Modeling of Fillets in

Thin-Walled Beams Using

K. He
Graduate Research Assistant
W. D. Zhu1
Professor
e-mail: wzhu@umbc.edu
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Maryland,
Baltimore County,
1000 Hilltop Circle,
Baltimore, MD 21250
Shell/Plate and Beam Finite
Elements
Fillets are commonly found in thin-walled beams. Ignoring the presence of a fillet in a
finite element (FE) model of a thin-walled beam can significantly change the natural
frequencies and mode shapes of the structure. A large number of solid elements are
required to accurately represent the shape and the stiffness of a fillet in a FE model,
which makes the size of the FE model unnecessarily large for global dynamic and static
analyses. In this work the equivalent stiffness effects of a fillet in a thin-walled beam are
decomposed into in-plane and out-of-plane effects. The in-plane effects of a fillet are
analyzed using the wide-beam and curved-beam theories, and the out-of-plane effects of
the fillet are analyzed by modeling the whole fillet section as a slender bar with an
irregular cross section. A simple shell/plate and beam element model is developed to
capture the in-plane and out-of-plane effects of a fillet on a thin-walled beam. The
natural frequencies and mode shapes of a thin-walled L-shaped beam specimen calcu-
lated using the new methodology are compared with its experimental results for 28
modes. The maximum error between the calculated and measured natural frequencies for
all the modes is less than 2%, and the associated modal assurance criterion values are all
over 95%. The methodology is also applied to other thin-walled beams, and excellent
agreement is achieved between the natural frequencies from the shell/plate and beam
element models and those from the solid element models. While the shell/plate and beam
element models provide the same level of accuracy as the intensive solid element models,
the degrees of freedom of the shell/plate and beam element models of the thin-walled
beams are only about 10% or less of those of the solid element models.
关DOI: 10.1115/1.3142879兴

1 Introduction
Thin-walled beams with fillets are widely used in engineering
structures. To create an accurate finite element 共FE兲 model of a
thin-walled beam, the effects of a fillet cannot always be ne-
glected. Figures 1共a兲 and 1共b兲 show two intensive solid element
models of two thin-walled beams with an L-shaped cross section
and free boundary conditions. All the solid element models in this
work are created using ABAQUS 6.5. The two beams in Fig. 1 have
the same material properties:
E = 68.9 ⫻ 109 GPa, ␷ = 0.33, ␳ = 2731.4 kg/m3 共1兲
where E is the elastic modulus, ␷ is the Poisson’s ratio, and ␳ is
the mass density. For all the cases in this work, the material prop-
erties used are the same as those in Eq. 共1兲. The only difference
between the two beams in Fig. 1 is that the one in Fig. 1共a兲 has a
fillet between the flanges and the other in Fig. 1共b兲 does not have
it. Note that all the fillets considered in this work are circular
fillets, which are the most commonly used fillets in thin-walled
beams. While the cross sections of the L-shaped beams considered
in this work are symmetric about its axis of symmetry 共see Fig. 2兲,
the analysis can be readily applied to thin-walled beams with dif-
ferent wall widths 共see Fig. 30兲. The radius of the fillet between
the flanges in Fig. 1共a兲 and the thickness of the flanges are 0.0075
m, the width of the flanges is b = 0.06 m, and the length of the
1
Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Technical Committee on Vibration and Sound of ASME for
publication in the JOURNAL OF VIBRATION AND ACOUSTICS. Manuscript received October
17, 2007; final manuscript received April 24, 2009; published online September 9,
2009. Assoc. Editor: I. Y. 共Steve兲 Shen. Paper presented at the International Modal
Analysis Conference 2008.
beams is l = 0.08 m 共see Fig. 1共c兲兲; the radius of the fillet at the
outer end of each flange of the beams in Fig. 1 is rout
= 0.0035 m. The calculated natural frequencies of the first elastic
modes of the two beams have a 19.41% difference, and the asso-
ciated modal assurance criterion 共MAC兲 value, calculated using
the displacements that are perpendicular to the flange surfaces at
six uniformly spaced locations at the outer end of each flange and
the middle edge of the beam 共see Fig. 1共c兲兲, is only 15.93%; note
that the displacements perpendicular to both flange surfaces are
used at the locations along the middle edge of the beam. The
natural frequency of the beam in Fig. 1共a兲 is higher than that in
Fig. 1共b兲 because ignoring the presence of a fillet leads to an
underpredicted stiffness of the structure and the effect of the stiff-
ness increase due to the presence of the fillet is larger than that of
the mass increase.
Thin-walled beams can always be modeled using solid ele-
ments; this can require a dense mesh at a fillet due to stress con-
centration and the shape of the fillet 关1兴, which can result in large
memory occupation and computation time consumption. When we
model relatively large structures or create FE models that require
model updating and optimization, the use of solid elements can be
computationally expensive. Using shell/plate elements to model
thin-walled beams is the most efficient approach because the
shell/plate elements can accurately model these structures with a
much smaller number of degrees of freedom 共DOFs兲. However,
how to model a fillet using shell/plate elements remains a chal-
lenging task.
The flanges of a thin-walled L-shaped beam can be easily mod-
eled using shell/plate elements with uniform thickness. It is not
difficult either to model the fillet at the outer end of each flange
共see Sec. 3.2.2兲, where the stress gradient is not high and there is

