Doyle-Wave Propagation in Structures PDF

Mechanical Engineering Series
Frederick F. Ling
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(continued after index)

James F. Doyle
Wave Propagation in
Structures
Spectral Analysis Using Fast
Discrete Fourier Transforms
Second Edition
With 113 Figures
i Springer
James F. Doyle
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47906
USA
Series Editor
Frederick F. Ling
Emest F. Gloyna Regents Chair in Engineering
Department of MechanicaI Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78712-1063 USA
and
William Howard Hart Professor Emeritus
Department of MechanicaI Engineering,
AeronauticaI Engineering and Mechanics
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY 12180-3590 USA
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Doyle, James F., 1951-
Wave propagation in structures : spectral analysis using fast
discrete Fourier transforms / James Doyle. - 2nd ed.
p. cm. - (Mechanical engineering series)
ISBN 978-1-4612-7304-2 ISBN 978-1-4612-1832-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4612-1832-6
1. Wave-motion, Theory of. 2. Spectral theory (Mathematics)
3. Fourier transformations. 1. Title. II. Series: Mechanical
engineering series (Berlin, Germany)
QA935.D693 1997
624.1'71---dc20 97-1015
Printed on acid-free paper.
© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Originally published by Springer-Verlag New York, mC.in 1997
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 2nd edition 1997
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Production managed by Steven Pisano; manufacturing supervised by Jacqui Ashri.

Photocomposed copy prepared from the author's J6.TE" files.
987654321
ISBN 978-1-4612-7304-2
This book is dedicated to my
father and mother,
Patrick & Teresa Doyle,
on my mother's seventieth birthday.
Thanksfor the dreams.
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
- w.B. Yeats [1281
Frederick F. Ling
Series Editor
Advisory Board
Applied Mechanics EA. Leckie

University of California.
Santa Barbara
Biomechanics V.C.Mow
Columbia University
Computational Mechanics H.T. Yang

Purdue University
Dynamic Systems and Control K.M. Marshek

University of Texas. Austin
Energetics J. Welty
University of Oregon. Eugene
Mechanics of Materials I. Finnie

University of California. Berkeley
Processing K.K. Wang

Cornell University
Thermal Science A.E. Bergles

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Tribology W.O. Winer

Georgia Institute of Technology
Series Preface
Mechanical engineering. an engineering discipline borne of the needs of the in-

dustrial revolution. is once again asked to do its substantial share in the call for
industrial renewal. The general call is urgent as we face profound issues of produc-
tivity and competitiveness that require engineering solutions. among others. The
Mechanical Engineering Series features graduate texts and research monographs
intended to address the need for information in contemporary areas of mechanical
engineering.
The series is conceived as a comprehensive one that covers a broad range of
concentrations important to mechanical engineering graduate education and re-
search. We are fortunate to have a distinguished roster of consulting editors on
the advisory board. each an expert in one the areas of concentration. The names
of the consulting editors are listed on the facing page of this volume. The areas
of concentration are: applied mechanics; biomechanics; computational mechan-
ics; dynamic systems and control; energetics; mechanics of materials; processing;
thermal science; and tribology.
Austin. Texas Frederick F. Ling

Preface
The study of wave propagation seems very remote to many engineers, even to
those who are involved in structural dynamics. One of the reasons for this is that
the examples usually taught in school are either so simple as to be inapplicable to
real world problems, or so mathematically abstruse as to be intractable. This book
contains an approach, spectral analysis or frequency domain synthesis, that I have
found to be very effective in analyzing waves. What has struck me most about this
approach is how I can use the same analytical framework to predict experimental
results as well as to manipulate the experimental data itself. As an experimentalist,
I had found it very frustrating having my analytical tools incompatible with my ex-
periments. For example, it is experimentally impossible to generate a step-function
wave and yet that is the type of analytical solution often available.
Spectral analysis is very encompassing - it touches on analysis, numerical
methods, and experimental methods. I want this book to do justice to its versatility,
so many subjects are introduced. As a result some areas may seem a little thin but I
do hope, nonetheless, that the bigger picture, the unity, comes across. Furthermore,
spectral analysis is not so much a solution technique as it is a different insight into
the wave mechanics, consequently, in most of the examples an attempt is made to
make the connection between the frequency domain and time domains.
In writing this second edition, I have strived to keep what was good about
the first edition - that combination of experimental and analytical results -
but incorporate more recent developments and extensions. The question not fully
articulated in the first edition is: What should be different about a book on waves in
structures? This is the question that has guided my reorganization of the existing
material as well as the selection of new topics. It is clearer to me now that the
essence of a structure is the coupling of systems and this should be the central
theme of a book on waves in structures. There are two readily recognized forms of
coupling: mechanical coupling "at the ends" such as when two bars are joined at an
angle, and differential coupling as when two bars are connected uniformly along
their lengths by springs. Both couplings are intimately related to each other as seen
from the example of a curved beam: it can be modeled as a collection of small
straight segments connected end to end, or directly in terms of coupled differential
equations. The two approaches, ultimately, give the same results, but, at the same
time, give quite different insights into the system behavior. The former leads to
richer system response functions and its ultimate form is in the spectral element
method. The latter leads to richer differential equations which is manifested in
x Preface
very interesting spectrum relations. The variety of examples were chosen so as to

illustrate and elaborate on this dual aspect of coupling.
The organization of the chapters is similar to that of the first edition, but two
completely new chapters have been added. Chapter 7 deals with the structural
acoustics problem. While this is a very important problem in its own right, it is
introduced here because, unlike the other examples of coupling, this could be
termed integro-differential coupling; that is, the local coupling depends on an
aggregate or integral effect over the whole coupled medium. Chapter 8 deals with
the problem of connecting large extended plates along edges. Both of these chapters
challenge the spectral approach to waves
In recent years, desktop computers have become incredibly powerful and very
affordable. Thus problems that would not be tackled in the past can be accom-
plished very quickly. For example, in the first edition, the double summation was
barely introduced but now it plays a central role in the dynamics of plate structures.
Similarly, the spectral element method turns out to be the convenient way for or-
ganizing on a computer the analysis of complex connected structures. Therefore,
the use of a computer is implicit in all the examples. No source code is included in
this edition, but to encourage readers to try the spectral analysis approach I have
posted, on my Web homepage, the source code listings to most of the computer
programs used to generate the results mentioned in the text. The URL is:
http://aae.www.ecn.purdue.edu/~doyle
Look under the section on Source Code. In a similar vein, I have tried to supple-
ment each chapter with a collection of pertinent problems plus specific references
that can form the basis for further study.
A book like this is impossible to complete without the help of many people,
but it is equally impossible to properly acknowledge all of them individually.
However, I would like to single out Brian Bilodeau, Albert Danial, Sudhir Kamle,
Lance Kannal, Matt Ledington, Mike Martin, Steve Rizzi, Gopal Srinivasan, and
Hong Zhang, for their input and help over the years. Any remaining errors and
inaccuracies are purely my own doing.
May, 1997 James F. Doyle

Contents
Series Preface vii

Preface ix
Notation xiii
Introduction 1
1 Spectral Analysis of Wave Motion 7
1.1 Continuous Fourier Transforms 8
1.2 Discrete Fourier Transform .. 11
1.3 Examples Using the FFT Algorithm 19
1.4 Experimental Aspects of Wave Signals. 23
1.5 Spectral Analysis of Wave Motion . . . 27
1.6 Propagating and Reconstructing Waves 35
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2 Longitudinal Waves in Rods 43
2.1 Elementary Rod Theory . . . . . 44
2.2 Basic Solution for Waves in Rods 47
2.3 Dissipation in Rods . . . . . . 50
2.4 Coupled Thermoelastic Waves . 54
2.5 Reflections and Transmissions 60
2.6 Distributed Loading . 68
Problems . . . . . . . . . . 72
3 Flexural Waves in Beams 74
3.1 Bernoulli-Euler Beam Theory . . . . . 75
3.2 Basic Solution for Waves in Beams .. 78
3.3 Bernoulli-Euler Beam with Constraints 81
3.4 Reflection of Flexural Waves. 84
3.5 Curved Beams and Rings 91
3.6 Coupled Beam Structure 99
Problems . . . . . . . 104
4 Higher-Order Waveguides 105
4.1 Waves in Infinite Media 106
4.2 Semi-Infinite Media . . 111
4.3 Doubly Bounded Media 117
4.4 Doubly Bounded Media: Lamb Waves . 121
xii Contents
4.5 Hamilton's Principle . . . 126

4.6 Modified Beam Theories . 131
4.7 Modified Rod Theories. . 139
Problems · ....... 148
5 The Spectral Element Method 150
5.1 Structures as Connected Waveguides . 151
5.2 Spectral Element for Rods . 152
5.3 Spectral Element for Beams 158
5.4 General Frame Structures 163
5.5 Structural Applications. . . 168
5.6 Waveguides with Varying Cross Section 173
5.7 Spectral Super-Elements . . 180
5.8 Impact Force Identification . 190
Problems · .. . . . . . . 197
6 Waves in Thin Plates 198
6.1 Plate Theory . . ......... 199
6.2 Point Impact of a Plate . . . . . . 206
6.3 Wavenumber Transform Solution 211
6.4 Waves Reflected from a Straight Edge 218
6.5 Scattering of Flexural Waves . 224
6.6 Lateral Boundary Conditions . 229
6.7 Curved Plates and Shells . 233
Problems · ...... 242
7 Structure-Fluid Interaction 243
7.1 Acoustic Wave Motion . 244
7.2 Plate-Fluid Interaction . 247
7.3 Double Panel Systems . 253
7.4 Waveguide Modeling. . 257
7.5 Radiation from Finite Plates 263
7.6 Cylindrical Cavity 269
Problems · ........ 274
8 Thin-Walled Structures 275
8.1 Membrane Spectral Elements 276
8.2 Spectral Elements for Flexure 282
8.3 Folded Plate Structures. . . . 286
8.4 Structural Applications. . . . 290
8.5 Segmented Cylindrical Shells 295
8.6 Future of Spectral Elements 302
Problems · .... . . . . . 305
Afterword 307
Appendix: Bessel Functions 309
References 313
Index 319
Notation
a radius
A cross-sectional area
A,B,C,D frequency dependent coefficients
b thickness, depth
B bulk modulus
CK group speed
Co longitudinal wave speed, .; EA/ pA
Cp, CS, CR Primary, Secondary and Rayleigh wave speeds
CE specific heat
D plate stiffness, Eh 3 /12(1 - v 2 )
E,E Young's modulus, viscoelastic modulus
EI beam flexural stiffness
F member axial force
g;(x) element shape functions
G(t), G structural unit response, Frequency response function
h beam or rod height, plate thickness
Hn Hankel function, Hn = in ± i Yn
complex .J=T
1 second moment of area, 1 = bh 3 /12 for rectangle
In modified Bessel functions of the first kind
in Bessel functions of the first kind
k, kl' k2 waveguide spectrum relations
k" ky, k, 2-D wavenumbers
K stiffness, thermal conduction
[ k ], [K ] stiffness matrix
Kn modified Bessel functions of the second kind
L length of element, distance to boundary
M, Mx moment
n frequency counter
N number of terms in transform
pet), p acoustic pressure
pet), P applied force history
q distributed load, heat flux
r radial coordinate
R radius
t time
T time window, temperature
u(t) response; velocity, strain, etc.
xiv Notation
u, v, w displacements
v member shear force
w space transform window
x, y, Z rectilinear coordinates
YII Bessel functions of the second kind
Greek letters:
at coefficient of thermal expansion
[w2pA/EI]1/4, [w2ph/D]I/4
permutation symbol
Kronecker delta, small quantity
determinant
viscosity, damping
plate curvature
angular coordinate
v Poisson's ratio
Shear modulus
Lame constant
mass density
a, E stress, strain
space transform variable
rotation
Helmholtz functions
lateral contraction
angular frequency
cut-off, coincidence, critical frequency
Special Symbols:
nil random noise
.. a2 a2
'il 2 differential operator, 3x"! + ]i";!
v volume .
[ ] square matrix
{ } vector
Subscripts:
a acoustic medium
m space wavenumber counter
n frequency counter
1,2 sensors, modes
P,S,R Primary, Secondary, Rayleigh waves
Superscripts:
complex conjugate
* bar, local coordinates
dot, time derivative
frequency domain (transformed) quantity
wavenumber domain (transformed) quantity
prime, derivative with respect to argument
Introduction
We must gather and group appearances, until the scientific imagination

discerns their hidden laws, and unity arises from variety; and then from
unity we must re-deduce variety, and force the discovered law to utter
its revelations of the future.
W.R. HAMILTON [591
This small book is an introduction to the spectral analysis method as a means of

solving wave propagation problems in structures. The emphasis is on practical
methods from both the computational and applications aspects, and reference to
experimental results is made whenever possible.
While it is possible to solve structural dynamics problems by starting with the
partial differential equations of motion and integrating, the task is horrendously
large even for the biggest computers available. This would not be a good idea
anyway because (and this is a point very often overlooked) a true solution to a
problem is one that also puts organization and coherence onto the results. It is not
sufficient to be able to quote, say, the strain history at some location or even at
thousands of locations; the results must be placed in some higher-order context,
be seen as part of some larger unity. Notice that this aspect of the problem is
present even when interpreting experimental results and is not just associated with
analysis. One of the goals of this book is to provide such a unifying framework
for the analysis of waves in structures. By consistently using the spectral analysis
method for all problems a unity emerges. This unity is not only in the formulation
but (when coupled with the fast Fourier transform) is also among the formulation,
the solution procedure, the solutions themselves, and the post-manipulations of
the results.
What Is Spectral Analysis?

Over the years many analytical techniques have been developed for treating wave
propagation problems. Central among these is the method of Fourier synthesis (or
spectral analysis), where the behavior of a signal is viewed as a superposition of
many infinitely long wave trains of different periods (or frequencies). The actual
1
2 Introduction
response is synthesized by a judicious combination of these wave trains.Thus the

problem of characterizing a signal is transformed into one of determining the set of
combination coefficients. These coefficients are called the Fourier transform of the
signal. While the problem being tackled invariably simplifies when it is expressed
in terms of the Fourier transform (Sneddon's book [118], for example, shows a
wide range of applications to both static and dynamic problems) the last step in the
analysis involves performing an inverse transform (reconstructing the signal) and
this, generally, is very difficult to do in an exact analytical manner. Consequently,
many approximate and asymptotic schemes have usually been resorted to. These
are quite adequate for determining the remote behavior (as is required in seismol-
ogy, say) but can lose too much information when applied to structural impact
problems. It should also be pointed out that analytical transforms are feasible only
if the function to be transformed is mathematically simple - unfortunately this
is not the case in any situation of practical interest and is certainly not true when
dealing with experimental data. This inversion problem is the biggest impediment
to a more widespread use of the transform methods.
Spectral analysis forms the basis of this book, but the approach is different from
the classical method in that, from the outset, the transforms are approximated
by the discrete Fourier transform (DFf). In contrast to the continuous transform,
this represents the signal by a finite number of wave trains and has the enormous
advantage in that the fast Fourier transform (FFf) computer algorithm can be
used for economically computing the transforms. Being able to do transforms
and inversions quickly adds great heuristic value to the tool in that the waves
can be actually "seen" and iterated on, and realistic signals (even ones that are
experimentally based) can be treated. It should be pointed out that while the method
uses a computer, it is not a numerical method in the usual sense, because the
analytical description of the waves is still retained. As a consequence, the very
important class of inverse problems can be tackled.
The approach presented in this book takes advantage of many of the techniques
already developed for use in time series analysis and for the efficient numerical
implementation of them. (Chatfield's book [13], for example, is a readable intro-
duction to the area of signal processing.) In fact, this aspect of spectral analysis is
really part of the more general area of digital processing of the signals and herein
lies one of the unifying advantages of the present approach - the programming
structure is then already in place for the subsequent post-processing of the data.
This is especially significant for the manipulation of experimental data.
Structures and Waveguides

A structure can be as simple as a cantilevered diving board or as complicated as the
proposed space platforms that are three-dimensional multi-member jointed grids
with many attachments. They can also be complicated like airplane fuselages and
wings constructed as a combination of thin plates and frame members. We view all
such structures as a collection of waveguides with appropriate connectivities at the
joints. A waveguide directs the wave energy along its length and, in its elementary
Introduction 3
form, can be viewed as a hydraulic or electric network analog. Unfortunately, the

quantities transported are more complicated than water flow or current.
Perceiving a structural member as a waveguide is not always an easy matter.
For example, it is reasonable to expect that a narrow bar struck along its length
will conduct longitudinal waves and intuition says that if it is struck transversely it
generates flexural motion. However, on closer examination it turns out not to be that
simple. When the bar is first impacted transversely, the waves generated propagate
into a semi-infinite body and behave as if there is only one free surface. Only after
some time has elapsed do the waves experience the other lateral surface, where they
then reflect back into the body. On a time scale comparable to many transits of the
wave, it is seen that a particle at some location further down the guide experiences
a complex superposition of the initial wave plus all the new waves generated by
reflections. This obviously is not flexural motion. The question then is: At what
stage (both time and position) does the response resemble a flexural wave?
The answer comes in two parts. First, it can be said that the transition depends on
such factors as the duration of the pulse, the distance between bounding surfaces,
and the transit time. That is, the longer the pulse and the smaller the depth, the
sooner (both in time and position) the response resembles a flexural wave. However,
it never does become a flexural wave. This leads to the other part of the answer. The
point and success of waveguide analysis is to forego a detailed analysis of the waves
and replace the three-dimensional model by a simpler one that has embedded in it
the essential characteristics of the behavior as well as a reasonable approximation
of the lateral boundary conditions. This model usually involves resultants on the
cross section and is valid (within itself) for all time and positions not just at large
times and distances.
There are various schemes for establishing the waveguide model that range
from the purely ad hoc "Strength of Materials" approaches, to reduced forms of
the 3-D equations, to using exact solutions; Redwood [103] gives a good survey
of waveguide analysis for both solids and fluids. The approach taken in this book
is to begin the analysis using an elementary model and then to add complexity to
it - the formal procedure is via Hamilton's variational principle combined with
the Ritz method. This approach has the advantage of being quite intuitive because
it is based on a statement of the deformation; in addition, it can show the way to
approach as yet unformulated problems.
Some exact solutions for waveguides are also developed. Generally, these are too
cumbersome to be of direct use in structural dynamics, but they do aid considerably
in gaining a deeper understanding of the nature of approximation used in the more
familiar waveguide themj.es.
Wave Propagation and Vibrations

A major aspect of this book is the persistent treatment of the effect of boundaries
and discontinuities on the waves because real structures have many such termi-
nations. This can be done efficiently because the quantities used in the analysis
of the waveguide are also used to set up the connectivity conditions. As a result,
4 Introduction
wave solutions for structures more interesting than simple rods and beams can be
pieced together successfully. Moreover, the way to solve problems of structures
with many members and boundaries is then available.
A connection not often investigated by those studying structural dynamics is
the relationship between wave propagation and vibrations. For many engineers,
these are two separate areas with quite distinct methods of analysis. However, an-
other advantage of the spectral approach to dynamics is that the close connection
between waves and vibrations becomes apparent. Even the same language can be
used, terms such as power spectral density, filtering, spectral estimation, convolu-
tion, and sampled waveforms have the same meaning. Consequently, many of the
technologies developed over the last thirty years for vibrations and modal analysis
are directly applicable to the spectral analysis of waves.
An exciting possibility (and one of the motivations for writing this book) is to
facilitate the reverse process, that is, to transport many of the waves ideas into
vibration analysis. This should lead to a richer understanding of such topics as
impulse testing and transient vibrations. A number of examples throughout the
book demonstrate the "evolution" of resonance as multiple reflections are included
in the analysis.
Themes and Threads

