Displacement Method

1. Introduction
Like the force method, the displacement method (including rotations or deformations) is mainly used for
calculating structures made up of bars, which are generally straight. Straight bars assembled at their ends
(nodes) form structures called frames (Figure 2.1).
Frames exhibit primarily bending behavior, meaning that bending is predominant. Therefore,
deformations caused by axial and shear forces can be neglected. The structures of interest here are planar
and loaded within their plane.
In general, the displacement method is used when the degree of redundancy H is high. It is also worth
noting that this method applies well to continuous beams; in this case, the intermediate supports serve as
the nodes of the structure.

Figure 2.1. Example of frames.

2. Classification of structures

In the displacement-based method, structures are classified according to the displacement capabilities of
their nodes. Two categories are distinguished:

a) Structures with fixed or invariable nodes (Figure 2.2): in such structures, nodes can only undergo
rotations.

Note that the drift (i.e., translation) of the nodes in a system may be prevented either by the nature of the
system itself (particularly the type of supports) or by symmetry in the system's geometry and loading.
 Figure 2.2. Structures with fixed or invariable nodes

b) Structures with movable nodes (Figure 2.3): these are structures in which the nodes, or some nodes,
undergo translations in addition to rotations.

Figure 2.3. Structures with movable nodes.

A structure has movable nodes if the articulated system, obtained by replacing all nodes and all fixed
supports with hinges, forms an unstable system (mechanism). The number of possible translations for the
nodes represents the degrees of freedom (DOF) of the articulated system. The number of DOF corresponds
to the number of additional constraints that must be added to the unstable articulated structure to make it
immobile (stable) in terms of translation.

The number of possible independent translations of a system is:

Kt = 2n – (b+l)

With :

n = number of nodes and supports.

b = number of bars (a cantilever is not counted as a bar).

l = number of constraints at the supports of the articulated system.

 Figure 2.4. Example of calculation of Kt

3. Principle of the method

The method involves determining the displacements (rotations and translations) of the structure’s nodes.
Then, due to the interdependence between deformations and internal forces, the forces (moment, shear
force, and axial force) are calculated. The method's principle is described in the following three steps:

1) Additional constraints are added to the nodes of the initial structure to obtain a system in which the
nodes have no possibility of movement (rotation or translation). The resulting system is called the
basic static system (Figure 2.5).

Figure 2.5. Basic static system

2) To obtain a system equivalent to the initial structure, displacements (unknown) corresponding to

the added constraints are applied (Figure 2.6).

The unknowns of the problem in this case are:

 X1 = w1 (rotation of node 1)

X2 = w2 (rotation of node 2)

X3 =  (horizontal translation of nodes 1 and 2, with the length change of bar 1-2 being negligible).

Figure 2.6. The unknowns in the basic static system

3) To obtain the unknown displacements (X1, X2, X3), we establish equilibrium of the reactions
(moments or forces) appearing in each added constraint under the effect of external forces and
imposed displacements. This gives:

R1 =  of the moments at fixed support (1) = 0

R2 =  of the moments at fixed support (2) = 0

R3 =  of the reactions in constraint (3) = 0

It is important to note that the basic system obtained in step 1 always consists of bars, each having either
both ends fixed or one end fixed and the other simply or doubly supported (Figures 2.7 and 2.8).

Figure 2.7. Example of bars’ ends in the basic static system

 Figure 2.8. Example of bars’ ends in the basic static system

To conclude, it is noted that the displacement method is characterized by:

1. The blocking of nodes.

2. A single possible basic system, resulting in a unique way to formulate the problem in equations
(making the method particularly suitable for automated calculation).
3. Special added constraints; specifically:

The added fixed supports bear moments only and can, therefore, undergo translations.

The translation constraints bear forces only along the direction of the added constraint.

