Free Vibration Analysis of Circular Arches Considering Effects of Midsurface Extension and Rotatory Inertia Using the Method of Differential Quadrature

Curved beams are increasingly used in buildings, vehicles, ships, and aircraft, which has resulted in considerable effort being directed toward developing an accurate method for analyzing the dynamic behavior of such structures. The stability behavior of elastic circular arches has been the subject of a large number of investigations. One of the efficient procedures for the solution of ordinary differential equations or partial differential equations is the differential quadrature method DQM. This method has been applied to a large number of cases to overcome the difficulties of the complex computer algorithms, as well as excessive use of storage due to conditions of non-linear geometries, loadings, or material properties. This study uses DQM to analyze the in-plane vibration of the circular arches considering the effects of midsurface extension and rotatory inertia. Fundamental frequency parameters are calculated for the member with various parameter ratios, boundary conditions, and opening angles. The solutions from DQM are compared with exact solutions or other numerical solutions for cases in which they are available and given to analyze the effects of midsurface extension and rotatory inertia on the frequency parameters of the circular arches.