In-Plane Extensional Buckling Analysis of Curved Beams under Uniformly Distributed Radial Loads Using DQM

The increasing use of curved beams in buildings, vehicles, ships, and aircraft has prompted studies directed toward the development of an accurate method for analyzing the dynamic behavior of such structures. The stability behavior of elastic curved beams has been the subject of a large number of investigations. Solutions of the relevant differential equations have been obtained traditionally using standard finite difference or finite element methods. These techniques require a great deal of computer time as the number of discrete nodes becomes relatively large under the conditions of complex geometry and loading. One of the efficient procedures for the solution of partial differential equations is the method of differential quadrature. The differential quadrature method (DQM) has been applied to a large number of cases to overcome the difficulties of the complex algorithms of programming for the computer, as well as the excessive use of storage due to the conditions of complex geometry and loading. The in-plane buckling of curved beams considering the extensibility of the arch axis was analyzed under uniformly distributed radial loads using the DQM. The critical loads were calculated for the member with various parameter ratios, boundary conditions, and opening angles. The results were compared with the precise results by other methods for cases, in which they were available. The DQM, using only a limited number of grid points, provided results that agreed very well (less than 0.3%) with the exact ones. New results according to diverse variations were obtained, showing the important roles in the buckling behavior of curved beams, and can be used in comparisons with other numerical solutions or with experimental test data.