Quintic beam closed form matrices (revised 4/14/14)

General elastic beam with an elastic foundation

Figure 1 shows a beam-column on an elastic foundation. The beam is connected to a continuous
series of foundation springs. The other end of the foundation spring has a known displacement, ,
which is almost always zero. The differential equation of equilibrium of an initially straight beam, of
flexural stiffness EI, resting on a Winkler foundation, of stiffness k per unit length, with a transverse
load per unit length of w, subjected to a tensile axial load N acting along the x-axis is:

( )

(1)

where v(x) is the transverse displacement of the beam.

If the axial force, N , is present, then this is usually called a Beam-Column model. If the axial load is
an unknown constant, then it is a buckling load that has to be found by an eigen-solution rather than
by solving a linear algebraic system.
Beams on elastic foundations are fairly common (like pipelines, rail lines or drill strings). However,
most introductions to beams assume no axial load, nor any foundation support. Then, the above
general beam equation reduces to that covered in an introduction to solid mechanics:

( ).

(2)

The homogeneous solution of this equation is simply a cubic polynomial with four constants. Either
beam equation is a fourth-order ordinary differential equation. Therefore it will generally need four
boundary conditions.

Figure 1 A beam-column on an elastic foundation

( ), the bending moment, ( )
Related physical quantities are the slope, ( )
( ), and
the transverse shear force, ( )
( ). The sign conventions are that the position, x, is positive
to the right, the deflection, v, point forces, P, and the line load, w, are positive in the y-direction
(upward), and the slopes and moments are positive in the counter-clockwise direction. Since the
foundation springs are restrained, there can be no rigid body motions of the beam. In other words,
the assembled equations should never be singular and it is acceptable to just have non-essential
boundary conditions applied to the beam. A simple Winkler foundation model like this one can push
or pull on the beam as needed and no gaps can occur.
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Quintic beam closed form matrices (revised 4/14/14)

The distributed load per unit length can include point transverse shear loads, V, by using the Dirac
Delta distribution. Likewise, employing a doublet distribution in defining w(x) allows for the inclusion
of point couples, or moments, M. Engineers designing beams are usually interested in the local
moment and transvers shear force since they define the stress levels and the material failure criteria.
The exact solution of the homogeneous (w==0) general form given above is given in terms of
hyperbolic sines and cosines. Based on Tongs Theorem, exact solutions at the nodes are obtained if
such functions are used as the interpolation functions in a finite element model. Advanced elements
of that type have been applied with excellent results.
To apply the Galerkin weak form the governing ODE is multiplied by v(x) and the integral over the
length of the beam is set to zero. The highest derivative term is always present, and needs to be
integrated twice by parts to reduce the inter-element continuity requirement. That integral becomes

( ( )( )

)]

( ( )( )

( ( ) ( )

)]

( ( )( )

which brings the non-essential boundary conditions into the integral form. The first term is the
product of the displacement and the point shear force at both ends, while the second term is the
product of the slope and the point moment at both ends. Thus, the contributions from the highest
derivative term in the ODE are

( )]

( )]

( ( )( )

Therefore, the integral form contains second derivatives (

) as its highest derivative term.
The presence of second derivatives in the integral form means that calculus requires the elements to
( )). Such elements
have inter-element continuity of the deflection and the slope (v(x) and ( )
are said to have an inter-element continuity of . Therefore, each shared beam node must have two
degrees of freedom (dof), at least.
The presence of the second derivatives in the integral form also means that the essential boundary
conditions (EBC) will specify or or both at a point. The non-essential boundary conditions (NBC)
are that the transverse shear force,
, and/or the moment,
, is given at a point.
When the deflection is given, then the shear force is a reaction quantity. When the slope is specified,
then the moment is a reaction.
Calculus continuity requires the elements share their slope and deflection values. Thus, classic beam
elements approximated by at least a cubic polynomial having
continuity can give nodally exact
deflections and slopes. One-dimensional polynomial interpolation with
or
continuity usually is
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Quintic beam closed form matrices (revised 4/14/14)

based on Hermite interpolation polynomials. The classic beam element is often said to be a Hermite
cubic. Some typical Hermite polynomials are given in the Appendix.
A line element with only two nodes will provide the four constants needed to define a cubic
polynomial. Such elements are referred to here as classic beam elements. But since designers are
interested in the second and third derivatives of the solution, classic beam elements give very poor
design results unless a large number of them are used.
For a typical beam (k = 0) with a cross-sectional moment of inertia, I, length, L, a depth of h, and
material with an elastic modulus of E and a coefficient of thermal expansion of , the corresponding
matrices for the equilibrium of a single classic beam element, are