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 Fig. 1 The first elastic modes of two L-shaped beams „a… with
and „b… without a fillet between the flanges from the solid ele-
ment models. The natural frequency of the beam in „a… is 3026.7
Hz and that in „b… is 2439.2 Hz. The locations that are used for
calculating the associated MAC value are shown as dots in „c….
no need to have a dense mesh. The fillet between the flanges has
to be modeled separately because the thickness at the fillet region
is nonuniform and the stress gradient is high there. A straightfor-
ward approach is to use a series of shell/plate elements with vari-
able thickness to model a half fillet 共see Fig. 2兲. The resulting
model can approximate the shape of the fillet by increasing the
number of shell/plate elements along the x and y axes at the fillet
region. However, if we increase the number of elements along the
x and y axes 共see Fig. 1共c兲兲, the number of elements along the z
axis has to be increased at the same time because the shape of
each shell/plate element cannot be too spindly 关2,3兴. Hence the
DOFs of the FE model can still be very large. Moreover, it is
difficult to model the interaction between the two series of shell/
plate elements by varying only the thickness of shell/plate ele-
ments at the fillet region.
Another possible approach to model a thin-walled beam is to
use shell/plate elements to model the walls and solid elements to
model a fillet 共Fig. 3共a兲兲. This approach has no problem in mod-
eling the fillet, but the shape functions of the different types of
elements are incompatible at the connecting edges. The displace-
ments at these connecting edges will lose their continuities in this
solid and shell/plate element model. A fillet can also be modeled
as webs using shell/plate elements that are perpendicular to the
walls 共see Fig. 3共b兲兲. A weblike model can accurately represent
the shape of the fillet, but the material is discontinuous along the
Fig. 2 The cross section of an L-shaped beam with the fillet
between the flanges modeled by two series of shell/plate ele-
ments with variable thickness
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Fig. 3 „a… Using solid elements to model the fillet and shell/
plate elements to model the flanges of a thin-walled L-shaped
beam; and „b… using shell/plate elements that are perpendicular
to the flanges to model the fillet
z axis 共see Fig. 1共c兲兲 of the beam 关3兴. While the plate theory can
be used to analyze the walls of a filleted thin-walled beam, it is
difficult to model the boundary conditions of the walls at a fillet
关4兴.
In most global dynamic and static analyses, we are more inter-
ested in the stiffness and mass effects of a fillet on the global
behavior of a thin-walled beam; the stress and mass distributions
at the fillet have less importance. If a fillet can be modeled sepa-
rately and represented by some equivalent stiffness and mass, we
do not have to create an accurate model to capture the shape of the
fillet and the stress distribution at the fillet in a global analysis.
The equivalent mass can be easily calculated if we know the ra-
dius of the fillet and the density of the material, but it is very
difficult to calculate the equivalent stiffness by directly using the
elasticity theory.
Brown and Seugling 关3兴 investigated the effects of a fillet in the
cross-sectional plane. The fillet was treated as a straight wide
beam with nonuniform rectangular cross section and a fixed
boundary in the analytical model. In the FE model, the fillet was
modeled as a “bridge” that connects the tangent sections using
shell/plate elements 共see Fig. 4兲. By matching the rotational dis-
placements of the tangent sections, which were derived from the
analytical and FE models using the wide-beam theory 关5兴, the
elastic modulus and the thickness of the shell elements used at the
bridge were determined 关3兴.
Only the in-plane effects were considered in Ref. 关3兴; the out-
of-plane effects of a fillet on the bending and torsional stiffnesses
of a thin-walled beam were not considered. Figures 5共a兲 and 5共b兲
show that the presence of a fillet between the flanges of an
L-shaped beam can significantly change the natural frequency of
Fig. 4 The bridge model of a fillet used in Ref. †3‡
Transactions of the ASME
 Fig. 5 The first torsional modes of two L-shaped beams „a…
with and „b… without a fillet between the flanges from the solid
element models. The radius of the fillet between the flanges is
0.005 m, the thickness of the flanges is 0.005 m, rout
= 0.0025 m, b = 0.03 m, and l = 0.15 m. The first torsional natu-
ral frequency of the beam in „a… is 543 Hz and that in „b… is 520
Hz. The locations at the outer ends of the two flanges, which
are used for calculating the associated MAC value, are shown Fig. 7 „a… Double fillets and „b… the straight wide-beam model
as dots in „c…. of the upper fillet region of the double fillets in Ref. †3‡

the first torsional mode of the beam. The first torsional natural
theory to solve a curved-beam problem can lead to a large error
frequencies of the L-shaped beams with and without the fillet,
关6兴. A more accurate method can be developed to analyze the
calculated from the solid element models, have an 8.3% differ-
in-plane effects of a single fillet.
ence, and the associated MAC value, calculated using the dis-
To resolve the problems mentioned above, we have developed a
placements that are perpendicular to the flange surfaces at six
new method that uses shell/plate and beam elements to model a
uniformly spaced locations at the outer end of each flange 共see
fillet in a thin-walled beam. Both the in-plane and out-of-plane
Fig. 6共c兲兲, is 76%. A more comprehensive model that can accu-
effects of a fillet are taken into account and they are calculated
rately capture both the in-plane and out-of-plane effects of a fillet
separately. By matching the displacements at the fillet under given
is needed.
applied loads and the bending stiffnesses of the cross section of
There are two common types of fillets: a single fillet shown in
the fillet, which are derived from the analytical and FE models,
Fig. 6 and double fillets shown in Fig. 7共a兲. The double fillets
the equivalent stiffnesses of the fillet are obtained. The accuracy
were discussed in Ref. 关3兴; the displacements of the top tangent
in calculating the in-plane displacements of a tangent section is
section were calculated by modeling the upper fillet region as a
improved by using the curved-beam theory. The fillet mass is
straight wide beam with a fixed boundary 共see Fig. 7共b兲兲. For a
modeled by matching the fillet volume in the FE model with its
single-fillet region shown in Fig. 6, using the straight wide-beam
actual value. The method is used to model two thin-walled
model to calculate the displacements of a tangent section is not
L-shaped beams. The calculated natural frequencies and mode
always accurate, since the centroidal axis of the wide beam cannot
shapes of an aluminum L-shaped beam specimen are compared
always be assumed to be a straight line. Using the straight-beam
with its experimental results for 28 modes, and excellent agree-
ment is achieved. The methodology is also applied to thin-walled
beams with other types of cross sections, including an I-shaped
beam and a box beam. It can be extended to analyze noncircular
fillets.

2 Methodology
2.1 Single Fillet. The fillet between the flanges of a thin-
walled L-shaped beam, as shown in Fig. 8, is analyzed. The
equivalent stiffness of the whole fillet section from the L-shaped
beam, as shown in Fig. 8共a兲, can be decomposed into two parts:
the in-plane stiffness and the out-of-plane stiffness. When the
cross-sectional dimensions of the fillet section are much smaller
than 共e.g., less than one-tenth of兲 the length of the L-shaped beam,
we can assume that the two stiffness effects are uncoupled. In
calculating the in-plane stiffness, we analyze a fillet section with
unit length 共see Fig. 8共b兲兲 and treat it as a plane strain problem.
The elastic modulus for the plane strain problem is taken to be
Eⴱ = E / 共1 − ␷2兲 according to the wide-beam theory 关5兴. The out-of-
plane stiffness is the extra bending and torsional stiffnesses of the
L-shaped beam due to the whole fillet section when it is in bend-
ing and torsion with the beam. Because the cross-sectional area of
the fillet section is much smaller than that of the beam, we can
neglect the cross-sectional deformation of the fillet section when
Fig. 6 A single fillet the beam is in bending and torsion.