This book concentrates on wave propagation in the basic structural elements of
rods, beams, and plates. These form a rich collection of problems and the intent is
to show that they all can be analyzed within the same framework once the spectral
analysis approach is adopted. Because of the structural applications (and since
all structures are finite in extent), a primary theme is the interaction of the wave
with discontinuities such as boundaries, junctions, and attachments. Supplemental
themes involve the construction of the mechanical models, and the duality between
the time and frequency domains.
While the material of each chapter is reasonably self-contained, Graff's book [56]
can be used as an excellent supplemental reference On elastic wave propagation.
The book by Elmore and Heald [48] gives a broader and simpler introduction to
waves. Chapter 1 recapitulates the essence of the continuous Fourier transform
and its approximation in the form of the discrete Fourier series. The factors affect-
ing the quality of the approximation (or spectral estimate) are elucidated. It also
discusses, in a general way, how spectral analysis can be used to solve differential
equations and especially those associated with wave motion. Two concepts of sig-
nificance emerge from this analysis. One is the idea of the spectrum relation (that
unique relation between the frequency and the wavenumber) and is essentially the
transform equivalent of the space-time differential equation. The other is that of
multi-mode solutions. These are shown to playa fundamental role in the solution
of actual boundary value problems even though all are not necessarily propagating
modes.
The following two chapters deal, respectively, with rods and beams, in nearly
the same format. First, the governing differential equations are derived and then,
Introduction 5
by spectral analysis, the kernel solutions and spectrum relations are obtained.
Having initiated a wave, how it interacts with structural discontinuities is then
investigated. Each chapter includes an example of coupling both at the differential
and mechanical levels. Chapter 4 then addresses the question of the adequacy of
the waveguide models for rods and beams. A foundation in the construction of
higher order waveguides is provided that will readily allow extensions to be made
to other specialized problems.
Chapter 5 introduces the spectral element method as a matrix method approach
to structural dynamics that combines aspects of the finite element method with
the spectral analysis method. In a way, this chapter is the culmination of the con-
nected waveguide approach and clearly makes the study of wave propagation in
complicated structures practical.
The next three chapters extend the spectral analysis to the difficult area associ-
ated with plates and plated structures. The extended nature of the plate waveguide
introduce a number of different challenges: Chapter 6 looks at orthotropic material
properties and wave scattering; Chapter 7 deals with the problem of plate/fluid in-
teraction; Chapter 8 attempts to develop a matrix methodology for plated structures
including cylindrical shells.
A number of threads run through all the chapters. The spectral methodology is an
ideal companion for experimental analysis, and throughout the chapters summaries
of some of its experimental applications are given. The emphasis is on how spectral
analysis can extend the type of information extracted from the experimental data-
for example, how a structural response can be used to infer the force history causing
it. Another thread is the role played by elastic constraints. This is first introduced
in connection with the simple rod but reappears with increasing complexity in the
subsequent chapters. Its ultimate expression is found in the coupled modes of the
curved plate.
Admittedly, a large range of problems have been left out even though most
of them are treatable by the spectral methods. Consequently, an effort is made
to supplement each chapter with a collection of pertinent problems plus specific
references that indicate extensions of the theory and the applications. These can
form the basis for further study.
A Question of Units
The choice of any particular set of units is bound to find disfavor with some read-
ers. Nondimensionalizing all of the plots is an unsatisfactory solution especially
since experimental results are included. Furthermore, working with dimensional
quantities help give a better "feel" for the results. The resolution of this dilemma
adopted here is to do most of the examples using a nominal material with nominal
properties. In the two major systems of units, these are given in the following table:
6 Introduction
Property Imperial SI
Material aluminum aluminum
Young's Modulus, E 10 x 106 psi 70GN/m2
Mass Density, p 0.25 x 1O- 3 Ib·s2/in. 4 2800kglm 3
Poisson's Ratio, v 0.33 0.33
Height, h I in. 25mm
Depth, b I in. 25mm
Length, L 100 in. 2500mm
One of the recurring material parameters is the ratio
Co = ~ = 200 X 103 in.!s = 5000 mls
When a natural nondimensionalizing factor, such as Co or the acceleration g,

presents itself we will use it. In some examples, we will deviate from these nominal
values and the dimensions will then be made explicit. In other examples, where it
is the relative waveform (shape) and not the absolute magnitude that is important,
we will not state the units at all.
1
Spectral Analysis of
Wave Motion
It has long been known that an arbitrary time signal can be thought of as the super-
position of many sinusoidal components, that is, it has a distribution or spectrum of
components. Working in terms of the spectrum is called spectral analysis. In wave
analysis, the time domain for a motion or response is from minus infinity to plus
infinity. Functions in this domain are represented by a continuous distribution of
components which is known as its continuous Fourier transform (eFT). However,
the numerical evaluation and manipulation of the components requires discretizing
the distribution in some manner - the one chosen here is by way of the discrete
Fourier transform (DFT). This has the significant advantage that it allows the use
of the very efficient fast Fourier transform (FFT) computer algorithm.
The goal of this chapter is to introduce the discrete Fourier transform for the
efficient computation of the spectral content of a signal. Possible sources of errors
in using it on finite samples and ways of reducing their influences will be discussed.
The Fourier transform is then applied to wave analysis. The crucial step is to set up
the connection between the spectral responses at different space locations - we
do this through the governing differential equations. In doing so, certain key ideas
emerge which will recur throughout this book; central among these ideas are that
of a wave mode, its spectrum relation, and its phase and group speeds as depicted
in Figure 1.1.
Time Position
~
Figure 1.1: Response showing the difference between the group and phase speeds. Move-
ment of the envelope corresponds to group behavior while movement of the zero crossings
corresponds to phase behavior.
7
8 Chapter 1. Spectral Analysis of Wave Motion
1.1 Continuous Fourier Transforms

The continuous transform is a convenient starting point for discussing spectral
analysis because of its exact representation of functions. Only its definition and
basic properties are given here; a more complete account can be found in Refer-
ences [118, 120]. Background information on time series analysis can be found in
Reference [13].
Definition
The continuous Fourier transform pair of a function F(t), defined on the time
domain from -00 to +00, is given as
(1.1)
where C(w) is the continuous Fourier transform (eFT), w is the angular frequency,
and i is the complex R. The first form is the inverse transform while the second
is the forward transform - this arbitrary convention arises because the signal to be
transformed usually originates in the time domain. The factor of 2;rr is necessary
so that a sequential use of the forward and inverse transforms recovers the original
function. However, it should be pointed out that other forms for this factor can be
found in the literature.
The process of obtaining the Fourier transform of a signal separates the wave-
form into its constituent sinusoids (or spectrum) and thus a plot of C(w) against
frequency represents a diawam displaying the amplitude of each of the constituent
sinusoids. The spectrum C(w) usually has nonzero real and imaginary parts. We
will consistently use the superscript 'hat' to indicate the frequency domain spec-
trum of a function.
By way of a simple example of the application of Fourier transforms, consider
a rectangular pulse where the time function is given by
F(t) = Fo - al2 ~ t ~ al2
and zero otherwise. Substituting into the forward transform and integrating gives
~
C(w) =1+ G
-a12
/
2 .
Foe-1wtdt
wal2
~
= Foa { sin (waI2) } == Co(w)
In this particular case the transform is real only and symmetric about w = 0 as
shown in Figure 1.2. The term inside the braces is called a sine function, and
has the characteristic behavior of starting at unity magnitude and oscillating with
decreasing amplitude as its argument increases. It is noted that the value of the
transform at w = 0 is the area under the time function. This, in fact, is a general
result as seen from
C(O) = i: F(t)e- iOt dt = i: F(t)dt

1.1 Continuous Fourier Transforms 9
When the pulse is displaced along the time axis such that the function is given
by
F(t) = Fa
and zero otherwise, the transform is then
which has both real and imaginary parts and is not symmetric with respect to w = O.
On closer inspection, however, we see that the magnitudes of the two transforms
are the same; it is just that the latter is given an extra phase change of amount
w(ta + aI2). Figure 1.2 shows the transform for different amounts of shift. We
therefore associate phase changes with shifts of the signal along the time axis.
- - real
imag
~
o
t =-a/2
o
o=-a/5
t
t =+a/l0
" " .. __ '' 0 ..... " .,.,, __
Frequency [kHz]
I I
-100. -50. o. 50. 100.
Figure 1.2: Continuous transform of a rectangular pulse with a = 50 f-LS.
If a pulse is visualized to be at different positions relative to the time origin, then

the amplitude of the spectra will be the same, but each will have a different phase
change. That is, movement in the time domain causes phase changes in the fre-
quency domain. Investigating these phase changes is the fundamental application
of spectral analysis to wave propagation and will be pursued later in this chapter.
Properties of Fourier Transforms

For completeness, this section summarizes some of the major properties of Fourier
transforms; more detailed accounts can be found in Reference [120]. In all cases,
the results can be confirmed by taking the example of the rectangular pulse and
working through the transforms long hand. To aid in the summary, the transform
10 Chapter I. Spectral Analysis of Wave Motion
pair
F(t) <:} C(w)
will be referred to, where the symbol <:} means "can be transformed into." The
double arrowheads reinforce the idea that the transform can go in either direction
and that its properties are symmetric.
If the functions FA(t) and FB(t) have the transforms CA(w) and CB(w), respec-
tively, then the combined function [FA(t) + FB(t)] has the transform [CA(w) +
CB(W)]. That is,
(1.3)
This is an essential property of the transform and it means that if a signal is
composed of the simple sum of two contributions (sayan incident wave and a
reflected wave) then the transform is also composed of a simple sum of the separate
transforms. This linearity property is at the heart of superposition.
The function F(at) (where a is a nonzero constant) has the transform pair
I A
F(at) <:} -C(wja) (1.4)

lal
indicating a reciprocal scaling relationship for the arguments. That is, time domain
compression corresponds to frequency domain expansion (and vice versa). For
example, if the width of a pulse is made narrower in the time domain, then its extent
in the frequency domain is made broader. It should also be noted that the amplitude
decreases because the energy is distributed over a greater range of frequencies.
If the function F(t) is time shifted by to, then it has the transform pair
(1.5)
This property was already seen in the last example where the rectangle was dis-
placed from the origin. Of course, the property refers to any change at any position.
There is a corresponding relation for frequency shifting.
The transform pairs, Equations (1.1), are valid for both F(t) and C(w) being
complex, but the functions of usual interest in wave analysis are when F(t) is real.
To see the effect of this, rewrite Equation (1.1) in terms of its real and imaginary
parts as
2rr FR = ! [C R coswt - C/ sinwt]dw, CR = ![FR cos wt + F, sin wt]dt
2rrF/ = ![CRSinwt+c/cOswt]dW, C/ =- ! [FR sin wt - F/ coswt]dt
where the following decomposition was used

(1.6)
From the above it is apparent that when F(t) is real-only, CR is even and C/ is
odd. Mathematically, this is expressed as
CR(-w) = CR(w) , C,(-w)=-C/(w) or C(-w)=C*(w) (1.7)
1.2 Discrete Fourier Transform 11
which says that the functions are symmetrical and antisymmetrical, respectively,
about the zero frequency point. This can also be expressed as saying that the
negative frequency side of the transform is the complex conjugate of the positive
side.
A very interesting property arises in connection with the products of functions.
Consider the transform of two time functions
(;(w) = f FA(t)FB(t)e-iwtdt
Using the inverse transform relation for FA gives
(;(w) = ff (;A(w)e+iwtdwFB(t)e-iwt dt
This can be further rearranged as
(;(w) = f (;A(W) f FB(t)e-i(w-w)ldtdw= f (;A(W)(;B(W-w)dw
and is expressed as the transform pair
FA(t)FB(t) <=> f (;A(W)(;B(W - w)dw (1.8)
This particular form is called a convolution. It will have use in understanding the
effects of sampling and filtering on the computed transforms. For example, a signal
truncated in the time domain can be thought of as the product of the original signal
with the truncating function. The result in the frequency domain is then no longer
a simple representation of either.
There is a similar relation for products in the frequency domain, namely,
(1.9)
This shows that a time domain convolution can be performed as frequency domain
multiplication. Even though this involves both a forward and inverse transform it is
computationally faster than performing the convolution directly. All the mechan-
ical systems considered in the later chapters will be represented in the frequency
domain as products of the input times the system response. In fact, as will be seen,
the reason why the frequency domain is so useful for analyzing these systems is
because the complicated convolution relations become simple algebraic relations.
1.2 Discrete Fourier Transform

The continuous Fourier transform is a powerful technique but has the drawback that
the functions (signals) must be known analytically over the complete domain. This
occurs in only rare cases making it unsuitable for practical situations, especially if
the signals are experimental in origin. We now consider the treatment of discretized
signals known over a finite time interval.
Fourier Series
Let the time function F(t) be known only over a period T; to apply the continuous
Fourier transform to it, we must extend it somehow to the infinity limits. In the
Fourier series representation, the function is assumed extended to plus and minus
infinity as a periodic function with the period T. We can view this either as separate
functions of duration T placed one after the other; or as the superposition of
separate functions of infinite duration but with nonzero behavior only over the
period T. We adopt this latter view as shown in Figure 1.3.
-00 +00
n .(J.
n
-00 +00
+
-00 +00
+
-00 ~+oo
Figure 1.3: Periodic extended signal as a superposition of infinite signals.
We saw from the rectangular pulse example that if Coo(w) is the transform of a
pulse, the transform of the same pulse shifted an amount T is Coo(w)e- iwT • It is
obvious therefore that the transform of the periodic signal can be represented as
C(w) = Coo(w)[ ... + e+iw2T + e+iwT + 1 + e- iwT + e- iw2T + ... ]
This transform will show infinite peaks whenever the frequency is one of the
following discrete values Wn = 2rr:n/T. Under this circumstance, each of the
exponential terms is unity and there is an infinity of them. (This result should not
be surprising since the C(O) component is the area under the curve, and for the
periodic rectangle of Figure 1.3 we see that it is infinite.) At other frequencies, the
exponentials are as likely to be positive as negative and hence their sum will be
relatively small. Therefore our first conclusion about the transform of a periodic
extended signal is that it will show very sharp spectral peaks. We can go further and
say that the transform is zero everywhere except at the discrete frequency values
Wn = 2rr:n/T where it has an infinite value. We represent this behavior by use of
the delta function, 8(x); this special function is zero everywhere except at x = 0
where it is infinite. It has the very important additional property that its integral
over the whole domain is unity. Thus
C(w) Coo(w)A[ . .. + 8(w + 2rr: /T) + 8(w) + 8(w - 2rr:/T) + ... ]

Coo(w)A L8(w - 2rr:n/T) = Coo(w)A L8(w - wn )
n n
where A is a proportionality constant which we determine next. We reiterate that

although the transform C(w) is a continuous function of frequency it effectively
evaluates to discrete nonzero values.
i: i:
The remainder of the transform pair is given by
l:rr F(r) = C(w)e+ iwt dw = Coo(w)A ~ ll(w - wn)e+iwr dw
Interchanging the summation and the integration, and using the properties of the
delta function gives
n
Integrate both sides of this equation over a time period T, and realizing that all
terms on the right-hand side are zero except the first, gives that
2:rr loT F(t)dt = ACoo(O)T

Since Coo(O) is the area under the single pulse, we conclude that A = 2:rr IT.
We now have the representation of a function F(t), extended periodically, in
terms of its transform over a single period. That is,
I n-+oo
F(t) = T L Coo(wn)e+iw"t, (1.10)
n--oo
Except for a normalizing constant, this is the complex Fourier series representation
of a periodic signal.
Consider the transform of the rectangular pulse of the last section. The coeffi-
cients are given by
This result is the product of three terms. The first, Foa, is the size of the pulse
as represented by the area. The third, the exponential, is a phase change due to
the shifting of the pulse relative to the time origin. For example, if the pulse is
symmetric about t = 0, then t" = -all and there is no phase change of the
transform. The second term, sinc function, is the core of the transform and its
amplitude is shown plotted in Figure 1.4 for various periods. Notice that the spacing
of the coefficients is at every 1I T Hertz in the frequency domain. For the periods
T = 500, 200, 100 JLS this gives spacings of t:.f = 2, 5, 10 kHz, respectively.
Notice that in all the cases of Figure 1.4, the Fourier series gives the exact
values of the continuous transform, but it does so only at discrete frequencies. The
discretization of the frequencies is given by
2:rrn
wn=r
Therefore, for a given pulse, a larger period gives a more dense distribution of
coefficients, approaching a continuous distribution in the limit of an infinite period.
This, of course, is the continuous transform limit. The finite time integral causes
the transform to be discretized in the frequency domain.
o Fourier series
- - Continuous
'---'--.l...-"'---'---'--........-'---'--'---'---'---'---I.---J.---'_'--'--J......-'---', Freq [kHz1

-100. -50. 0, 50. 100,
Figure 1.4: Fourier series coefficients for a rectangular pulse of nonzero duration a = 50 J-LS
extended with different periods T.
Approximation for the Fourier Coefficients

The discrete coefficients in the Fourier series are obtained by performing contin-
uous integrations over the time period. These integrations are now replaced by
summations as a further step in the numerical implementation of the continuous
transform.
F2
F I,""
Fo:' b..T F8 F9
Time
to tl t2 tm t4 t5 t6 t7 t8 t9
Figure 1.5: Discretization scheme for an arbitrary time function.
In reference to Figure 1.5, let the function F(t) be divided in M, piece-wise

constant, segments whose heights are Fm and base t!;.T = T / M. The coefficients
are now obtained from
t!;.T { sin Wn t!;.T /2 } "LFm e -,'wnm

t
w nt!;.T/2 m
We see that this is the sum of the transforms of a series of rectangles each shifted
in time by t = tm + tlT /2. The contribution of each of these will now be evaluated
more closely.
First look at the summation term. If n > M, that is, if n = M + n *. then the
exponential term becomes
Hence the summation contribution simply becomes
M-\
L Fme-in·wotm
m=O
showing that it evaluates the same as when n = n*. More specifically. if M = 8

say, then n = -5,9,11,17 evaluates the same as n = 3, 1,3,1, respectively. The
discretization process has forced a periodicity into the frequency description.
Now look at the other contribution; we see that the sinc function term does
depend on the value of n and is given by
. sin(x) wntlT n T n
smc(x) == - - , x=----7r---7r-
x 2 TM M
The sinc function is such that it decreases rapidly with increasing argument and
is negligible beyond its first zero. The first zero occurs where x = 7r or n .. M;
if M is made very large, that is. the integration segments are made very small,
then it will be the higher order coefficients (i.e., large n) that are in the vicinity of
the first zero. Let it be further assumed that the magnitude of these higher order
coefficients are negligibly small. Then an approximation for the coefficients is
L Fme-iw,l
M
Dn ~ tlT{I} m
on the assumption that it is good for n < M and that Cn ~ 0 for n ~ M.

