Meccanica
DOI 10.1007/s11012-014-0062-3
Isogeometric vibration analysis of free-form Timoshenko
curved beams
Anh-Tuan Luu • Nam-Il Kim • Jaehong Lee
Received: 28 January 2014 / Accepted: 22 September 2014
Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
Abstract In this paper, the finite free-form curved
beam element is formulated by the isogeometric
approach based on the Timoshenko Rcurved beam
theory to investigate the free vibration behavior of the
curved beams with arbitrary curvature. The non-
uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) functions which
define the geometry of the curved beam are used as the
basis functions for the finite element analysis. In order
to enrich the basis functions and to increase the
accuracy of the solution fields, the h-, p-, and k-
refinement techniques are implemented. The geometry
and curvature of free-form curved beams are modelled
in a unique way based on NURBS. The gap between
the free vibration analysis of the curved beams with
constant curvature and those with variable curvature is
eliminated. All the effects of the axis extensibility, the
shear deformation, and the rotary inertia are taken into
consideration by the present isogeometric model.
Results of the parabolic and elliptic curved beams
for non-dimensional frequencies are compared with
other available results in order to show the accuracy
and efficiency of the present isogeometric approach.
Furthermore, the free vibration analysis of the elliptic
thick rings is presented. Particularly, the Tschirnhau-
sen’s cubic curved beam is considered to study the
dynamic behavior as an example of free-form curved
beams.
A.-T. Luu  N.-I. Kim  J. Lee (&)
Sejong University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
e-mail: jhlee@sejong.ac.kr
Keywords Isogeometric analysis  Free vibration 
Curved beam  Ring  Free-form
1 Introduction
Curved beams with variable curvature used in many
engineering applications such as arches, machines,
aircraft, and artistic structures show the complex
structural behavior since the deformations of beam
depend on the coupled equations between the tangential,
radial displacements and rotation by curvature effects.
For any structure that may be subjected to dynamic
loads, the determination of natural frequencies is critical
in the design process. It is usually the first step in a
dynamic analysis since a great deal may be deduced
concerning the structural behavior and integrity from the
knowledge of its natural frequencies and mode shapes.
Up to now, considerable research efforts have been
made for the development of the in-plane free vibration
analysis of curved beams with variable curvature. Oh
et al. [1] derived the governing equations to determine
the natural frequencies and the mode shapes for the
shear deformable non-circular curved beams. They
used the determinant search method combined with the
Regular-Falsi method to calculate the natural fre-
quency. Then Oh et al. [2] performed the free vibration
analysis of curved beams with variable cross-section
considering the axial extensibility and rotary inertia
effects, but neglected the shear deformation. Some
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pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Table 1 Convergence rate of non-dimensional frequencies, x ¼ xl2 qA=EI , for the hinged-hinged parabolic curved beams with
NURBS-based refinement schemes (ks G=E ¼ 0:3, l=r ¼ 75 and h=l ¼ 0:3)
p nel Mode
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2 4 25.8763 76.5745 114.019 211.861 262.218 411.644 602.336 813.458 2721.653 2904.214
8 21.9508 57.2160 108.966 113.535 184.792 211.456 298.243 411.013 480.804 599.294
16 21.7642 55.5474 100.993 113.319 158.240 209.453 227.176 302.740 392.640 411.228
32 21.7591 55.4947 100.710 113.302 157.201 208.987 224.550 295.154 376.148 411.119
64 21.7590 55.4931 100.702 113.302 157.170 208.970 224.474 294.926 375.652 411.114
128 21.7589 55.4930 100.701 113.302 157.168 208.969 224.470 294.916 375.630 411.114
3 4 22.2760 65.7102 113.933 134.704 212.158 325.185 412.390 602.002 813.643 987.971
8 21.7719 55.6418 101.891 113.378 163.966 210.797 253.373 389.449 413.213 565.953
16 21.7591 55.4950 100.714 113.303 157.230 209.009 224.672 295.702 377.921 411.140
32 21.7589 55.4931 100.702 113.302 157.169 208.970 224.472 294.922 375.647 411.114
64 21.7589 55.4930 100.701 113.302 157.168 208.969 224.470 294.916 375.629 411.114
128 21.7589 55.4930 100.701 113.302 157.168 208.969 224.470 294.916 375.629 411.114
4 4 22.2232 56.0119 113.587 119.084 211.725 224.346 411.250 417.185 599.311 796.649
8 21.7599 55.5040 100.832 113.310 157.966 209.530 228.334 320.199 411.427 503.959
16 21.7589 55.4931 100.702 113.302 157.171 208.972 224.485 295.003 375.978 411.117
32 21.7589 55.4930 100.701 113.302 157.168 208.969 224.470 294.916 375.630 411.114
64 21.7589 55.4930 100.701 113.302 157.168 208.969 224.470 294.916 375.629 411.114
5 4 21.7604 55.8885 101.103 113.441 178.944 211.415 345.459 410.725 553.494 598.158
8 21.7591 55.4938 100.715 113.303 157.366 209.136 225.541 301.660 401.382 411.331
16 21.7589 55.4930 100.701 113.302 157.168 208.970 224.471 294.922 375.663 411.114
32 21.7589 55.4930 100.701 113.302 157.168 208.969 224.470 294.916 375.629 411.114
64 21.7589 55.4930 100.701 113.302 157.168 208.969 224.470 294.916 375.629 411.114
Ref. [1] 21.83 56.00 102.3 113.4
Ref. [10] 21.759 55.493 100.701 113.302

researchers used polynomials or power series expan-
sion to approximate displacement field. Rossi et al. [3]
approximated the tangential displacement by using
polynomials to solve the in-plane vibration problem of
the cantilevered non-circular arches of non-uniform
cross-section with a tip mass. Tseng et al. [4, 5] and
Huang et al. [6] presented the dynamic stiffness
method based on the Timoshenko curved beam theory
which considers all the effects of axis extensibility,
shear deformation, and rotary inertia to study the free
vibration of the non-circular curved beams. They
decomposed the arch into several subdomains. The
series solution of each subdomain was formulated in
terms of polynomials and then solved in-plane vibra-
tion of isotropic and laminated arches with variable
curvature. Nieh et al. [7] analysed the elliptic arches by
using the subdomain concept to develop the
displacement field. Moreover, some used the suitable
trial functions to approximate the displacement field.
For example, Wang and Moore [8] used the assumed
displacements satisfying the elliptic arch with clamped
boundary condition to solve the fundamental exten-
sional natural frequency, and Romanelli and Laura [9]
used the trial functions of tangential and radial
displacements satisfying boundary conditions to solve
the fundamental frequency of the hinged arches.
On the other hand, the finite element method (FEM)
has been widely used because of its versatility. Yang
et al. [10] developed the four-node Lagrangian-type
curved beam element and combined with the curvi-
linear integral method to solve the natural frequencies
and the mode shapes of the non-circular curved beams.
Wu and Chiang [11] derived the simple implicit shape
functions associated with the tangential, radial, and