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 Fig. 8 An L-shaped beam with a fillet between the flanges: „a…
the whole fillet section from the L-shaped beam and „b… a fillet
section with unit length
Fig. 10 The displacements of the centroid B of the tangent
section and the polar coordinates of the curved-beam fillet
model

2.1.1 In-Plane Effects. We consider a perpendicular fillet with

the connecting flanges perpendicular to each other, as shown in

冤冥 冤 冥 冤 冥冤 冥
Fig. 9, though the analysis is not restricted to perpendicular fillets. ␪ M c11 c12 c13 M
Since the stiffness of a linear structure is independent of the loads,
u =D N = c21 c22 c23 N 共3兲
we apply the moments M, the normal forces N, and the shear
forces P, as shown in Fig. 9, on the two tangent sections of the v P c31 c32 c33 P
fillet, where a tangent section is perpendicular to a connecting
flange and passes through the tangent points. Since the axis of where D = K−1 is the flexibility matrix, whose entries are shown
symmetry has no deformation, we can analyze the upper half fillet above. By matching the displacements derived from the analytical
with the symmetry axis used as the fixed boundary. model to those from the FE model under the same applied loads,
The equivalent in-plane stiffness of the half fillet in Fig. 9 is we can determine the flexibility matrix of the FE model and the
related to the applied loads as follows: in-plane equivalent stiffness of the fillet. Due to symmetry there
are six independent entries in the D matrix; to match all of them

冤冥 冤 冥冤 冥 冤 冥
requires us to develop a complicated FE model that has six inde-
␪ k11 k12 k13 ␪ M
pendent parameters to be determined. Based on the results in Ref.
K u = k21 k22 k23 u = N 共2兲 关3兴, the rotational displacement affects more the behavior of the
v k31 k32 k33 v P flanges than the translational displacements, and we only need to
match ␪ from the analytical and FE models.
where K is the stiffness matrix, whose entries are shown above; The Castigliano’s theorem for a curved beam is employed to
and ␪, u, and v are the rotational and translational displacements solve for the rotational displacement of B analytically. The half
of the centroid B of the tangent section, corresponding to the fillet in Fig. 9 is modeled as a curved beam with nonuniform cross
applied moment M and forces N and P, respectively, as shown in section and a fixed boundary 共see Fig. 10兲. The center of the inner
Fig. 10. Equation 共2兲 can be written as arc O is used as the origin of the polar coordinates. The centroidal
axis of the curved beam is assumed to be the locus of the cen-
troids of the cross sections passing through O. The radial coordi-
nate of a point on the centroidal axis is r, and the angular coordi-
nate of the point, measured from the tangent section, is ␣. The
centroidal axis can be expressed as

t + r0 r0
r= + 共4兲
2 cos ␣ 2

where t is the thickness of the flanges, and r0 is the radius of the

fillet.
Shown in Fig. 11 is a typical curved beam with constant curva-
ture of the centroidal axis and uniform cross section. With the
same applied loads as those in Fig. 10, the total strain energy of
the curved beam is 关7兴

冕冉 冊
s
M2 N2 aP2 MN
U= + + − ds 共5兲
0
2EArh 2EA 2GA EAr

where G = E / 2共1 + ␷兲 is the shear modulus, r is the radius of cur-

Fig. 9 The single-fillet region with the applied moments and
forces on the tangent sections
vature of the centroidal axis, h is the distance between the cent-
roidal axis and the neutral axis, A is the cross-sectional area, and
a is a correction coefficient that depends on the shape of the cross
section with a = 1.2 for a rectangular cross section. The deflections
of the curved beam, which are the same as those shown in Fig. 10,
can be calculated by differentiating Eq. 共5兲 with respect to the
applied loads 关8兴

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 Fig. 11 A curved beam with constant curvature and uniform cross section

␪=
⳵U
⳵M
, u=
⳵U
⳵N
, v=
⳵U
⳵P
共6兲 M i = M + Pri sin ␣i − N 冉 t
2
+ r0 − ri cos ␣i 冊
Note that Eq. 共5兲 is applicable when 0.6⬍ r / 2C ⬍ 8, where C is
the distance between the centroidal axis and the outer edge of the Pi = P cos ␣i − N sin ␣i 共7兲
curved beam 共see Fig. 11兲 关8兴.
Equation 共5兲 is used for the curved-beam fillet model in Fig. 10, Ni = N cos ␣i + P sin ␣i
where r, C, and h are not constants due to the variable cross
sections. Following Young 关5兴, the integral in Eq. 共5兲 is evaluated The radius of curvature of the centroidal axis at the ith section is
by dividing the curved beam in Fig. 10 into n small sections with
equal angle d␣ along the span, as shown in Fig. 12共a兲, so that r, 冋 冉 冊册
ri2 +
dr
d␣
2 3/2

冉 冊 冉 冊
C, and h can be assumed to be constants in each section. In this Ri =
i
共8兲
work, we use n = 500. The total strain energy U is the sum of the dr d 2r
ri2 +2 − ri
strain energies of all the sections. d␣ i d␣2 i
The radial and angular coordinates of the ith 共i = 1 , 2 , . . . , n兲
section are ri and ␣i, respectively, where 0 ⬍ ␣i ⬍ ␲ / 4. The inter- where
nal moment and forces acting on the ith section are denoted by t + r0 r0
M i, Ni, and Pi, as shown in Fig. 12共a兲, and their expressions are ri = + 共9兲
derived from the following moment and force balances 共see Fig. 2 cos ␣i 2
12共b兲兲: is the radial coordinate of the centroidal axis at the ith section, and

冉 冊 dr
d␣ i
=
t + r0
2
共sec ␣i兲共tan ␣i兲

共10兲
冉 冊
d 2r
d␣2 i
=
t + r0
2
关共sec ␣i兲3 + sec ␣i共tan ␣i兲2兴

are the first and the second derivatives of r in Eq. 共4兲 with respect
to ␣ evaluated at ␣ = ␣i, respectively. Due to the unit width 共see
Fig. 8共b兲兲 of the curved beam, the cross-sectional area at the ith
section is

Ai = 2Ci 共11兲
where

t + r0 r0
Ci = − 共12兲
2 cos ␣i 2
is the distance between the centroidal axis and the outer edge of
the curved beam at the ith section. The distance between the cen-
troidal and neutral axes at the ith section is 关5兴

2Ci

冉 冊
hi = Ri − 共13兲
Ri + Ci
ln
Ri − Ci
The length of the centroidal axis of the ith section is

dsi = d␣i 冑 冉 冊 ri2 +

dri
d␣
2
共14兲
Fig. 12 „a… The ith section of the curved beam in Fig. 11 and
„b… the free body diagram for calculating its internal moment Using Eqs. 共7兲–共14兲 in Eq. 共5兲 and using the first equation in Eq.
and forces 共6兲 yields

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 冋
n
⳵U Mi ⳵ Mi Ni ⳵ Ni aPi ⳵ Pi M i ⳵ Ni
␪=
⳵M
= 兺 i=1
ⴱ + ⴱ + − ⴱ
E AiRihi ⳵ M E Ai ⳵ M GAi ⳵ M E AiRi ⳵ M

−
Ni ⳵ M i
E ⴱA iR i ⳵ M
dsi 册
M N P
= ⴱ C m␪ + ⴱ C n␪ + ⴱ C p␪ 共15兲
E E E
where
n

