BEAMS ON ELASTIC FOUNDATION THEORY WITH APPLICATIONS IN THE FIELDS OF CIVIL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING BY M. HETENYI ANN ARBOR: THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS. LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVISCHAPTER IX CIRCULAR ARCHES 47. General Solution of the Elastic Line Let us assume that a prismatic heam whose neutral axis in the undeflected state forms an are of a circle of radius r is subjected to bending forees acting in the plane of curvature of the beam (Fig. 125a). We shall assume that the reaction forces in the foundation will be normal to the axis of the beam and Proportional at every point to the rdial deflection y of the beam at that point, that is P= kyby = ky, where p denotes the reaction of the foundation per unit length of the beam, 6 the width of the beam, and ky the modulus of the foundation in Ibs./in2 An infinitesimal element of this beam will be acted upon by shearing force Q normal force NV, bending moment M, and reaction of the foundation pac, whose positive directions are shown in Figure 125a. From the conditions of equilibrium of the forees on this element we shall have in the radial direct pdx ~ Nag = dQ; in the tangential direc Qde =d. while the moment equilibrium condition will require that aM = Qrdg. Putting p = ky and r dg = dz into the equations above, we have y_dQ_ aM dz ~ da ky ~ (a) 156CIRCULAR ARCHES 157 and 7 ae? oO) which give, after elimination of V and Q, ely Law ay a At this point we make use of the known differential equation of bending of a circular arch of radius of curvature r and flexural ‘igidity EY, which, by neglecting — ‘he axial deformation due to the normal foree V, + We can write in the form the (yay and ur @ Fa) = 7 int, Differentiating this equation three times with respect to the variable x and equating the results to the left-hand side of (©), we have ty ,2dy des 7 gs er bending of circular arches supported on an clastic foundation. In terms of the variable » = 2/r this equation can also be written in the form (e) k t+(lat @y ody, ady de tag tae 1- Zi Equation (140) can be solved by the substitution of e™* for y, which gives the characteristic equation (140) where +1 mb On? atm f the five distinct roots of which are m= 0 and mais = bla ob Bi), where and g (41) With these notations the general solution of (140) is thus obtained as ¥ = Cot (Ci Cosh av + Cz Sinh ay) cos be 1 + (Cs Cosh ag + Cy Sinh exp) sin Be. (142a) ee158 BEAMS ON ELASTIC FOUNDATION Substituting in (a)-(d) the respective derivatives of the foregoing equation of the elastic line, we have the following expressions for the bending moment and the shearing and normal forces in the beam: —ET tc, — 2asl(Cs Sinh ay + C2 Cosh ag) sin Be M= = (Cr Sinh ay + Ci Cosh ay) cos Bl}, Q = mB ee [(@C: + BCs) Cosh ay sin Be + (BC, — aC) Sinh ap cos Be + (aCs + BC) Sinh ay sin apf (142 -*) + (BC: — aCs) Cosh av c08 Bel, | rkCy + 2a6 [(C; Sink ag + C; Cosh ag) sin Be — (C3 Sinh ag + Cy Cosh ay) cos B¢]-) ‘The angular deflection @ due to bending can be obtained as the integral of the elementary rotations M/ET along the arch, starting from a suitably chosen ori- gin (w = 0 or ¢ = 0), where the valuc of @ = 6 is known: r 7 [ Mde + % © “M 6 tt + By the aid of the expression for @ so obtained the horizontal and vertical displace- ment components, « and v respectively, can also be determined at any point of the arch. If the angle ¢ is measured from a vertical where ¢ = 0, the dis placements « and v can be obtained as wa w- [orsin ede © and pene { ” or cos ¢ de, ny isplacements at the origin ¢ = 0, wand rare connected with the where us and v% denote the values of these It can easily be shown that the componen radial deflection y in the following manne wsin g + v cos g = y. (i) ‘The integration constants which occur in the general expressions above can be determined in each ceparate problem from the prescribed end conditions of the arch. Some of these integration constants are often defined in advance by the known character of the deflection line. Taking, for instance, the most frequent case—a symmetrical arch subjected to a symme ically distributed loading—CIRCULAR ARCHES 139 if the axis of symmetry is assumed