Int. J. Structural Engineering, Vol. 5, No.

1, 2014 43

Effect of elastic properties on the behaviour of beams

Rakesh Patel*
Department of Civil Engineering,
MANIT, Bhopal-462022, M.P., India
E-mail: rakeshasct@gmail.com
*Corresponding author

S.K. Dubey
Department of Civil Engineering,
MANIT, Bhopal-462051, M.P., India
E-mail: dubeysk2000@yahoo.com

K.K. Pathak
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
NITTTR, Bhopal-462002, M.P., India
E-mail: kkpathak1@rediffmail.com

Abstract: The present work illustrates the method of initial functions (MIF) to
see the effect of elastic properties on the behaviour of the beam. Generally for
beams, modulus of elasticity, shear modulus and Poissons ratio are the
commonly used parameters, however in the present study, varied Poissons
ratio has been considered and its effect on the behaviour of beam has been
observed. The MIF being an analytical method have the ability to workout
exact solutions of different types of problems without the use of hypotheses
about the character of stress and strain. In the present study, the equations of
two-dimensional elasticity have been used for deriving the governing
equations.
Keywords: method of initial functions; MIF; stresses; displacements; strains;
Poissons ratio; elastic properties; beams.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Patel, R., Dubey, S.K. and
Pathak, K.K. (2014) Effect of elastic properties on the behaviour of beams,
Int. J. Structural Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp.4353.
Biographical notes: Rakesh Patel is presently working as an Assistant
Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, Sagar Institute of Research
and Technology, Bhopal India. Also, he is part time research scholar in the
Department of Civil Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of
Technology, Bhopal, India. He obtained his Bachelor in Civil Engineering and
Masters in Structural Engineering from Maulana Azad National Institute of
Technology, Bhopal, India. His research interests include composite beams,
numerical modelling in structural engineering and fibre reinforced polymer
application in concrete structures.
S.K. Dubey is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, MANIT
Bhopal, M.P., India. His research interests include composite beams, numerical
modelling in structural engineering and mix design of concrete.

Copyright 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

44 R. Patel et al.

K.K. Pathak is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental

Engineering, NITTTR, Bhopal, M.P., India. His research interests include
composite beams, composite materials, FEM, numerical modelling and
simulation.

1 Introduction

This study has been carried out to observe the effects of Poisson ratio variation on
behaviour of the beam. In this method, the basic functions are the displacements and
stresses and to analyse the system of differential equations, equations of Hooks law has
been used and also equilibrium equations by replacing stresses by the displacements
according to elasticity relations. The order of the derive equations depending on the stage
at which the series represent the stresses and displacements are truncated. However, it
depends on the requirement of the problem. This method has been in practice for the
analysis of various structural members such as plates, shells and beams.
It is evident that MIF had been used for the analysis of beams under symmetric
central loading and uniform loading (Iyengar et al., 1974). This method was used for the
analysis of free vibration of rectangular beams of arbitrary depth. The frequency values
were calculated using the Timoshenko beam theory and present the analysis for different
values of Poissons ratio (Iyengar and Raman, 1979).
The MIF also used (Faraji and Archer, 1985) for circular cylindrical shells,
three-dimensional elasticity equations using Taylor series expansions assumptions, in the
radial direction, for the stresses and displacements. Chandrashekhara and Rao Nanjunda,
1998) have also been used MIF for the static analysis of simply supported, orthotropic,
and laminated circular cylindrical shell of revolution subjected to axisymmetric load.
Using the Cayley-Hamilton theorem, the transfer matrix that maps the initial state vector
into the field has been evaluated, to obtain solution of the problem.
This method has applied (Iyengar and Pandya, 1986) for deriving higher order
theories for laminated composite thick rectangular plates. The equations of
three-dimensional elasticity have been used. Numerical solutions of the governing
equations have been presented for simply supported edges. Iyengar et al. (1988) have
used this method for three-dimensional analysis of the bending problem of finite thick
plates with through the thickness cracks. Results from a parametric study and those from
a comparative study with existing finite element values has been presented in their study
also they have used three-dimensional elasticity solutions for some static and dynamic
problems of bending multi-layered anisotropic rectangular plates (Galileev and Matrosov,
1997).
Sargand et al. (1992) have used this method for an axially symmetric state of stress in
elasto-dynamic problems. The formulation gives a complete choice in prescribing the
boundary conditions in terms of either stresses or displacements, or a combination of
stresses and displacements. The method is applied, to the flexural theory of circular plate
subjected to antisymmetric lateral loads.
MIF is used (Verizhenko et al., 1994) for layered and continuously inhomogeneous
plates and shells. The aim of MIF is to obtain the unknown components of stress and
strain. These are obtained by means of linear differential operator functions.
 Effect of elastic properties on the behaviour of beams 45

Governing equations are developed for composite laminated deep beams by using
MIF. The beam theory developed can be used for beam sections of large depth (Dubey,
2000). Applied MIF for the analysis of orthotropic deep beams to compare the results
with the available theory (Dubey, 2005). This method also used for the study of
composite beams having two layers of orthotropic material to developed governing
equation (Patel et al., 2012). Therefore, it is clear that the MIF method is very popular
thus it is used in present theory with consideration of some new parameters.