兺 A R h ds
1
C m␪ = i
i=1 i i i

t
n ri cos ␣i − − r0 − hi cos ␣i
兺
2
C n␪ = dsi 共16兲
i=1 A iR ih i

n
ri sin ␣i − hi sin ␣i
C p␪ = 兺
i=1 A iR ih i
dsi

are the coefficients corresponding to the applied moment M and

forces N and P, respectively; note that E in Eq. 共5兲 is replaced by
Eⴱ in Eq. 共15兲. Figure 13 compares the values of the three coef-
ficients in Eq. 共16兲 as a function of r0 / t, where r0 varies from
0.005 m to 0.05 m. Since Cn␪ is much smaller than Cm␪ and C p␪,
the normal force N has a much smaller contribution to the rota-
tional displacement ␪ than the moment M and the shear force P.
Hence the term corresponding to N in Eq. 共15兲 can be neglected,
and Eq. 共15兲 becomes
M P
␪= C m␪ + ⴱ C p␪ 共17兲
Eⴱ E
In our FE model, a shell/plate element with a fixed boundary is
used to model the in-plane stiffness effects of the half fillet 共see
Fig. 14兲; a rigid link is used to connect the shell/plate element and
the centroid of the fillet region O1 on the fixed boundary, where a Fig. 13 Comparisons of „a… the three coefficients „Cm␪, Cn␪,
beam element is added to model the out-of-plane stiffness effects and Cp␪… and „b… of the two coefficients „Cn␪ and Cp␪… as a func-
of the fillet in Section 2.1.2. The width of the shell/plate element tion of r0 / t
is one 共see Fig. 8共b兲兲; the length L and the thickness s of the
element need to be determined. The shell/plate element is treated
as a wide beam by setting Ebeam = E / 共1 − ␷2兲; note that the elastic
modulus and the Poisson’s ratio of the shell/plate element are the Comparing the coefficients of the M and P terms in Eq. 共17兲 with
same as those of the material. For this cantilever wide-beam ele- those in the first equation in Eq. 共19兲 and noting that Eⴱ = Ebeam
ment, the stiffness matrix K f , after imposing the fixed boundary yields
condition, is 关9兴 12L 6L2
C m␪ = , C p␪ = 共20兲

冤 冥
4EbeamI 6EbeamI s3 s3
−
L L2 The length and the thickness of the shell/plate element can then be
Kf = 共18兲 determined from Eq. 共20兲.
6EbeamI 12EbeamI
−
L2 L3 2.1.2 Out-of-Plane Effects. The out-of-plane effects of the fil-
let are analyzed by modeling the whole fillet section 共see Fig.
where I = s3 / 12 is the cross-sectional area moment of inertia of the 8共a兲兲 as a slender bar with an irregular cross section that is in
wide beam, and the displacements at the free end of the wide bending 共see Fig. 15共a兲兲 and torsion with the L-shaped beam. The
beam are bending and torsional stiffnesses of the whole fillet section can be

冤 冥
obtained separately by calculating the area moments of inertia and
L L2

冋册 冋册 冋册
the torsional stiffness factor of the irregular cross section of the
␪ M EbeamI 2EbeamI M fillet in Fig. 15共b兲, respectively. The warping of the fillet section is
= 共K f 兲−1 = 2 3 not considered since the dimensions of its cross section are much
v P L L P
smaller than its length.
2EbeamI 3EbeamI Two parallel Cartesian coordinate systems, the x − y coordinate

冤 冥
12L 6L2 system with the origin O⬘ and the x1 − y 1 coordinate system with

=
Ebeams Ebeams3
6L2
3

4L3
冋册
M
P
共19兲
the origin at the centroid O1 of the fillet cross section, are shown
in Fig. 15共b兲; the x and y axes are perpendicular to a tangent
section and pass through its centroid. The area moments of inertia
Ebeams Ebeams3
3
of the cross section about the x1 and y 1 axes are determined from

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 Our fillet FE model uses a combination of shell/plate and beam
elements; rigid links are used to connect the shell/plate elements
and the beam elements 共see Figs. 16共a兲 and 16共b兲兲. The shell/plate
elements are mainly used to capture the in-plane effects of the
fillet, and the beam elements are used to compensate for the out-
of-plane stiffness of the fillet that cannot be fully modeled by the
shell/plate elements. The beam elements are located at the cen-
troid of the cross section in Fig. 16共b兲.
The area moments of inertia of the cross section in the FE
model, which include the area moments of inertia of two shell/
plate elements and a beam element, can be calculated using the
parallel-axis theorems 共see Fig. 16共b兲兲 关7兴

Ix1 = Ibeam
x + Ishell−1
x + Ashelldy 21 + Ishell−2
x + Ashelldy 22
1 1 1
共25兲
Ix1y1 = Ixbeam
1y 1
+ 2Ashelldy 1y 2

Fig. 14 The FE model for calculating the equivalent in-plane where Ashell = Ls is the area of the shell/plate elements, dy 1 and dy 2
stiffness of the fillet are the distances between the centers of the shell/plate elements
shell−1 shell−2
and the x1 and y 1 axes, and Ix = s3L / 12 and Ix = L3s / 12
⬘ ⬘

冕 冕
are the area moments of inertia of the two shell/plate elements. By
matching the area moments of inertia of the cross section that are
I x1 = y 21dA1 = Iy1, I x1 y 1 = x1y 1dA1 共21兲 derived from the analytical and FE models, the area moments of
A1 A1
inertia of the beam element Ibeam x1 and Ibeam
x1y 1 can be determined.
where x1 and y 1 are the coordinates of a small area dA1 in the beam beam
Due to symmetry, Iy = Ix . The principal area moments of
x1 − y 1 coordinate system, and A1 is the cross-sectional area; Iy1 1 1
inertia of the beam element I1 and I2 can be determined from
= Ix1 due to symmetry of the cross section. The coordinates of the Ibeam beam beam
x1 , I y 1 , and Ix1y 1 ; the principal axes of the beam element are
centroid O1 in the x − y coordinate system are
selected to be the same as those of the cross section 共see Fig.