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pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 ¼ xl2 qA=EI , for the hinged-clamped elliptic curved beams with
Table 2 Convergence rate of non-dimensional frequencies, x
NURBS-based refinement schemes (ks G=E ¼ 0:3, l=r ¼ 50, h=l ¼ 0:2 and a ¼ 0:5)
p nel Mode
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2 4 38.7103 58.5249 101.7263 149.544 194.666 293.673 438.136 443.927 584.422 932.482
8 35.0655 56.9988 82.7029 130.480 156.845 208.530 292.508 308.570 428.184 434.133
16 34.8973 56.7730 81.4580 124.471 155.482 186.991 253.847 291.435 327.227 404.223
32 34.8926 56.7658 81.4219 124.295 155.445 186.316 251.952 291.290 322.867 394.841
64 34.8924 56.7656 81.4204 124.288 155.443 186.289 251.881 291.284 322.713 394.526
128 34.8924 56.7655 81.4203 124.288 155.443 186.288 251.878 291.284 322.705 394.510
3 4 35.1605 57.2711 84.2329 139.583 161.112 240.028 293.725 358.815 435.378 589.005
8 34.8996 56.7784 81.5130 124.898 155.629 189.888 264.923 291.999 364.570 432.310
16 34.8925 56.7657 81.4212 124.294 155.445 186.320 252.001 291.295 323.091 395.603
32 34.8924 56.7655 81.4203 124.288 155.443 186.288 251.878 291.284 322.708 394.517
64 34.8924 56.7655 81.4203 124.288 155.443 186.288 251.877 291.284 322.705 394.509
128 34.8924 56.7655 81.4203 124.288 155.443 186.288 251.877 291.284 322.705 394.509
4 4 34.8967 56.7870 81.5652 125.618 155.809 198.778 292.156 303.770 419.661 433.197
8 34.8926 56.7661 81.4257 124.351 155.466 186.918 254.825 291.481 330.648 416.600
16 34.8924 56.7655 81.4203 124.288 155.443 186.289 251.884 291.285 322.736 394.637
32 34.8924 56.7655 81.4203 124.288 155.443 186.288 251.877 291.284 322.705 394.509
64 34.8924 56.7655 81.4203 124.288 155.443 186.288 251.877 291.284 322.705 394.509
5 4 34.8925 56.7657 81.4257 124.364 155.486 187.191 257.344 291.773 348.469 431.866
8 34.8924 56.7656 81.4206 124.291 155.446 186.334 252.303 291.355 325.488 403.260
16 34.8924 56.7655 81.4203 124.288 155.443 186.288 251.878 291.284 322.707 394.524
32 34.8924 56.7655 81.4203 124.288 155.443 186.288 251.877 291.284 322.705 394.509
64 34.8924 56.7655 81.4203 124.288 155.443 186.288 251.877 291.284 322.705 394.509
Ref. [1] 35.25 57.11 83.00 128.2
Ref. [10] 34.892 56.766 81.420 124.288

Table 3 Non-dimensional b/a Mode

frequencies,
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
x ¼ xl2 qA=EI , for the 1 2 3 4 5 6
clamped–clamped semi-
elliptic curved beam with 0.2 This study 43.9775 53.8656 122.960 162.311 262.881 272.963
various b=a ratios (m ¼ 0:3, Ref. [4] 43.9775 53.8656 122.959 162.311 262.880 272.963
ks ¼ 0:85 and l=r ¼ 100) 0.5 This study 35.9884 50.5204 110.292 136.021 223.451 230.171
Ref. [4] 35.9884 50.5204 110.291 136.020 223.450 230.171
0.8 This study 22.8741 43.5458 83.1160 121.063 179.077 198.628
Ref. [4] 22.8741 43.5458 83.1160 121.062 179.076 198.628

rotational displacements of the arch element.
Although FEM is known as one of the most versatile
and powerful techniques in many problems, it has
many disadvantages such as the cumbersome task of
mesh generation, the time-consuming procedure for
the connectivity of elements, and the re-meshing in
moving boundary problems.
In recent years, the isogeometric finite element
analysis introduced by Hughes et al. [12] has attracted
a lot of attention as an innovative numerical method
due to its significant advantages such as the smooth-
ness and high continuity of geometry. The isogeomet-
ric analysis (IGA) offers the possibility of integrating
the finite element analysis (FEA) into the conventional

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pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Table 4 Non-dimensional frequencies, x ¼ xl2 qA=EI , for parabolic and elliptic curved beams with various boundary conditions
(ks G=E ¼ 0:3, h=l ¼ 0:25 and a ¼ 0:5)
Mode Clamped–clamped Clamped–hinged Hinged–hinged Free–free
l=r ¼ 30 l=r ¼ 100 l=r ¼ 30 l=r ¼ 100 l=r ¼ 30 l=r ¼ 100 l=r ¼ 30 l=r ¼ 100

1 Parabolic 35.1340 40.7153 28.6166 32.1533 23.4680 25.1513 14.6028 15.0813

Elliptic 34.7762 40.3074 28.3449 31.8188 23.0792 24.7278 14.5817 15.0582
2 Parabolic 42.0657 82.5207 41.9899 72.3149 41.6580 62.3579 40.0896 43.8047
Elliptic 41.4782 80.0310 41.4535 70.5280 41.3474 61.0965 39.8354 43.5065
3 Parabolic 70.6753 139.077 63.3469 126.689 55.9886 113.381 74.1788 86.9928
Elliptic 70.9841 140.057 63.7360 125.368 56.4251 112.317 74.0683 86.6126
4 Parabolic 87.8376 141.558 87.8045 139.095 87.6702 138.852 96.9060 144.086
Elliptic 87.5095 141.125 87.3433 141.121 86.7695 140.980 96.0056 143.333
5 Parabolic 108.611 212.645 101.813 195.285 94.8044 178.442 114.850 213.568
Elliptic 109.063 212.220 102.482 194.948 96.0407 178.239 114.394 212.436
6 Parabolic 148.350 280.445 142.371 267.749 136.030 250.948 158.662 294.453
Elliptic 147.326 278.220 141.460 265.356 135.175 248.978 158.000 292.920
7 Parabolic 170.465 303.406 170.370 297.140 170.331 295.446 169.563 321.839
Elliptic 170.163 306.977 169.973 301.157 169.897 299.393 169.520 319.578
8 Parabolic 191.757 380.128 186.554 359.307 181.089 338.535 204.364 385.682
Elliptic 190.952 378.139 185.736 357.442 180.244 336.728 203.539 383.716
9 Parabolic 236.421 479.079 232.144 456.855 227.679 434.711 250.146 486.173
Elliptic 235.553 476.918 231.250 454.736 226.755 432.631 249.435 483.754
10 Parabolic 249.921 564.238 249.913 557.910 249.900 538.286 251.117 564.824
Elliptic 249.340 560.919 249.331 553.827 249.314 535.036 250.290 564.977

