1 A Linear, Straight Timoshenko

Beam Element

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1.1 General Remarks
Beams, plates and shells are characterized by the ratio of their spatial dimensions. The struc-
tural thickness t is significantly smaller than the smallest radius of curvature R or a typical
length l. In most structures the slenderness λ = l or λ = R varies from
t t

10 ≤ λ ≤ 2000 .

Beams, plates and shells (“thin-walled structures”) are basically three-dimensional structures.
The above mentioned typical property, however, allows a simplified, approximate analysis.
To this end, the following assumption is introduced:

L
λ= >> 1 with L = min{l, R} . (1.1)
t

This supposition justifies certain simplifications which facilitate the eventual reduction of the
three-dimensional problem to two dimensions. Consequently, for thin-walled structures the
following can be assumed to hold:

“A straight line, normal to the mid surface (mid axis in the case of beams), remains
straight and normal to the deformed mid surface (axis) throughout deformation.”

For beams, this assumption is associated with the name of Bernoulli, for plates with Kirchhoff
and for shells with Love. The restriction of cross sectional lines to remain normal has been
repealed by Timoshenko for beams, by Mindlin and Reissner (among others) for plates and by
Naghdi for shells. The assumption then reads:

“A straight line, normal to the mid surface (mid axis in the case of beams), remains
straight throughout deformation.”

This relaxation allows the approximate consideration of transverse shear deformations. Thus,
slightly thicker structures, but also e.g. space frames can be analyzed more accurately. A fur-
ther assumption, often used for the derivation of beam, plate or shell theories is:

“Normal stresses in transverse direction are negligible.”

It should be emphasized here that all these assumptions are made for beams, plates and shells.
Thus, beams and plates can be interpreted as special cases of shells. Consequently, typical
problems in the analysis of beams and plates also show up in the case of shells.

Although inclusion of normal strains and forces in longitudinal direction of the beam does not
introduce any problem or additional considerations, it is omitted here for the sake of brevity.
As in straight beams bending and normal strains are decoupled this doesn´t have an effect on
the general validity of the statements and derivations below.

1.2 Basic Equations of a Straight Beam (Two-Dimensional)

1.2.1 Equilibrium
The (local) equilibrium conditions are obtained from inspection of an infinitesimal element
with length dx (see Fig. 1.1).

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 q (x)
Q + Q ′ dx
m (x)
M Q M + M ′ dx
x
z

dx
Fig. 1.1: Stress resultants and external loads acting upon an infinitesimal beam element

The equilibrium conditions are

dQ
q =− = −Q ′
dx (1.2)
dM
m =− + Q = −M ′ + Q
dx

The force boundary conditions (Neumann boundary conditions) can be derived from Fig. 1.2

M0 M ( 0)
M (l) Ml
Q0 Q ( 0) Q(l) Ql

dx
Fig. 1.2: Force boundary conditions

From equilibrium of the external force Q and moment M (index 0 and l for the left and right
end of the beam, respectively), with the stress resultants N , Q and M we obtain the force
boundary conditions

Q(0) = Q0 , Q(l) = −Ql ,

(1.3)
M ( 0) = M 0 , M (l ) = − M l .

1.2.2 Kinematic Equations

The second group of equations, needed for derivation of the set of partial differential equa-
tions for the mathematical description of a beam problem, are the kinematic equations. Fig.
1.3 shows an infinitesimal portion of a beam in the undeformed and deformed configurations.
It can be seen how the cross sectional rotation β , the slope of the beam axis w′ and the shear
angle γ are related to each other.

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 undeformed beam shear deformation bending deformation
β w′
β β + β ′d x
γ

dx

Fig. 1.3: Kinematics of infinitesimal Timoshenko beam element

Note that a mathematically positive rotation β or γ goes counter-clockwise, whereas the

slope w′ is positive in the other direction!

For the kinematic field equations, defining the shear angle γ and the curvature κ , we obtain

γ = w′ + β ,
(1.4)
κ = β ′.

The displacement boundary conditions (Dirichlet boundary conditions) are

w(0) = wˆ 0 , w(l) = wˆ l ,
(1.5)
β (0) = βˆ0 , β (l) = βˆl ,

where ŵ and β̂ denote prescribed values for displacements and rotations, respectively, at the
edges of the beam.

1.2.3 Constitutive Equations (Material Law)

For the most simple case of a linear elastic material law according to Hooke the relationship
between strain and stress resultants is given by

Q = α GA γ ,
(1.6)
M = EI κ ,

where E denotes Young´s modulus, G = E 2(1 + ν ) is the shear modulus, A = bt is the area of
the cross section and I = bt 3 12 its moment of inertia, with b being the width of the beam.
The shear correction factor α is introduced to even up the error that is made by the Bernoulli
assumption of cross sectional areas to remain straight. In reality, warping of the cross section
occurs, leading to a variation of transverse shear stresses that is approximately quadratic
(rather than being constant as implied by equation (1.6)).

1.2.4 Virtual Work Principle

The virtual work principle in general form can be written as

δW int + δW ext = 0 , (1.7)

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stating that the sum of internal and external virtual work is zero when the system is in a state
of equilibrium. The virtual work principle is a global statement of equilibrium. It serves as a
point of departure for finite element models based upon the “displacement method” (standard
Galerkin models). The principle does not contain any new information with respect to the
aforementioned field equations. More detailed information on the background of the virtual
work principle and energy principles in general can be found in subsequent chapters of this
manuscript.

The external virtual work of the plane, straight beam model, described in the previous sec-
tions, is
l
δW ext
= ∫ (q δw + m δβ ) dx + Q0δw0 + Qlδwl + M lδβ 0 + M lδβ l . (1.8)
0

The virtual displacements δw and rotations δβ are arbitrary, but they have to satisfy the dis-
placement boundary conditions.