冕 A1
xdA1 冕 A1
ydA1
15共b兲兲.
It is difficult to directly match the torsional stiffness factors of
the cross section of the fillet from the analytical and FE models,
x̄ = , ȳ = 共22兲 because in the FE model, the torsional stiffness factor cannot be
A1 A1
written as a sum of the torsional stiffness factors of the shell/plate
where x and y are the coordinates of a small area dA1 in the x elements and the beam element. Instead of matching the torsional
− y coordinate system. The torsional stiffness factor of the cross stiffness factors, we can match the torsional displacement of the
section, which is not equal to the polar area moment of inertia cross section from the analytical model with that of the beam
because the cross section is not a circle, is 关5兴 element with the rigid links. We apply two shear forces P on the
K = K1 + K2 + ␣D4 共23兲 two tangent sections, as shown in Fig. 16共b兲. The torque T applied
at the cross section is
where

K1 = 共r0 + t兲t3 再 1
3
− 0.21
t
r0 + t
1− 冋 t4
12共r0 + t兲4
册冎 T = 2Pd
where d is the distance between the forces P and the centroid of
共26兲

冋 冉 冊册
the cross section. The torsional displacement introduced by T
1 t t4 from the analytical model is
K 2 = r 0t 3 − 0.105 1−
3 r0 192r40
T 2Pd
共24兲 ␸= = 共27兲
r0 GK GK
␣ = 0.07 + 0.076 In the FE model, a shear force P introduces a moment M r
t
= PL and a force P at the outer end of a rigid link 共see Fig. 16共c兲兲.
D = 2关2t + 3r0 − 冑2共2r0 + t兲2兴 Since the moment M r tends to bend the corresponding rigid link

Fig. 15 „a… The whole fillet section in bending and „b… its cross section with
the orientations of the principal axes shown in dashed-dotted lines

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 Fig. 16 „a… The FE model of a filleted L-shaped beam, „b… the front view of the
FE model of the fillet in „a…, and „c… the free body diagram of the beam element
with the rigid links

and does not affect the torsion of the beam element, the torque
applied on the beam element with the rigid links is
Tbeam = 2P共d − L兲 共28兲
The torsional displacement of the beam element is
Tbeam 2P共d − L兲
␸= = 共29兲
GKbeam GKbeam
Comparing Eqs. 共27兲 and 共29兲, we obtain the torsional stiffness
factor of the beam element
d−L
Kbeam = K 共30兲
d the elements, since we usually need to use a sufficiently dense
The fillet mass in the FE model should match with its actual
value. The material mass density of the L-shaped beam is used for
every element in the FE model, and matching the fillet mass is
achieved by keeping its volume in the FE model the same as its
actual value. Since the length of the whole fillet section is accu-
rately modeled, the cross-sectional area of the beam element Abeam
is obtained by subtracting the areas of the shell/plate elements
from the cross-sectional area of the fillet. With all the parameters,
including L , s , x̄ , ȳ , I1 , I2 , Kbeam, and Abeam, determined
above, the FE model of the fillet can be created. The shell/plate
and beam elements along with the rigid links in the fillet cross
section 共see Fig. 16共b兲兲 have a total of 18 DOFs. While the same
number of DOFs is used in the bridge model in Ref. 关3兴, the
shell/plate and beam element model can capture both the in-plane
and out-of-plane effects of the fillet. Using one shell/plate element
in a half fillet should have sufficient accuracy in modeling the
in-plane vibration of the L-shaped beam since the rotational dis-
placement derived from the shell/plate element is matched with
that from the curved beam model. Depending on the calculated
length of the shell/plate elements, a shell/plate element can be
divided into two or more elements to avoid the spindly shapes of
mesh in the axial direction of the L-shaped beam to accurately
model its out-of-plane vibration and the dimensions of the shell/
plate elements in the axial direction are relatively small.
2.2 Double Fillets. To model the in-plane effects of a double-
fillet region, as shown in Figs. 7共a兲 and 17共a兲, we need to calcu-
late the rotational displacements of three tangent sections JZ, FW,
and HV. Figure 18 shows the contours of the rotational displace-
ments within a double-fillet region, calculated from two densely
meshed plane strain FE models, created using ABAQUS 6.5, for two

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 Fig. 17 A double-fillet region „a… can be modeled as a straight beam „b… with nonuniform cross
section and a fixed boundary

冕 冕
different cases. In the first case the fixed boundary is at the lower r0 r0
⳵U M P共r0 − y兲 M P
section and the top tangent section is subjected to a moment M ␪= = dy + dy = Cm␪ + C p␪
= 10, 000 N m and a distributed shear force p = 10, 000 N / m2 ⳵M 0
EI 0
EI E E
共Fig. 18共a兲兲. In the second case the fixed boundary is at the top
tangent section and the two side tangent sections are subjected to where U is the total strain energy of the straight wide beam, r0 is
a moment M = 10, 000 N m and a distributed shear force p the radius of the fillets, and I is the cross-sectional area moment of
= 10, 000 N / m2 共Fig. 18共b兲兲. The dimensions of the fillet region inertia of the straight wide beam. The rotational displacements of
are shown in Fig. 18共a兲. As shown in Fig. 18共a兲, the displace- the tangent sections FW and HV are calculated by treating both
ments around the FH section are small and the contours are sym- the FKGW and HXSV regions in Fig. 17共a兲 as a half single fillet
metric about the section BQ 共see Fig. 17共a兲兲. Hence it is reason- and using the approach discussed in Sec. 2.1.1.
able to select the FH section as a fixed boundary and model the Analysis of the out-of-plane effects of the whole fillet section is
upper fillet region JZHF as a straight wide beam with nonuniform similar to that discussed in Sec. 2.1.2. The area moments of inertia
cross section 共see Fig. 17共b兲兲 in calculating the rotational displace- of the fillet cross section in Fig. 17共a兲 can be calculated as de-
ment of the tangent section JZ. In calculating the rotational dis- scribed in Sec. 2.1.2. The torsional stiffness factor of the cross
placements of the tangent sections FW and HV 共see Fig. 17共a兲兲, section in Fig. 17共a兲 is given by Eq. 共23兲 with 关5兴

冋 冉 冊册
we can use the curved-beam model discussed in Sec. 2.1.1, since
the distribution of the rotational displacements in Fig. 18共b兲 is 1 t t4
similar to that within a single-fillet region, as shown in Fig. 19. K1 = 共2r0 + t1兲t3 − 0.21 1−
3 2r0 + t1 12共2r0 + t1兲4
The rotational displacement of the tangent section JZ is calcu-

冋 冊册
lated using the Castigliano’s theorem 共see Fig. 17共b兲兲 关7兴 as fol-
lows:
K2 = r0t31
1 t1
冉 t41

冕 冕
− 0.105 1−
关M + P共r0 − y兲兴2 aP2 3 r0 192r40
U= dy + dy 共32兲
2EI 2AG
共31兲 冉
␣ = c 0.15 + 0.10
r0
t
冊

Fig. 18 The distributions of the rotational displacements within a double-fillet region for two
cases: „a… the fixed boundary is at the lower section and the loads are applied on the top
tangent section, and „b… the fixed boundary is at the top tangent section and the loads are
applied on the two side tangent sections

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 Fig. 21 „a… The plane strain FE model of a half single fillet
subjected to a distributed shear force on the tangent section,
and „b… the deformation of the half fillet in „a…

2.1.2. The shell/plate and beam elements along with the rigid links
in the fillet cross section have 24 DOFs. The same number of
DOFs is used in the bridge model in Ref. 关3兴, but the shell/plate
and beam element model here can capture both the in-plane and
out-of-plane effects of the double fillets. A shell/plate element can
be divided into two or more shell/plate elements.