to be vertical and the variable angle ¢ is measured from this axis, we shall have for the center section (¢ = 0) of the arch [#] =o md lps These conditions, when substituted in (142 a-c), give eCr+6C,=0 and fC; — al’, = 0, equations which are satisfied simultaneously only if C; = C; = 0. The con- clusion is, therefore, that for any symmetrical type of deformation the integra- tion constants C; and C’ will vanish. Further simplifications can be obtained in symmetrical cases from knowing that at ¢ = 0 we shall then have 0 = 0 and w = 0. Thus, carrying out the integrations assigned in equations (f) and (g), we obtain for the angular deflee- tion @ and the horizontal displacement component w the following general ex- pressions: 0. 2of8 1 + + are pe , MeO — BCD) Cosh av sin Be — (BC; + aC) Sinh ag cos By], (143) (sin ¢ — g cos ¢) — (eC, — BC)T, — (BC, + eCs)Iel, (144) oF where [cosh asin Be sin we = A fsim ap = cos (8 — le — mi cos (8 + ve] + Cosh agisin (8 — 1)y — sin (8 + Lgl}. [sinh a¢ 005 86 sin ede eS J {cosh ae [55 sin B + De — gS sin @ ~ ne] — Sinh agleos (8 + ly — cos (8 — veh 48, Circular Ring As an application of the general formulas derived above let us now investigate the case when the curved beam forms a complete ring and is subjected to a concentrated force P at its vertex (Fig. 126). This problem is the same as that160 BEAMS ON ELASTIC FOUNDATION of a pipe line surrounded by an elastic foundation and loaded at: the top witha line loading of constant intensity along the length of the pipe.* As in previous problems, the foundation will be assumed to resist tensile and compressive forces equally well. The radial deflection y will be considered positive when producing com- pression in the foundation, and the positive directions for the forces Q, N, and bending moment Mf will be those shown in Figure 126. ‘The radius of the center line of the ring will be denoted by r, the thickness by ¢ (the width will be assumed equal to unity), and the bending rigidity by ET = E¢/12; the variable ¢ in radians will be measured from the base of the symmetry line having for the vertex ¢ = 7. From a consideration of the symmetry of the problem we find that the deformation and the stress distribution in the ring will have to satisfy the following eondi- tions: dy de =0 at eax; rot ip (dy ) = al Mae = -} (fi +1) ae =. ‘The last of these equations expresses the condition that there can be no relative rotation between the base and top sections of the ring, It is seen that the five conditions above will completely define the values of the five integration constants C when substituted in the general solution in (142.a-d). Making this substitution, we shall obtain the first four of these conditions in the following form: 1. al: + BCs = 0; 2. Ci(a Sinh ax cos Bx — B Cosh ax sin Br) + Ci(a Cosh am sin Bx + 8 Sinh ax cos Br) * This problem has been investigated by A. Voellmy, “Erddruck auf elastisch einge- bettete Rohre,"" International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering, Publica- tions, 4 (Zitrich, 1936), 691-611. If the circular ring is regarded as a cross section of a pipe lino, its bending rigidity £7 should be increased in ratio 1 : (1 — 4), Poisson’s ratio for the material of the pipe being denoted by u.CIRCULAR ARCHES 161 4. Ci(w Cosh om sin Bx + 6 Sinh ax cos Br) — Cia Sinh ax cos x — 6 Cosh ax sin Bx) = -5 5 From conditions 1 and 3 we have Cr = Cy (a) whereas the simultaneous solution of conditions 2 and 4 gives the following expressions for the constants C and Cy: P_ + @ Coshar sin pr + 6 Sinh ax cos Br a ET op (Sink? ox + sin? Bx) , o ¢, = 2? «Sink ax cos Br — 8 Cosh ar sin Bx «= GET op ‘n(Sinh? ox + sin® Br) ‘The last of the constants C's can be determined from condition 5, which, by means of (142b), can be written in the form Sinh ag sin Bp + C, Cosh ag cos 9) dp =0. Substituting here the expressions obtained above for C; and Cy and carrying out the assigned integration, we get P 2nEl # | G = ) I All the five integration constants having been thus determined, they ean be substituted in the general solution expressed by (142.a-d), and will give, then, the final formulas for the deflection and force components along the circum. ference of the elastically