Cross-sectional warping and precision of the first-order shear deformation theory for vibrations of transversely functionally graded curved beams

The warping may become an important factor for the precise transverse vibrations of curved beams. Thus, the first aim of this study is to specify the structural design parameters where the influence of cross-sectional warping becomes great and the first-order shear deformation theory lacks the precision necessary. The out-of-plane vibrations of the first-order shear deformation theory are compared with the warping-included vibrations as the curvature and/or thickness increase for symmetric and asymmetric transversely-functionally graded (TFG) curved beams. The second aim is to determine the influence of design parameters on the vibrations. The circular/exact elliptical beams are formed via curved mixed finite elements (MFEs) based on the exact curvature and length. The stress-free conditions are satisfied on three-dimensional (3D) constitutive equations. The variation of functionally graded (FG) material constituents is considered based on the power-law dependence. The cross-sectional warping deformations are defined over a displacement-type FE formulation. The warping-included MFEs (W-MFEs) provide satisfactory 3D structural characteristics with smaller degrees of freedom (DOFs) compared with the brick FEs. The Newmark method is used for the forced vibrations.