Fig. 19 The distribution of the rotational displacements within
a single-fillet region shown in Fig. 6. The fixed boundary is at
the lower section with the top tangent section subjected to a
moment M = 10, 000 N m and a distributed shear force p
= 10, 000 N / m2. The dimensions of the fillet region are shown
in the figure.
t21
共t + r0兲2 + r0t1 +
4 and the thickness of the walls are 0.006 m. A distributed shear
D=
2r0 + t
where t1 and t are the thicknesses of the central wall and the side
walls, respectively, and
3 Results and Discussion
3.1 Validation of Curved-Beam Models of Single Fillets.
An important step in our analysis is to find a good approximation
for the centroidal axis in the curved-beam fillet model and for the
fixed boundary. We demonstrate here the accuracy of the curved-
beam model with the selected centroidal axis. We create a finely
meshed plate element model for a half single fillet with unit width
共see Fig. 8共b兲兲 using ABAQUS 6.5, as shown in Fig. 21, to check
the accuracy of our curved-beam model. The radius of the fillet
force p = 10, 000 N / m2 acts on the tangent section of the half
fillet. The rotational displacement of the centroid B of the tangent
section, calculated from the plate element model, is 6.04079
⫻ 10−7 rad, and that from the curved-beam model is 6.1115

冦 冧
t ⫻ 10−7 rad; the two displacements only have a 1.17% difference.
, if t ⬍ t1
t1 When we replace the shear force by a moment of 10, 000 N m in
c= 共33兲 the clockwise direction, the rotational displacement of B calcu-
t1
, if t ⬎ t1 lated from the FE model is 0.0351 rad, and that from the curved-
t beam model is 0.0342 rad; the two displacements have a differ-
The FE model of the double fillets uses a combination of shell/ ence of 2.56%.
plate and beam elements; rigid links are used to connect the shell/ Note that for a curved beam with 0 ⬍ h / R ⬍ 0.5, the difference
plate elements and the beam elements 共see Fig. 20兲. The method between ARh and I can be neglected 关5兴. Figure 22 shows the
described in Sec. 2.1.1 can be used to determine the thicknesses values of I / ARh and h / R versus ␣, for five different values of r0 / t
and the lengths of the shell/plate elements in the fillet FE model. between 0.3 and 5. We notice the variation of I / ARh is very small
The area moments of inertia and the torsional stiffness factor of 共from 0.996 to 1兲 in the range of 0.3⬍ r0 / t ⬍ 5, and all of the h / R
the beam elements can also be determined as discussed in Sec. values are less than 0.005. Hence ARh can be replaced by I in

Fig. 20 „a… The shell/plate and beam element model of the double fillets with parts of connect-
ing walls, and „b… the front view of the FE model of the double fillets in „a…

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 Fig. 22 „a… I / ARh versus ␣ / ␲ for various r0 / t, and „b… h / R versus ␣ / ␲ for various r0 / t

calculating the displacements of the tangent section, especially for 24共a兲兲. Modal testing was conducted on the specimen; the roving
a fillet with a large value of r0 / t; this can significantly simplify the hammer method was used. The specimen was excited at 22 se-
analysis. lected points on each flange surface, as shown in Fig. 24共a兲, using
a PCB 086D80 impact hammer. The response of the specimen was
3.2 Numerical and Experimental Results for L-Shaped measured using a Polytec OFV 353 laser vibrometer with an OFV
Beams. The methodology developed in Sec. 2.1 is applied to two 3001 controller to avoid mass loading. The excitation and mea-
thin-walled L-shaped beams with free boundary conditions. In surement directions are perpendicular to the flange surfaces. Two
Sec. 3.2.1, the natural frequencies of an L-shaped beam calculated measurement points shown in Fig. 24共a兲 were used to capture all
from the shell/plate and beam element model are compared with the possible modes and to distinguish the 14th and 15th modes,
those from the intensive solid element model. All the shell/plate whose natural frequencies are very close 共see Table 2兲; the 14th
and beam element models in this work are created using SDTools mode has a relatively large displacement at the left measurement
关10兴. In Sec. 3.2.2, the natural frequencies and mode shapes of an point and the 15th mode has a relatively large displacement at the
aluminum L-shaped beam specimen calculated from the shell/ right measurement point. The experimental data were collected
plate and beam element model are compared with its experimental using a 36-channel LMS spectrum analyzer. Three impact tests
results. For all the thin-walled beams in this work, a wall is mod- were averaged at every excitation point to ensure repeatable re-
eled by shell/plate elements whose thickness equals the wall sults with good coherence. The natural frequencies and mode
thickness 共see Figs. 16共a兲, 20共a兲, and 25共b兲兲. shapes of the specimen were extracted from the measured fre-
3.2.1 Comparison Between the Shell/Plate and Beam Element quency response functions using LMS TEST.LAB. The soft foams
Model and the Solid Element Model. The dimensions of the are considered to be a valid approximation of the free boundary
L-shaped beam are conditions because the highest measured rigid-body mode natural
frequency is 12%, which is within the 10–20% range defined in
t = 0.006 m, r0 = 0.006 m, l = 0.8 m, b = 0.06 m Ref. 关11兴, of the first elastic mode natural frequency.
共34兲
There is no fillet at the outer end of each flange. The calculated
parameters for the shell/plate and beam element model of the fillet Table 1 The natural frequencies of the first 19 elastic modes
are: L = 0.0059037 m, s = 0.0064453 m, x̄ = ȳ = 0.0021562 m, I1 of the L-shaped beam calculated by the shell/plate and beam
= 1.4998⫻ 10−11 m4, I2 = 4.8657⫻ 10−10 m4, Kbeam = 6.4862 element model and the solid element model
⫻ 10−10 m4, and Abeam = 4.0206⫻ 10−5 m2. The shell/plate and Shell/plate and beam Solid
beam element model of the L-shaped beam has 17,982 DOFs, Mode element model element model Diff.
which is only 3.72% of those of the solid element model, and the Nos. 共Hz兲 共Hz兲 共%兲
DOFs of the fillet in the shell/plate and beam element model are
only 2.40% of those in the solid element model. The natural fre- 1 260 261.08 ⫺0.41
quencies of the first 19 elastic modes calculated from the two FE 2 320.22 323.91 ⫺1.14
models are compared in Table 1; the maximum difference is 3 383.84 388.44 ⫺1.18
1.83% for all the modes. The mode shapes of the L-shaped beam 4 632.1 639.38 ⫺1.14
5 809.73 807.97 0.22
from the two models are essentially the same, with the 17th elastic 6 837.21 845.74 ⫺1.01
mode shapes from the two models shown in Fig. 23. 7 917.07 919.73 ⫺0.29
3.2.2 Experimental Validation. Most dimensions of the 8 1139.3 1146.9 ⫺0.66
9 1433.9 1438.3 ⫺0.31
L-shaped beam specimen in Fig. 24共a兲 are shown in Fig. 24共b兲 10 1451.5 1460.9 ⫺0.64
and 11 1743.6 1742 0.09
t = 0.006317 m, r0 = 0.0061688 m, rout = 0.00375 m 12 1925.7 1926.9 ⫺0.06
13 2006.4 1985.6 1.05
共35兲 14 2102.8 2092.8 0.48
15 2146.3 2107.8 1.83
where r0 and rout were measured from enlarged photographs of the
16 2165.1 2127.4 1.77
fillets, as shown in Fig. 25. There are a total of 18 holes with a 17 2211.2 2185.2 1.19
radius of 0.0055688 m on the two flanges of the specimen. The 18 2285.4 2271.7 0.60
specimen was placed on two soft foams at the two ends of the 19 2393.8 2365.2 1.21
beam to simulate the free-free boundary conditions 共see Fig.