NURBS-based computer aided design (CAD) tools.
The basic idea behind IGA is to utilize the basis
functions that are able to model accurately the exact
geometries from the CAD point of view for numerical
simulations of physical phenomena. It can be achieved
by using B-splines or NURBS for the geometrical
description and invoking the isoparametric concepts to
define the unknown field variables. A distinct advan-
tage over FEM is that the mesh refinement is simply
accomplished by re-indexing the parametric space
without interaction with the CAD system. Therefore,
the geometry and the finite element mesh are simul-
taneously interpolated from a set of control points in a
homogeneous space, hence the gap between structural
design and analysis could be bridged. Another
intriguing trait of these functions is that they are
typically smooth beyond the classical C 0 -continuity of
the standard FEM. Comprehensive knowledge of IGA
could be found in the excellent text book of Cottrell
et al. [13]. IGA has been used to solve many dynamics
problems in a wide range of research areas. Reali [14]
and Cottrell et al. [15] presented the free vibration
analysis of Euler–Bernoulli beams and Kirchhoff–
Love plates by using exact geometrical isogeometric
models. Later, Shojaee et al. [16] and Thai et al. [17]
implemented the NURBS-based isogeometric formu-
lation to investigate the natural frequencies and the
mode shapes of laminated composite plates governed
by Kirchhoff–Love and Reissner–Mindlin theory,
respectively. The free vibration of Timoshenko beams
with the isogeometric approach was carried out by Lee
and Park [18]. Nagy et al. [19] implemented the
NURBS-based control mesh to find the optimal shape
for the maximum natural frequency of Euler–Ber-
noulli curved beams.
From the previously cited references, one can note
that despite extensive research for the vibration
analysis of the non-circular curved beams, to the
authors’ knowledge, there was no study reported on
the free vibration analysis of curved beams with
variable curvature using the isogeometric finite ele-
ment model in the literature. Besides, it is well known
that NURBS have the ability to model free-form
curves accurately while the previous literature is based

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pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
~ ¼ xb2
Table 5 Non-dimensional frequencies, x qA=EI , for elliptic rings with various a=b ratios (ks G=E ¼ 0:3)
a=b 1st mode 2nd mode
This study Ref. [26] This study Ref. [26]
2a=r ¼ 30 2a=r ¼ 100 2a=r ¼ 400 2a=r ¼ 30 2a=r ¼ 100 2a=r ¼ 400

1.0 2.584 2.674 2.683 2.683 2.584 2.674 2.683 2.683

1.1 2.329 2.417 2.427 2.427 2.338 2.427 2.436 2.437
1.2 2.100 2.186 2.195 2.193 2.129 2.216 2.225 2.226
1.4 1.715 1.793 1.801 1.801 1.793 1.877 1.886 1.885
1.7 1.289 1.355 1.362 1.362 1.431 1.510 1.519 1.518
2.0 0.9945 1.050 1.056 1.057 1.176 1.250 1.258 1.259

on the complex separate equations to represent the
length and the curvature of curved beams. Therefore,
the objective of this study is to obtain accurate natural
frequencies and its corresponding mode shapes of
free-form curved beams by using the NURBS-based
isogeometric analysis.
In this paper, the NURBS-based isogeometric free
vibration model is developed based on the Timo-
shenko curved beam theory. The NURBS basis
functions are used instead of traditional Lagrange
interpolation functions. The geometry and curvature
of curved beams can be modelled accurately based on
NURBS. Furthermore, the h-, p- and k-refinement
strategies are implemented to create the NURBS
elements with high orders and high continuities. The
verification of the proposed model is obtained by
comparing the current results with previously pub-
lished works and an excellent agreement is observed.
Then, curved beams and rings with various shapes,
boundary conditions, and slenderness ratios are taken
into account for the NURBS-based isogeometric
vibration analysis. Especially, with the NURBS inter-
polation technique, the free-form curved beams can be
modelled by the present isogeometric approach with-
out any difficulty. The application of the Tschirnhau-
sen’s cubic curved beam is presented for the
investigation of the natural frequencies and mode
shapes.
NURBS are derived from B-splines which are
piecewise polynomial curves composed of linear
combinations of B-spline basis functions. The basis
functions are constructed from a knot vector. This is a
set of non-decreasing real numbers representing
coordinates in parametric space as follows:
H ¼ fg1 ; g2 ; g3 ; . . .; gnþpþ1 g ð1Þ
where gi 2 R is the ith knot, i is the knot index, i ¼
1; 2; . . .; n þ p þ 1 , p is the polynomial order and n is
the number of basis functions. The intervals
 
g1 ; gnþpþ1 and ½gi ; giþ1 Þ are called a patch and a
knot span, respectively. If all knots are equally spaced
in the parametric space, the knot vector is called
uniform. If they are unequally spaced, they are non-
uniform. If the first and last knot have the multiplicity
p þ 1, a knot vector is said to be open (the multiplicity
of a knot value is the number of times it appears in the
knot vector).
The B-spline basis functions Bi;p ðgÞ of order p > 0
are defined by the Cox–deBoor recursive formula as
follows:

1 if gi 6 g\giþ1
Bi;0 ðgÞ ¼ ð2Þ
0 otherwise
g  gi
Bi;p ðgÞ ¼ Bi;p1 ðgÞ
giþp  gi
giþpþ1  g
þ Biþ1;p1 ðgÞ ð3Þ
giþpþ1  giþ1

2 NURBS curve A quadratic example is presented in Fig. 1b for the

open, non-uniform knot vector H ¼ f0; 0; 0; 1; 2; 3;
The basics of NURBS theory is briefly presented. 3; 4; 5; 5; 5g. If the internal knot has multiplicity k, the
Further detailed information of NURBS-based geo- basis functions are Cpk -continuous at that knot. In
metric modelling can be found in Ref. [20]. addition, the basis functions are interpolatory at the

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pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
~ ¼ xb2
Table 6 Non-dimensional frequencies, x qA=EI , for the flexural, extensional and shear vibrations of elliptic rings
(ks G=E ¼ 0:3 and a=b ¼ 1:5)
2a/r Flexural mode Extensional mode Shear mode
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 1

