Substructuring-based accurate beam section characterization from finite element analysis

Abstract

The elastic characterization of beam sections is a complex problem, especially for non-homogeneous beams composed of anisotropic materials. Over the past four decades, several viable solutions have been proposed to address this important scientific and engineering challenge. These solutions either require a dedicated formulation for section discretization or, if based on conventional finite element methods, inevitably introduce unnecessary approximations. This work presents a formulation equivalent to well-established approaches available in the literature without requiring dedicated, specialized discretization formulations and techniques. Instead, it utilizes conventional linear finite element analysis to discretize the beam section and the concept of substructuring to analyze a finite chunk of the beam. The formulation is contextualized, described, and verified through examples of increasing complexity and generality, whose results are compared against those available in the open literature.