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 Fig. 25 Circles fit to the edges of the fillet between the flanges
of the L-shaped beam „left… and the fillet at the outer end of a
flange „right… in the cross-sectional plane, marked in black, of
the aluminum L-shaped beam, to measure the radii of the
fillets.

The fillet at the outer end of each flange is modeled by shell/

Fig. 23 The 17th elastic mode shape of the L-shaped beam
calculated from „a… the shell/plate and beam element model and
„b… the solid element model
plate elements 共see Fig. 26共b兲兲; their equivalent thickness, which
is 0.0055122 m, is so found that the mass of the specimen at the
outer end of the flange is correctly modeled. The calculated pa-
rameters for the shell/plate and beam element model of the fillet
between the flanges are L = 0.0061389 m, s = 0.0067832 m, x̄ = ȳ
= 0.0022246 m, I1 = 8.1543⫻ 10−13 m4, I2 = 5.7134⫻ 10−10 m4,
Kbeam = 7.6872⫻ 10−10 m4, and Abeam = 4.2725⫻ 10−5 m2. The
shell/plate and beam element model of the specimen has 54,522
DOFs. The measured and calculated natural frequencies for 28
elastic modes are shown in Table 2, and the associated MAC
matrix is shown in Table 3. Note that the 21st elastic mode of the
L-shaped beam is not included in the comparison because it is a
longitudinal mode, which depends on the cross-sectional area and
mass density of the L-shaped beam, and the fillet modeling tech-
nique discussed in this work does not apply to it. The maximum
error between the measured and calculated natural frequencies for
all the modes is less than 1.93%, and the associated MAC values

Fig. 24 „a… An aluminum L-shaped beam specimen resting on two soft foams at the two ends,
with the excitation and measurement points marked, and „b… its dimensions

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 Table 2 The measured and calculated natural frequencies of
the aluminum L-shaped beam

Measured Calculated Error

Mode Nos. 共Hz兲 共Hz兲 共%兲

1 463.806 465.48 0.36

2 468.713 471.96 0.69
3 640.102 636.01 ⫺0.64
4 1077.403 1076.4 ⫺0.09
5 1198.124 1210.6 1.04
6 1227.836 1244.7 1.37
7 1527.195 1530.9 0.24
8 1957.486 1956.3 ⫺0.06
9 2112.177 2116.2 0.19
10 2462.772 2464 0.05
11 2716.758 2751.3 1.27
12 2945.972 2921 ⫺0.85
13 3020.622 3027.8 0.24
14 3315.496 3308 ⫺0.23
15 3327.76 3314.2 ⫺0.41
16 3504.412 3474.5 ⫺0.85
17 3585.8 3554.9 ⫺0.86
18 3599.101 3593.2 ⫺0.16
19 3779.509 3744.6 ⫺0.92
20 4135.91 4062 ⫺1.79
22 4230.495 4148.9 ⫺1.93
Fig. 26 „a… The shell/plate and beam element model of the alu-
23 4283.176 4243.2 ⫺0.93
minum L-shaped beam, and „b… an enlarged view of the FE
24 4583.508 4604.2 0.45
model
25 4692.355 4629.6 ⫺1.34
26 4943.447 4961.6 0.37
27 5136.088 5073.8 ⫺1.21
28 5330.946 5263.5 ⫺1.27 to model the first 10 elastic modes, with the maximum error be-
29 5682.622 5709.5 0.47 tween the measured and calculated natural frequencies less than
2% and the associated MAC values all over 95%.
The measured and calculated mode shapes of the 24th elastic
mode are shown in Fig. 27. Note that some off-diagonal entries in
are all over 95%. Note that the solid element model of the speci- the MAC matrix are higher than 20% because using 44 excitation
men is not created because over 700,000 DOFs are needed to points cannot fully capture the differences between the measured
accurately model the 28 elastic modes, which is out of the com- mode shapes, especially of the higher modes. For instance, Fig. 28
putational capacity of a regular personal computer. Note also that shows the measured and calculated mode shapes of the 22nd and
the DOFs of the shell/plate and beam element model can be sig- 29th elastic modes. While we can distinguish the two calculated
nificantly reduced if the number of modeled modes and the re- mode shapes, it is difficult to distinguish the two measured mode
quired accuracy are reduced. For instance, we can use 5754 DOFs shapes, which is the reason why the off-diagonal entries associ-

Table 3 Entries of the MAC matrix in percent associated with the 28 measured and calculated
mode shapes of the aluminum L-shaped beam; the horizontal and vertical mode numbers
correspond to the measured and calculated modes, respectively

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Fig. 27 The „a… measured and „b… calculated mode shapes of
the 24th elastic mode
ated with the two modes are about 90%. If we ignore the presence
of the fillet between the flanges, the errors between the measured
and calculated natural frequencies of the 1st and 16th elastic
modes can be 10.88% and 14.93%, respectively. The mode shapes
of the 12th and 18th elastic modes, calculated from the models
that consider and ignore the fillet between the flanges of the
L-shaped beam, as shown in Fig. 29, are completely different.
Because the natural frequencies of the 12th and 13th elastic modes
are very close 共see Table 2兲, the two mode shapes are shifted when
we ignore the presence of the fillet. The same situation occurs for
the 18th and 19th modes, which have close natural frequencies.
3.3 Numerical Results for Thin-Walled Beams With Other
Types of Cross Sections. The methodology developed is also
applied to thin-walled beams with other types of cross sections
and free boundary conditions. Figure 30共a兲 shows the densely
meshed solid element model of a thin-walled beam with a rectan-
gular hollow section 共i.e., a box beam兲. The length of the box
Fig. 28 The measured and calculated mode shapes of the „a… 22nd and „b…
29th elastic modes
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Fig. 29 The mode shapes of the „a… 12th and „b… 18th elastic
modes calculated from the models that consider „left… and ig-
nore „right… the fillet between the flanges of the L-shaped beam
beam is 0.9 m, and the cross-sectional dimensions of the beam are
shown in Fig. 30共b兲.
The calculated parameters for the shell/plate and beam element
model of the box beam are L = 0.0063008 m, s = 0.0054015 m,
x̄ = ȳ = 0.0026856 m, I1 = 5.4109⫻ 10−11 m4, I2 = 5.1496
⫻ 10−10 m4, Kbeam = 1.0495⫻ 10−9 m4, and Abeam = 5.0667
⫻ 10−5 m2. The shell/plate and beam element model has 58,176
DOFs, which is 9.47% of that of the solid element model; the
DOFs of the fillet in the shell/plate and beam element model are
5.74% of that in the solid element model. The natural frequencies
of the first 19 elastic modes, which are calculated from the shell/
plate and beam element model and the solid element model, are
shown in Table 4; the maximum difference is 1.95%. The mode
shapes of the box beam from the two models are essentially the
same, and those of the 18th elastic mode are shown in Fig. 31.
The last thin-walled beam we have modeled using the shell/
plate and beam element model is a thin-walled beam with an
I-shaped cross section 共see Fig. 32兲. The length of the I-shaped
beam is 0.8 m, and the cross-sectional dimensions of the beam are
shown in Fig. 32共b兲. There are two sets of double fillets for the
I-shaped beam. The calculated parameters for the shell/plate ele-
Transactions of the ASME
 Fig. 30 „a… The intensive solid element model of a thin-walled box beam, and „b… its cross-
sectional dimensions