30 1.55468 1.65645 4.13035 4.14704 7.49615 7.51015 11.3447 11.4135 7.92832 9.77319
50 1.60562 1.71340 4.43023 4.43364 8.32686 8.34111 13.0636 13.0841 13.2032 16.3593
70 1.62065 1.73026 4.52514 4.52586 8.61521 8.63138 13.7411 13.7454 18.4818 22.8547
100 1.62883 1.73944 4.57645 4.57946 8.78321 8.80058 14.1477 14.1481 26.4066 32.6473

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 ¼ xl2
Table 7 Non-dimensional frequencies, x qA=EI , for the Tschirnhausen’s cubic curved beams (ks G=E ¼ 0:3)
Mode Hinged–hinged Hinged–clamped Clamped–hinged Clamped–clamped
l=r ¼ 30 l=r ¼ 100 l=r ¼ 30 l=r ¼ 100 l=r ¼ 30 l=r ¼ 100 l=r ¼ 30 l=r ¼ 100

1 19.2379 20.9585 21.7004 26.4516 25.1776 28.2328 27.5770 34.7533

2 40.5269 53.1438 40.7294 59.5948 42.3696 62.9074 43.6262 69.2128
3 53.3215 101.875 60.0639 109.870 58.4147 115.649 64.7015 123.457
4 81.6741 147.444 83.6580 147.555 87.7843 149.961 88.8892 151.740
5 114.186 171.007 114.964 185.867 117.738 185.090 119.588 200.368
6 132.004 236.831 139.060 250.092 136.001 254.796 142.525 267.164

ends of the knot vector and at the knot whose
multiplicity is pðC0 -continuous).
A B-spline curve is defined by a linear combination
of B-spline basis functions and coefficients over the
parametric space as follows:
ðPwdþ1 Þi ¼ wi ð6Þ
where the additional coordinates wi are known as
weights. The non-rational (d þ 1)-dimensional B-
spline curve is expressed from Eq. (5) as follows:

X
n X
n

CðgÞ ¼ Bi;p ðgÞPi ð4Þ Cw ðgÞ ¼ Bi;p ðgÞPwi ð7Þ

i¼1 i¼1

where Pi are the control points in d-dimensional Applying the projective transformation to Cw ðgÞ
physical space Rd which construct the control yields the corresponding rational B-spline curve.
polygon. The example of B-spline curve shown in Pn
Bi;p ðgÞwi Pi X n
Fig. 1a is built from the knot vector H ¼ CðgÞ ¼ Pi¼1 n ¼ Ni;p ðgÞPi ð8Þ
i¼1 Bi;p ðgÞwi i¼1
f0; 0; 0; 1; 2; 3; 3; 4; 5; 5; 5g and eight control points.
As mentioned previously, the word ‘‘NURBS’’ is If the knot vector is non-uniform, the NURBS basis
abbreviation for non-uniform rational B-splines. The functions for the NURBS curve are defined as follows:
term ‘‘non-uniform’’ refers to the knot vector which is
not uniform. The term ‘‘rational’’ refers to the basis Bi;p ðgÞwi
Ni;p ðgÞ ¼ Pn ð9Þ
functions which are piecewise rational polynomials. i¼1 Bi;p ðgÞwi
The rational B-spline curve in Rd is the projection onto  
The domain g1 ; gnþpþ1 is considered as a patch.
d-dimensional physical space of a non-rational B-
spline curve defined in (d þ 1)-dimensional homoge-
neous coordinate space. Homogeneous (d þ 1)- 3 Isogeometric model of free-form curved beam
dimensional control points are as follows:

ðPwj Þi ¼ ðPj Þi ; j ¼ 1; 2; . . .; d ð5Þ This section shortly represents the main features of the
isogeometric finite element analysis. The NURBS

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basis functions become the finite element basis In order to derive the equations of motion, the
functions for the approximate displacement field. Hamilton’s principle is used as follows:
The degrees of freedom are the control variables and Z t2
located at the control points. The number of finite d ðU  T  W Þdt ¼ 0 ð13Þ
elements are computed as the number of non-zero knot t1

spans. At the ends of knot vectors or knot values when where U, T, and W are the elastic strain energy, the
C 0 -continuity is attained, the control points can be kinetic energy, and the work of external force,
used to represent the geometry for imposing essential respectively, given by
boundary conditions. Z
1 Lh 2 2
i
U¼ EAðu0 þjwÞ þEIh02 þGAks ðhþw0 juÞ dx
3.1 Weak formulation 2 0
ð14Þ
The Timoshenko curved beam is implemented to model Z Lh
1   i
the NURBS-based isogeometric finite element analysis
T¼ qA u_ 2 þ w_ 2 þ qI h_ 2 dx ð15Þ
framework. Fig. 2 illustrates the geometry of the curved 2 0
beam with variable curvature in a right-handed curvilinear Z L
coordinate system (x; z). The x-curvilinear coordinate
W¼ ðun þ wq þ hmÞdx ð16Þ
coincides with the centroidal axis of the curved beam 0
and j denotes the curvature. Considering the exten-
where q is the mass density; n, q, and m are,
sional, flexural and shear deformations, the tangential
respectively, the distributed tangential load, radial
and normal displacement field for the curved beam
load, and moment; L is the length of beam; the ‘‘over-
element can be expressed as follows [21]:
dot’’ denotes differentiation with respect to t.
uðx; z; tÞ ¼ uðx; tÞ þ zhðx; tÞ ð10Þ For free vibration analysis, the external loads in Eq.
(16) are assumed to be zero and then substituting Eqs.
 z; tÞ ¼ wðx; tÞ
wðx; ð11Þ (14) and (15) into Eq. (13), the following weak
where u and w are the tangential and normal statement is obtained as follows:
displacements, respectively, at the centroid axis; h is Z t2 Z L
the rotation of the cross-section and t is the time. The 0¼ ½EAðu0 þ jwÞdu0
t1 0
associated strain-displacement relations are as  GAks jðh þ w0  juÞdu  qAud _ u_
follows: þ EAjðu0 þ jwÞdw þ GAks ðh þ w0  juÞdw0
 qAwd_ w_ þ EIh0 dh0 þ GAks ðh þ w0  juÞdh
e ¼ u0 þ jw; v ¼ h0 ; c ¼ h þ w0  ju ð12Þ
_ hdxdt
 qI hd _
where e and v are the membrane strain and the
ð17Þ
curvature strain, respectively; c is the transverse shear
strain; the superscript ‘‘prime’’ refers to differentiation
with respect to x. It is noted that Babu and Prathap [22] 3.2 Equations of motion
suggested the use of the rotation h due to flexure and
defined the curvature strain v as h0 þ ju and the By integrating the derivative of varied quantities in
transverse shear strain c as h þ w0 . On the other hand, Eq. (17) by part, the equations of motion for the free
Day and Potts [23] showed that h is not equal to the vibration analysis can be obtained as follows:
physical rotation of the cross-section and hence is not a 0
0 ¼ EAðu0 þ jwÞ þGAks jðh þ w0  juÞ  qA€
u
suitable parameter to be used as a nodal degree of
freedom. Therefore, Raveendranath et al. [21] consid- ð18Þ
ered h þ ju as a single variable h so that the curvature 0
strain is defined as h0 and the definition of the 0 ¼ EAjðu0 þ jwÞ  GAks ðh þ w0  juÞ þqAw
€
transverse shear strain c is modified as h þ w0  ju. ð19Þ

123
 Meccanica

0 ¼ EIh00  GAks ðh þ w0  juÞ  qI h€ ð20Þ .P

3

It can be shown that Eqs. (18)–(20) have solutions that .