Since there is no point in evaluating the coefficients for n > M - 1, the approx-
imation for the Fourier series coefficients is now taken as
1 N-\ 1 N-\
- ~ D e+iw"lm = _ ~ D e+i2rtnm/N
T ~ n T ~ n
n..() n-o
L L
N-\ N-\
tlT Fme-iw"lm = l!.T Fme-i2rtnm/N (1.11)
m=O m=O
where both m and n range from 0 to N - 1. These are the definition of what is
called the discrete Fourier transform (DFT). It is interesting to note that the expo-
nentials do not contain dimensional quantities; only the integers n, m, N appear. In
this transform, both the time and frequency domains are discretized, and as a con-
sequence, the transform behaves periodically in both domains. The dimensional
scale factors f).T, liT have been retained so that the discrete transfonn gives the
same numerical values as the continuous transfonn. There are other possibilities
for these scales found in the literature.
The discrete transfonn enjoys all the same properties as the continuous trans-
fonn; the only significant difference is that both the time domain and frequency
domain functions are now periodic. To put this point into perspective consider the
following: A discrete Fourier transfonn seeks to represent a signal (known over a
finite time T) by a finite number of frequencies. Thus it is the continuous Fourier
transfonn of a periodic signal. Alternatively, the continuous Fourier transfonn it-
self can be viewed as a discrete Fourier transfonn of a signal but with an infinite
period. The lesson is that by choosing a large signal sample length, the effect due
to the periodicity assumption can be minimized and the discrete Fourier transfonn
approaches the continuous Fourier transfonn.
Numerical Example
To help better illustrate the properties of the discrete transfonn consider the fol-
lowing numerical example. This can also serve as the test case for any numerical
implementation of the DFT.
Let a real-only function be given by the following sampled values:
with f).T = 1, N = 8. This has the shape of a rectangular pulse if the points are
connected by straight lines - remember, however, that the data is sampled and
hence no infonnation is actually known between the sampling points. Eight points
are given, thus it is implicit that the function repeats itself beyond that. That is, the
next few values are 0,1,1,0, and so on. The transfonn becomes
Dn - L
7
Fme-i21rnm/S ... FJe-iTln/4 + F2e- iTln / 2
m-o
The first ten transfonn points, in explicit fonn, are
Do 2.0
DJ 0.707 - 1.707i
D2 -1.0 - 1.0i
D3 -0.707 + 0.293i
D4 0.0
Ds -0.707 - 0.293i
D6 -1.0 + 1.0i
D7 0.707 + 1.707i
Ds 2.0
D9 0.707 - 1.707i
The obvious features of the transform is that it is complex and that it begins to repeat
itself beyond n = 7. Note also that D4 [the <4N + l)th value] is the Nyquist value.
The real part of the transform is symmetric about the Nyquist frequency, wh!le the
4
imaginary part is anti-symmetric. It follows from this that the sum [Dn + D N - n]
gives only the real part, that is,
2.0, 0.707, -1.0, -0.707, 0.0, -0.707,
while the difference 4[Dn - DN - n ] gives the imaginary part

0, -1.707i, -i, +0.293i, 0, -0.293i,
These two functions are the even and odd decompositions, respectively, of the
transform. Also note that Do is the area under the function.
Fast Fourier Transform Algorithm

The final step in the numerical implementation is the development of an efficient
algorithm for performing the summations of the discrete Fourier transform. The fast
Fourier transform (FFf) is simply a very efficient numerical scheme for computing
the discrete Fourier transform. This is not a different transform - the numbers
obtained from the FFf are exactly the same in every respect as those obtained
from the DFT. The intention of this section is to just survey the major features of
the FFf algorithm and to point out how the great speed is achieved. More detailed
accounts can be found in the References [11. 16] and FORTRAN code is given in
Reference [102].
Consider the generic forward transform written as
L Fme-i2rrnm/N ,
N-I
Sn = n = 0, 1, ... , N - 1
m-o
We write this in the expanded form
So {Fo + FI + F2 + ... }
SI {Fo + Fle-i2rrl/N + F2e-i2rr2/N + ... }
S2 {Fo + Fle-i2rr2/N + F2e-i2rr4/N + ... }
and so on. For each sum Sn, there are (N - 1) complex products and eN - 1)
complex sums. Consequently. the total number of computations (in round terms)
is on the order of 2N 2 • The purpose of the FFf is to take advantage of the special
form of the exponential terms to reduce the number of computations to less than
N 2•
The key to understanding the FFr algorithm lies in seeing the repeated forms
of numbers. This will be motivated by considering the special case of N being 8.
First consider the matrix of the exponents -i2rr(";.;'):
0 0 0 0 0
0 1 2 3 (N - 1)
-i2rr 0 2 4 6 2(N - 1)
0 3 6 9 3(N - 1)
N
0 (N - 1) 2(N - 1) 3(N - 1) (N - 1)(N - 1)
It is apparent that for an arbitrary value of N, 2rr will not, in general, be multiplied
by an integer number. These exponents, however, can be made quite regular if N
is highly composite. For example, if N is one of the following
N = 2Y = 2, 4, 8, 16,32,64, 112,256, 512, 1024, ...
then the effective number of different integers in the matrix is decreased. Thus if
N = 8 we get
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0 2 4 6 0 8+2 8+4 8+6
-i2rr 0 3 6 8+1 8+4 8+7 16+2 16+5
8 0 4 8+0 8+4 16+0 16+4 24+0 24+0
0 5 8+2 8+7 16+4 24+ 1 24+6 32 +3
0 6 8+4 16+2 24+0 24+6 32+4 40+2
0 7 8+6 16+5 24+4 32+3 40+2 48 + 1
which will effectively evaluate to
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0 2 4 6 0 2 4 6
-i2rr 0 3 6 1 4 7 2 5
8 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 0
0 5 2 7 4 1 6 3
0 6 4 2 0 6 4 2
0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This comes about because the exponentials take on the following simple forms
e- i211"[O] = e- i211"[1] = e- i211"[2] = e- i211"[3] = ... = 1
The regularity is enhanced even more if (N /2 = 4) is added to the latter part of

the odd rows, that is, if it is written as
0 0 0 0 (0 0 0 0) +0
0 1 2 3 (0 1 2 3) +4
0 2 4 6 (0 2 4 6)+0
-i2rr 0 3 6 1 (0 3 6 1) +4
8 0 4 0 4 (0 4 0 4) +0
0 5 2 7 (0 5 2 7) + 4
0 6 4 2 (0 6 4 2) +0
0 7 6 5 (0 7 6 5)+4
1.3 Examples Using the FFf Algorithm 19
We see that many of the computations used in forming one of the summations
is also used in the others. For example, So, S2, S4, S6 all use the sum (Fo + F4).
Realizing that e-i2rr4/8 = -1, then we also see that all the odd summations contain
common terms such as (Fo - F4). This re-use of the same computations is the reason
a great reduction of computational effort is afforded by the FFf. The algorithm
sets up the bookkeeping so that this is done in a systematic way.
The number of computations with and without the FFf algorithm is given by
~Nlog2N versus
When N = 8, this gives a speed factor of only 3.5:1, but when N = 1024, this
jumps to over 100: 1. It is this excellent performance at large N that makes the
application of Fourier analysis feasible for practical problems. On a benchmark
machine of 1 MFIops, say, a 1024-point transform takes significantly less than one
second.
The fast Fourier transform algorithm is so efficient that it has revolutionized
the whole area of spectral analysis. It can be shown quite simply that it enjoys
all the same properties of the continuous transform. Therefore, in the subsequent
analysis, we will assume that any time input or response can be represented in the
spectral form
L
N-J
F(t) = Cne+iwnt
and the tasks of forward and inverse transforms are accomplished with a computer
program.
1.3 Examples Using the FFT Algorithm

The following examples serve to show the basic procedures used in applying the
FFf to transient signals. The FFf is a transform for which no information is gained
or lost relative to the original signal. However, the information is presented in a
different format that often enriches the understanding of the information. In the
examples to follow, we will try to present that duality of the given information.
Correspondence between CFT and DFT

Consider the rectangular pulse already treated and that has the transform given by
Equation (1.2). The effect of different sample lengths and number of points used
are shown in Figure 1.6. Because of the discrete sampling, note that the vertical
sides of the rectangle will always have a rise time of IlT. In the examples, the
jump was treated by using its half value as shown in the time plots.
First, it is noticed that the transform is symmetric about the middle or Nyquist
frequency. This is a consequence of the input signal being real-only - if it were
complex, then the transform would fill the complete range. What this means is
o FFT
o samples -eFT
N-64 ll.T - 5.0!1S
L..J......I-J.......J..'...J1--'--'-!.....J......!-J.......J..1...JIC...J.....JII Time [1lS] ! ! I ' I I I I I I I I I Freq [kHz]

O. 160. 320. 480. O. 50. 100. 150.
Figure 1.6: FFf transfonn of a rectangular pulse of width a = 50 J.LS.
that N real points are transformed into N /2 complex points and no information
is gained or lost. Therefore, the useful frequency range extends only up to the
Nyquist, given by
I
fNyquist = 2D-.T
This range is increased only by decreasing D-. T. Thus for a fixed number of points,
fine resolution in the time domain (small D-.T) means course resolution in the
frequency domain. Finer resolution in the frequency domain is achieved only by
increasing the sample length T.
It is also seen from the figure that the match between the FFT amplitude and
the continuous Fourier transform is very good at low frequencies but gets worse
at the higher frequencies. As mentioned before, the discrete and the continuous
transforms match closely only if the highest significant frequency in the signal is
less than the Nyquist. The rectangular pulse can be represented exactly only by
using an infinite number of sinusoids but the contributing amplitudes get smaller
as frequency increases and therefore a finite number of sinusoids can suffice.
For a given sample rate D-. T, the number of samples only determine the density of
transform points. Thus the top two FFTs in Figure 1.6 are numerically identical at
the common frequencies. Increasing the sample rate for a given number of samples
increases the Nyquist frequency, and therefore the range of comparison between the
discrete and continuous transforms. It is seen that by the fourth plot, the amplitudes
in the vicinity of the Nyquist are negligible. Using the discrete transform puts an
upper limit on the maximum frequency available to characterize the signal. If
the signal is not smooth, the amplitudes of the high-frequency sinusoids used to
describe the signal are high. Any attempt at capping the high-frequency sinusoids
introduces a distortion in the amplitudes of the lower-frequency sinusoids. This is
called aLiasing and the next section discusses it in more detail.
1.3 Examples Using the FFf Algorithm 21
For future reference, we now summarize some of the inter-relationships among

the various parameters. Consider a signal of duration T sampled as N points. The
discretization rates in the two domains are
T 1
IlT =- Ilf - -
N' T
Various forms for the Nyquist frequency are
N 1 Nllf
fNyquist = 2T = 21lT = - 2 -
Transforms of Some Typical Functions

The complementarity of information between the time and frequency domains is
illustrated in Figure 1.7. The top three plots are for triangles. On comparing the first
two, we notice that the longer duration pulse has a shorter main frequency range;
however, both exhibit side lobes which extend significantly along the frequency
range. The third trace shows a smoothed version of the second triangle; in the
frequency domain it is almost identical to the second, the only difference being the
reduction in the high frequency side lobes. Thus time domain smoothing (using
moving averages, say) acts as a high band filter in the frequency domain. In the
wave analyses of the later chapters, we would like to control the frequency ranges
and we will do this by using signals without very sharp edges.
__J\__
Time ij.Ls] Frequency [kHz]
..................................~................................I......~'-
. ........
' ! I ", I"" I !" I, II I I I,.! I
o 200 400 600 BOO O. 5. 10. 15. 20. 25. 30. 35. 40.
Figure 1.7: Comparison of some pulse type signals in both the time and frequency domains.
The remaining two plots are for modulated signals - in this case a sinusoid
modulated (multiplied) by a triangle. The sinusoid function on its own would give
a spike at 15 kHz, whereas the triangular modulations on their own are as shown
for the top traces. The product of the two in the time domain is a convolution in
the frequency domain. The convolution tends to distribute the effect of the pulse.
A point of interest here is that if a very narrow-banded signal in the frequency
domain is desired. then it is necessary to extend the time domain signal as shown
in the bottom example.
The modulated waves are called wave packets or wave groups because they
contain a narrow collection of frequency components. It may have been thought
that the triangular pulse is a more natural group since in the time domain it is
highly localized. but what is also important to us is the frequency content of the
wave and we see that the modulated wave is localized in both the space and time
domains.
Effect of Superpositions
The signals we will deal with will often have multiple reflections. A sense of their
effect can be gauged from Figure 1.8 where the traces are arranged so as to have
a different number of reflections.
~~-------------
1v~
Time [/1S] Frequency [kHz]

~~.~.~I_.__~__~~~~•.•.~.I I~.~_.~I~.~.~.~.~I~.~_.~I~.~~.~I•._.~.~I
o. 200. 400. 600. 800. 1000. o. 5. 10. 15. 20. 25.
Figure 1.8: Effect of multiple reflections in both domains.
In the time domain, we recognize the multiple reflections as localized distur-

bances in time; in fact. in this simple example we can cut the trace so as to isolate
each of the reflections separately. No such separation is possible in the frequency
domain since any small time-localized portion of signal contributes over the total
frequency range. Consequently. we get an interference effect - the adding and
subtracting of phases which results in amplifying certain components. We can see
from the figure the evolution of spectral peaks as the number of reflections is in-
creased. In vibration analyses. which would correspond to an infinite number of
1.4 Experimental Aspects of Wave Signals 23
reflections, the spectral peaks become very sharp and this situation would then be
called resonance.
1.4 Experimental Aspects of Wave Signals

It seems appropriate at this stage to summarize some of the experimental aspects
of recording the wave signals in structures. By necessity, it is only cursory, but it is
hoped that it gives a feel for the type and quality of data recorded. It is necessary to
record an infinitely long trace in order to exactly characterize a general signal. This
is obviously impractical, so the problem reduces to one of obtaining best estimates
for the spectra from a finite trace. This section summarizes some of the necessary
procedures used for spectral estimation. Some of these procedures are similar to
those used for vibration signals.
Measurement Techniques
Testing associated with waves is somewhat different from that of vibrations. Some
of the characteristics of the testing to record transient signals associated with impact
and stress wave propagation in structures are:
• High frequency content (1 kHz - 1 MHz),
• Initial portion of the signal is very important,
• Only a small number of "runs" are performed,
• The number of data recording channels are usually limited (2 - 8),
• Only a short duration of the trace is analyzed (0 - 5000 /-Ls).
There is quite a range of measurement techniques available for studying wave
propagation problems. Of course, some are more suitable for certain situations
than others, but since the emphasis in this book is on structures, then only those
techniques most commonly used for structural analysis will be surveyed. A typical
setup is shown in Figure 1.9.
Most types of electrical resistance strain gages are usually adequate and since
the events are of short duration, temperature compensation is usually not a serious
issue. The largest gage size allowable is dependent on the highest significant fre-
quency (or shortest wavelength) of the signal, but generally gages equal to or less
than 3 mm (0.125 in.) are good for most situations. A rule of thumb for estimating
the maximum length is
L= l~ft (1.12)
where L is the gage length, f is the highest significant frequency, and E and p are
the Young's modulus and density, respectively, of the structural material. A typical
gage of length 3 mm (0.125 in.) is good to about 160 kHz. Other aspects of the
use of strain gages in dynamic situations are covered in References [8, 98]. Either
y Force
Transducer
Force
Transducer
accelerometers
--'-------+----r-r-r-l~'___'__~
PL--CB-303A-'------03
Power
... _ __.__r_r_l,:"
Supplies
TekAM502
computer waveform recorder pre-amps
Figure 1.9: Typical experimental setup for a plate (left) or frame (right).
constant-current, potentiometer or wheatstone bridge gage circuits can be used.

Nulling of the wheatstone bridge is not necessary for dynamic problems since only
the ac portion of the signal is recorded.
A wide variety of small accelerometers are available. There is a problem with
accelerometers, however, in that if the frequency is high enough, ringing will be
observed in the signal. This can often occur for frequencies as low as 20 kHz.
Generally speaking, accelerometers do not have the necessary frequency response
of strain gages, but they are movable, thus making them more suitable for larger,
complex structures. Also, note that if the stress is of interest, then integration of
the signal is required.
It is impossible to be categorical about the minimum setup necessary for wave-
form recording but the following pieces of equipment definitely seem essential.
Good preamplifiers are essential for dynamic work; they not only provide the gain
for the low voltages from the bridge but also perform signal conditioning. The
former gives the flexibility in choice of gage circuit as well as reducing the burden
on the recorder for providing amplification. A separate preamplifier is needed for
each strain gage circuit and a typical one should have up to lOOK gain, dc to 1 MHz
frequency response, and selectable band pass filtering. Generally, the analog fil-
tering (which is always necessary) is performed at or below the Nyquist frequency
associated with the digitizing.
The most significant advance in recent years is the availability of digital recorders.
A typical digital waveform recorder would have 4 channels, 2048 8-bit words of
memory, and a sample rate of 0.2 /-LS to 0.1 s. It is common for high-speed recorders
to digitize to 8-bit words (although newer ones use 12-bit words). This means it
1.4 Experimental Aspects of Wave Signals 25
has a resolution of 11256 of the full scale. If the signal can be made to fill at least
half full scale, then this resolution of about 1% of the maximum signal is ade-
quate. This situation is best achieved by having good preamplifiers. Many of the
newer digital recorders combine the features of an oscilloscope with those of a
small stand-alone microcomputer. But if the data are to be eventually transferred
to a computer for analysis, then it seems reasonable that this computer should also
perform all the processing. However, the preprocessing capability of the recording
machine is very useful during the setup stage.
Signal Processing and Spectral Estimation

The measured signal can contain unwanted contributions from at least two sources.
The first is the ever present electrical noise. Analog filters can be used to remove
much of this, although care must be taken not to remove some of the signal itself.
The second may arise from unwanted reflections. This is especially prevalent
for dispersive signals as the recording is usually extended to capture as much
as possible of the initial passage of the wave. There are many ways of smoothing
digital data but the simplest is to use moving averages of various amounts and
points of application. Figure 1.10 shows an example of smoothing a signal that has
an exaggerated amount of noise and reflections present. The following sequence
was used on data values sampled at every 1 J-LS:
5-point starting at oJ-LS
33-point starting at 220 J-LS
77-point starting at 450 J-LS
20l-point starting at 600 J-LS
The last averaging brings the signal smoothly to zero in the vicinity of 1000 J-LS.
Also shown in the figure is that part of the signal removed; this can be monitored
to detect if too much of the signal is being filtered.
o. 200. 400. 600. 800. 1000.
Figure 1.10: Effect of moving-average smoothing.

When we compare the truncated measured signal to the (imagined) infinite trace,
we say the fonner was "windowed" - only a small portion of the infinite trace is
visible through the window. Examples of time windows commonly used are the
rectangle and the Hanning window (which is like a rectangle with smoothed edges);
see References [9, 13] for more examples of windows. None of the windows usually
used in vibration studies seem particularly appropriate for transient signals of the
type obtained from propagating waves. The window used in most of the studies
to follow is the rectangular window tapered in some way on the large time side.
This window is thought to be adequate and is certainly the easiest to implement. A
problem with rapid truncation is that the reconstructed signals exhibit significant
disturbances at the point of truncation. If the sample size is large compared to the
length of interest, then this is not a serious problem because the disturbances can
be easily identified since they are localized in time and will not be confused with
the true signal.
Sampled Waveforms
By necessity, actual signal records are finite in length, and this can add some
difficulties to the scheme of estimating its spectral content. This section reviews
the major effects that should be considered.
An actual signal of very long duration must be truncated to a reasonable size
before the discrete Fourier transfonn is evaluated. The transfonn of the signal will
therefore be dependent on the actual function F(t), say, and the way it is sampled.
Note that if the sampling rate is every ll. T, then the highest detectable frequency
using the DFT is 1/(2ll.T). Thus, if ll.T is too large, the high frequency appears as
a lower frequency (its alias) as shown in Figure 1.11. This phenomenon of aliasing
can be avoided if the sampling rate is high enough. By "high enough" is implied
a rate commensurate with the highest significant frequency in the signal. From a
practical point of view, this is also avoided by recording with the analog filters set
so as to remove significant frequencies above the Nyquist.
• data
-sampled
-'-~.--'----'-_.~--'-.---'-----1_.-'----'-_"-'--"""'-1....J', Time [1lS1

L.-........-,---,---,---1.---,_,,--.
o. 100. 200. 300. 400.
Figure 1.11: Aliasing caused by coarse sampling.