]{ }

]{

},

(3)

where
and
are the load per unit length at the first (left) and second end, respectively, and
is
the temperature increase, over h, from the top to the bottom of the beam. Also, the and
terms
are point shear forces and point moments applied to the nodes as external loadings and/or unknown
reactions. In matrix symbol notation this equation is written as

(4)
):

The classic beam element has a deflection given by (for

( )

( )

(5)

(6)

A slope of
)

A linear bending moment of

( )

[ (

( ) ]

) ]

(7)

and a constant transverse shear force of

( )

[ (

( )

(8)

Many exact solutions for beams not on an elastic foundation are tabulated in typical structural design
manuals. They show that for the most common load and support conditions the exact solution is a
third, fourth or fifth degree polynomial. Thus, a fifth degree polynomial will generally give a very
accurate or exact beam solution with only a few elements, perhaps with only one element. However,
if a foundation is present polynomial approximations will no longer be exact at the nodes.

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Quintic beam closed form matrices (revised 4/14/14)

The Hermite family of interpolation polynomials can be increased in order by increasing the number of
nodes and/or by increasing the continuity level at each node. Here, a more accurate three-node
beam element will be presented. This will be created by adding a third (middle) node to the element.
That adds two more degrees of freedom and raises the polynomial to a fifth degree (a quintic
polynomial). For simplicity, all of the coefficients in Eq. (1) are taken as constants evaluated at the
center of the element length. That allows the corresponding finite element matrices of the fifth-degree
element to be expressed in closed form in terms of the element deflection and slope at each of its
three nodes [
] The element interpolation relations and the corresponding slope,
moment and shear distributions are:
( )

[ (

)
(

(
( )

)
( )

[ (
(

(
( )

)
) ]
)

)
[ (

[ (
(
)

( )

)]
)

)]
)

(
)

)
)

)]
(

(10)

(
)

(9)

)
( )

(
( )

(11)

)]

)
)
(12)

The 6 by 6 element matrix equations of equilibrium of a single element are:

){

(13)

where { }T = [
] are the generalized nodal displacements and rotations, and the
{ } are the generalized resultant nodal loading forces and moments. The
terms are stiffness
matrices arising from the first three terms in the differential equation. Usually, only the first is nonzero. This system is singular until enough boundary conditions are applied to prevent rigid body
translations and rotations.
Since this element has three nodes, the loading per unit length can be input at each of those nodes.
The resultant element external loading vectors due to point forces, , and couples,
, and the
quadratic distributed load values, , at each node (or constant
, or linear
(
) values) are

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Quintic beam closed form matrices (revised 4/14/14)

(14)

where the
are the six Hermite beam interpolations, and the
are the three quadratic Lagrangian
interpolations for the distributed loads. The integral of their product forms a rectangular six by three
array to convert distributed loads to concentrated shears and moments at the beam nodes. Likewise,
it can be shown that a temperature difference through the depth of a beam causes only end moment
[
loadings given by
].
A constant transverse load per unit length reduces the resultant load and moment vector to
[

],

(15)

The symmetric flexural stiffness matrix for the three noded quintic element is

(16)
[

The symmetric beam-column (or geometric stiffness) matrix due to any axial load is

(17)
[

The element foundation stiffness is

(18)
[

Since it is common for beams to have piecewise constant properties, the classic beam element and
the more accurate quintic beam element can be programmed in closed form.

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Quintic beam closed form matrices (revised 4/14/14)

Using either the classic or quintic beam element some beam analysis problems can be solved in
closed antalytic form. As an example of the three-node beam, consider a fixed-fixed beam with a
constant line load. The essential boundary conditions are
. The
external point force and moment at center node 2 are zero (
). The middle two rows
define the remaining unknown center point generalized displacements:
[

]{ }

{ }

{ }.

(19)

Multiplying by the inverse of the square matrix gives the middle node solutions:
{ }

]{

{ }

(20)

which are exact. The slope was expected to be zero due to symmetry. It could have been used as a
boundary condition to compute
from one equation.
Here, the reactions on the left are found from the first two rows of the equilibrium equations (since all
the displacements are now known):
[

{ }

{
{

(21)

}.

Likewise, at the right end, utilizing the last two rows of the equilibrium equations
{

}.