P2

.P
8

are separable in time and space, and the time

dependence is harmonic. Letting
.
P5

P1
.
.P
ixt
uð x; tÞ ¼ uf ðxÞe ð21Þ
P4 . P6 . 7

ixt
wð x; tÞ ¼ wf ðxÞe ð22Þ
(a)
hð x; tÞ ¼ hf ðxÞeixt ð23Þ
where x is the angular frequency; uf , wf , and hf are the
amplitudes of the harmonically varying tangential,
radial, and sectional rotation motions, respectively.
Introducing Eqs. (21)–(23) into Eqs. (18)–(20), the
following equations of motion are obtained:
 0 
0 ¼ EA u0f þ jwf þGAks j hf þ w0f  juf
þ qAx2 uf ð24Þ (b)
 Fig. 1 B-spline curve and its corresponding quadratic basis
0 ¼ EAj u0f þ jwf functions with open, non-uniform knot vector H ¼ f0; 0; 0; 1;
 0 2; 3; 3; 4; 5; 5; 5g, a B-spline curve, b quadratic basis functions
 GAks hf þ w0f  juf qAx2 wf ð25Þ
 w
0 ¼ EIh00f  GAks hf þ w0f  juf þ qIx2 hf ð26Þ u
φ
θ
1
x
3.3 Isogeometric finite element formulation κ ( x)
z

In development of the isogeometric finite element 0 ζ

model, a typical element of curve beam which is
defined in the parametric domain X ^e  X ^ and the 0 ξ
e
curvilinear domain X  X is considered as shown in
Fig. 3. The fundamental difference between the Fig. 2 Schematic of the free-form curved beam
isogeometric finite element analysis and the conven-
tional one is that the NURBS basis functions which are control points as shown in Eq. (8) and the solution field
capable of representing the known geometry are uf ¼ ðuf ; wf ; hf Þ is described as follows:
chosen to approximate the unknown solution fields.
X
nen
The arrangement of ‘‘NURBS coordinate’’ in Eq. (9) is a ¼ ae ð gÞ ¼ Ni ðgÞPei ð27Þ
inverted into the finite element notation for the case of i¼1
one-dimensional parametric space. It should be noted
that the beam is an one-dimensional element in the X
nen
uf  uef ðgÞ ¼ Ni ðgÞuei ð28Þ
curvilinear and parametric spaces but its geometry is
i¼1
described in the two-dimensional physical rectangular
space ðn; fÞ. The geometry a ¼ ðn; fÞ of the curved where Ni are the NURBS basis functions and Pi ¼
beam is defined based on NURBS functions and ðni ; fi Þ are the control points. The coefficients uei ¼

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Meccanica

2 3
Ωe Curvilinear domain M11 0 0
x 4
M¼ 0 M22 0 5 ð34Þ
0 0 M33
x -1
The explicit forms of matrices K and M are expressed
as follows:
Z Leþ1 
P
Parametric
t i domain
i
Ω̂e Kij11 ¼ EANi0 Nj0 þ GAks j2 Ni Nj dx
ηi ηi +1 η Z
Le
Leþ1 
Kij22 ¼ EAj2 Ni Nj þ GAks Ni0 Nj0 dx
f Le
Z Leþ1 
Kij33 ¼ EINi0 Nj0 dx þ GAks Ni Nj dx
∼ Parent element
Ωe Le
Z Leþ1 
-1 1
Kij12 ¼ Kji21 ¼ EAjNi0 Nj  GAks jNi Nj0 dx
η∼ Le
Z Leþ1  
Fig. 3 Geometrical and affine mappings for integration by Kij13 ¼ Kji31 ¼ GAks jNi Nj dx
Gaussian quadrature on NURBS elements of curved beam Le
Z Leþ1
Kij23 ¼ Kji32 ¼ GAks Ni0 Nj dx
  Le
e
uei ; wei ; hi are denoted as control variables and nen is Z Leþ1
the number of control points for each element. The x- Mij11 ¼ qANi Nj dx
Le
curvilinear coordinate, the Jacobian of transformation, Z Leþ1
the curvature are calculated, respectively, as follows: Mij22 ¼ qANi Nj dx
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Le
Z g0 ¼L
2
2 Z Leþ1
dn df
x ð gÞ ¼ 0
þ dg0 ð29Þ Mij33 ¼ qINi Nj dx
g0 ¼0 dg dg0 Le

ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
s
ð35Þ

2
dx dn 2 df
J ð gÞ ¼ ¼ þ ð30Þ The assembly follows the standard finite element
dg dg dg procedure. The standard Gauss-Legendre quadrature
is used for numerical integration over the parametric
dn d 2 f df d n 2

dg dg2  dg dg2 domain in this study. In IGA, each element in the

jðgÞ ¼ ð31Þ
J3 parametric space is mapped into its corresponding
element in the physical space as shown in Fig. 3. In
In the following, substituting Eq. (28) into the weak
form in Eq. (17) and integrating over the element order to transform from the parametric space to the
parent element, an affine mapping is used [13]. The
domain, the finite element model of this element can
be expressed as the standard eigenvalue problem, as parametric coordinates of the quadrature point g 2
follows: X^ e jX
^e ¼ ½gi ; giþ1  from its reference element coordi-
  nate g~ 2 X~e as follows:
K  x2 M fue g ¼ f0g ð32Þ
1   
where K is the element stiffness matrix given by g¼ giþ1  gi g~ þ ðgiþ1 þ gi Þ ð36Þ
2
2 11 3
K K12 K13 Some remarks of the present isogeometric model are:
K ¼ 4 K21 K22 K23 5 ð33Þ
K 31
K 32
K33 – The curvature j is computed based on NURBS in
Eq. (31) at each Gauss point. Therefore, the
and M is the element mass matrix given by present method is expected to be appropriate for