1.5 Spectral Analysis of Wave Motion 27
The estimated spectrum is given only at discrete frequencies and this can cause a
problem known as leakage. For example, suppose there is a spectral peak at 17 kHz
and the sampling is such that the spectrum values are only at every 2 kHz. Then the
energy associated with the 17 kHz peak "leaks" into the neighboring frequencies
and distorts their spectral estimate.
Leakage is most significant in instances where the signal has sharp spectral
peaks and is least significant in cases where the signal is a flat, broad-banded
signal. In the analysis of the impact of structures, the signals generated generally
do not exhibit very sharp spectral peaks (as in the case of vibrations). However, it
can become a problem if there are very many reflections present in the signal.
Since discrete Fourier analysis represents a finite sample of an infinite signal on
a finite period, then schemes for increasing the apparent period must be used. The
simplest means of doing this is by padding. There are various ways of padding
the signal and the one most commonly used is that of simply adding zeros. Alter-
natively, Reference [37] shows how a long term estimate of the signal behavior
can also be used to pad the signal. The main consequence of padding is that since
a larger time window is used then higher resolution in the frequency domain is
achieved.
As regards padding with zeros, it should be pointed out that it really does not
matter if the zeros are added before the recorded signal or after. Thus even if the
signal never decreases to zero, padding is justified because it represents the early
quiescent part of the signal.
1.5 Spectral Analysis of Wave Motion

The application of the continuous Fourier transform to the solution of wave prop-
agation problems is quite standard as can be judged from some of the chapters
of Reference [118]. The application of discrete Fourier series, however, is quite
limited with some of the early exceptions being References [15,31,61). It appears
that the task of performing the summations is too formidable since a large number
of terms are required to adequately describe the wave. With the advent of comput-
ers and the utilization of the FFf algorithm, the picture changed, and performing
large summations rapidly is now feasible and economical.
This section introduces, in a consistent manner, the application of the discrete
Fourier transform (in the form of spectral analysis) to the solution of wave prob-
lems. The key to the spectral description of waves is to be able to express the
phase changes incurred as the wave propagates from location to location. This is
done conveniently through use of the governing differential equations for partic-
ular structural models - although in this chapter we will try to make the results
independent of any particular structural system.
General Functions of Space and Time

The solutions in wave problems are general functions of space and time. If the
time variation of the solution is focused on at a particular point in space, then it
has the spectral representation
U(XI, YI, t) = FI (t) = L C1neiw"t
At another point, it behaves as a time function F2(t) and is represented by the

Fourier coefficients C2n • That is, the coefficients are different at each spatial point.
Thus, the solution at an arbitrary position has the following spectral representation
(1.13)
where Un are the spatially dependent Fourier coefficients. Notice that these coef-
ficients are functions of frequency wand thus there is no reduction in the total
number of independent variables.
For shorthand, the summation and subscripts will often be understood and the
function will be given the representation
u(x, y, t) ::::} un(x, y, w,,) or U(x, y, w)
Sometimes it will be written simply as u.
The differential equations are given in terms of both space and time derivatives.
Since they are linear, then it is possible to apply the spectral representation to each
term appearing. Thus, the spectral representation for the time derivative is
In shorthand, this becomes

au . ~
-::::} IWnU" or iwu
at
In fact, time derivatives of general order have the representation
amU
- - ::::} imwm
atm 11
U
n
or imwmU (1.14)
Herein lies the advantage of the spectral approach to solving differential equations
- algebraic expressions in the Fourier coefficients replace the time derivatives.
That is, there is a reduction in the number of derivatives occurring.
Similarly, the spatial derivatives are represented by
au
- = -
a L une
~ iw t
n = L -aUen " iw t
ax ax ax
and in shorthand notation
au au" au
-::::}- or (1.15)
ax ax ax
In this case there appears to be no reduction, but as will be seen later, with the re-
moval of time as an independent variable, these derivatives often become ordinary
derivatives, and thus more amenable to integration.
Spectrum Relation
Consider the following general, linear (one-dimensional), homogeneous differen-
tial equation for the dependent variable u(x, t):
au au a2 u a2 u a2 u
u+a- +b- +c-+d- +e-- + ... =0
ax at ax 2 at 2 axat
The coefficients a, b, c, ... are assumed not to depend on time, but could be func-
tions of position. If, now, the solution is given the spectral representation
u(x, t) = l~>~n(X, wn)eiw"t

n
then on substitution into the differential equation get
Since each eiw"t term is independent, then this equation must be satisfied for each
n. That is, there are n simultaneous equations of the form
These equations become, on grouping terms,
(1.16)
where AI, A2, ••• depend on frequency, possibly on position, and are complex. The
subscript n is dropped, but it will be understood that an equation of the above
form must be solved at each frequency. We see that the original partial differential
equation becomes a set of ordinary linear differential equations in the Fourier
coefficients Un.
Consider the special case when the coefficients a, b, c, ... in the partial differen-
tial equation are independent of position and lead to linear differential equations
with constant coefficients. Reference [63] considers in good detail the solution
of equations of this form and should be consulted for the details not given here.
These equations have solutions of the form eAx , where A is obtained by solving the
algebraic characteristic equation (obtained after substituting into Equation (1.16»
(1.17)
It is usual in wave analysis, however, to assume that A is complex to begin with,

that is, that the solutions are of the form
U(x) = Ce- ikx (1.18)

For example, consider the differential equation
au + - = 0
A du => [a - ik]C = 0
dx
This gives k and the solution as
k = -ia, u(x) = Ce- ax
where C is a constant of integration. Similarly, the following second-order differ-

ential equation
gives k and the solution as

k = ±Ja,
There are two solutions (and constants of integration) because k occurred to the
power of two. Note that, even if the coefficients in the differential equation are
real, it is possible for k to be complex.
In general, then, the characteristic equation (for constant coefficients) becomes
A, + (-ik)A2 + (-ik)2 A3 + ... = 0
and this has many values of k that satisfies it. That is,
(1.19)
This relation between the exponent k (called the wavenumber) and frequency w is
called the spectrum relation and is fundamental to the spectral analysis of waves.
The different values of m correspond to the different modes. The solution is given
as the superposition of modes in the form
u(x) = C,e- ik1X + C2e-ik2X + ... + Cme-ikmx
There are as many modes (or solutions) as there are roots of the characteristic
equation and these should not be confused with the number of solutions for each
frequency. To reinforce this, the solution in total form is written as
u(x, t) = L {C'neiklnX + C2neik2nX + ... + CmneikmnX} e iwnt (1.20)
n
The exponential form for each term is due to the coefficients of the differential
equation being constant; however, the solution for any problem can always be
expressed as
(1.21)
where Pn is an amplitude spectrum and G (which may be a combination of modes)
is the system transfer function. Analysis of the partial differential equations com-
bined with the boundary conditions determine the particular forms for G and km (w).
Further, it is noted that the wavenumber k acts as a scale factor on the position
variable in the same way that the frequency w acts on the time. The analysis of the
scaling done by k(w) provides a good deal of insight into the solution before the
actual solution is obtained.
Simple Wave Examples

The following are some simple examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of the
spectral approach to dynamic equations.
Consider the following differential equation which is an example of the simple
I-D wave equation
a2 u
_=a2 _
a2u (1.22)
ax 2 at 2
where a is real and positive. Using the spectral representation gives
Since this has constant coefficients, assume Ce- ikx is a solution which (on substi-
tution) results in the characteristic equation
Consequently, the two modes for k are
k2(W) -= -wa
and the solution is
The set of coefficients CI(W), C2 (w) are called the amplitude spectrums.
This solution correspond to sinusoids (infinite wave trains) moving to the left
and right, respectively. A line in the x - t plane connecting a common point is
a straight line. That is, points of common phase (position on the sinusoid) travel
along straight lines in x - t as shown in Figure 1.12 for a forward moving train. If
the slope of this line is thought of as a speed, then it can be called the phase speed
and is given by
x 1 W
c=-=-=-
t a k
The relation between phase speed and frequency is called the dispersion relation.
We see that different frequency components travel at the same speed and that the
superposition also travels at the same speed. When the phase speed is constant with
respect to frequency, the signal is said to be nondispersive and it will maintain its
superposed shape. That is, at each different position in space, the sinusoids have
the same relative phase and so will superpose to give the same shape.
Consider now the following differential equation (which actually represents
flexural wave motion in beams)
(1.23)
--JI/VI/\/'vVWVVWI/I/VVVI/V'\}\-- --,/l!v\NWI/VWWJWWJ\jV\~-
. " ,", :\/",/\/",j\/\,:"'./\/\' :',",;',,", ;----
--~,N'vVI/V\ANvvVWVVWNv~,----
,":',' ',,''.;',,'':',,1-
I, I ,, I , I Time [msjl , I , I , ,,I

-2. O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14.
Figure 1.12: Segments of an infinite wave train at different positions. Left: nondispersive
system, individual sinusoids travel at same speed. Right: dispersive system, individual
sinusoids travel at different speed.
where, again, a is real and positive. Since the coefficients are constant, assume
C e-i(kx-wtj is a solution giving the characteristic equation as
Note there are four modes since k 2 = ±wa2 or
and the total solution becomes
u(x, t) L C] e-i(afo x - wt ) L + C2 e +i (a fo x+wt)
+L C3e-afox+iwt +L C4eafox+iwt
The first two are wave terms, as in the previous example, and again travel with a
constant phase speed given by
w 1
c == - =-../W
k a
Different frequency components, however, travel at different speeds. As a result,
the superposition of the components changes at the different locations and the wave
will appear to change shape as it propagates. When the phase speed is not constant
with respect to frequency, the signal is said to be dispersive. This is demonstrated
for two wave train segments shown in Figure 1.12. Observe that the resultant signal
travels at a speed different from the individual sinusoids.
The last two terms in the solution are spatially damped vibrations. While not
wave solutions per se (they are usually referred to as evanescent waves), they
nonetheless play a crucial role in being able to satisfy the imposed boundary
conditions when, say, a wave interacts with a joint.
The two previous examples had the familiar double time derivative associated
with inertia. Consider, as a different case, the following differential equation related
to Fourier's law of heat conduction
a2 u
-=a-
au (1.24)
ax 2 at
where a is real and positive. Again, since the coefficients are constant, assume
Ce-i(kx-wt) is a solution giving the characteristic equation as
[_k 2 - iwa] C = 0
There are two modes having the spectrum relations k(w) - ±,J-iaw or
k\(w) - -(1 - i),jaw/2 == -(1 - i)f3, k2 (w) = +(1 - i)Jaw/2 == +(1 - i)f3
The complete solution is
This is comprised of left and right propagating terms, but both are also spatially
damped. Further, the solutions are dispersive in the sense that f3 is not a linear
function of w.
Although this solution does not fall neatly into a simple wave description, the
spectral approach solves it with ease. This is very fortunate, because as waves
interact with boundaries and discontinuities, they lose their "wave nature" causing
a more complicated dynamic motion and the spectral approach can still handle
these cases.
Group Speed
The dynamic solution is comprised of the superposition of many harmonics and it
was shown that some are waves, some are damped waves, while some others are
vibrations. All these combine to give the observed motion. It is of interest to know
how to describe the propagating part of the disturbance since that is what arrives
at a remote location. It must be reiterated, however, that for all practical problems,
all types of solutions are present, and it may be unwarranted to attempt to isolate
the so-called "wave."
In any local region of interest the solution (for a typical mode) can be written
in the exponential form
At a typical frequency, the wavenumber can be written in terms of its real and
imaginary parts as
giving the wave response in the form
This is recognized as having three parts: an amplitude spectrum Pn , a spatially

decaying term e- k/x , and the propagating sinusoids e-i(k"x-wl). The phase speed
of these sinusoids is given as
w
c== ~ (1.25)
kR
This is the speed at which the individual harmonics move as depicted in Figure 1.12.
Since it is the behavior of the superposition of all the sinusoids that forms
the observed signal, then it is of interest to investigate how this group response
differs from the individual sinusoids. Consider the interaction of two neighboring
propagating components, that is,
If these are rewritten in terms of a central frequency w* = (w n +wn +l)/2, wavenum-

ber k* = (k n + k ll +1 )/2, and amplitude P* = (Pn + Pn +1 )/2, then the result is
u(x t) = P*e-i(k'x-w't)2cos [!/)'k (x _dw*

, 2 dk*
t)] (1.26)
This resulting wave is comprised of two parts besides the average amplitude spec-
trum. There is a sinusoid (called the carrier wave) of average frequency w* and
wavenumber k*, and travels with average speed c* = w* / k*. But this is modu-
lated by another wave (called the group wave) of wavenumber 4/).k, frequency
4/).k dw* /dk*, and travels at a wave speed of dw* /dk*. The phase velocity of the
modulation is called the group speed. That is,
dw ( dC) dc (1.27)
cg == dk = C / I - k dw = c + k dk
In general, the group speed is numerically different from the phase speed.
While the above analysis is for only two harmonics, it can be imagined that many
harmonics interact in a similar manner giving rise to a carrier wave modulated by
a group wave. This is what is depicted in Figure 1.12 and also in Figure 1.1; the
group corresponds to the envelope of the disturbance and the phase to where the
zeros occur. In general, however, it is not possible to "see" the individual sinusoids
~ only the group superposition is observed. It cannot be emphasized enough the
importance of the group speed behavior because this is what is actually there. The
ability to synthesize or assemble the group behavior is a unique feature of spectral
analysis coupled with the FFf algorithm. Put another way, the FFf allows both
the assembling and disassembling of the group response.
It is possible to have very complicated group behavior. For example, it is possible
to have a solution for which the group speed is positive (the disturbance moves
forward) and yet the phase speed is negative. According to Reference [48], this
is the situation as a caterpillar moves forward, the ripples in its body move from
head to tail.
Summary of Wave Relations

The wave for a particular propagating mode can be written in any of the following
forms:
u(x, t) ~ Ae-ik(x-ct) ~ Ae-i'f(x-ct) ~ Ae-i(kx-wt)
The amplitude A can be complex and the above form is for a forward moving
wave. The following is a collection of terms often used in wave analysis:
W angular frequency [radians/time]

W
f cyclic frequency [Hz, lItime ] ~ -
2rr
I 2rr
T period [time] ~ - ~ -
f w
2rr w
k wavenumber [lIlength] ~ - ~ -
A C
2rrc 2rr
wavelength [length] ~ - ~ -
w k
phase of wave [radians] ~ (kx - wt) ~ ~(x - ct) ~ 2rr (x - ct)
c A
· W WA
c ~ Ph ase ve IOCIty [length/time] ~ - ~ -
k 2rr
group speed [length/time] ~ ~:
It should be kept in mind, however, that a general disturbance will include non-
propagating and attenuated components also.
1.6 Propagating and Reconstructing Waves

The significance of the spectral approach to waves (coupled with the use of the
differential equations) is that once the signal is characterized at one space position
then it is known at all positions, and therefore propagating it becomes a fairly
simple matter. This section illustrates the basic algorithm for doing this.
36 Chapter l. Spectral Analysis of Wave Motion
Basic Algorithm
In its simplest terms, the solution to a waves problem is represented as
u(x, t) = LPn {G1(k1nx) + G 2(k 2n x) + ... } eiWnr = L PnG(kmnx)eiWnr

n
where Gis the analytically known transfer function of the problem. It is a function
of position x and has different numerical values at each frequency. Pn is the ampli-
tude spectrum; this is known from the input conditions or from some measurement.
Thus Pn G is recognized as the Fourier transform of the solution. Of course, it is
different at each position, but once it is evaluated at a particular position then its
inverse immediately gives the time history of the solution at that point. Figure 1.13
is a flow diagram for the basic algorithm to propagate a wave.
r--------------,
Time function
~ P(tm)
L, ______________ ~
FFT
(forward) r-------------- ..
• Transform
. "'
P(wn )
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .1
Do Loop
Un = G(wn)Pn
Files
r--------------,
• Transform
OIl u(wn)
FFT
L ______________ ~
(inverse) r--------------,
• Time function
Programs u(tm)
Figure 1.13: Flow diagram for a wave reconstruction program.
Briefly, the time input p(t) is converted to its spectrum Pn through a use of the
forward FFf. The transformed solution is then obtained by evaluating the product
Un = PnG(kmnx)
at each frequency and some position. This is finally reconstructed in the time
domain by use of the inverse FFf. In the process, it is necessary to realize (when
using the FFf to perform the inversion) that Pn Gis evaluated only up to the Nyquist
frequency and the remainder is obtained by imposing that it must be the complex
conjugate of the initial part. This ensures that the reconstructed time history is real
only.
An additional feature of note is that when doing propagations the dc (zero fre-
quency) component is undetermined since it does not propagate. It is advantageous
to remove its arbitrariness by imposing that the first value of the reconstruction be
zero, that is,

N-J
Uo = -
A
~U"
' " A
This is consistent with the idea that the system is quiescent before the arrival of the
wave. Furthermore, it is good practice to give all signals a zero header (a beginning
portion of zeros before the actual signal) to emphasize this point.
Propagating Nondispersive Signals

Let the signal history at a particular position be a triangular pulse as shown in
Figure 1.14 and let un(xo) be its transform. Also let the transfer function be that
of the simple wave equation
where Co is a constant; we will use Co = 5 kmls. The amplitude spectrum is Pn =

u(xo)!e-ik"xo and the solution is then
Figure 1.14 shows the reconstructions of the signal at different positions. It is

obvious that the signal is propagating at a constant speed and that there is no
change in shape. This is characteristic of nondispersive signals.
--J \
X= o
x= 5m
\ x=l Om
\ x=l 5m
~ X= 20m
\
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-L~~~~!Time~l
X= 25m
O. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000.
Figure 1.14: Reconstructions for a nondispersive wave.

To characterize the amplitude spectrum of the input, it was necessary to specify

a time window, in the above a window of 5120 f-lS was used. With the wave propa-
gating, however, it is possible for it to actually propagate out of the window. This
occurs in the figure a little after x = 20 m, but because of the periodicity inherent
in the spectral analysis, the wave from the neighboring window propagates into
view from the left. The lesson here is that the window size must be chosen not only
to allow proper characterization of the spectral content, but also to allow room for
propagating the signal. Consequently, there is a connection between the size of the
time window and the allowable distance the wave can move. A point of interest
that may seem odd at first, is that the window size is determined by the slowest
wave component, not the fastest.
Propagating Dispersive Signals

Let the initial shape and transfer function be the same as in the previous example
but choose the spectrum relation to be nonlinear in frequency. That is,
kn -_ ..jwnwo
Co
where Wo is a constant. (Strictly speaking the transfer function should also in-
clude the damped vibration terms, but the present form is adequate for far-field
predictions.) The amplitude spectrum is obviously as given before but the recon-
structions shown in Figure 1.15 are very different. What starts out as a well-defined
triangular shape disperses as it propagates. Not only does it change its shape, but
it is no longer possible to identify the so-called pulse that is propagating. This is
characteristic of dispersive signals and is due to the relation between k and w being
nonlinear. If the speed is slow for low frequencies, then it takes a very long time
for the low-frequency part of the signal to arrive. Thus it will have a long tail.
Figure 1.15 also shows the results of propagating a dispersive signal a large
distance. The curious feature is that it is the lower frequencies that propagate
from the left into view first. To minimize the effect of this it is a good idea to
pad the window with zeros. Thus the creeping components must first traverse the
zeros before they come into view. When the higher frequencies arrive sooner than
unwanted lower frequencies, then (depending on the circumstance) the unwanted
components can often simply be filtered out. There are two ways of doing this.
The first method is simply by band-pass filtering, that is, every component below a
certain frequency is blocked. The second scheme uses an n-point moving average
but retains the difference and not the average. This latter scheme can do an excellent
job in reconstructing the propagating wave. The most effective scheme, however,
is simply to increase the window size at the price of adding more terms. This is
feasible because of the efficiency of the FFT algorithm and its essentially linear
dependence on N.
x=O
x=O.Sm
x=1.0m
x=1.Sm
x=2.0m
x=2.Sm
L....L-'-.........""--L......I.-'-.........""--L....L--'-...........&.......JL......I............................L......I.-'-,......'---'---', Time (JJs]

o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000.
Figure 1.15: Reconstructions for a dispersive wave.
Integration of Signals
Inherent in the spectral analysis approach is the assumption that all functions of
interest can be both integrated and differentiated. However, during the integration
stage care must be taken to include the proper constants of integration. This is of
special importance when, for example, obtaining displacement from strain since
some unexpected side effects arise.
To illustrate some of the issues that arise due to the enforced periodicity of
the results, Figure 1.16 shows the displacement at the impact site of a beam. The
periodicity requires the beginning and final points of the reconstruction to be the
same. This figure shows the profound effect of the window size. For this particular
beam problem a nonzero value of displacement should persist for all time after
the passage of the pulse. However, periodicity of the result on the finite window
forces the end displacement to zero so that the trace is continuous from the end of
one window to the beginning of the next.
This problem is minimized when the output is at the same differentiation level as
the input. For example, when obtaining strain at one location from strain at another,
then padding with zeros can be used. But in the case of displacement from force it
is seen that padding does not help. What is required is a window size large enough
so that the slope of the trailing edge of the history is not significant. For a given
sample rate, the window can only be increased by increasing the number of points
in the transform. Conversely, for a fixed number of points, the sample ratel:l. T
must be increased, thus distorting the higher frequencies and running the risk of
aliasing.
To understand the effect in time, it is of interest to write the differential relations
in terms of the frequency and wavenumber for both beams and rods. (More details
x=O - - corrected disp

........ spectral disp
x=O.5m
Time [JlS]
, ,
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000.
Figure 1.16: Integration of signals shows wraparound effect.
on the origin of the rod and beam equations can be found in the next two chapters.)
The simplest propagating solutions for rods and beams are, respectively,
ROD: U(x, t) ""

L A n e-i(kx-wI) , k=aw
BEAM: v(x, t) "
L " B n e-i(kx-Wl) , k=a.JOj
A table can be constructed to show the inter-relationship of all the derivatives:
ROD BEAM
dv
- -+ kv
dx
du du d2v 2 dv
- -+ ku -+ wu -+ - strain - -+ k v -+ wv -+ -
dx dt dx 2 dt
d v
3
- -+ k 3 v
dx 3
d4v d2v
loading - -+ k 4 v -+ w 2 v -+ -
dx 4 dt 2
Thus strain and velocity are at comparable levels of w, and likewise for the loading
and accelerations. This chart can be interpreted by noting, for example, that for
beams integration of strain twice with respect to x to find displacement is equivalent
to integration of velocity once with respect to time. The displacement is known,
therefore, to within a linear function of time:
v= ff edxdx+C]t+C2
There are many ways of establishing these coefficients of integration. A simple

method is to curve fit the first portion of the signal with a straight line and subtract
it from the total signal. In fact, it is good practice always to include an initial zero
Problems 41
header of the signal so as to be able to determine if there is an integration problem.

Perhaps the simplest procedure is always to deal with signals that are nearly sta-
tionary. This is achieved by using time rates (such as velocity or acceleration) of the
quantities of interest. Then, after reconstruction, the signal can be time integrated
in the time domain. This is what was done to obtain the corrected displacements
of Figure 1.16.
Problems
1.1 Show that by introducing the real coefficients an and b n such that (an - ibn) ==
en2/ T, we get the usual Fourier series representation
where the Fourier coefficients an and b n are obtained from
an = ~ iT F(t) cos (2rrny )dt, bn = ~ iT F(t) sin (2rrny )dt
We have used Wn = 2rrn/T and n = 0,1,2, ....

