Macroelements for variable-section beams

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1990

Department

College of Computing

Abstract

A procedure is described for developing macroelements using distributions, and is applied to variable-section beams. An element can include any number of step variations in the cross-section without increasing the number of degrees of freedom, which is six for two-dimensional beam elements. Any beam element with a continuous profile can be approximated to any desired accuracy by one with step variations. A symbolic manipulation system is used to derive the expressions for the terms of the stiffness matrix and load vector.

Publication Title

Computers and Structures

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