123

investigation of the free vibration behavior of free-
form curved beams.
– The angle / which is measured clockwise from the
global n-axis to the local curvilinear x-axis as
shown in Fig. 2, is used to express the relationship
between the global displacements ð~ ~ and the
~ hÞ
u; w;
local displacements ðu; w; hÞ as follows:
 of these new elements are preserved, as shown in Fig.
df dg
/ðgÞ ¼ arctan ð37Þ
dg dn
– The selective reduced integration technique is
implemented in this study. Unlike the standard
C 0 =C 0 -curved beam elements, the shear and
membrane locking phenomena still exist in the
quadratic NURBS curved beam elements [24].
However, the authors are interested in the higher
orders of NURBS basis functions where the
locking problems are generally alleviated [18, 25].
3.4 NURBS-based refinement strategies
It is well known in FEA that the accuracy in solutions
is increased by using refinement strategies. In
NURBS-based geometric modelling, it is interesting
that the basis could be enriched by the knot insertion
and the order elevation while leaving the underlying
geometry and its parameterization intact. These two
methods could be efficiently utilized in IGA. The
insertion of new knot values corresponds to the h-
refinement of the traditional FEA since the number of
element is increased. The order elevation has common
features with the classical p-refinement strategy in
FEA because it increases the polynomial order of the
basis. When the order of basis is elevated, the
multiplicity of knot values is increased in order to
preserve the continuity across elements. Subsequently
if an unique knot is inserted in a non-zero knot span,
the continuity across the new elements is reduced by
one. This mechanism of mesh refinement in analysis is
known as the k-refinement.
These three refinement strategies are depicted for
the case of a parabolic curve in Figs. 4, 5, and 6,
respectively. The initial mesh is generated by only one
knot span of quadratic basis functions as shown in Fig.
4a. The h-refinement techniques are implemented in
the initial mesh by putting 1 or 3 or 7 knot values to
create the finer meshes in Figs. 4b–d, respectively. It is
realized that the h-refinement strategy creates NURBS
123
Meccanica
elements with higher continuities. The C0 =C0 -qua-
dratic NURBS element of the initial mesh results in 2,
4, 8 quadratic elements with C 1 -continuity across
interior element boundaries. For the p-refinement
strategy, the order of basis functions for the initial
C 0 =C 0 -quadratic element is elevated to generate the
cubic, quartic or quintic element and the continuities
5b–d. Finally, the k-refinement is utilized by h-
refinement of the presented p- refinement meshes.
The basis functions are enriched with higher continu-
ity as well as polynomial order. Fig. 6 shows four
elements of cubic, quartic, and quintic basis functions
with C 2 -, C 3 -, C4 -interior continuities, respectively,
by using the k-refinement technique. It should be noted
that two adjacent elements share 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 control
points if they are C0 -, C 1 -, C 2 -, C3 - or C 4 -continuous
across their common boundary, respectively.
4 Results and discussion
4.1 Convergence test and verification
A number of numerical examples are presented and
analysed for investigating the effects of the NURBS-
based refinement strategies on the convergence prop-
erties and verifying the accuracy of the present model.
For convenience, the following non-dimensional fre-
quency is used in presenting the numerical results:
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
x ¼ xl2 qA=EI in which l is the span length of
curved beam. The slenderness ratio is defined as l/r
where r is the radius of gyration of the cross-sectional
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
area, r ¼ I=A.
Parabolic curved beams are firstly considered to
examine the convergence properties of the NURBS-
based isogeometric finite element analysis framework
developed by this study. The schematic of a parabolic
curved beam with the length of span l, the rise h are
depicted in Fig. 7a. The initial mesh of the parabolic
curved beam has only one quadratic NURBS element
created by three control points. The h-, p-, and k-
refinement techniques are implemented for generating
quadratic, cubic, quartic, and quintic NURBS ele-
ments on finer meshes as described previously in
details in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. The rates of convergence for
the lowest ten non-dimensional frequencies of the
parabolic curved beam with hinged–hinged end
Meccanica

.
e1
1

. . 0
0,0,0 1,1,1

(a)
e1 e2

. .
1

. . 0
0,0,0 0.5 1,1,1

(b)
e1 e2 e3 e4

. .
1

. .
. . 0
0,0,0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1,1,1

(c)
e1 e2 e3 e4 e5 e6 e7 e8

. . .
1

. . .
.. .. 0
0,0,0
000
1 1 3 1 5 3 7
1,1,1
111
8 4 8 2 8 4 8
(d)
Fig. 4 Parabolic curve modelled exactly by quadratic B- c Refined quadratic curve with H ¼ f0; 0; 0; 14 ; 12 ; 34 ; 1; 1; 1g, d
splines: initial and h-refined curves with their corresponding Refined quadratic curve with H ¼ f0; 0; 0; 18 ; 14 ; 38 ; 12 ; 58 ; 34 ; 78 ;
basis functions, a Initial quadratic curve with H ¼ f0; 0; 0; 1; 1; 1g
1; 1; 1g, b Refined quadratic curve with H ¼ f0; 0; 0; 12 ; 1; 1; 1g,

constraint are presented in Table 1 (nel is the number of
elements used for IGA). In Table 1, the shear
parameter ks G=E ¼ 0:3, the slenderness ratio l=r ¼
75 and the beam rise to span length ratio h=l ¼ 0:3 are
used. For comparison, results for the first four non-
dimensional frequencies evaluated by Oh et al. [1] and
Yang et al. [10] are listed. It can be observed that the
present numerical results and those given by Refs. [1,
10] are very consistent. It is noted that the results given
in Ref. [10] were achieved by using ten Lagrangian-
type curved beam elements. Both cited solutions
consider all the effects of the extensibility, the shear
deformation, and the rotary inertia. From Table 1, it is
a definite strength point that refinement strategies
allow IGA to converge efficiently to the expected
results. It can be realized from the first six lines of

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 Meccanica

.
e1
1

. . 0
0,0,0 1,1,1

(a)

. . 1
e1

. . 0
0000
0,0,0,0 11,1,1,1
111

(b)

. e1

. .
1

. . 0
00000
0,0,0,0,0 1,1,1,1,1
11111

(c)

e1
. . 1

. .
. . 0
000000
0,0,0,0,0,0 1,1,1,1,1,1
111111

(d)
Fig. 5 Parabolic curve modelled exactly by quadratic B- 1; 1; 1g, b Refined cubic curve with H ¼ f0; 0; 0; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1g, c
splines: initial and p-refined curves with their corresponding Refined quartic curve with H ¼ f0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1g, d
basis functions, a Initial quadratic curve with H ¼ f0; 0; 0; Refined quintic curve with H ¼ f0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1g