supported ring in Figure 126. Introducing the notations @ Cosh ax sin Bx + 8 Sinh ax cos Br ~ ih? aw + sin? Bx) , 1B = “Sith ax cos Br — 8 Cosh ax sin Br ~~ a@Binht aw + sin?Bx)162 BEAMS ON ELASTIC FOUNDATION we can write the final expressions as \ — A Cosh ag cos Be + B Sinb ag sin be), y= —P (5 + A Sinh ag sin Be + B Cosh ay cos se), | P (145 a-d) Q -3 [(@A — BB) Cosh ag sin By | + (BA + aB) Sinh ay cos Bgl, ? § (at ~ A sinh ae sin Be — B Cosh aw cos fe). J For the point of application of the load (p = x) the formulas above give the following maximum values for deflection and bending moment: ee Pr ei _ 6 Sinh aw Cosh aw + @ sin 6x 28 br) 4aBET \ x? ‘n(Sinh? aw + sin? Bx) = : (146 a-b) (lee = 20 (3 4. @Sinh ax Cosh ax — 8 sin Bx cos fr) cad a ‘a(Sinht ax + sin? Br) 7 It is easily seen that by putting P = 1 the equations in (145 a-d) also give the equations of the injluence lines of y, M, Q, and N for any cross section of the ring. The force P = 1 acting at ¢ = gy will produce, for instance, the same amount of bending moment in the section at y = x as the force P = 1 acting at ¢ = x produces in the section at ¢ = g. On the basis of this relationship wwe can determine the force and displacement components at any point on the elastically supported ring due to any combination of radial loading In addition to its use in the problem of pipe lines, the elastically supported ring has structural applications also. The assumptions made in our analysis regarding the nature of the elastic foundation are truly realized, for instance, in a ring which is reinforced by a large number of closely spaced radial spokes (Fig, 1272). If initial tension is put into the spokes they are able to resist compressive as well as tensile forces, and the force produced in the spokes by the external loading on the ring will be proportional to the radial deflection of the ring at every point. This sort of structure is used for bulkheads in rigid airships; a more everyday example occurs in certain types of vehicle wheels} (Fig. 127b). * See L. H. Donnell, H. B. Gibbons, and E. L. Shaw, “Analysis of Spoked Rings,” Journal of Applied Mechanics, Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ‘Vol. 63 (1941), Paper A-68. t See A. J. 8. Pippard and W. E. Francis, “On a Theoretical and Experimental Investi- sation of the Stresses in a Radially Spoked Wire Wheel under Loads Applied to the Rim,” Philosophical Magazine, Seventh Series, 11 (1931), 233-285.CIRCULAR ARCHES 163 In these wheels the external loading is i balanced by the resultant of the spoke forees, which is transmitted through the axle, The stress analysis of this problem is but a direct application of the formulas obtained above in (145 ad). a b P » 49. Spherical Shell Fro. 127 It has been demonstrated in previous chapters that axially symmetrical deformation of cylindrical and conical shells can be analyzed by the theory of bending of straight beams on an elastic foundation, In a similar manner it will be shown now that the bending analysis of spherical shells can be reduced to the problem of flexure of elastically supported curved beams. The curved beam _---------4-- Fie. 128, Fa. 129 in this ease will be a meridional element of the shell, of variable width since it tapers down to zero at the vertex; the modulus of the elastic foundation, repre- sented by the resilience of the hoop elements in the shell, will also vary on aecount of the decreasing radii of the hoop circles toward the vertex. The shell will be assumed to he under the action of an edge loading consisting of horizontal forces Py and moments My uniformly distributed along the base circle of the shell (Fig. 128). The deformation produced by such a loading will be symmetrical with respect to the axis of the shell and can be defined in terms of only one independent coordinate, for which purpose the angle ¢ will be chosen, measured in radians from the axis of the shell In order to describe the bending deformation of the shell, let us assume on the undeformed meridional circle two points, A and B, which in terms of the variable ¢ are spaced an angle dp = 1 apart (Fig, 129). ‘These two points, after the deformation of the shell, will he in the positions A’ and B’, respectively,