- Reference [80], p. 193.
1.2 Show that if the function f(tm) is real only and Dn is its discrete transform,
that
Real {Dn} ~ [D(n) + D(N - n)]

Imag {Dn} -~ [D(n) - D(N - n)]
That is, the real part is even and the imaginary part is odd. What this shows is
that when performing Fourier transforms, information is neither gained nor
lost. For example, 1024 pieces of real-only data are converted into 512 pieces
of complex data.
1.3 Consider a function f(tm) that is described by 2N samples divided as follows:
g(m) = f(2m) , h(m) = f(2m + I), m = 0, I, 2, ... , N - I
Show that the transform can now be written as

D(n) !:;'T L g(m)e-i2rrnm/N + e- irrn / N!:;'T L h(m)e-i2rrnm/N
G(n) + e- irrn / N H(n) , n = 0,1, ... , 2N - I
It is seen that the summation terms are actually N - point transforms. This is a
completely general result and shows that if only an N -algorithm is available,
nonetheless, transforms of multiple N can be performed. More generally, if
the data size is 8N say, then the data can be broken down as 2 sets of 4N,
then 4 sets of 2N, and finally, 8 sets of N. The N - point algorithm can then
be used on each set and some post-sorting of the arrays is all that is required
to reconstruct the 8N transform.
1.4 Consider a complex function constructed as f(m) = gem) + ih(m), m =

0, ... , N - 1 where gem) and hem) are obtained from the real-only even- and
odd-numbered values, respectively. Show that the transform of the original
function is given by
F(n) i
HR(n) + R(N - n)] + i [len) - leN - n)]
+e-irrnIN n
[len) + leN - n)] - i ~ [R(n) - R(N - n)]}
Thus a 2N real point transform is accomplished by an N complex point

transform.
i:
- Reference [11), p. 193.
1.5 Given the integral
let) = f(w)eih(w.tJdw
Show that in the case when few) is narrow banded about a frequency We> say,
then the integral simply becomes
- Reference [56). p. 64.

1.6 Consider the case when few) is broad banded then the integral is most affected
by the exponential term. Assuming that most of the contribution to the integral
comes from where the phase has a minimum value, show that
dh(w,.) = 0
I (t) "'"
dw
This approximation is the method of Stationary Phase. It is generally accurate

for asymptotically large times and distances.
- Reference [56). p. 67.
1.7 Show that for a single spring-mass system with damping that the response is
given by
G = l/[k - w 2 m + iwc]
Plot G and show some reconstructions for a triangular input force history.
- Reference [401. p. 216.
1.8 With!;o,.t being the rms duration and !;o,.w being the rms bandwidth of a wave
packet, establish the uncertainty relation
- Reference [481. p. 465.

2
Longitudinal Waves
in Rods
Rods and struts are very important structural elements and form the basis of many
truss and grid frameworks. Since their load bearing capability is axial, then as
waveguides they conduct only longitudinal wave motion.
This chapter begins by using elementary mechanics to obtain the equations of
motion of the rod. As it happens, the waves are governed by the simple wave equa-
tion and so many of the results are easily interpreted. The richness and versatility
of the spectral approach is illustrated by considering such usually complicating
factors as viscoelasticity and elastic constraints. Particular emphasis is placed on
the waves interacting with discontinuities such as boundaries and changes in cross
section, as shown in Figure 2.1.
The basic waves in rods are described by a single mode; coupled thermoelasticity
is introduced in this chapter as a first example of handling multi-mode problem!!.
time
~
Figure 2.1: Velocity response of a semi-infinite two-material rod free at one end and im-
pacted at the junction. Note how the pulse is initially trapped in the upper material but
eventually leaks away after multiple reflections.
43
44 Chapter 2. Longitudinal Waves in Rods
2.1 Elementary Rod Theory

There are various schemes for deriving the equations of motion for structural
elements. The approach taken here is to begin with the simplest available model,
and then as the need arises to append modifications to it. In this way, both the
mechanics and the wave phenomena can be focused on without being unduly
hindered by some cumbersome mathematics.
Equation of Motion
The elementary theory considers the rod to be long and slender, and assumes it
supports only I-D axial stress as shown in Figure 2.2. It further assumes that the
lateral contraction (or the Poisson's ratio effect) can be neglected. Both of these
restrictions will be removed in Chapter 4 when the higher order rod theories are
developed.
-
q(x) - 1]Azi
EA,pA
tY
L
II...-_ _
x
----1...~_x...L-1
f----+
_-----I
u(x, t)
..-
F
GJ
~>-ii
~x F+ ~F
Figure 2.2: Segment of rod with loads.
Following the assumption of only one displacement, u(x), the axial strain is
given by
au
E
xx
=-
ax
Let the material behavior be linear elastic, then the I-D form of Hooke's law gives
the stress as
E = Young's Modulus
This stress gives rise to a resultant axial force of
F = f O'xx dA = EA ax
au
Let q(x, t) be the externally applied axial force per unit length. While not es-
sential, we will consider the cross section to be rectangular of depth b and height
h. With reference to Figure 2.2, the balance of forces gives
-F + [F + ~F] + q~x - I]A~xu = pA~xu
where pA is the mass density per unit length of the rod, I] is the damping (viscous)
per unit volume, and the super dot indicates a time derivative. If the ~ quantities
2.1 Elementary Rod Theory 45
are very small, then the equation of motion becomes (after dividing through by
~x)
ax
aF
=
a2 u
pA atT + TJAat - q
au
The independent variables are x and t. Substituting for the force in terms of the
displacement gives the equation of motion
-a [ EA- a2 u +TJA--q
au] =pA- au (2.1)
ax ax at 2 at
In the special case of uniform properties and no damping, all dependent variables
(stress, strain, etc.) have an equation of the form
(2.2)
for the homogeneous part. In this case, the waves in the rod are governed by the
simple wave equation and the general solution is that of D' Alembert, given by
u(x, t) = f(x - cot) + F(x + cot) (2.3)
This solution does not hold for the general rods of interest in this chapter and
therefore will not be pursued any further in its present form.
Spectral Analysis
Let the solution have the spectral representation developed in the last chapter. The
kernel solutions corresponding to this are obtained by considering the homoge-
neous equation
d [ EA-
- dflJ +w pAu~ - 2 iWTJAu~ =-q~ (2.4)
dx dx
This is the basic equation used in the remainder of the chapter. Assume that both
the modulus and area do not vary with position, then the homogeneous differential
equation for the Fourier coefficients becomes
d2~
U 2 ~
EA-2 + (W pA - iWTJA)u = 0
dx
This is an ordinary differential equation with constant coefficients - the frequency
is considered as a parameter.
Since this equation has constant coefficients, then it has the exponential solutions
e- ikx leading to
(2.5)
Chapter 2. Longitudinal Waves in Rods
where A and B are the undetermined amplitudes at each frequency. When combined
with the time variation, this solution corresponds to two waves: a forward moving
wave and a backward moving wave. That is,
(2.6)
It is understood that all quantities inside the summation (A, B, k, etc.) could depend
on the frequency w. The spectrum relation is shown plotted in Figures 2.3 .
.5 Wavenumber, kh
.4
-simple real
.3
- viscoelastic
.2
.1
imaginary
.0
-.1
,, , , !! !,,! , • t ,I" ,!, : , , !
Frequency [kHz)
! , I , , , I ,
.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0
Figure 2.3: Spectrum relations for a rod; comparison of elastic and viscoelastic materials.
The spectrum relation for the undamped case is simply
kl =wJ pA
EA
(2.7)
which is linear in frequency. This gives, for the dispersion relation, constant phase
and group speeds of
dw {EA
cg = dk = VPA = Co
(2.8)
This simple behavior is shown in Figure 2.4 where it is seen that the phase and
group speeds are constant. Also shown are some other complicated behaviors (to
be treated later) and serve as a reminder that even the simple rod is capable of a
wide variety of behaviors: the goal of this chapter is to develop some of the tools
necessary for their description.
As a useful reference, the properties and speeds of some typical structural ma-
terials are given in Table 2.1. The units for density (and mass) are often a source
of confusion in the imperial system of units; in the table it is given as weight per
unit volume divided by gravity, i.e., p = W / g.
2.2 Basic Solution for Waves in Rods 47
1.2
1.0
.8
- - simple, group & phase
.6 - - viscoelastic, group
......... viscoelastic, phase
.4
.2
Frequency [kHz]
.0 ' !
t ! !, !,,' ,'!! ,I,! , f ! ! ! , , , , ! , , ! ! !
.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0

Figure 2.4: Dispersion relations for a rod; comparison of elastic and viscoelastic materials.
Modulus Density Wave Speed

Material psi GPa Ib.s2 /in. 4 kg/m 3 in.!s km/s
Aluminum 10.6x106 72.7 O.26x 10- 3 2700 0.206x10 6 5.23
Brass 12.0x106 82.3 0.79xlO- 3 8100 0.135x 106 3.43
Concrete 4.0x106 27.4 0.23x 10- 3 2400 0.132x106 3.35
Copper 13.0x106 89.1 0.83x 10- 3 8500 0.141 X 106 3.58
Epoxy 0.5x106 3.4 0.10xlO- 3 1000 0.070x 106 1.78
Glass 10.0x106 68.6 0.23x 10- 3 2300 0.209x106 5.31
Rock 4.4x10 6 30.1 0.24x 10- 3 2500 0.140x 106 3.56
Steel 30.0x 106 206 0.73xlO- 3 7500 0.203x106 5.15
Table 2.1: Typical properties for some structural materials.
2.2 Basic Solution for Waves in Rods

Once the spectral approach is adopted for rods, then many familiar features will
appear in a slightly different guise. The purpose of this section is to collect many
of these together and show their interrelation. This, it is hoped, will make the
transition to the full spectral analysis of the later chapters more accessible. We
consider the basic problem for waves in a rod to be those arising from the point
loading or point impact of the rod - this problem will allow us to discuss the
essential aspects of the waves.
Force History Applied at One End

The following problem of the imposition of a force history at one end of the rod
is treated in detail as a preliminary to analyzing the case of waves interacting with
discontinuities. The steps are presented in more detail here than will be done in
the later examples.
L y
x
pet) -+- D -+- F(x = 0) -IL--_~_>-_A_e_-_ik_x_ _ _ _---II ~ 00
~ u(x =0)
Figure 2.5: Free-body diagram for the point impact of a rod.
Let the end ofthe bar atx = 0 be subjected to a force history pet), then according
to the free-body diagram of Figure 2.5 we have
au(x,t)
atx = 0: F=EA =-P(t)
ax
Let all functions of time have the spectral representation; the boundary condition
becomes, in expanded form,
This has to be true for all time, hence the equality must be true on a term by term
basis giving
dUn '
EA-=-P
dx n
The problem stated will always reduce to establishing the relationships at a par-
ticular n (or frequency wn ), hence the subscript will usually be understood. The
condition at x = 0 now becomes (using the solution (2.5) and since there is only a
forward moving wave)
P
or A=--
iklEA
The complete solution for the forward moving wave is therefore
u(x t) = " __P_e-i(k,X-Wf)

, L iklEA
or (to emphasize the frequency dependence) with every subscript written out ex-
plicitly
u(x t) = _1_ L Pn e-i(k,,,x-w,,t) (2.9)
, EA n ikln
Knowing the spectrum of the force history, P, the displacement (and, consequently,
the stress, etc.) can be determined at any location x. Examples of the resulting
strain histories are shown in Figure 1.14 for the undamped case. As is apparent,
the disturbance travels at the now familiar constant speed of Co = J E A / p A.
The transfer function, C(x, w), for this case is
U(x) = C(x, w)P,

2.2 BasiC Solution for Waves in Rods 49
Figure 2.6: Transfer functions at two different positions.
and is shown plotted in Figure 2.6 for two different x positions. We see that the
position x contributes the phase change. Note that the amplitude varies as 1/ kJ and
therefore also as 1/w. The displacement is related to force by a single integration
(that is why kJ occurs in the denominator). Its effect is to essentially amplify the
low-frequency components and may cause windowing problems as discussed in
Chapter 1. The transfer function for the velocity, on the other hand, is
Gv(x, w) = iwG(x, w) = w e-ik,x

J(pAw 2 - iWT/A)EA
and the amplitude is relatively insensitive to frequency since the damping is usually
small. Consequently, the windowing parameters used for transforming the force
will also be appropriate for reconstructing the velocity.
Stress and Strain Behavior

Using the subscripts i and r to represent the forward and backward moving waves,
respectively, then the other mechanical quantities (at a particular frequency) can
be obtained as
Displacement: Ui = Ae-i(kx-wt) U r = Be+i(kx+wt)
Velocity: Ui = iWUi ur = iwu r

Strain: Ei = -ikui Er = ikur
Stress: aj = -ikEu; a r = ikEAu r
Force: Fi = -ikEAui Fr = ikEAu r
giving the following interesting interrelationships for the undamped case (when
k = w/co)
" Co Co .• Co Co
U·I = Ikc 0 U·I = --a'
E I = --
EAFI , U r = Ikcou r = +-ar = +-Fr
E EA
Thus the history profiles of the particle velocity. force. and stress are the same.
Notice that a tensile stress moving forward causes a negative velocity (Le .• the
particles move backward). Also. note that the convention for the sign of the forces.
Fi and Fr. is that of the stress because they are internal forces.
2.3 Dissipation in Rods

It is very easy to generalize the descriptions of the rod without actually complicat-
ing the structure of the solution. In many cases it is only the spectrum relation that
changes and otherwise the transfer functions are unchanged. In this section. we
consider ways in which the wave is dissipated; the types of dissipation elaborated
on are distributed constraints. and viscoelastic material behavior.
Distributed Constraint
It can be imagined that as the wave moves down the rod. the response can be
influenced by the surrounding medium. Specifically. let there be retarding forces
(per unit length) proportional to displacement ( - K u) and the velocity (-rrit); the
latter we have already encountered as internal viscous damping but it is realized
that the same effect could arise from outside the rod. The differential equation of
motion becomes
a2 u au a2 u
EA ax 2 - Ku - 71Aat = pA ati (2.10)
The spectral representation gives
d2 u 2 ~
EA- + [w pA - iW71A - K]u = 0 (2.11)
dx 2
Since the coefficients are constant. this has the same solution as Equation (2.5)
except that now the spectrum relation can be complex (even if the damping is zero)
and given by
(2.12)
The resulting waves. of course. are dispersive.

First consider when only the velocity restraint is present. then the wavenumber
is always complex indicating partial decay for all components. This is equivalent to
damping. In the limit of small damping. the spectrum relation can be approximated
as
kl~±
ffi
- A [ W -. I71A
EA
-- ]
2pA
=± [w
--171
Co
'-J
and the solution is
2.3 Dissipation in Rods 51
The wave behavior is damped in x. Hence the generic solutions are damped pro-
portional to ~x. Generally, we will associate the complex part of the spectrum
relation with damping or dissipation. As an aside, it is advisable to add numerical
stability to all the calculations by incorporating some small damping in the system.
The range of "small" should typically be specified on the order of
!!.. ::::: Wo x 10- 3

p
where Wo is a typical frequency range. Changes in the damping should then be done
as order of magnitude changes on this value. Reference [17] gives an interesting
experimental account of the effect of coulomb friction on the outside wall of the
rod.
Figure 2.7: Spectrum relation for elastic constraint.
Returning now to Equation (2.12), an interesting case arises when only the elastic
constraint K is present; Figure 2.7 shows a plot of the spectrum relation. This is a
rather complicated plot because we see the occurrence of a cut-offfrequency. That
is, there is a nonzero frequency for which the wavenumber k is zero. This is given
by
2PA K
W ---=0 or (2.13)
EA EA
The idea of a cut-off frequency will occur regularly in our later discussions and so
it is of value now to consider this simple case in a little more detail.
Below the cut-off frequency, the wavenumber is imaginary only and therefore the
wave attenuates; for a spectrum wave the components below We will not propagate
very far and a signal sampled at a large distance will be rich in only the high-
frequency components. This is illustrated in Figure 2.8.
The question must arise that if the rod is elastic and the constraint is elastic how
can there be dissipation? For the system as a whole (the rod and spring together)
J -
x=O
x=250 mm
x=500 mm
Frequency [kHzl
" "',,,!' Time [/lSI' ... , . .,. .., .. ,. , . . , ,., , .,
O. 1000. 2000. O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14. 16. 18. 20.
Figure 2.8: Reconstructions of velocity (and their frequency domain counterparts) for an
impacted rod with elastic constraint. The responses at x - 0 are scaled by 0.5.
there is no dissipation; what is happening is that the rod is transferring energy

to the springs and it is the rod that is loosing energy and hence experiences the
dissipation. When we have coupled elastic systems, we will generally find cut-off
frequencies indicating loss (or transfer) of energy from one system to the other.
Viscoelastic Rod
The purpose of this section is to show how waves in viscoelastic media may be
posed in terms of spectral analysis. A good review of uniaxial wave propagation
in viscoelastic rods (including some experimental results) can be found in Refer-
ence [69].
The derivation of the equation of motion follows the same procedure as before
except that the stress/strain behavior is time dependent. While there are many ways
of expressing this relationship the following form is adequate for present purposes:
p,q =0, 1,2, ... (2.14)
Here the stress and strain are related through multiple derivatives in time. This can
now be expressed in the spectral form as
or simply
a = E(w)i, (2.15)
2.3 Dissipation in Rods 53
which resembles the linear elastic relation. The equation of motion also appears
similar to the elastic case and is
A d 2u 2 A A
E(w)A dx 2 +W pAu =-q
The only difference in the solution is that the spectrum relation is
(2.16)
which is obviously dispersive. A plot of this (for the standard linear solid considered
next) is shown in Figure 2.3. The nonzero imaginary component means there will
be some attenuation and the effect of this is seen in the time reconstructions of
Figure 2.9.
1.0 Modulus ElE1
.8
x=O
real
.6 .!:; 50. [
!!!
x-1000 mm
Ci5 O. _ _..J
_--....JIA '-----_ _
.4
...... -_ ... _- ... -.... -....
imag
__
x=2000mm
........ _-- ..
, ////
.
.... _- ....... .
----~/
/'--...
~-----
x-3000 mm
Frequency [kHz] Time [~]

.0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~I~~~!-L'~~~!-L'~,~~,~I~~,~I~I~I
O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14. O. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000.
Figure 2.9: Effect of viscoelasticity on pulse propagation.
To amplify on these results, consider the special case of the standard linear solid
as visualized by a parallel spring and dashpot in series with another spring and
described by
. a . E\E2
a + -[E\ + E 2 ] = EIE + - - E
TJ TJ
Unlike the linear elastic material, this requires three material properties, E I, E 2 ,
and TJ, to describe it. The viscoelastic modulus is written in the following forms:
A E2+iWTJ Eo + iWTJa EI -Eo
E(w) = EI . = E 1--'-----'-- a= (2.17)
E1+E2+1WTJ E\+iwTJa'
and has the very slow and very fast behavior limits of
A E\E2
E(O)~ =Eo,
E\ +E2
Note that both of these limits are elastic. Consequently, the viscoelastic energy
dissipation occurs only in the middle frequency range as shown in Figure 2.9 for
the case of EI = 2E2. The dissipation is a maximum where the magnitude of E(w)
is a maximum and is given by
E2 EI +E2
w= 1
11(E 1 - Eo) 11
Reference [70] discusses this dissipation.
The phase and group speeds, in general, are given as
c= ~k =.jEA
pA '
c = dw =
g dk VPA{iiI [1 - !!.- dE]
2E dw
(2.18)
(Not that if the imaginary part of the wavenumber is very significant then the con-
cept of group speed has little meaning.) Both speeds have the same limiting values
and are shown plotted in Figure 2.3 where it is observed that the group speed has
a maximum where the damping is significant. Thus damping does not necessarily
cause the wave to "slow down" although its amplitude will decrease. The effect of
viscoelasticity on the propagation of a pulse is to decrease the amplitude (because
of the damping) and spread the pulse out (because of the spectrum of speeds).
2.4 Coupled Thermoelastic Waves

Another generic type of loading that can give rise to stress waves is that of a thermal
blast. While this is a very interesting problem in its own right (especially in the
form of coupled thermoelastic waves), the treatment here is necessarily superficial;
a thorough treatment is given in Reference [10]. Its use here is primarily as the first
example to show the spectral approach for coupled systems. That is, the problems
treated so far are described by the single spectrum relation, kl (w); we now look at
a problem which requires or gives rise to, two spectrum relations.
Governing Equations
The derivation of the governing differential equation for the displacement is similar
to that as shown earlier in the chapter, except that the constitutive relation must
take into account the fact that the strain also changes because of the temperature.
That is,
F =aA = EA[e -aT] = EA [:: -aT]
where T is the change of temperature and a is the coefficient of thermal expansion.

