DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

MSc Structural Engineering

Week 8
Course title: Structural Analysis
Course instructor: Engr. Hajrah Nosheen
Topic:
Development of beam equations
a) Introduction
b) Beam stiffness matrix
c) Assemblage of beam stiffness matrices
d) Beam analysis using the direct stiffness method
Introduction
• The beam element is considered to be straight and to
have constant cross-sectional area.
• A beam is a long, slender structural member generally
subjected to transverse loading that produces significant
bending effects as opposed to twisting or axial effects.
• This bending deformation is measured as a transverse
displacement and a rotation.
• Hence, the degrees of freedom considered per node are
a transverse displacement and a rotation
Consider the beam in Figure as an example to illustrate the procedure for
assemblage of beam element stiffness matrices. Assume EI to be constant
throughout the beam. A force of 1000 lb and a moment of 1000 lb-ft are applied to
the beam at midlength. The left end is a fixed support and the right end is a pin
support.
The total stiffness matrix can now be assembled for the beam by using the direct
stiffness method. When the total (global) stiffness matrix has been assembled, the
external global nodal forces are related to the global nodal displacements.
On considering the third, fourth, and sixth equations corresponding to the rows
with unknown degrees of freedom, we obtain

where F2y =1000 lb, M2 =1000 lb-ft, and M3 =0 have been substituted into the
reduced set of equations. We could now solve Eq. simultaneously for the
unknown nodal displacement and the unknown nodal rotations.
We can now back-substitute the results of displacements, along with the numerical
values for E, I, and L, to determine the global nodal forces as