2 Formulation

The equations of equilibrium for solids ignoring the body forces for two-dimensional
case are:
x xy
+ =0 (1)
x y

xy y
+ =0 (2)
x y

The stress-strain relations for isotropic material are:

x + C12
x = C11 y (3)

x + C22
y = C12 y (4)

xy
xy = C33 (5)

to C33
The values of the coefficients C11 for isotropic materials are:

E
= C22
C11 = (6)
1 2

E
=
C12 (7)
1 2

=G
C33 (8)
The strain displacement relations for small displacements are:
u
x = (9)
x
v
y = (10)
y

v u
xy = + (11)
x y
46 R. Patel et al.

Eliminating x between equations (1) and (2) the following equations are obtained, which
can be written in matrix form as
u 0 0 1 G u
v C 0 v
1 0 C2
= (12)
y Y 0 0 0 Y

X C3 G 0 C1
2
0 X

where
x + C22
= xy , Y = y = C12 y

a12 1 a C C C
C1 = ; C2 = ; C3 = 12 a11 and a11 = 11 , a12 = 12 , a22 = 22
a22 Ga 22 a22 G G G
The equation (12) can be expressed as:

{S} = [ D]{S } (13)
y

The solution of equation (13) is

{S } = e[ D ] y {S0 } (14)

where {S0} is the vector of initial functions, being the value of the state vector {S} on the
initial plane.
If u0, v0, Y0 and X0 are values of u, v, Y and X respectively, on the initial plane, then

{S0 } = [u0 , X0 ]
T
v0 , Y0 , (15)

where
[ L] = e[ D ] y (16)

Expending (16) in the form of a series

y2
[ L] = [ I ] + y[ D] + [ D]2 + ....... (17)
2!
An isotropic beam of length l, depth, H and loaded with uniformly distributed load P in
the y-direction. The bottom plane of the beam is taken as the initial plane. Due to loading
at the top plane of the beam one has
X 0 = Y0 = 0
On the plane, y = H, the conditions are
X = 0, Y = P

Y = p on y = H, after simplification yields the governing partial differential equation:

( LYu .LXv LYv .LXu ) = p (18)
 Effect of elastic properties on the behaviour of beams 47

Initial functions are obtained by substituting the value of :

u0 = LXv , v0 = LXu (19)

From the value of initial functions, the value of displacements and stresses are obtained.

3 Analysis of beam

The following values of beam dimensions are chosen for the particular problem,

H = 400 mm, l = 3,000 mm

The following material properties are taken:

E = 22,360 N / mm 2 , G = 10,164 N / mm 2

Value of is taken as 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20.

The boundary conditions of the simply supported edges are:

X = Y = v = 0, at x = 0 and x = l

The boundary conditions are exactly satisfied by the auxiliary function, = A1sin (x/l).
A uniformly distributed load of 20.0 N/mm is assumed, on the top surface of the
beam.

4 Results and discussion

Initial functions are obtained from expression (19).

After obtaining the values of u0 and v0, values of stresses and displacements are
obtained.

Table 1 Values of displacements and stresses by 8, 10, 12, 14 order MIF theory and bending
theory

10 order 12 order 14 order Bending

8 order MIF
MIF MIF MIF theory
u (mm) 44.64 35.839 37.312 37.243 36.543
v (mm) 213.24 177.38 184.20 183.91 176.88
Y (N/mm2) 19.989 20.0047 20.000 20.000 20.000
X (N/mm2) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2
x (N/mm ) 1,062.2 842.786 877.70 875.90 843.75

On comparing different order MIF theories with the bending theory we have observed
that ten order MIF theory is suitable for the given problem. So we have used ten order
theory for the analysis of given problem
48 R. Patel et al.

Table 2 Values of displacements, stresses and strains for = 0.1

H u v Y X x ex ey
0 33.075 162.405 0 0 844.885 0.0346 0.0069
40 26.331 162.655 0.5424 31.7705 672.488 0.0276 0.0055
80 19.6894 162.8502 2.0120 56.3711 502.4518 0.0206 0.0042
120 13.1235 162.9937 4.1755 73.8877 334.1798 0.0137 0.0030
160 6.6081 163.0872 6.8036 84.3805 167.0853 0.0069 0.0017
200 0.1181 163.1316 9.6711 87.8845 0.5909 1.23e-004 5.02e-004
240 6.3711 163.1273 12.5569 84.4088 165.8718 0.0067 7.2e-004
280 12.884 163.0738 15.2440 73.9371 332.8620 0.0135 0.0020
320 19.444 162.9698 17.5196 56.4276 500.9297 0.0204 0.0032
360 26.076 162.8137 19.1747 31.8128 670.6154 0.0273 0.0046
400 32.802 162.6028 20.0047 0 842.450 0.0344 0.0060