The governing equation becomes
EA - -aT )] =pA-
- a [(au au 2
(2.19)
ax ax at 2
2.4 Coupled Thennoelastic Waves 55
To this we must add a set of equations that govern the temperature.

The change of heat flux q(x, t) is balanced by the change of temperature plus
any dissipative mechanisms. In the case of coupled thermoelasticity, the dissipative
mechanism is the mechanical straining. Hence,
aq
- - = pCE-
aT + EaT.-
aE
ax at at 0
where To is the absolute temperature and C E is the specific heat. The final piece
of information is the Fourier law of heat conduction
q=-K-
aT
ax
where K is the thermal conductivity. The equation governing the temperature is
then
-a [aT] aT
K - =pCE-+EaT a2-
o- u (2.20)
ax ax at axat
Note that the coupling for u occurs through the constitutive relation while in the
temperature it occurs through the balance relation.
For simplicity, consider rods of uniform cross section with uniform properties,
the coupled differential equations governing the axial displacement u(x, t) and
temperature change T (x, t) are
(2.21)
Assume that both the displacement and temperature have spectral representations,
then on substitution into the differential equations get
d2 t ~
K--2 - iwpCET = iwaETo-
dii
dx dx
These are ordinary differential equations with constant coefficients and have so-
lutions of the form
ii = Ae- ikx ,
only if the following system of equations is satisfied
-k2EA + pAw2 ikaEA ] { A }

[ (2.22)
-kwEToa -Kk2 - iwpC E A =0
The only way to have a nontrivial solution for A and Ais if the determinant of the
matrix is zero. The determinant is not zero in general; however, if k is considered
undetermined and adjusted in such a way as to force the determinant to zero, then a
nontrivial solution is possible. (The procedure is analogous to that used in finding
the eigenvalues of a matrix.) Multiplying the determinant out and imposing that it
be zero allows k to be determined from the following characteristic equation:
This can be solved as a quadratic equation in kl. Since this is a regularly occur-
ring requirement in spectral analysis, we take the opportunity now to state the
preferred (avoiding numerical round-off errors) way of doing this. Following Ref-
erence [102], consider the equation
and compute the quantity
where the sign of the square root is chosen such that the imaginary part is negative.
The two roots are then given by
q 2ao
Z]=-, Zl=-
2al q
The four roots, in our case, are then given as k = ±..;z;.

In all, there are four possibilities for the wavenumbers but since they appear as
± pairs we say there are two modes of behavior. The complete solution is written
as
u(x) Ae-ikJX + Be-ik,.t + CeikJx + Deik,x

T(x) Ae- ik,x + Be-ik2X + Ceik1x + Deik,x (2.23)
u
But since and T are coupled according to Equation (2.22), then the amplitudes
for each mode (the corresponding barred and unbarred coefficients) are related by
- klEA
}
- pAwl
( )= ikE Aa () = Rj ( (2.24)
)
where kj for the appropriate mode "j" must be used. Consequently, there are a
total of four independent solution sets whose amplitude spectra are represented by
the coefficients A, B, C, D. We emphasize this by writing the temperature solution
as
Note that R3 and R4 are obtained by substituting -k] and -kl, respectively, into the
expression for the amplitude ratio. The coefficients are determined by the boundary
and radiation conditions. Before solving an explicit problem, we will first look in
more detail at the spectrum relation.
2.4 Coupled Thermoelastic Waves 57
The Spectrum Relation

The third term in the second square bracket of the characteristic equation is the
coupling; if this is zero then the uncoupled spectrum relations are
kl J
pAu}
=± - -
EA '
It is clear that the second mode is highly dispersive. The first mode is obviously
that of the longitudinal stress wave in the rod, the other is associated with the
temperature change according to Fourier's Law. It is emphasized, though, that
all modes are necessary to describe the displacement response and all modes are
necessary to describe the temperature response. That is, aside from coupling of
the differential equations there can also be coupling of the initial (or boundary)
conditions, and all modes are necessary to satisfy these properly.
We can get a better appreciation of the coupling effect by considering an approx-
imate version of the spectrum relations. First re-write the characteristic equation
as
where f3 is a measure of the strength of the coupling. Assuming that f3 is small,

we then have as reasonable approximations that
[Kki + iwpCEl
or more compactly
k2 = ±
J
-iwpCE(l + f3y)
K
where
1
y= ------~---------
[1 +pAw2 K/iwpC EEA]
The coefficient y is frequency dependent and ranges from 1 to O. We could replace
it with 1.
It turns out that the spectrum relations are very insensitive to the coupling pa-
rameter f3 -- changes of many orders of magnitude are necessary before an effect
is noticeable.
The mode 1 behavior has a negligible imaginary component and a nearly linear
relation between frequency and the real part. Consequently, no attenuation (in
space) is expected. Further, since the group speed is nearly constant, then this
portion of the response will propagate unchanged in shape. The mode 2 behavior is
quite different in each of these regards. First, there is a sizable imaginary component
indicating attenuation. Second, since the relation is nonlinear in frequency, that
portion that is propagated will change its shape. Finally, in comparison to the first
mode, the magnitudes of the respective wavenumbers are vastly different, indeed,
nearly in a ratio of 100 to 1. Consequently, propagation speeds are exceedingly
slow and attenuation will be expected to be much more significant.
In summary, it can be said that irrespective of the particular initial boundary
value problem, the mode 2 contribution to the displacement and temperature will
be highly localized in space, whereas the other mode will send out a propagat-
ing nondispersive component. The relative magnitudes involved depend on the
geometry and the particular imposed conditions.
Blast Loading of a Rod

The physical parameters for this problem are motivated by the experimental work
reported in Reference [100]. In this work, a pulsed laser is used to rapidly heat one
end of an aluminum rod. A glass cap is used to capture the laser light and convert
it to heat. We will take the nominal properties of the rod as
Density: 2700 kg/m 3 Expansion coefficient: 231-u :;oC
Specific heat: 921 J/kg °C Diameter: 3 mm
Conductivity: 204 Wlm °C
The pulse is almost triangular lasting about 40 ns, and pumps about 0.1 J of energy.
Let the rod be semi-infinite (x ~ 0) in extent and experience a concentrated heat
blast at the free end (x = 0). To model this problem assume that the temperature
is related to the prescribed heat input through the conduction law, and the stress
(resultant force) is zero at the blasted end. The boundary conditions for such a
problem are
aT au(o, t) ]
K-(O, t) = q(t), a = E[E - aT] = E [ ax - aT(O, t) =0
ax
In terms of Equation (2.23), these become
[aRJ + ikdA + [aR2 + ik 2]B o

ikJRJA + ik2R2B -qjK
where only that portion of the solution satisfying the radiation condition in x > 0
is considered. Solving for the coefficients and using Equation (2.24) gives
-q
B = -[aR J +ikd
Kll.
where
2.4 Coupled Thennoelastic Waves 59
A quantity of interest is the strain, and this is obtained simply as
(2.25)
The strain and temperature histories can now be reconstructed and some plots are
shown in Figure 2.10.
-
x=o.o
I\"
x=0.1 mm
2.
O.
I\,
x=0.2 mm
-2. 200.
x=O.O
I\,
x=0.3 mm
O. i~ x=0.03 mm
Time [IlS] I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
.0 .5 1.0 1.5 O. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Figure 2.10: Strain (units of I.U) and temperature (units ofOC) responses. The x = 0 strain
response is scaled by 10- 4 •
These example plots show the behavior to be as expected: the strain signal is
propagating unattenuated at a constant speed, while the temperature variation is
highly localized to x = O. What might be surprising is the very small magnitude
of strain considering that at the end it is aT(O, t), which is on the order of 1000
J-LE. The explanation can be seen from the transfer function associated with the
strain where it is noted that at x = 0, G = a, but for nonzero x the second mode
attenuates leaving
That is, since k2 is so much larger than kJ, the overall amplitude diminishes con-
siderably.
Time reconstructions of the temperature histories at different locations show that
beyond a very short distance from the source there is no temperature change. They
also show that the propagating component of temperature could not be detected
because the coefficient for the mode 1 is nearly zero.
2.5 Reflections and Transmissions

Once a wave is initiated, it will eventually meet an obstruction in the fonn of a
boundary or discontinuity since all structures are finite in extent. Thus to extend
the wave analysis to structures, it is of great importance to know how the wave
interacts with these obstructions. The previous section considered coupling on a
differential level; this section deals with coupling at discrete points. Figure 2.11
shows the set of obstructions we will consider.
(c) L-I~_>-_ _ _ _----,I =} FJ {=. =} F2 {= L-I_ _ _ _----'
L
(d) L-I~_>-_ _ _ _----'I =} FJ {=C=J =} F2 {= L-I_ _ _ _----'
Figure 2.11: Free-body diagrams for typical boundaries.
More complicated problems, such as waves in curved rods [25,62], and helical
springs [58, 122], and waves in noncollinear rods [2, 33, 76], could also be treated,
but these generally create new wave modes (such as flexural waves) and so will be
left to Chapters 3 and 5.
Reflection from an Elastic Boundary

The incident wave generates a reflected wave in such a way that the two waves
superpose at the boundary to satisfy the boundary conditions. The only waves that
can be present are the two given by
where A is associated with the known incident wave and B with the unknown
reflected wave. This is an important point for later analyses: Since the differential
equations establish all the possible solutions, then the number of choices is auto-
matically prescribed - there is no possibility of "leaving something out." (This,
of course, assumes that the choice of structural model is adequate for the problem.)
The boundary conditions are set in tenns of
Displacement: u (or it, etc.)
Force: EA-
au
ax
A typical set of boundaries along with their equations is shown in Table 2.2. Note
how easily the time domain conditions are converted into conditions on the spectral
components U.
Be Type Time domain Spectral domain
Fixed: u(O,t)=O u=O
Free:
ilu(O, t)
EA--=O EA du(O) =0
ilx dx
ilu(O, t) reO)
Spring: E A - - = -Ku(O,t) EA_u_ = -K u(O)
ilx dx
ilu(O, t) ilu(O, t) du(O) •
Dashpot: EA--=-TJ-- EA-- = -1]iwu(O)
ilx ilt dx
ilu(O, t) il 2 u(O, t) du(O) •
Mass: EA---=-m
ax at 2
EA--
dx
= +m w2 u(O)
Table 2.2: Some typical boundary conditions for rods.
Assume that at the end of the rod there is an elastic spring as shown in Fig-
ure 2.11 (a). The resistive force is proportional to displacement, hence at the bound-
ary x = 0, we have F(t) = -K u(O, t) or
giving the reflected wave amplitude as
(2.26)
Since the wavenumber kJ is related to frequency, then it is apparent that each

frequency component is affected differently and that, in general, the amplitude is
complex. Figure 2.12 shows some reconstructions of the pulse after it is reflected
from springs of different stiffness. The incident pulse is a compressive force triangle
in each case. The behavior is varied, and to best explain it, consider some of the
extreme limits.
The boundary condition at the free end (x = 0) requires that the force be zero,
that is, for each frequency component
This simply gives B = A, which says that the reflected displacement pulse is the
same as the incident. By differentiating, it can be seen that the reflected stress pulse
is inverted. If there is no spring, i.e., K = 0, then
B=A, Ur = Ui,
1\ 1\ small stiffness
/\ 1\
~
~/~
V large stiffness
O. 500.
, , , V
1000.
, , ,
1500.
, , Time [J.l.Sl
!
2000.
, , , ,
2500.
Figure 2.12: Velocity responses for a rod attached to springs of various stiffnesses. The
monitoring site is also the impact site.
which, of course, is the free-end condition. On the other hand, if the spring is very
stiff, i.e., K = 00, then
B=-A, U r = -Uj,
This gives the fixed-end condition. The stress is inverted in the first case and the
displacement in the other. These limiting results are independent of frequency and
hence the reflected pulse will retain the same shape. This is shown as the two
extreme cases of Figure 2.12.
For a given spring stiffness, the limiting behavior on the frequency gives rise
to the same limits as above. That is, the high frequencies experience a free end
and the low frequencies experience a rigid end. Consequently, for a pulse with a
spectrum of frequencies, the reflected signal is distorted as shown for the spring
of medium stiffness. (Parenthetically, medium in this situation means relative to
the amplitude spectrum of the wave.)
It is clear that for the medium stiffness spring there is a phase shift in the
occurrence of the maximum velocity. This is a typical example of how a wave
propagating in a nominally non dispersive medium behaves dispersively when in-
teracting with discontinuities. To amplify on this, consider the relation between
the coefficients to be a transfer function. That is, B = G(w)A and Figure 2.13(a)
shows the plot of G(w) against frequency. What is striking is that the peak in the
imaginary part while the real part goes through zero. This is almost like resonance
behavior; however, unlike resonance, the amplitude always remains unity.
Reflection from an Oscillator

We now consider a more complicated boundary condition: assume that the end of
the rod is attached to a concentrated mass via an elastic spring and dashpot as shown
in Figure 2.11(b). The resistive force is proportional to both the displacement and
velocity, hence the equilibrium conditions at the boundary x = 0 and for the mass
are, respectively,
- F- K (u o - u c ) -1']iw(u o - uc ) = 0, +K(u o - uc ) + 1']iw(u o - uc ) = -m c w2 uc
where U o is the displacement of the rod and U c is that of the mass. To these we add
the relations obtained from the wave behavior in the rod
F = EA{-ikA+ikB}
giving the reflected wave amplitude as
ikE A + m cw 2 Ct A A
(2.27)
A
B = z'kEA - mcw2Ct = G(w) ,
What is most interesting about the relation is the presence of the single degree of
freedom oscillator in the denominator of Ct. If there is no dashpot this could become
zero at the natural frequency and therefore Ct would dominate the response. In fact,
at this frequency G = -1 indicating the behavior of a fixed end. What is striking
is that it has the form of a damped resonance, Le., a peak in one component while
the other component goes through zero. This is clearly seen in Figure 2.13(b).
!.~
/)"1
,
Figure 2.13: Transfer function for different end conditions. (a) Spring, (b) oscillator.
To explain these results, consider some of the limiting cases. If there is no mass,
Le., mc = 0, then
B=A, U r = Ui, a r = -ai
which, of course, is the free end condition because the spring has nothing to react
against. On the other hand, if the mass is very large, i.e., me = 00, and the stiffness
very large then
B=-A, u, = -Ui, a r = ai
This gives the fixed end condition. The stress is inverted.in the first case and the
displacement in the other. These limiting results are independent of frequency and
hence the pulse will retain the same shape.
An interesting case is when K = 0, me = 00 and we take TJ = EAkjw = copA
then we get that B = 0, that is, there are no reflections. This is one of the few cases
where a single dashpot can absorb the complete wave spectrum.
Concentrated Mass Connecting Two Rods

Any change in cross section or material properties will cause the generation of
new waves. While the actual situation is very complicated, in the present one-
dimensional analysis only a longitudinal transmitted wave and a longitudinal re-
flected wave are generated. That is, the displacements in the two sections of the
rod are taken as
(2.28)
The analysis is performed by imposing equilibrium of forces and continuity of

displacement across the joint.
Consider two similar rod sections connected by a concentrated mass as shown
in Figure 2.l1(c). The equation of motion of the mass and the continuity condition
gives
UJ
where the subscript J refers to the joint. These become (since there is only a
forward moving wave in rod 2 and both rod segments are similar)
EJAd-AJ + Bd(ikJ) - E2 A 2{ -A2}(ikJ)

AJ +BJ
Solving gives the amplitudes of the two generated waves as
-ikJEJAJ + ik2E2A2 - mJw2 A

2ikJ El AJ + ik2E2A2 + mJw2 1
2ikJEJAI A
(2.29)
2ikJEJAI + ik2E2A2+mJw2 1
These relationships are complex and frequency dependent; thus distortion of the
wave can be expected. This is exhibited in the responses shown in Figure 2.14.
/\ small mass
~ '------
-~--
~__~~__________~Ia~rg~e~m~a~s~s~
, , , , , ! , ,
Time [JlS]
, , • ! I
o. 500. 1000. 1500. 2000. 2500.
Figure 2.14: Responses for a rod with various concentrated masses. The monitoring site is
also the impact site.
It is clear that the mass acts as a frequency filter. For the low frequencies, for
example,
showing the signal is unaffected. But at high frequencies
showing that the mass acts as a rigid end and does not transmit any of the wave.
Notice that the same result is effected by increasing the size of the mass.
The case of transmission of waves from one rod to another is handled the same
way as above. Balance of force at the (assumed massless) joint of Figure 2.11 (c)
and continuity of displacement gives
EIAI(-AI +BI)(ik l ) - E2A2(-A2)(ik2) 0

Al +BI = A2
Solving for the reflected and the transmitted coefficients then gives
(2.30)
where the following notations are used:
The responses are independent of frequency. This is interesting in comparison to

the case of the elastic spring; while the second rod and a spring behave the same
statically, the mass distribution of the rod makes a profound difference dynamically.
The expressions for the stresses are simply
(2.31)
Reference [107] gives some experimental validation of these stepped rod results.
Interactions at a Distributed Elastic Joint

Consider two long bars with an insert of a different material or cross section
sandwiched between them as shown in Figure 2.11(d). When the two long portions
are of similar material, then this is essentially a split Hopkinson pressure bar and
Reference [31] gives a thorough analysis of its use. Of interest here, however, is the
role played by a finite rod in affecting the wave response and how that is indicated
in the transfer function.
The waves in each section are represented as
(2.32)
The incident wave is Al and there is only one wave in the third rod. Note that
the rod forming the joint will have a standing wave since both forward and back-
ward moving waves will be present simultaneously in the finite length. This is
fundamentally different from the two waves in the semi-infinite first rod as will be
seen.
The boundary conditions at the joint interfaces, x = 0 and L, are
atx=O:
atx = L: (2.33)
Imposing these four conditions gives the following system of equations:
1 1
(kEAh -(kEAh
e-ik2L eik2L
-(kEAhe- ik2L (kEAhe ik2L
While this can be solved explicitly, it is best left as part of the algorithm for solving
for the transfer function of the wave. If all the bars are of the same material, then
this relation simplifies considerably, but leaving it in its present form allows, for
example, a solution for the viscoelastic joint.
Figure 2.15 shows some of the responses on both sides of the insert for an incident
tensile triangular pulse. It is apparent that a pulse is propagating backward and
forward in the joint. Furthermore, each reflected and transmitted pulse is similar
incident side
reflected side
, Time [J.1S] ,
o. 500. 1000. 1500. 2000. 2500.
Figure 2.15: Transmitted and reflected responses near a distributed elastic joint. The mon-
itoring site is also the impact site.
in shape but diminishing in amplitude. It appears as if there are multiple copies of

the pulse generated.
In looking at the differences between the distributed system and the previous
ones considered, the presence of the eikL tenns are most significant. These are
periodic functions, and, consequently, the solution will also express periodicity.
Figure 2.16 shows plots of the transfer functions; its most striking feature is that
as the real component goes through a maximum, the imaginary component goes
through a zero. This is a resonance-like behavior. To summarize, the effect of
the distributed elastic joint on the response of each term is similar to that of a
resonator. In the frequency domain, this causes changes in phase which result in
spectral peaks in the transfer functions; in the time domain, it appears as repeated
pulses.
Figure 1.16: Transfer function for the responses near an elastic joint. (a) Reflected side. (b)
transmitted side.
68 Chapter 2. Longitudinal Waves in ROds
In this particular example, each transmitted pulse is similar in shape, perhaps

leading to the conclusion that the response is nondispersive (Le., "no change in
shape"). But consider what happens when the joint is small- then the multiple
transmissions overlap to give a shape that is definitely not triangular. The point is
that when the full response is compared to the incident wave, then on this basis
the elastic joint has a dispersive effect.
This raises another issue. The effect of the joint is to increase the total duration
of the response: a single incident pulse of duration 100 J,LS, say, may become ten
smaller pulses over a duration of 2000 J,LS. As a consequence, a time window
chosen to describe the incident pulse may tum out to be too small to adequately
contain the response. The resulting reflections or transmissions from neighboring
windows will then propagate into view. These negative effects can be minimized
by choosing a very large window with the consequent expense of a large N. An
alternative approach is to add a little damping to the system so as to force the
multiple reflections to zero sooner. This recommendation holds, in any event,
because it also adds stability to the calculations, and it makes the description more
realistic since all real systems have some amount of damping. These considerations
will re-appear when we consider structures composed of multiple members.
2.6 Distributed Loading