The (negative) internal virtual work for the shear deformable beam reads
l
− δW int = ∫ (Qδγ + Mδκ ) dx . (1.9)
0

The kinematic equations (1.4) hold as well for the virtual quantities,

δγ = δw′ + δβ ,
(1.10)
δκ = δβ ′.

For the internal virtual work we thus obtain

l
− δW int = ∫ (Qδw′ + Qδβ + Mδβ ′) dx . (1.11)
0

Integration by parts transfers the derivatives from the virtual displacements and strain resul-
tants to the forces and stress resultants, respectively.
l
− δW int
= ∫ (− Q′δw + Qδβ − M ′δβ ) dx − Q(0)δw0 + Q(l)δwl − M (0)δβ 0 + M (l)δβ l . (1.12)
0

Inserting equations (1.8) and (1.12) into the virtual work principle (1.7) and applying the fun-
damental lemma of variational calculus leads to the Euler-Lagrange equations for the virtual
work principle, i.e. the equilibrium, equation (1.2) and the force boundary conditions (1.3). In
fact, those equations and the virtual work principle are mathematically equivalent.

The integral form (1.7) is also called the weak form, the Euler-Lagrange equations (1.2) and
(1.3) are called the strong form of equilibrium. The terms weak and strong refer to the re-
quirements on differentiability of the functions that approximate the solution.

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1.2.5 Matrix Form of Equations
For the derivation of finite elements it is customary (and convenient) to write the necessary
equations in matrix form. Displacements and rotations are put together in a vector of “gener-
alized displacements”, the same applies to strain and stress resultants.

 w Q γ 
u =  , σ= , ε= .
β  M  κ 

Similar definitions apply for the virtual quantities δu and δε . The equilibrium equation, ki-
nematic equation and constitutive law then read

L* ⋅ σ + p = 0 , ε = L ⋅u , σ = C⋅ε , (1.13)

with

∂  ∂ 
GA 0   1  0 q 
C= L =  ∂x L* =  ∂x p =  .
, ∂ ∂
, ,
 0 EI  0  −1  m 
 ∂x   ∂x 

The force and displacement boundary conditions are

Q  Q 
σ(0) = P0 , σ(l) = Pl , P0 =  0  , Pl =  l  .
M 0  M l 

The virtual work principle, using matrix notation, takes the form

∫ (σ )
l
Τ
⋅ δε − p T ⋅ δu dx − P0T ⋅ δu 0 − PlT ⋅ δu l = 0 . (1.14)
0

(Note that the complete equation has been multiplied with − 1 in order to obtain the format
that is usually found in textbooks).

1.3 A Linear Timoshenko Beam Finite Element

1.3.1 Discretization
In this section, a plane two-dimensional, linear Timoshenko beam finite element is described.
We derive a pure displacement formulation on the basis of the virtual work principle
l

∫ (q δw + m δβ − Qδw′ − Qδβ − Mδβ ′) dx

0 (1.15)
+ Q (0)δw0 + Q (l)δwl + M (0)δβ 0 + M (l)δβ l = 0 ,

derived in the preceding section. The free variables are the transverse displacement w and the
rotation β . Linear shape functions are chosen for their discretization,

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 N1 =
1
(1 − ξ ) , N2 =
1
(1 + ξ ) , −1 ≤ ξ ≤ 1 .
2 2

Here and in the following the indices 1 and 2 refer to the nodes of the element. Thus, we ob-
tain for the approximated displacements and rotations

 w1 
 1
N 0 N2 0  β
u ≈ uh = N ⋅ d , N= 1 , d =  2.
 0 N1 0 N 2  w 
 2
 β 

For the strains we have

 N1, x N1 N 2, x N2 
ε ≈ ε h = L ⋅ uh = L ⋅ N ⋅ d = B ⋅ d , B = L⋅N = 
N 2, x 
,
 0 N1, x 0

with

∂N K ∂N K ∂ξ 2
N K ,x = = = N K′ .
∂x ∂ξ ∂x l

Following a Bubnov-Galerkin concept, the same discretization is chosen for the virtual dis-
placements and rotations δwh and δβ h . Inserting these equations into the virtual work princi-
ple (1.14), and taking into account the constitutive equation σ h = C ⋅ ε h , the discretized virtual
work principle
T
P 
∫( )
l
d ⋅ B ⋅ C ⋅ B ⋅ δd − p ⋅ N ⋅ δd dx −  0  ⋅ δd = 0
T T T
(1.16)
0  Pl 

is obtained. As d and δd contain exclusively nodal values, they can be extracted from the
integral and we obtain a discrete system of equations of the form
l l
P 
K ⋅d = F , K = ∫ B ⋅ C ⋅ B dx ,
T
F = ∫ p T ⋅ N dx +  0  .
0 0  Pl 

Exact (analytic) integration, or two-point Gauss quadrature, leads to the element stiffness ma-
trix

 αGA
l − αGA
2 − αGA
l − αGA2 
 αGA EI 
− αGAl
+ EIl αGA
6 − l 
αGAl
K =  αGA2 3 2
, (1.17)
− l αGA αGA
l
αGA 
 αGA EI 
2 2

− 2 − EIl 3 + l 
αGAl αGA αGAl
6 2

and the vector of consistent nodal forces (for the special case of q = const. and m = const. )

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  q2l + Q0 
 ml 
+ M0
F =  2q l .
 + Ql 
 m2l 
 2 + M l 

It is well-known that the application of this element in situations where the thickness of the
beam is small compared to its length leads to slow convergence because of transverse shear
locking. We will refer to the beam element and the stiffness matrix presented herein in subse-
quent chapters.

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