Table 1 that by using the h-refinement, the accuracy of
the present IGA-based solution is increased as the
number of elements is increased from 4 to 128. The
more efficient technique known as k-refinement with
higher order, higher continuity of NURBS, gives fast
convergence speed. With the aid of the k-refinement,
the first ten non-dimensional frequencies converge
with 32 quartic elements or 16 quintic elements. It can
be noted here that the 16 quintic NURBS elements are
generated from 21 control points which correspond to
21  3 ¼ 63 DOFs. For the results given in Ref. [10]
with ten C 0 =C 0 -four-node Lagrangian-type elements,
the number of corresponding degrees of freedom
required is 31  3 ¼ 93. Similar results can be
obtained by sixteen cubic NURBS elements with 19 
3 ¼ 57 DOFs, sixteen quartic NURBS elements with
20  3 ¼ 60 DOFs or eight quintic NURBS elements
with 13  3 ¼ 39 DOFs.
The same manner of the free vibration analysis is
carried out in Table 2 for the elliptic curved beam

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Meccanica

.
e1
1

. . 0
0,0,0 1,1,1

(a)
e1 e2 e3 e4

. . .
1

. .
. . 0
00,0,0,0
000 00.25
25 00.5
5 00.75
75 1,1,1,1
1111

(b)
e1 e2 e3 e4
. . 1

. .
.. .. 0
00000
0,0,0,0,0 0 25
0.25 05
0.5 0 75
0.75 11111
1,1,1,1,1

4 2 4
(c)
e1 e2 e3 e4

. . .
1

. .
.. .. 0
00,0,0,0,0,0
00000 0.25
0 25 05
0.5 0 75
0.75 1,1,1,1,1,1
111111

(d)
Fig. 6 Parabolic curve modelled exactly by quadratic B- 1 3
2 ; 4 ; 1; 1; 1; 1g, c Refined quartic curve with H ¼ f0; 0; 0; 0; 0;
splines: initial and k-refined curves with their corresponding 1 1 3
curve with H ¼ f0; 0;
4 ; 2 ; 4 ; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1g, d Refined quintic
basis functions, a Initial quadratic curve with H ¼ f0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 14 ; 12 ; 34 ; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1g
1; 1; 1g, b Refined cubic curve with H ¼ f0; 0; 0; 0; 14 ;

whose configuration is depicted in Fig. 7b. The
hinged–clamped boundary condition is assumed along
with the following material properties: ks G=E ¼ 0:3,
l=r ¼ 50, h=l ¼ 0:2 and geometrical parameter
a ¼ 0:5. Be aware that while the lowest number of
NURBS elements possible to model the parabolic
curved beam is one, the geometry of the elliptic curved
beam needs at least two elements for the use of
NURBS. In addition, since these two NURBS
elements are C 0 -continuous, the number of control
points required is greater than those of two elements
for the parabolic curved beams. For this reason, the
results of the elliptic curved beam converge better than
those of the parabolic curved beam at the beginning of
the h- and k-refinement processes. It can be seen that
the presented IGA results for the elliptic curved beam
are in excellent agreement with the solutions given by
Refs. [1, 10].

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 Meccanica

(a) are presented along with the results obtained by the

dynamic stiffness method [4] for various aspect ratios
h in Table 3 (a and b denote the major and minor radii of
the semi-elliptic curved beam, respectively). Sixteen
quintic NURBS elements are used to generate the
l
results in Table 3 and the material properties are
assumed as m ¼ 0:3, ks ¼ 0:85, and l=r ¼ 100. From
Table 3, it is seen that the present results are also in an
(b) excellent agreement with those in Ref. [4].
h
4.2 Free vibration of curved beams and rings

The free vibration behaviors of the parabolic and

αl l αl
Fig. 7 Schematic of the parabolic and elliptic curved beams.
a Parabolic curved beam, b elliptic curved beam
To demonstrate the accuracy and validity of this
study further, the lowest six non-dimensional frequen-
cies of clamped–clamped semi-elliptic curved beams
elliptic curved beams governed by the Timoshenko
curved beam theory are described in Table 4. The
values of the lowest ten non-dimensional frequencies
are tabulated with four types of boundary conditions:
clamped–clamped, clamped–hinged, hinged–hinged,
and free-free boundary conditions with two different
slenderness ratios l=r ¼ 30 and 100. The ratio of beam
rise to span length h=l is 0.25. It should be mentioned

Fig. 8 The first ten mode (a) (b)

shapes of the parabolic
curved beam with hinged–
hinged end constraint
(ks G=E ¼ 0:3, h=l ¼ 0:25
and l=r ¼ 100). Solid and
dashed lines represent
deformed and undeformed (c) (d)
configurations, respectively

(e) (f)

(g) (h)

(i) (j)

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Meccanica

. . . .
different slenderness ratios ranging from thick to very

.
thin rings 2a=r ¼ 30, 100 and 400 are tabulated in

. .
Table 5. The present solutions are compared with
analytical solutions obtained by Sato [26] for all the

. .
cases of a=b ratio. Sato obtained results by using the

. .
Euler–Bernoulli curved beam theory. The difference
between the three presented solutions in Table 5 is due

. .
to the effects of the shear deformation and the rotary
inertia. In other words, the results of the thick rings