Table 3 Values of displacements, stresses and strains for = 0.15

H u v Y X x ex ey
0 36.08 177.17 0 0 844.88 0.037 0.0038
40 28.72 177.30 0.54 31.77 672.48 0.0301 0.0030
80 21.46 177.41 2.01 56.37 502.45 0.0225 0.0024
120 14.29 177.49 4.17 73.88 334.17 0.0150 0.0017
160 7.171 177.55 6.80 84.38 167.07 0.0075 0.0011
200 0.076 177.58 9.67 87.88 0.56 7.98e-005 5.46e-004
240 7.018 177.59 12.55 84.40 165.91 0.0073 4.1e-005
280 14.13 177.58 15.24 73.93 332.94 0.0148 6.4e-004
320 21.30 177.54 17.51 56.42 501.06 0.0223 0.0013
360 28.55 177.47 19.17 31.81 670.83 0.0299 0.0020
400 35.89 177.38 20.0047 0 842.78 0.0376 0.0027

Table 4 Values of displacements, stresses and strains for = 0.2

H u v Y X x ex ey
0 34.5125 169.4671 0 0 844.8853 0.0361 0.0054
40 27.4745 169.6621 0.5424 31.7705 672.4883 0.0288 0.0043
80 20.5402 169.8155 2.0120 56.3711 502.4516 0.0215 0.0033
120 13.6832 169.9295 4.1755 73.8877 334.1783 0.0143 0.0024
160 6.8777 170.0056 6.8036 84.3805 167.0807 0.0072 0.0014
200 0.0981 170.0448 9.6711 87.8845 0.5797 1.02e-004 5.23e-004
240 6.6808 170.0474 12.5569 84.4088 165.8951 0.0070 3.9e-004
280 13.488 170.0129 15.2440 73.9371 332.9052 0.0141 0.0013
320 20.335 169.9402 17.5196 56.4276 501.0032 0.0213 0.0023
360 27.260 169.8276 19.1747 31.8128 670.7333 0.0285 0.0033
400 34.281 169.6724 20.0047 0 842.6304 0.0359 0.0044
 Effect of elastic properties on the behaviour of beams 49

Figure 1 Variation of u through the thickness of beam for different values of (see online
version for colours)

The value of displacement u is more at the top surface and less at the bottom surface.
With the increase in the value of its value decreases. There is very small effect on the
value of u.

Figure 2 Variation of v through the thickness of beam for different values of (see online
version for colours)

From the figure, it is seen that with the increase in the value of from 0.1 to 0.2 its value
decreases from 177.38 mm to 162.08 mm. Effect of increase in is clearly seen on the
value of displacement v.
50 R. Patel et al.

Figure 3 Variation of normal stress (Y) for different values of (see online version
for colours)

It is observed that the value of normal stress (Y) is zero at the bottom and maximum at
the top of beam. The physical condition of normal stress equal to the applied normal load
at the top fibre is satisfied. There is no effect of the variation of on the normal stress
(Y).

Figure 4 Variation of shear stress (X) for different values of (see online version for colours)

It is seen from figure that the shear stress (X) is maximum just below mid depth. There is
no effect of the variation of on the shear stress (X).
 Effect of elastic properties on the behaviour of beams 51

Figure 5 Variation of bending tress (x) for different values of (see online version
for colours)

From Figure 5, it is observed that the variation of bending stress is almost linear. There is
no effect of the variation of on the bending stress

Figure 6 Variation of strain (ex) for different values of (see online version for colours)

The value of strain (ex) is more at the top surface and less at the bottom surface. With the
increase in the value of its value decreases. There is very small effect on the value of ex.
52 R. Patel et al.

Figure 7 Variation of strain (ey) for different values of (see online version for colours)

From figure, it is observed that the increase in the value of , value of ey increases. Effect
of variation of is clearly seen on the value of ey.

5 Conclusions

The initial functions are operated upon by the transfer matrix successively across each
layer until the entire beam is analysed and the stresses at the top surface are obtained. The
normal stress equal to the intensity of loading and shear stress equal to zero at the top of
beam are obtain, this shows that MIF is successfully applied for the analysis of beam. We
have seen that there is considerable effect of Poissons ratio () on displacements, and
strains, but there is no effect on stresses. So we have to take care while selecting the
value of Poissons ratio for different materials. The advantage of this method is that here
we are not taking any assumption regarding the position of neutral axis, as it incorporates
the position by itself. This method gives exact solution of the problem.

References
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Notations
l Span of beam
H Total thickness of beam
E Youngs modulus of elasticity
G Shear modulus of elasticity
Poissons ratio
Strain
x Bending stress
y (Y) Normal stress
xy (X) Shear stress
u Displacements in x directions
v Displacements in y directions


x