4. Loading of indeterminate straight bars

As we have just seen, the basic system consists of bars that can be:

 fixed at both ends

 fixed at one end and supported at the other

These bars are subjected to:

 applied displacements
 external loads

The calculation of these beams can be carried out using the initial parameters method, the force method, the
three-moment equation, or any other suitable method

4.1. Bars subjected to support displacements

As an example, let us examine the case of a beam fixed at both ends and subjected to a rotation at one of its
supports (Figure 2.9) using the initial parameters method.
We aim to calculate the reactions. Let RA, MA, RB and MB be the components of the reactions at supports A
and B that appear under the action of wA.

we have : MA wA(wA>0)
Mx = MA + RAx
A x B
EIy" = -MA - RAx
RA l
EIy' = -MAx - RA x2/2 + C
EIy = -MAx2/2 - RAx3/6 + Cx + D y Figure 2.9 beam fixed at both ends

with :

C = EI0 = EIwA et D = EIf0 = EI.0 = 0

So,
EIy' = -MAx - RAx2/2 + EIwA
EIy = -MAx2/2 - RAx3/6 + EIwAx
Conditions at the support B

En B (x = l), on a : B = 0 et yB = 0
We can have :
0 = -MAl - RA l2/2 + EIwA
0 = -MAl2/2 - RAl3/6 + EIwAl
Or:

 l 2   M A   EIw A   4 EIw A
l     M A 

 2 2    l
l l 3     
RA  
6 EIw A
()
 
 2 6   R A   EIlw A   l2

We can calculate RB and MB.

4 EIw A 6 EIw A 2 EIw A
M B  M A  R Al   
l l l

6 EIw A
RA  RB  0  RB  ()
l2

Application : unit rotation (wA = 1)

4 EI 2 EI 6 EI 6 EI
MA  ;MB   ; R A   2 (  ) ; RB  2 (  )
l l l l
Table 2.1 provides the reactions, moments, and deformations for the different scenarios.

Table 2.1. Bars subjected to support displacements

 4.2. Bars subjected to external loads

The calculations can be carried out using suitable methods presented above. The moment diagrams and
reactions for the most common load cases are compiled in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2. Bars subjected to external loads

 5. Number of unknown variables – Equations of equilibrium
5.1. Number of unknown variables

The number of unknowns in the method is equal to the number of possible displacements (rotations Kr and
translations Kt) of the nodes in the considered structure.

K = Kr+Kt

 Kr number of rotations : equal to the number of nodes in the structure (supports are not counted as
nodes).
 Kt number of independent linear displacements (see § 2.2).
 K represents the number of constraints (fixed supports or translation stops) added to immobilize the
nodes of the initial structure.

5.2. Equations of equilibrium

Each equation expresses the equilibrium of the reactions occurring at an added constraint. In each introduced
constraint (i), the resultant of the reactions generated by the external forces (RiF) and the applied
displacements (Rij) must be zero.

Thus, in the example shown in Figure 2.10 below, the equations from which the unknown displacements
(X1, X2 et X3) will be derived are written as follows:

R1 = R11 + R12 + R13 + R1F = 0

R2 = R21 + R22 + R23 + R2F = 0 (2.2)
R3 = R31 + R32 + R33 + R3F = 0
With:

R11 = reaction (reactive moment) occurring at added constraint 1 (fixed support) due to the applied
displacement X1 (rotation).
R12 = reaction (moment) occurring at constraint 1 due to the displacement X2.
R31 = reaction (horizontal force) occurring at constraint 3 (translation constraint) due to the displacement
X1.
And, more generally:
RiF = reaction that appears at added constraint i due to the overall loading F (i.e., the applied loads).
Rij = reaction in constraint i, whose nature is determined by that of the constraint, due to the displacement
Xj.
By virtue of the principle of superposition of effects, we can write:
 Rij  riju X j
(2.3)
Where:

Xj is the unknown applied displacement.

riju is the reaction at constraint i due to a unit displacement, either rotation or translation, depending on the

nature of constraint j, applied at constraint j.

Figure 2.10. Unknown displacements

Thus, for a structure with n unknowns (i.e., n unknown displacements of the nodes), the system of equations
can be written as follows:

u
r11 X 1  r12
u
X 2  ...  r1un X n  R1F  0
............................................................
riu1 X 1  riu2 X 2  ...  rinu X n  RiF  0
............................................................
rnu1 X 1  rnu2 X 2  ...  rnn
u
X n  R nF  0
(2.4)
Or :
n

r
j 1
u
ij X j  RiF  0
i = 1, …, n (2.5)
In matrix form, the system of canonical equations can be expressed as follows:
r u X    RF 
r u  is called rigidity matrix.

6. Application example