 85, 681
91, 104, 107, 108, 111, 115–117, 142, Limit points, 11, 17, 32–37, 78, 108, 111,
143, 386, 388, 467, 469, 628, 748, 749 115–117, 349, 450, 467, 500
Föppl-von Karman plate theory, 497, 499, 500, Linearization, 6, 7, 13, 91, 95–97, 105, 118,
535–538, 540, 542 144, 178–182, 202, 242–244, 278, 283,
Frequency-response functions, 22, 52, 320 289, 292, 300–301, 335, 341, 342,
Funicular shapes, 164, 449–450, 494 344–346, 371, 372, 377, 378, 424, 428,
429, 440, 447–449, 461–462, 491–494,
512, 521, 522, 526, 530, 533, 539, 548,
G 592, 603–606, 609, 627, 639, 640, 662,
Galloping, 67, 75, 200–209, 419, 593, 594, 667, 668, 673, 679, 695–696, 710
633 Lyapunov stability, 68, 70
Index 801
M Poincaré map, 27–30, 48, 86, 89–90

Material nonlinearity, 2, 4–11, 29, 132, 144, Ponte della Musica, 682, 705–715
500, 707 Post-buckling, 367, 368, 379–388, 499, 500,
Mathieu-Hill equation, 307, 475 537
MEMS. See Microelectromechanical structures Principle of Objectivity, 251–253
(MEMS) Principle of Virtual Power (PVP), 178, 213,
Method of weighted residuals, 245, 345, 423, 246, 250–251, 271, 281, 347, 460,
479, 718–733, 743, 749–751 524–525, 732
Mettler theory of beams, 311, 322, 323, Principle of Virtual Work, 178, 244, 245, 248,
327–329, 352–353 249, 281, 347, 462, 527, 578, 720,
Microelectromechanical structures (MEMS), 723–730, 736
33–38, 379 Pseudo arclength continuation, 43
Mindlin-Reissner plate theory, 497, 499, 532, Pull-in, 33–37
533, 539, 541, 580 Pulsating pressure, 144–153, 367, 473–483
Mode shapes, 119, 188, 203, 318, 320, 323, Pure extension, 162–163, 200, 489–492, 598,
372–382, 384, 386, 387, 399, 401, 403, 605, 691
404, 410, 416, 424, 426, 427, 467, 468, PVP. See Principle of Virtual Power (PVP)
479–480, 539, 540, 564, 566–568, 570,
582, 585–588, 608, 622, 626, 640, 653,
657, 668, 672, 674, 679, 711–714, 747 R
Multi-layer composite plates, 499, 538, 578 Rayleigh-Ritz method, 570–579, 588,
735
Reduced-order models, 24, 121–130, 200,
N 480–481, 595, 649–651, 656–658
Neimark-Sacher bifurcation, 52, 90–93 Residuals, 13, 14, 16, 20, 45, 182, 183, 209,
Newton-Raphson, 11, 13–16, 30, 182, 185, 488 244, 245, 251, 301, 310, 345, 423, 478,
Nominal stress, 240, 242 596, 718–732, 743
Nonhomogeneous boundary conditions, 415, Rigid fibers, 504, 531
730–733 Rings, 67, 284, 367, 415, 433–435, 440, 444,
Nonlinear constitutive laws, 486 445, 472–482, 730
Nonlinearly elastic materials, 176, 177, Rods, 101, 102, 104–115, 117, 120, 133, 348,
388 431–434, 442, 446, 676, 723–727, 729,
Nonlinear precritical behavior, 426, 450, 594 730, 732, 735–736
Nonlinear visco-elasticity, 39–44 Rotating beams/blades, 352
Nonuniform beams, 344, 367, 377, 379, 380, Routh-Hurwitz, 59, 72, 73, 125, 204
386 Runyang Suspension Bridge, 627, 651–657
O S
Orthotropic plates, 546, 574 Sensitivity to imperfections, 35
Self-excited oscillations, 21–22, 200–207
Shallow/nonshallow arches, 681
P Shape memory alloys (SMA), 44–45, 48
Parabolic arches, 703–705 Shear deformation, 322, 350, 497, 499, 535,
Parametric resonance, 130–150, 308, 405–419, 539, 553, 561, 562, 565, 570, 576, 577,
471–482 579, 586
Parametric resonance of rings, 473–483 Shear force, 294, 296, 297, 303, 305, 311, 339,
Path following method, 11–20, 30 343, 357–359, 366, 368, 375, 376, 389,
Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor, 232, 240–242, 391, 396, 408, 423, 442, 444, 445, 453,
244, 248, 249, 251, 254, 259, 267, 269, 460, 461, 466, 470, 471, 474, 478–480,
281, 516, 519, 523, 524, 527–529, 543, 482, 486, 488–490, 515, 516, 521, 522,
548, 550 533–535, 549, 553, 555, 585, 605, 607,
Pitchfork bifurcation, 78, 80–82, 91, 101–111, 610, 617, 618, 620, 631, 667, 673, 681,
142, 143, 385, 414, 450 688, 689, 692, 699, 701, 746
802 Index
Shear strain, 216–218, 223–225, 230, 263, 265, T