One of the themes to emerge in this book is the idea that complicated structures
can be viewed as a collection of connected waveguides. We prepare this idea by
analyzing the problem of a load distributed over a finite length of an infinite rod.
We analyze the problem two ways: first as a distributed load on an infinite rod, and
second as a segmented rod.
Wavenumber Transform Solution

We start by letting the distributed load be represented by the form
q(x, t) = P(t)f(x) q(x) = Pf(x) (2.34)
In this, the shape of the distribution, f(x), does not change over time - it is only
the scaling, pet), that changes. If the area under f(x) is unity then pet) can be
interpreted as the resultant force. Now represent the shape with the Fourier series
2nm
w
f(x) = 1 '""' -< X
L fme-r,m , ~m=-
W
m
where W is the space window. Note that since f(x) is real-only, we could use
the usual form of the Fourier series; however, the exponential form is easier to
manipulate. We now let the response have a similar representation so that the
2.6 Distributed Loading 69
governing system, Equation (2.4), becomes
~ L [-;~EA + (fJ}pA - iW'1A)] Ume-i~",x = -: L lme-i~x

This must be true for any m hence we conclude that the space transform components
of the displacement are
- -plm
Um =
[;~EA - (w 2 pA - iW'1A)]
From this, we get the spectral components of the response as
A( ) = - -p f,m .,
e -I,m x
ux
~ ;~EA - (2.35)
A [ _ ]
W (w 2 pA - iW'1A)
This can then be incorporated in the usual FFT inverse. Generally, however, it is
more efficient to compute the summation over m directly rather than use the FFT
algorithm because the response at only a few locations, x, are usually required.
Lx
q(x, t) q(x, t)
I~~ I I~~ I
II II
+- -00 t----+ X +00 -+ +- -00 t----+ X +00 -+
Figure 2.17: Two modelings of a rod with distributed load over the region 0 :::: x :::: L.
The remaining specification for the problem is the actual load distribution shape.
For simplicity, let us take it as being rectangular over a length L as shown in
Figure 2.17. This gives
Responses are shown in Figure 2.18 where the history is that of our smoothed pulse
and the parameters M = 1200, W = 150 m (6000 in.) were used. A feature to note
about the force responses is that at x = L /2, which is the middle of the distribution,
the axial force is zero. This-can be explained by considering material away from
the distributed load site: to the left, the material is being pulled in tension, to the
right, the material is being pushed in compression. Note, however, that the velocity
of all points is positive.
Connected Waveguide Solution

In the connected waveguides approach, we divide the structure into segments
corresponding to discontinuities in the sectional properties (at joints, for example)
and changes of loading. In the present example, there are changes in the loading
-waveguide
o transform
velocity
Time (J1s1
. I ..
400. 500. 800. 500. 600. 700. 800.
Figure 2.18: Resultant axial force and velocity response for points under the distributed
load.
at x = 0 and x = L, we therefore break this problem into three waveguides as

indicated in Figure 2.17. The solution in the three segments are
x < 0: u(x) Be+ikx
O<x<L: u(x) Ae- ikx + Be+ikx _ ~

arpA
u(x)
Note the solution for the inhomogeneous contribution in the middle section. We
impose continuity of displacement and equilibrium at the joints (as was done in
the previous problems) to give the three solutions as
x < 0: u(x) ~[e-ikL _l]e+ikx

2arpA
O<x<L: u(x) - qo
-- [-ikx
-e +e -ik(L-x) - 2]
2to2 pA
[-ikL - I] e -ik(x-L)
qo- e
u(x) --
2arpA
A striking thing about this solution is that the center portion establishes a standing
wave even though we intuitively sense that waves should be propagating to the
right. Actually, we must realize that on any /)"X segment under the load there is
the equivalent of a concentrated force that causes waves to propagate both forward
and backward from that point. Thus at any point under the load, the response is the
superposition of responses from many such point loads to both the left and right
of it, giving rise to the standing wave.
A comparison of the results with the transform results are shown in Figure 2.18.
The results are completely comparable in quality, but the implications are quite
2.6 Distributed Loading 71
different. Although the waveguide solution is computationally more efficient (since

it does not have a summation over m) its main advantage is that it allows the space
domain to be segmented. That is, the transform method requires a very large space
domain W for its representation. The waveguide, on the other hand, can be finite or
semi-infinite. The significance of this is that we can connect many such waveguides
at different positions and orientation; this is not feasible with the transform method.
Connection to the Cauchy Integral

A final point worth making about the wavenumber transform solution is its con-
nection to the Cauchy integral. If we revert to the integral transform, the solution
is written as
(2.36)
Suppose now the distributed load is a delta function so that j = 1 then we know
that the value of the integral is simply the sum of the residues [7]. The contours
of the integrand are shown in Figure 2.19, also shown is the integration path used
for the Cauchy integral.
real wavenumber
1.0
.8
.6
.4
.2
.0
·.2
-.4
-.6
-.8
-1.0
10 15 20 25 30 -1.0 -.8 -.6 -.4 -.2 .0 _2 .4 .6 .8 1.0

Frequency [kHz] Imaginary
Figure 2.19: Contours of the determinant. On the left is a slice of Re(~) against frequency
for Im(~) = 0, and on the right is Re(~) against Im(~) at 15 kHz.
From the contours of Figure 2.19, we see there are two poles corresponding to
where the denominator is zero. These occur at
which, in fact, are the waveguide spectrum relations. Furthermore, the residues at
each of these poles is proportional to
which are the kernel function solutions for the waveguide. There is an intimate
connection between what we will call the waveguide solution and integral solutions
of the form of Equation (2.36). The significant difference lies in the size of the
domains; as pointed out above the waveguide domain can be finite thus making it
useful for structural analysis.
We will not have any need for contour integration in the complex plane because,
generally, we will either do the integration (summations) numerically or replace
the integrals with their waveguide form. The matrix methodology for handling
connected waveguides is developed in Chapters 5 and 8.
Problems
2.1 Show that if the phase term in the generic solution can be written as
w
±kx + wt = -(±x + cot) = w~ or W1/
Co
where ~ == x + Col and 1/ == x - cnt, then the D'Alembert solution
u(x, t) = 1(1/) + F(~) = I(x - cot) + F(x + cot)
is recovered.
- Reference [7], p. 45
2.2 Show that longitudinal disturbances in a gas within a long cylinder (acoustic
waves) are governed by an equation very similar to that of the rod.
2.3 Show that transverse disturbances propagation along a string under tension
are governed by an equation very similar to that of the rod.
2.4 Assume the area of the rod varies according to the following power law:
A(x) = Au
a+ x]m
[-a-
where An, a, m are constants. Show that the complete solution is given by
where f3 = w~pAn/EAn' Note that the spectrum relation is nondispersive

even though the signal itself is dispersive. That is, the disturbance travels at a
constant speed but the amplitude changes.
Problems 73
2.5 Continuing the previous problem, for the special case of m = 1, show that
u(x) = AJo(z) + BYo(z)
and that the asymptotic form of this result when x » a is
This is similar in form to that for the uniform rod except for the decreasing
amplitude.
2.6 For the conical hom (or linear taper) m = 2, and noting the relation between
the Bessel functions of half-order and the trigonometric functions, show that
uex) = 1 {Ae-i.B(a+x) + Bei/l(a+x)}

J{3(a +x)
This is the same as in the previous problem except that it is not restricted to
the asymptotic form.
2.7 Determine the temperature distribution in a semi-infinite solid when it is
subjected to a suddenly applied temperature change at its edge.
2.8 As a very simple example of a "periodic structure" consider an elastic string
with tension T to which is attached a number of identical beads of mass m
and spacing a. Show that the spectrum relation is obtained by solving
W/W e = 2 sin(ka/2),
Sketch the spectrum relation and discuss the ability of the string to support
waves of small wavelength. What happens if W > We ? What is the meaning
of the complex roots for w < We ?
2.9 A periodic layered structure is comprised of alternating layers of thickness
do and dh. Show that the characteristic equation is
with au = wda/ca , ab = wdb/cb, and z = pc. Discuss the presence of pass

bands and stop bands.
- Reference [7]. p. 120
2.10 Consider a semi-infinite rod subjected to the edge displacement history u(O, t)
= H(t)te- b, where H(t) is a step function and b is a positive constant. Show
that the response is
u(x, t) = (t - x/co)e-h(l-x/c o ), t > x/co

3
Flexural Waves in
Beams
A beam is a long slender member designed to support lateral loads. In doing so,
the displacement is predominantly transverse to the centerline, and internal shear
forces and bending moments are generated. The dynamic behavior of beams is
called flexural motion.
From the wave point of view the significant difference between a beam and a rod
is that the beam (even in its simplest form) does not have aD' Alembert solution
and therefore the solutions are dispersive (as shown in Figure 3.1) from the outset.
Also, because of the higher order governing equations, there are two fundamental
modes of motion, one of which propagates while the other is evanescent. The devel-
opment in this chapter is similar to that of the last: after deriving the basic solution,
its application to reflections and elastically constrained systems is demonstrated.
Since the analytical framework is the same as for rods, these applications are not
described in as much detail as before. Instead, the chapter concentrates on two new
topics which deal with coupling: the first is that of curved beams and the other is
of beams with distributed spring connections.
Time Position
Figure 3.1: Dispersion of waves in beams. Each line is a "snapshot" of the defonned shape
of the beam. Note how the shape changes over time.
74
3.1 Bernoulli-Euler Beam Theory 75
3.1 Bernoulli-Euler Beam Theory

In anticipation of the manner in which the waveguide models will be developed in
later chapters, we derive the equations of motion for the beam by first establishing
the deformation. From this, through the constitutive relation, we can then get
expressions for the resultants. Finally, the equations of motion are stated in terms
of these resultants. This approach will eventually be adapted to the establishing of
approximate waveguide theories.
Equations of Motion
Consider along, narrow beam with the loads applied as in Figure 3.2. The Bemoulli-
Euler beam model assumes that the deflection of the centerline v(x, t) is small and
only transverse. While this theory assumes the presence of a transverse shear force,
it neglects any shear deformation due to it.
..
q(x) - TJV
.0 •
EI,pA
• _ ......... "';~~
. - / / / v(x.t)
....: : : : : : : : • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 0 . 0 • • • • • • • • 0 • • 0 . . . . . . . . . ..
C~UtsaM
V ax v +a v
Figure 3.2: Slender beam in flexure and typical loaded element.
We begin by expanding the displacements in a Taylor series about the mid-plane

displacements u(x, 0) and ii(x, 0) as
u(x, y) ~ au
u-(x, 0) + y oy Iy-o + ... = u(x) - y4J(x) + ...
_ oii
ii(x, y) ~ v(x, 0) + y oy Iy-o + ... = v(x) + yl/r(x) + ...
where the notations
u(x) = u(x, 0), v(x) = ii(x, 0), 4J(x) = 0-1

-.!!.
oy y-o
, l/r(x) = a-I
~
oy y-o
were used. Since we are interested in flexural deformations, we set u(x, 0) = o.

The assumption of the Bernoulli-Euler beam is that the vertical deflection is nearly
constant through the thickness while the horizontal displacement follows the "plane
sections remain plane" assumption. We therefore retain only one term in each
expansion and obtain the approximate displacements as
u(x, y) ~ -y4J(x) , ii(x, y) ~ v(x) (3.1)

76 Chapter 3. Flexural Waves in Beams
The axial and shear strains corresponding to these deformations are

au au ( av)
Yxy = ay + ax = -t/> + ax
For a very slender beam, the assumption that there is no shear deformation is made
- despite the fact that a shear force is present. We therefore get that
av
t/>= -ax
and the only nonzero strain becomes
a2 v
Eu = -y ax 2
For a somewhat slender beam undergoing flexural deformation we would expect
au to be the dominant stress, therefore, with the assumption that the beam is in a
state of uni-axial stress, we get
at/> a2 v
au = -yE ax = -yE ax 2
Integrating this to get the resultant moment gives the moment-deflection relation
!
as
a2v
M = -au ydA = E I -2
ax ,
The cross sectional property 1 is called the second moment of area, and the com-
bination coefficient E 1 is called the flexural stiffness. For a beam of rectangular
cross section, we have 1 = bh 3 /12, where b is the width and h the height.
We consider two types of distributed load: qv(x, t) is the transverse load, while
q", is the distributed torque. Referring to Figure 3.2, the equations of motion in the
y direction and about the z axis are (if ~X is small), respectively,
av a2 v av
ax pAarz + '1Aat - qv
aM
-+V = -q", (3.2)
ax
where we have neglected any rotational inertia. Note that, in contrast to the rod,
the beam has two equilibrium equations. Substituting for the moment into the
equations of motion gives
-
a2 [a 2 v] a2 v au aq",
E I - +pA-+'1A-=q(x,t)=qv-- (3.3)
ax 2 ax 2 at 2 at ax
It can be easily verified that there is no D' Alembert solution [Equation (2.3)] to
the homogeneous part of this equation even if the cross sectional properties are
constant.
It is worth emphasizing that the moment resultant is related to the deformation
through the constitutive relation, whereas the shear force resultant is related to the
deformation through the eqUilibrium equation. We can rationalize this inconsis-
tency by conceiving of the beam as having a very large shear modulus.
3.1 Bernoulli-Euler Beam Theory 77
Spectral Analysis
Consider the beam to have constant properties along its length, then the homoge-
neous differential equation can be written in the spectral form
(3.4)
Particular solutions to this can be obtained from particular solutions of the follow-
ing two equations:
(3.5)
This form emphasizes that the beam has two fundamentally different modes -
this will become apparent later.
Since the equations have constant coefficients, then the solutions are obviously
of the exponential form e- ikx , which on substituting into the equations gives
k2 = ±if3
The spectrum relations for both modes are plotted in Figure 3.3 as the heavy lines;
the other plots show the effect of axial loads which we consider later. There are
four possibilities in all, allowing the complete solution to be written as
The first and third are wave solutions, while the second and fourth are predom-
inantly spatially damped vibrations (sometimes called the ringing or evanescent
terms).
1.2 Wavenumber, kh
1.0
.8
.6
.4
.2 - - mode 1 (real only)
.0 ........ mode 2 (imag only)
'~:~~~~~~:::::~~~i~:::<:::::::"":C:.:":.:.:2:
-.2
-.4
-.6
-.8
-1.0
-1.2 I ! , , t i t , , , , ! , , ! , , ! , ! I , , I , I
.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
Figure 3.3: Spectrum relation for beams.

The mode 2 behavior is entirely imaginary for the undamped case, hence there is
no propagation behavior for this mode. Considering only the mode 1 wave motion
gives the phase and group speeds as
cg == -
dw
-2.jW -
[EI]1/4 .. 2c (3.7)
dk pA
Both of these are shown plotted in Figure 3.4 as the heavy lines. In contrast to the
elementary rod case, these speeds depend on the sectional properties of the beam
in terms of the area A = bh and second moment of area I = bh 3 /12. Note that
the group speed is twice that of the phase speed. Both speeds are also dispersive
and indicate speeds approaching infinity for very high frequencies. This is an
unreasonable limit, as we will see in the next chapter, but for now we can accept
that the derived beam theory is adequate at least for the lower frequencies .
.8 Speed, CICo - - group speed

.7 ........ phase speed compression
.6
.5
.4
.3
.2
.1
.0
.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
Figure 3.4: Dispersion relations for beams.
3.2 Basic Solution for Waves in Beams

Since the spectrum relation is dispersive, there is no D' Alembert solution and,
consequently, it is difficult to describe the wave in the time domain. This is where
the spectral approach is most beneficial - the frequency domain is a natural
setting in which to discuss the properties of dispersive systems. We take as our
basic problem the transverse impact of an infinite beam.
Force History Applied to Center of Beam

Consider a very long beam impacted at its center. Let the center of the beam be at
x = 0 and the force be applied to an imaginary rigid, massless, joint as shown in
the free-body diagram of Figure 3.5.
The conditions at the joint require (noting that y(2) = - y(1»
av ... o P + 2y(2) = mJvJ = 0

ax '
3.2 Basic Solution for Waves in Beams 79
Figure 3.5: Free-body diagrams for impact of a beam.
Substituting for these quantities in terms of the displacement solution gives the
wave in x > 0, for example, as
(3.8)
(3.9)
The behavior of the strain at various positions along the beam is shown in Fig-
ure 3.6. The response is obviously dispersive. Note particularly that because the
low-frequency components travel the slowest, they will take the whole time win-
dow to arrive at the monitoring site. As a result, an extra-large window is usually
required when analyzing beams. In fact, the window used for the present analysis
is twice that shown. Since this is a recurring problem with beams, it is of value to
consider it in more detail.
.~ 1~~·E
______0-
!\
~~ 5:. :0~o~m: .:.m:- __
'V ~
A
Ci5 -100.
, , , , , I ,
o. 500.
Figure 3.6: Typical strain responses of an impacted beam.
The transfer function for the wave displacement is
G(x w) = __i_[e-i.8X - ie-,8xl

, 4Elf33
and this is different from the rod in two significant respects. First, the presence
of e- flx indicates a large contribution at x = 0 that dies rapidly as x increases -
this is called evanescent behavior. Second, the transfer function depends on the
reciprocal of f33 and consequently also on w 312 • This fractional power dependence
on frequency does not really pose a problem in the spectral analysis approach per
se, although it is what makes the analysis in the time domain difficult. For example,
the relation between the force and strain at the impact site is
i(O w)
h
- ( 1 - i)-
P= h [EI]I/4 (l - i)-
P (3.10)
,
=
8EI f3
-
8EI
-
pA JW
The convolution theorem of the first chapter [Equation (1.8)] can be used to convert
this to time domain form as
1'(0 t)
,
= -
h
4E 1
[EI]I/4
-
pA
1
--
.j2ii
11 ..;t="T
0
P(r)
---dr (3.11)
This interesting equation (which also appears in Reference [114]) shows the strain
(and velocity) to be a singular hereditary integral of the force. Consequently, the
response will not be quiescent (even for a finite duration pulse) until the time
approaches infinity. This is where the fractional powers cause some windowing
problems - no matter what size the window is, some response will always persist
beyond it and thus move into the neighboring window. The negative effects of this
can be minimized by choosing a relatively large window size but this is at the cost
of more computation time. A cheaper approach is to include some damping in the
system so that all signals eventually die out. Actually, a judicious combination of
both will give the optimum results.
Stress and Strain Behavior

Consider a disturbance initiated at x = 0 in an infinite beam, some of this distur-
bance will travel forward (increasing x) and some will travel backward (decreasing
x). Using the subscripts i and r to represent the forward- and backward-moving
waves, respectively, then the two groups can be expressed as
Vi = L Ae-i(fl x - wl ) + L Be-flX+iwl, Vr = L Cei(flx+<vI) + L Deflx+i<VI
To aid in the analysis, assume that the wave propagates symmetrically outward,
then at x = 0:
aV
ax = 0, Vi = Vr
giving, simply, B = -iA, D = -iC, and C = A. Consequently, the two wave

groups are written in terms of a single amplitude spectrum as
(3.12)
The tenns in square brackets are the transfer functions for the waves and they
indicate a changing amplitude with respect to position. For the forward disturbance,
the other mechanical quantities of usual interest are:
Velocity:
Strain:
Stress:
Moment: Mi = -EI L t3 2A[e- i,8x + ie-,8X]e iwt

Shear: Vi = - ElL it3 3 A[e- i,8x + e-,8X]e iwt
It is apparent that, in general, there is no simple inter-relationship among these
quantities. However, at the origin of the wave (x = 0):
When there is no damping, we have that 13 2 = w..j pAj E I, showing that the
velocity and stress and strain at y = hj2 are related through
2 [EI 2 [EI
h VPA Ei(O, t) = VPA ai(O, t) = .j3 Ei(O, t)
Co
Vi(O, t) = Eh (3.13)
That is, the particle velocity has a simple relationship to the maximum bending
strain and stress. This, of course, is not true at any other position and is not true
when damping is present.
3.3 Bernoulli-Euler Beam with Constraints

Once the basic beam is understood, it is a straightforward matter to enrich the
available solutions by considering such features as viscoelasticity and elastic con-
straint. Viscoelasticity will not be considered here because, just as for the rod, the
only difference is that the modulus E is now a function of frequency. But since
the solution is dispersive to begin with, then there is no fundamental change in the
appearance of the waves. Reference [96] contains analysis, both theoretical and
experimental, of the vibration of a viscoelastic beam. The effect of a viscoelastic
layer in a sandwich beam is considered in References [89, 117]. Of interest here
are the consequences of pre-stress and elastic constraint on the beam behavior.
Beam on an Elastic Foundation