.. .
(2a=r ¼ 30) are smaller than those of the moderately

. . . .
thick rings (2a=r ¼ 100) and especially, those of very
thin rings (2a=r ¼ 400) which indicates the need for
taking into account the effects of the shear deforma-
tion and the rotary inertia on the free vibration analysis
of full elliptic thick rings. The good agreement is
Fig. 9 Quintic NURBS ellipse with the knot vector H ¼ f0; 0; observed between the present numerical results
0; 0; 0; 0; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 2; 2; 2; 2; 2; 3; 3; 3; 3; 3; 4; 4; 4; 4; 4; 4g and (2a=r ¼ 400) and those given by Sato [26] through
21 control points of 4 C0 =C 0 NURBS elements the whole range of the a=b ratio. For the perfect
circular ring, the natural frequencies for the first and
second flexural modes are identical. However, the
that there are three rigid body modes for the curved
frequency splitting between the first pairs of modes is
beams with the free-free boundary condition and they
produced when the a=b ratio increases, as expected.
are excluded in this study. Table 4 shows that the ten
Table 6 shows the lowest eight non-dimensional
non-dimensional frequencies are affected by the
frequencies for the flexural vibration and the non-
slenderness ratio due to the effects of the shear
dimensional fundamental frequencies for the exten-
deformation and the rotary inertia, specially for high-
sional and shear vibrations with different the slender-
order modes. As the l=r increases, the values of these
ness ratios when the ratio a=b ¼ 1:5. It is seen from
frequencies become greater for all the four types of
Table 6 that the flexural modes group into four pairs
curved beams. Besides, the numerical results listed in
and the frequency splitting between these pairs of
Table 4 indicate that the non-dimensional frequencies
modes is less remarkable for higher-order modes. In
of the curved beam decrease as the end constraint
addition, the effect of the slenderness ratio on the non-
changes from clamped–clamped to clamped–hinged
dimensional fundamental frequencies of the exten-
to hinged–hinged boundary conditions, as expected.
sional and shear vibrations is observed to be signif-
For the case of the free-free boundary condition, it can
icant. The first eight flexural mode shapes and the
be seen that the non-dimensional frequencies of the
fundamental extensional and shear mode shapes for
elliptic curved beams are smaller slightly than those of
the elliptic ring with a=b ¼ 1:5 and 2a=r ¼ 70 are
the parabolic curved beams. The presented frequen-
presented in Figs. 10 and 11. All the results presented
cies are obtained by using 16 quintic NURBS
in Tables 5 and 6 are produced by using 32 NURBS
elements. The first ten mode shapes for the hinged–
elements of order five.
hinged parabolic curved beam with the slenderness
ratio l=r ¼ 100 are plotted in Fig. 8.
4.3 Free vibration of free-form curved beams
In the next example, the free vibration analysis of
the full elliptic rings is performed. The non-dimen-
It is well known in the CAD that the free-form curves
sional frequencies concerning the minor radius, x ~¼ are modelled accurately by NURBS through the
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2
xb qA=EI is used. The geometric modelling of a technique of interpolation. Therefore the free-form
elliptic ring is depicted in Fig. 9 for the case of quintic curved beams can be analysed for natural frequencies
NURBS with four non-zero knot spans. The results of and mode shapes by using the present NURB-based
the lowest two non-dimensional flexural frequencies isogeometric approach. The Tschirnhausen’s cubic
for the elliptic rings with various a=b ratios and three curved beam is considered to generate the results of

123
 Meccanica

Fig. 10 The first eight (a) (b)

flexural mode shapes of the
elliptic ring (ks G=E ¼ 0:3,
a=b ¼ 1:5 and 2a=r ¼ 70)

(c) (d)

(e) (f)

(g) (h)

123
Meccanica

Fig. 11 The fundamental (a) (b)

mode shapes for extensional
and shear vibrations of the
elliptic ring (ks G=E ¼ 0:3,
a=b ¼ 1:5 and 2a=r ¼ 70).
a Extensional mode, b shear
mode

Fig. 12 Quintic NURBS (a)

      
curve of 40 elements is
   
 
constructed by interpolation
method of 41 data points
 

given by the
Tschirnhausen’s cubic curve
 
which is defined as 27ay2 ¼
x2 ðx þ 9aÞ with  
x 2 ½9a; 0; y  0; a [ 0,
a Quintic NURBS curve
constructed through 41
interpolation points,

. . . . ..........
b Constructed quintic
NURBS curve with 45 (b)

. . . . . ......
.
control points

. . .
. .
.. .
free vibration as an example of free-form curved
beam. The geometry of the Tschirnhausen’s cubic
curved beam is defined as follows [27]: 27ay2 ¼
x2 ðx þ 9aÞ with x 2 ½9a; 0; y  0; a [ 0, the length
of span l ¼ 9a. The NURBS-based geometry of the
Tschirnhausen’s cubic curve beam is constructed by
interpolating of 41 data points with the aid of the chord
length method, as shown in Fig. 12a. This NURBS
curve of order five with 45 control points and 40 knot
spans is presented in Fig. 12b.
Using the present geometric modelling, the first
sixth non-dimensional frequencies for the Tschirn-
hausen’s cubic curved beam with two slenderness
ratios and four types of the boundary conditions are
presented in Table 7. It is seen in Table 7 that the
natural frequencies of curved beams are differently
..
..
affected by hinged–clamped and clamped–hinged end
constraints due to the asymmetric geometry. The
natural frequencies of the first two modes increase as
the boundary conditions are changed from hinged–
hinged to hinged–clamped to clamped–hinged to
clamped–clamped boundary conditions. In addition,
for the fundamental mode, the influence of the hinged–
clamped boundary condition on the slenderness ratio
l=r is higher than that of the clamped–hinged condi-
tion. This is due to the fact that the effect of the shear
deformation becomes higher when the complete
constraint is located at the deeper part (with larger
curvature) of the curved beam as seen in Eq. (19). The
first six mode shapes of Tschirnhausen’s cubic with
hinged–hinged boundary condition and the slender-
ness ratio l=r ¼ 100 are illustrated in Fig. 13.

123

Fig. 13 The first six modes (a)
of the hinged–hinged
Tschirnhausen’s cubic
curved beam (ks G=E ¼ 0:3
and l=r ¼ 100)
(c)
(e)
5 Concluding remarks
The free-form curved beam model considering all the
effects of the axis extensibility, shear deformation, and
rotary inertia is developed by using NURBS-based
isogeometric approach to investigate the in-plane free
vibration behaviors of curved beams and rings with
variable curvature. The convergence of natural fre-
quencies with respect to the h- and k-refinement
schemes is studied for the parabolic and elliptic curved
beams with different beam rise to span length ratios.
The numerical results of curved beams with various
shapes, boundary conditions, and slenderness ratios
are compared with other available solutions in the
literature to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency
of the proposed framework. The non-dimensional
natural frequencies and mode shapes of Tschirnhau-
sen’s cubic curved beam are presented as an example
for the free vibration analysis of free-form curved
beam. Based on the theoretical development and
numerical results, the following remarks can be made:
– In the free vibration analysis of the elliptic thick
rings, the influences of the shear deformation and
the rotary inertia on the natural frequencies are
considerably large and thus should not be
neglected for accurate analyses.
– For the Tschirnhausen’s cubic curved beam, the
influence of the left end constraint on the natural
frequencies is different from that of the right end
123
Meccanica
(b)
(d)
(f)
constraint due to the asymmetric geometry. The
influence of the right end constraint is higher than
the left one when it is located at the deeper part of
the curved beams for low-order modes.
– By using the present NURBS-based isogeometric
analysis, the curved beams with arbitrary geome-
try are efficiently modelled. The gap between the
free vibration analysis of the curved beams with
constant curvature and those with variable curva-
ture is eliminated. This approach appears to us to
be a prototype for the analysis of free-form curved
beams and rings.
Acknowledgments This research was supported by National
Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of
Education, Science and Technology through NRF2010-
0019373 and 2012R1A2A1A01007405, and by Korea
Ministry of Knowledge Economy under the National HRD
support program for convergence information technology
supervised by National IT Industry Promotion Agency
through NIPA-2013-H0401-13-1003. The support is gratefully
acknowledged.
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