278, 289–291, 332, 333, 335, 354, 355, Tension, 4, 109, 155, 157, 158, 161, 165–168,
359, 366, 368, 389, 390, 395, 421, 423, 176–179, 181, 186–189, 196, 199, 208,
438–440, 444, 456, 474, 484, 502, 505, 246, 294, 296, 297, 303–305, 311, 315,
507–509, 512, 521, 528, 531, 544, 547, 317, 327, 339, 343, 357, 366, 368, 442,
577, 602, 603, 614, 687 445, 449, 451–453, 455, 460, 470, 471,
SMA. See Shape memory alloys (SMA) 474, 475, 477–480, 482–490, 515, 516,
Snap-through, 11, 12, 32, 34–37, 115–117, 551, 565, 566, 575, 593, 688
453, 454, 467, 469, 681 Test functions, 178, 244, 246, 346, 347, 366,
Softening/hardening nonlinearity, 9, 10, 320, 453, 461, 526, 527, 746, 747
450–453 Tethered Satellite System (TSS), 156, 195–209
Special Cosserat theory of rods, 285, 310, 331, Thermodynamic restrictions, 211, 255
337, 348–349, 351, 363, 458 Thick multi-layer plates, 553, 575–579,
Spin tensor, 229, 230, 250, 280, 360 582–592
Stability, 1, 67–153, 156, 251, 350, 367, 454, Thin-walled beams with open profiles,
498, 594, 682, 707–709, 714, 715, 389–393, 397–405
723 Torque, 287, 339, 357, 391, 392, 460, 612,
Stability of arches, 466–469 631, 688, 689
Static/dynamic bifurcation, 74–76, 500 Traffic loads, 604
State space, 22, 744 Transcritical bifurcation, 77–80, 104, 112–114
Step-by-step analysis, 11–16, 155, 488 Trial functions, 183, 185, 186, 203, 373, 382,
Stretch, 43, 92, 159–160, 162, 163, 166, 173, 384, 387, 429, 481, 572, 574, 580–583,
174, 178, 179, 196, 199, 203, 214–216, 625, 641, 642, 647, 650, 673, 718, 719,
289–291, 297, 310, 315, 331–333, 335, 721, 722, 724, 725, 727–732, 736, 737,
354, 355, 357, 366, 368, 438–440, 442, 739, 740, 742–744
453, 455, 456, 465, 474, 475, 478, 479, TSS. See Tethered Satellite System (TSS)
483, 484, 500, 601, 687 Twisting/torsional curvature, 332, 334, 687
Stretching tensor, 229, 230, 232, 250,
280
Stretch vectors, 160, 174, 217–220, 222, 226, V
229, 230, 288, 290, 295, 331, 332, 347, Variational method, 431, 718, 735
354, 365, 438, 439, 456, 463, 464, 474, von Mises structure, 31–33, 36, 37, 63–66,
483, 503–506, 511, 512, 518, 527, 528, 114–116, 246, 467, 469
543, 613
String, 93, 133, 155, 156, 158–180, 195–200
Supercritical/subcritical pitchfork bifurcation, W
81, 101–111, 142, 385–388, Weak form, 178, 211, 244–246, 285, 309, 310,
414 346, 347, 453–454, 462, 526, 527, 720,
Surface stretch vector, 224 724, 727, 729, 733, 736
Suspension bridges, 22, 23, 155–157, 169, Weak form of the equations of motion, 178,
171, 187–188, 482, 593–631, 633–657, 244–246, 248, 250, 309–310, 346–349,
674–676, 678, 713 453, 462, 526–527

Nonlinear Dynamics

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Nonlinear Structural Mechanics

ISBN 978-1-4419-1275-6 ISBN 978-1-4419-1276-3 (eBook)

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Printed on acid-free paper

Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

This book endeavors to present a unified treatment of the foundational elements

fields such as civil, aerospace, mechanical, ocean engineering, as well as in

engineering activities necessary to create structures with predictable seismic

freedom paradigmatic structures. Eulerian and non-Eulerian (e.g., the snap-through

Rome, Italy Walter Lacarbonara

1 Concepts, Methods, and Paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2.5 Static Bifurcations of Conservative Structures... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