Note that the net resultant force is wL, which is equal and opposite to the applied transverse load.
The net external moment is zero. Usually static equilibrium is taught in undergraduate classes with
Newtons Laws. You can use them to verify that the computed reactions do indeed satisfy that the
sum of the forces is zero, and that the sum of the moments, taken at any reference point, is zero.
Since a 5-th degree element was used this problem is exact everywhere. That includes the moment
and shear diagrams.
The exact shear diagrams of
can have a discontinuity (due to point loads P) and the exact
moment diagram of
can have a discontinuity (due to point moments M). The mesh should be
constricted such that any point source occurs at an interface node between elements. Those items
can be discontinuous at element interfaces because the calculus requirement for splitting integrals on
says that v and v must be continuous there. That explains why a two node
Hermite interpolation
was not chosen to create a quintic beam. That choice could be made only if the beam was not
allowed to have point sources. Inside any element the solution is continuous and thus is
at any
non-interface node. In other words, inside any standard element you can calculate an infinite number
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Quintic beam closed form matrices (revised 4/14/14)

of continuous derivatives (but the vast majority is zero). If you were to apply a point source at an
interior node then the second and third derivatives would still be continuous and the shear and
moment diagrams in that element would be wrong.
Next consider the involvement of the foundation in the post-processing needed to recover the
reactions on each beam element. Before the deflections of a beam on an elastic foundation (BOEF)
are computed, a typical element free body diagram would be similar to Figure 1. As before, any
external point load, P, and/or any point couple, M, should be placed at an element interface node and
they go directly into the first or second equilibrium row of the node at that point. A distributed line
load is integrated to become a consistent load vector. Those two effects are detailed in Eq. 14. Both
the beam stiffness and the foundation stiffness resist the external applied loads. The element
equilibrium equation (for no axial force) is

){

(22)

The assembled equations have a similar form and are solved for the system displacements, v.
Returning to the element to get the beam member reactions, the now known element degrees of
freedom, , are gathered. The free body diagram of the element now has a significant change
because the foundation is now applying a known pressure that opposes the displacement of the
beam. That pressure, ( )
( ), is a polynomial of the same degree as the assumed
displacements. That state is shown in Figure 2, which defines the sought element reaction vector,
{ }.
Now, there is a new consistent load vector to evaluate during post processing to find the element
reactions. It comes from the foundation pressure and is proportional to the deflection:

( )

(23)

The foundation stiffness caused the new load, but that load and others must be resisted by only the
beam stiffness. Now the beam member equilibrium equations define the reactions on the nodes of
the beam, { }:

(24)

}.

(25)

or

Now that there is more than one dof per node the scatter/gather operations previously used for axial
models have become more generalized. The usual convention for numbering the unknowns is to
count all of the unknowns at a node before moving on to another node. Therefore, the displacements
are associated with the odd number of rows and columns in a matrix, while the slopes contributions
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Quintic beam closed form matrices (revised 4/14/14)

are occurring in the even ones. For previous one-dimensional scalar unknowns scatter simply meant
adding a scalar term at any node into the system equilibrium matrix and source vector. Now, that
changes to adding a two by two sub-matrix from each element node into the system square matrix
and a two by one column matrix into the system source vector. The prior algorithms for doing the
scatter and gather still work because they had the number of degrees of freedom per node (n_g) as
an input argument. It is just for hand solutions that you need to clearly understand this change.
Figure 3 graphically illustrates the sub-matrices scatter operations for a line element with two
unknowns per node.

Figure 2 Beam element reaction vector, including foundation pressure

The general numbering scheme that relates local element equation numbers to the system equation
numbers refer to Figure 4. As a detailed example of the change in scatter operations, consider a long
pipeline with hundreds of three node beam element that are numbered in a random fashion. Figure 5
shows typical element connectivity data for the hypothetical example. Since there are two dof per
node there are six local equations associated with each quintic beam element. They have to be
scattered to a much larger set of system equilibrium equations. Figure 6 illustrates how all of the
local generalized force vector terms are scattered, as well as showing the same information for six
typical terms selected for the element local stiffness matrix.

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Quintic beam closed form matrices (revised 4/14/14)

Figure 3 Scattering sub-matrices for line elements with two dof per node

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Quintic beam closed form matrices (revised 4/14/14)

Figure 4 Calculating equation numbers for general scatter operations

Figure 5 Example data for gather/scatter of element number 21

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Quintic beam closed form matrices (revised 4/14/14)

Figure 6 Scattering typical matrix terms from example element number 21

Appendix

Figure 8 The first three Hermite interpolation options for elements with two nodes
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