ments that connect to the side walls of the beam, and for the beam solid element model, are shown in Table 5; the maximum differ-
elements, in the shell/plate and beam element model are L ence is 1.99%. The DOFs of the shell/plate and beam element
= 0.0066343 m, s = 0.0064663 m, x̄ = ȳ = 0.0026856 m, I1 model and the solid element model are 64,842 and 607,818, re-
= 4.8608⫻ 10−10 m4, I2 = 8.4254⫻ 10−10 m4, Kbeam = 1.9771 spectively; the DOFs of the I-shaped beam and the double fillets
⫻ 10−9 m4, and Abeam = 8.4143⫻ 10−5 m2. The thickness and the are reduced by 89.33% and 93.28%, respectively, by using the
length of the shell/plate elements that connect to the central wall shell/plate and beam element model. The mode shapes of the
of the beam are calculated to be 0.0086643 m and 0.0060247 m, I-shaped beam from the two models are essentially the same, and
respectively. those of the 14th elastic mode are shown in Fig. 33.
The natural frequencies of the first 17 elastic modes, which are 3.4 Remarks. The key step to creating the fillet model is to
calculated from the shell/plate and beam element model and the calculate its equivalent stiffness. Assuming the equivalent stiff-
ness can be decomposed into the in-plane and out-of-plane effects
Table 4 The natural frequencies of the thin-walled box beam
allows us to develop an accurate analytical model of the fillet.
calculated from the solid element model and the shell/plate and With the analytical equivalent stiffness, we can design different
beam element model FE models for the fillet. We use the shell/plate and beam elements
here for two reasons. First, the shell/plate and beam element
Shell/plate and beam Solid model has a simple stiffness matrix, and the parameters of the
element model element model Diff. model can be easily determined. Second, the combination of shell/
Mode Nos. 共Hz兲 共Hz兲 共%兲 plate and beam elements provides enough adjustable parameters
to model both the in-plane and out-of plane effects of the fillet;
1 490.11 494.26 ⫺0.84
2 615.57 619.95 ⫺0.71
more adjustable parameters can be introduced if more displace-
3 1234.4 1246.5 ⫺0.97 ments need to be matched. For instance, in analyzing the in-plane
4 1426.5 1420.2 0.44 effects of a single fillet, we can change the orientation of the
5 1539.4 1551.7 ⫺0.79 shell/plate element to match a translational displacement of the
6 1965.6 1937.1 1.47 tangent section; the rotational displacement will not be affected by
7 2047.3 2008.1 1.95 changing the orientation of the shell/plate element.
8 2109.6 2074.3 1.70
9 2128.2 2127.3 0.04
10 2169.5 2152.2 0.80
11 2566.7 2548.3 0.72 4 Conclusions
12 2669.5 2666.8 0.10 Ignoring the presence of a fillet in a thin-walled beam can sig-
13 2721.7 2678.7 1.61 nificantly change its natural frequencies and mode shapes. A new
14 2732.7 2694.4 1.42 and accurate method that uses shell/plate and beam elements to
15 2781.6 2732.1 1.81
16 2790.4 2788.2 0.08
model a fillet in a thin-walled beam is developed for its global
17 2865.2 2818.5 1.66 dynamic and static analyses. With a small number of DOFs in the
18 2978.9 2937.4 1.41 fillet cross section, the model can capture both the in-plane and
19 2980.8 3014.2 ⫺1.11 out-of-plate effects of the fillet on the thin-walled beam. The
thickness and length of the shell/plate elements can be determined
by equating C p␪ and Cm␪ in Eqs. 共16兲 and 共20兲 for a single fillet;
the moments of inertia and the torsional stiffness factor of the
beam elements can be determined from Eqs. 共21兲 and 共25兲 and
Eqs. 共23兲 and 共30兲, respectively. Since we only model the equiva-
lent stiffnesses of the fillet, the model is not expected to be able to
accurately determine the local stress distribution at the fillet.
The numerical results for different types of thin-walled beams
show that the shell/plate and beam element models can provide
the same level of accuracy as the intensive solid element models,
Fig. 31 The mode shape of the 18th elastic mode of the box but can reduce the DOFs of the fillets by over 93%. The calculated
beam calculated from „a… the shell/plate and beam element natural frequencies of an aluminum L-shaped beam specimen
model and „b… the solid element model from the shell/plate and beam element model are within a 2%

Journal of Vibration and Acoustics OCTOBER 2009, Vol. 131 / 051002-15

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 Fig. 32 „a… The intensive solid element model of an I-shaped beam, and „b… its cross-sectional
dimensions

Table 5 The natural frequencies of the thin-walled I-shaped error from the measured ones for 28 modes, and the associated
beam calculated from the solid element model and the shell/ MAC values are all over 95%. The methodology can be used to
plate and beam element model create an accurate FE model of a large structure consisting of
filleted thin-walled beams, with an acceptable computational cost.
Shell/plate and beam Solid
element model element model Diff.
Mode Nos. 共Hz兲 共Hz兲 共%兲
Acknowledgment
1 274.33 275.71 ⫺0.50 This work is supported by the National Science Foundation
2 358.65 356.9 0.49
through Grant No. CMS-0600559 and the American Society for
3 678.58 674.29 0.64
4 792.08 793.59 ⫺0.19 Nondestructive Testing 共ASNT兲 through the 2007 ASNT Fellow-
5 960.67 954.07 0.69 ship Award.
6 1332.7 1308.8 1.83
7 1787.5 1776.1 0.64
8 1900.7 1899.2 0.08 References
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