5 The Nonlinear Theory of Beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

8.3 The Theory of Deformation of Thin Plates . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

10 The Nonlinear Theory of Arch-Supported Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681

The broad field of Structural Mechanics and Dynamics, traditionally taught in

W. Lacarbonara, Nonlinear Structural Mechanics: Theory, Dynamical 1

are denoted by u v and u v, respectively. The (Euclidean) length of vector u is

The (Gâteaux)ˇ differential of the function u 7! f.u/ at v in the direction h is

1.2 Static Analysis: Geometric and Material Nonlinearities

by B 0 , is the first-order displaced configuration. On the other hand, for larger H

k G sin D M cos : (1.2)

Fig. 1.4 Equilibrium path of M

tan ./ D tan..0// C .sec2 .0//1 C O. 3 / D 1 C O. 3 /:

The expansion of the moment equation about D N yields

Since BN is an equilibrium configuration, the equilibrium equation k G tan N D HN l

In the first-order displaced configuration B 0 ; besides the elastic restoring moment

k E sec C k G tan D M; (1.6)

MO ./ C k G sin D M cos : (1.7)

By assuming the constitutive function to be continuously differentiable and

Fig. 1.7 The upside-down

The overall stiffness is k WD k E C k G with k G WD P o l < 0 which implies that

1.3 Path-Following Methods

In the context of nonlinear problems for elastic or inelastic structures, a key

1.3.1 Step-by-Step Analysis: Sequential Path-Following

The sequential path-following is a simple computational strategy consisting of a

The Newton–Raphson iterative scheme for solving nonlinear systems of equations

By putting r .kC1/ D 0 and by discarding higher-order terms in it, the following

The generalization of the Newton–Raphson method for systems of nonlinear

f.q/ D 0; q 2 IRn (1.10)

be the application f W IRn ! IRn : If qN represents one of the solutions of (1.10)

f.q(k+1) / D f.q.k/ / C fq .q.k/ / .q(k+1) q.k/ / C O.jjq(k+1) jj2 /:

By letting J.k/ indicate the Jacobian of f at q.k/

the following sequence is obtained

Theorem 1.2. Let qN be a solution of (1.10). Let fi 2 C 2 .I /, where I denotes a

J.q.k/ / .q(k+1) q.k/ / D f.q.k/ /:

The illustration of the sequential path-following scheme is illuminated by a me-

(dof) structure or a distributed-parameter system which has been previously dis-

f.q; / D o; q 2 IRn ;  2 IR (1.12)

where  is the load multiplier and q is the n 1 vector of generalized (Lagrangian)

det K.qo ; o / ¤ 0; K.qo ; o / WD fq .qo ; o /:

According to the Implicit Function Theorem, there exists a neighborhood of .qo ; o /

f(q (0), l i )= r i(0)

Therefore, the updated solution at the j th iteration is

1.3.2 Pseudo-Arclength Path-Following Techniques

q (2) q (1) q i-1=q (0)

f.q.s/; .s// D o: (1.18)

tan ./ D tan..0// C .sec2 .0//1 C O. 3 / D 1 C O. 3 /:

f.q(k+1) / D f.q.k/ / C fq .q.k/ / .q(k+1) q.k/ / C O.jjq(k+1) jj2 /:

f.q; / D o; q 2 IRn ; 2 IR (1.12)

where is the load multiplier and q is the n 1 vector of generalized (Lagrangian)

det K.qo ; o / ¤ 0; K.qo ; o / WD fq .qo ; o /:

According to the Implicit Function Theorem, there exists a neighborhood of .qo ; o /

f.q.s/; .s// D o: (1.18)

Matrix fq is assumed to be nonsingular together with f ¤ o: Therefore, (1.20)

q(1) D q.s/ C qs s; (1) D .s/ C s s: (1.25)

The updated equilibrium solution .q.s + /; .s + // is sought as the intersection

g.q; / D .q qo / qos C . o /os s D 0: (1.27)

gq D qos | and g D os

J.q(j-1) ; (j-1) / x(j) D r(j-1) ; (1.31)

x(j) D ŒJ(j-1) 1 r(j-1) : (1.33)

By virtue of the principle of superposition, the incremental vector q(j) is expressed

Consequently, ı'.kT / ! o as k ! 1 if and only if jj j < 1; 8 j D 1; : : : ; n 1:

m.n/ .p; / WD '.T .n/ I p; /: (1.68)

f.n/ .p; / WD m.n/ .p; / p: (1.69)

m.n/ .qQ C ı1 ej ; / m.n/ .qQ ı1 ej ; /

.n/ Q C ı2 / m.n/ .q;

˛Œtan q o tan.q o q/ C 2Œsec q o sin.q o q/ tan.q o q/ D 0 (1.74)