Consider a beam resting on a foundation of distributed elastic stiffness K and of
viscosity 1]. The differential equation of motion for this Winkler type of foundation
82 Chapter 3. flexural Waves in Beams
is
(3.14)
Since the coefficients are constant, then the spectrum relation can be obtained
simply by taking solutions of the form v(x, t) = voe-i(kx-wl) to get
Elk4 - pAw2 + iWlJA + K = 0
giving the wavenumbers (in the undamped case) as
k\ = ± [PA {J/ _ ~]\/4 k2 = ±i [PA {J/ _ ~]\/4 (3.15)

EI EI' EI EI
The full spectrum behavior of the two modes is shown in Figure 3.7. This rather
complicated behavior needs further explanation.
Figure 3.7: Spectrum relation for beam on an elastic foundation.
As is usual with elastic constraints, we generally can expect to find a cut-off

frequency. Look for this cutoff by setting k to zero in the characteristic equation;
through this we get
pA 2 K
-(J) - - =0 or (3.16)
EI EI
for both modes. The spectrum relations for the two modes can now be written as
(3.17)
For frequencies greater than We there are two purely real and two purely imaginary
roots and these asymptote to
A]1/4 [PA]1/4
kl ~ ±.jW [~I ' k2 ~ ±i.jW EI
which are the usual spectrum relations for beams. For frequencies less than We
1 +1. [ P A 2
kl =±-- --(W -W)
2 ]1/4
../2 EI e '
which shows that all roots are complex. Thus all components associated with both
modes attenuate to some extent. Reconstructions are similar to Figure 2.8 in that
filtering of the lower frequency components occur.
Since all modes are complex below the cut-off frequency, the question then
arises as to which of the available solutions should be chosen to represent a for-
ward moving wave, say. The appropriate criterion is to choose those solutions that
decrease amplitudes (exhibit dissipation) in the direction of propagation; that is,
choose the wavenumbers that have negative imaginary parts. As a consequence
of this choice, there is a standing wave set up at frequencies less than We. That
is, both forward and backward moving waves are established simultaneously; the
concept of speed has no practical meaning in this case although we could formally
compute wi kreal and dwldkreal for each mode. Note that W = We is a branch point
and it is difficult to determine the continuation of each mode. This ambiguity is
removed by adding a little damping as discussed previously.
Beam with Axial Load

When beams are part of connected structures they often additionally support axial
loads. If we consider a segment of a beam -in the deformed configuration, the axial
load will have a contribution to the moment equilibrium given by
- - dv
Fo sintf>Ax ~ Fo-Ax
dx
where Fo is the axial force, assumed to be tensile. The differential equation of

motion then becomes
(3.18)
Since the coefficients are constant, then the spectrum relation can again be obtained
by taking solutions of the form v(x, t) = voe-i(kx-wt) to get
The wavenumbers are
(3.19)
The sign of the pre-stress can make a significant difference to the character of the
solution as shown in Figure 3.3. For example, a compressive pre-stress, Fo = - p,
gives the mode I a nonzero wavenumber value of kJ = "j P / E I at zero frequency.
The interpretation of this diagram is that for the propagating mode the wavelengths
in the compressed beam are decreased (the wavenumber is increased), while those
in the stretched beam are extended compared to the unstressed beam. The effect
of this on the propagating speeds is shown in Figure 3.4. Notice that the group
speed is increased substantially in the compressed beam. Thus very low frequency
components will propagate very fast.
Although slightly premature, consider the consequences of this increase in speed
in a finite beam. The low frequency components take very little time to reflect,
indeed in any time duration many reflections will occur and hence resonance is
established. In the limit of zero frequency this occurs in negligible time and the
situation corresponds to static instability or buckling.
3.4 Reflection of Flexural Waves

Results parallel to those of the rod are developed for typical boundary conditions.
What must be realized, however, is that since there are more modes for the beam,
then there is also a wider variety of boundary conditions to be imposed.
Simple End Conditions

Let the end of a semi-infinite beam be at x = 0 and let the incident wave be from
left to right. A complete harmonic solution to the beam equation can be written in
the form
The first two terms are the incident wave and A, B are assumed specified. The
remaining terms are the generated reflections. The last term (De+ ik2X ), while not
a wave, is nonetheless necessary to satisfy the boundary conditions even if only
a propagating term is incident on the boundary. As emphasized before, the above
is the general solution to the governing differential equation and as such there
cannot be any others waves. That is, these are the totality of possible responses for
the given structural model and properly stated boundary conditions should then
determine the appropriateness of each.
3.4 Reflection of Flexural Waves 85
The boundary conditions are specified in terms of the different orders of deriva-
tive of v(x, w). These are collected as
Displacement: v=v(x,w)
A dv
Slope: ¢= dx
Moment:
d2
A
M=+EI-
v
dx 2
Shear Force:
A d3
V=-EI-
v
dx 3
Table 3.1 is a collection of some typical simple boundaries and the associated equa-
tions. Note that in each case two conditions must be specified in the time domain
and these become conditions on the various space derivatives in the frequency
domain.
BCType Imposed BC1 BC2
av(O, t) = 0
Fixed: v(O,t)-O,
ax
a 2 v(O, t)
Pinned: v(O, t) = 0, =0
ax 2
a2 v(O, t) _ 0 El a3v (O,t) =0
Free: EI 2 - ,
ax ax 3
a2 v(O, t) _ 0 a3v(O, t)
Linear Spring: EI 2 -, EI 3 =+Kv(O,t)
ax Ox
a 3 v(O, t) av(O, t)
Torsion Spring: v(O, t) = 0, EI =-a---
ax 3 ax
EI a 2 v(O, t) _ 0 E a 3 v(O, t) av(O, t)
Oashpot: I =+1]---
ax 2 ' ax 3 at
a 2 v(O, t) _ 0 a 3 v(O, t) a2 v(O, t)
Mass: EI 2 - , EI 3 = +m 2
ax ax at
Table 3.1: Some typical boundary conditions for beams.
The simplest boundary condition is that of a pinned end. Here the deflection is
zero giving as one of the equations
A+B+C+D=O
There is also zero moment giving as the second equation
EI[A(-ikt>2 +B(-ikd + C(ikd +D(ikdJ = 0
These two equations allow C and D to be determined, they are simply
C=-A, D=-B (3.20)
Thus, the reflected wave is the same as the incident wave but inverted; this is
analogous to what occurs for the rod. Note that there is no spatially decaying term
generated if none is incident.
An example of a more complicated boundary is that of a free end. It is necessary
to impose both zero moment, as above, and also zero shear, giving
EI[A( -ik t )2 + B(-ik2)2 + C(ik t )2 + D(ikd] 0
-EI[A( -ikt)3 + B( -ik2)3 + C(ik t )3 + D(ik2)3] 0
The solution for the coefficients is

k1 +k2 2k~
c ... -k
k A+ 2 B ... -iA+(1 +i)B
1- 2 k1 (k1 - k 2)
-2kf k. +k2
D ... -::--....:.....--A - --B - (1 - i)A + iB (3.21)
ki(k 1 - k2) k1 - k2
The latter results in each case are for the simple damped Bernoulli-Euler beam.
Note that even if only a traveling wave is incident (i.e., B = 0), both a traveling
wave (C) and boundary vibration (D) are generated. The presence of the complex i
means there is also a phase shift since -i = e- iTrj2 • However, the responses (in the
simple case) do not depend on frequency, hence there is no additional dispersion.
total
reflected
propagated
, , . , , Ti,me (J;lSJ,
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000.
Figure 3.8: Reflections from the free end of a beam.
Figure 3.8 shows an example of the response of a beam impacted near a free
end. The impact site is also the monitoring site and the boundary is located at
L = 500 mm. Parenthetically, a side benefit of the spectral approach to waves is
that the decomposition of the response is a natural by-product of the analysis. That
is, the reflected wave can be reconstructed on its own, as shown, if required. Also
shown in the figure is a wave propagating a distance 2L in an infinite beam. The
comparison with the reflection alone clearly shows the phase shift.
Assume that at the end of the beam there are two elastic springs, one resisting
the deflection and the other resisting the rotation. The shear and moment balance
equations require
d 3AV A d2v
E I - =-eL-
dv
E I - =+Kv
dx 3 dx 2 dx
giving, with K == KI EI, a == eLI EI,
[ (iki + K) (iki + K) ] {C} _ [ (iki - K) (iki - K) ]{A}
(ikl+a)kl (ik2+a)k2 D - (-ikl+a)kl (-ik2+a)k2 B
The coefficients depend on frequency, even in the simple beam case. As a conse-
quence, the response will exhibit the same type of dispersion effect as observed
in the rod case. That is, for given springs, the low frequencies experience a fixed
end, whereas the high frequencies experience a free end. The special cases of free
end (K = 0, eL = 0) and fixed end (K = 00, eL = (0) are easily recovered from the
above.
Reflections and Transmissions at a Concentrated Mass

The discontinuity of particular interest here is that of two beams connected by
a massy joint. One of the things to become apparent very quickly when tackling
problems of connected waveguides, is the cumbersomeness of solving for the great
number of unknowns. Our motivation here is to illustrate some of the underlying
mechanics principles, we defer until Chapter 5 a more efficient and elegant form
of solution procedure.
For simplicity, let the flexural displacements for beam I and 2 be represented as
Ae- iP,x + CeifJ,x + De P,x
Ae-i/hx + Be-/hx (3.22)
where the subscripts refer to the beams. It is assumed that only a propagating wave
is incident on the joint and its amplitude spectrum is represented by the A term.
This is reasonable since in most cases the generated evanescent term decays to
negligible size. Also retaining this evanescent term is cumbersome. The first beam
contains a reflected wave C and a ringing term D, and the second beam contains
corresponding propagating and ringing terms. As pointed out before, this is the
maximum number of possibilities - the boundary conditions should determine if
any are redundant.
Consider two beams of similar sectional properties connected by a rigid con-
centrated mass as shown in Figure 3.5. Continuity and balance of resultants at the
concentrated mass requires
VI = V2 VJ
aVI aV2
-=- ¢J
ax ax
-MI +M2 0
-VI + V2 mJvJ
where the subscript J refers to the joint properties. This gives with m* == m, / E I f33
and assuming both beam segments to be the same
-1 -1
[J
I
(3.23)
1 -1
-l -i +m*ul 1 + m*w2
The presence of the mass makes the equation frequency dependent and thus the
mass (as in the case of rods) acts as a frequency filter. Low-frequency components
transmit through the joint unaffected, the high-frequency components are blocked.
Analysis of Noncollinear Beams

The full analysis of the arbitrary multimember joint is rather cumbersome and only
the special case of the noncollinear beam is treated here. More detailed results on
the general case can be found in References [44, 45]. The angled joint is important
because it introduces the idea of mode conversion. That is, incident flexural waves
can generate longitudinal waves and vice versa. It is also pursued here as an adjunct
to the analysis of curved beams treated in a later section.
Figure 3.9: Free-body diagram for angled beams.
The equations of motion of the three member joint in Figure 3.9 are
- FI + F2 cos e - V2 sin e mu j
- VI + F2 sin e + V2 cos e
-MI + M2 + ~L(VI + V2) (3.24)
where L is a size estimate of the joint. Displacement continuity for small joint
rotations are
UI Uj
U2 Uj cose + Vj sine
VI Vj - ~L¢,
(3.25)
Slope continuity conditions are
(3.26)
The axial force, shear force and bending moment, respectively, are related to the
displacements by
F=EA-
au
ax'
Finally, if the flexural displacements are expanded as Equation (3.2) and the lon-
gitudinal displacements as
II
U2(X, t) L[:Pne-ik",2X]eiWnt (3.27)

n
where kLn is the longitudinal wavenumber, then a system of six equations can be
established so as to determine the six wave coefficients. Such a system of equations
is frequency dependent. This comes about not only from the mass but also from
the presence of mixed wavenumber terms. For example, both V and F occur in
the same equation, and since their wavenumbers have different dependencies on
frequencies, then the frequency does not cancel through.
As a first special case, consider when both beam segments are similar but just
oriented differently. Also, let the size of the joint L be considered negligible, then
the system of equations becomes
1 1 - cos(} -cos(} 0 - sin () C -1

0 a sin(} + sin () 1 - cos () D a
1 i 1 a a A
A
a a iK sin(} -K sin(} -i -i cos(} B a
-K K -iK cos(} Kcos(} a -i sin(} Q -iK
-1 -1 1 0 0 P -1
where K == k 3 EI / kLEA. The presence ofthe axial terms means there are longitu-
dinal waves generated in each beam section. When a longitudinal wave is incident,
then add to the right-hand side the vector
-{O, 1,0, i, 0, O}Tp
Figure 3.10 shows the variation of the transmitted flexural and longitudinal
amplitude with frequency when a longitudinal wave is incident. Similar results
are obtained for an incident flexural wave. These plots show that the joint has an
obvious frequency effect. If a curved rod is considered as a collection of angled
straight segments, then similar results are expected there also. It must be borne
in mind in both of these examples that beyond 100 kHz or so the Bernoulli-Euler
2.0
Amplitude 100 Hz 10 kHz
1.8
-c -c
1.6 ···.·.D ........ D
1.4 -A -A
······B ........ B
1.2 -Q -Q
..... p ........ p
1.0
.8
.6
.4
.2
.0
O. 30. 60. 90. 120. 150. Angle 30. 60. 90. 120. 150. 180.
Figure 3.10: The effect of frequency on the reflected and transmitted amplitude ratios.
beam theory is no longer valid and one of the improved beam theories should be
used.
As a second special case, consider beams that have discontinuity of stiffness
and density, but remain collinear. This is the analog of the stepped rod, and the
free body diagram is similar to that shown in Figure 3.5. The joint is assumed to
be rigid, of very small mass and extent. A more complete exposition can be found
in References [44, 45].
Continuity conditions at the joint are the same as for the concentrated mass ex-
cept that the joint mass is considered zero. In terms of the displacement coefficients
l
these conditions become (with x = 0 being the location of the joint)
i~ R
(3.28)
-1 1
-i
where the coefficient ratios R == [E2/z/Elh]I/4 and Q == [P2A2/PIAdl/4 have
been introduced. Generally, it is best to solve this system numerically as part of the
general scheme for obtaining the transfer function. The explicit solution is given
here because it can be used to help verify the implicit solution schemes used on
some of the more general cases. Solving in terms of A gives
C -[(1- R 2 Q 2i+i2RQ(R 2 - Q2)]iA/~
D (l - R2Q2)(1 + R2Q2)[1 - i] A/ ~
A (l + R2Q2)(R + Q)2A/Q~
B -(1- R2Q2)(R+iQ)2A/Q~
(3.29)
Without actually making plots, it is possible to conclude some interesting features

about the response. First, it is noticed from the transfer functions for C and Athat
while the reflected wave may have a phase change (because of the presence of the
complex i), the transmitted wave is always in phase with the incident wave (since
the transmission coefficient for the latter is always real). These expressions do not
contain the frequency explicitly and therefore the step does not act as a frequency
filter. Again this result parallels the case of the rod. The limiting cases of a free
end (R = 0) and a fixed end (R = (0) allow the previous results to be recovered.
What is interesting is the interpretation of the transmitted waves. For example, for
the free end
A=2A, B = -2iA
The displacement "overshoots" and gives twice the incident value. This displace-
ment amplification is worth keeping in mind when considering the response of
connected systems.
The effects of an elastic joint can be analyzed similarly to the above. On the
incident side there are A, C, D terms and on the transmitted side A and B terms.
The joint, however, must contain all four A, B, C, D terms thus indicating the
generation of a standing wave. The results are analogous to those of the elastic
joint in a rod but it is difficult to detect the multiple reflections in the time domain
since all signals are dispersive. Also, it becomes cumbersome to set up all the
required simultaneous equations. Therefore this problem is left to Chapter 5 where
the matrix methods are introduced to handle just such situations.
3.5 Curved Beams and Rings

There is considerable intrinsic interest in waves in curved beams because of such
structural applications as arches, helical springs, and rings. More detailed analysis
than what will follow can be found in References [12, 94, 101, 127]. There is
also the special case of negligible bending stiffness which corresponds to waves
in cables and power lines. Some interesting analyses of this can be found in Ref-
erence [88]. The interest here, however, is as an example of coupling between
different modes; in particular, between what we normally associate as the longi-
tudinal and flexural modes.
Deformation of Curved Beams

There are a variety of ways to derive the curved beam equations; we find it most
expedient at the moment to derive them as approximations of the 2-D elasticity
equations written in cylindrical coordinates shown in Figure 3.11.
In the cylindrical coordinate system, (r, e, z), the components of the displace-
ment vector in the plane are denoted by U, and UI). The strains are related to these
Figure 3.11: Free-body diagram for curved beam segment.
displacements by
_ ur 1 aUg
Ee(}=-+--
r r ae
1 aUr aUe UI}
--+---
r ae ar r
We will now replace these with an approximate set based on the assumption that
the dimension in the r direction is small.
Consider a small segment of beam as shown in Figure 3.II(b). We begin by
expanding the displacements in a Taylor series about the mid-plane (r = R) using
the variable I; == r - R. That is,
where ljIe is a rotation of the subscripted face in the direction of the curvature.
These approximations say that the deformation is governed by three independent
functions that are functions of the space variable e and not r. Derivatives with
respect to r are replaced with derivatives with respect to I; and evaluated at r = R!.
It is understood that all variables are also functions of time, but we make the
assumption that the above kinematic representations do not change under dynamic
conditions.
The shear strain corresponding to the above deformations is
_ 1 aUr Uo I;
2Ere ~ Rae -ljIe - Ii + RljIe
Because the beam is slender, we now make the usual slender beam approximation
that the transverse shear strains are negligible on average. This leads to
1 aUr Ue
ljIe ~ Rae - Ii
We will generally assume that I; / R is small compared to unity. The approximate

deformation relations are now
_
ue(r e) ~ UIJ(e) -I; ( -
I aUr
- - UIJ)
-
, R ae R
These give the only nonzero strain component as
Eee
This derivation has paralleled that of the straight beam derived earlier in the chapter;
essentially the same assumptions and approximations were used.
At this stage, it is worth our while to convert the above to a more usual form of
notation. It is typical in curved beam analysis to have a hoop coordinate s and a
transverse coordinated y pointed toward the origin of the circle. That is, we have
R() ---+ s, r ---+ -y
giving for the corresponding displacements
UIJ ---+ u, Ur ---+ -v
Our approximate deformation relations become
u(s, y) ~ u(s) - y ( -av + -u) , v(s, y) ~ v(s)

as R
giving the nonzero strain as
Other curved beam theories have slightly different expressions for this strain; the
present theory is closest to that of the Bernoulli-Euler straight beam. The most
significant aspect of this strain-displacement relation is the nonzero centroidal
strain (at y = 0) even if v is the only deflection. This will give rise to the coupling
of the longitudinal and flexural waves.
Equations of Motion
Under the assumptions as developed above, the beam is in a state of uniaxial stress.
That is, the only nonzero stress is the axial (hoop) stress given by
a = EE =
ss ss as _ ~]
E [au R
_ yE (aas2 v2 + ~R au)
as
This has a linear variation on the cross section just as for the straight Bernoulli-
Euler beam. This gives rise to two resultants: the normal force F, and the bending
moment M, given as
F == fa ss as - ~]
dA = EA [au R' M==- f a
ss
a [av u]
ydA=EI-
as -as+ -R
(3.30)
where the integration is over the cross sectional area A. To these we append the
resultant shear force V.
Let the beam be slender with a fairly large radius of curvature and consider a
small segment under the action of these resultants. The equations of motion are
easily established as
av F a2 v
-+-=pA-
aM
-+V=O (3.31)
as R at 2 ' as
These relations are valid for arbitrary plane curved beams; only if R is constant
are they restricted to circular geometries. Obviously if R becomes very large the
straight beam results (Equations (3.3» are recovered. Substituting for the resultants
in terms of the deformations gives the coupled set of equations (for R = constant)
a2u- +1- [EI--EAR-+EIR-

EA a 2u av a3 v] a2u
pA-
as 2 R2 as 2 as as 3 at 2
EI a4-v + - 1 [ EAv - EAR-

au + EI Ra 3-
u] a2v
-pA- (3.32)
as 4 R2 as as 3 at 2
Again, the equations for the rod and beam can be recovered by putting R = 00.
The terms in the square brackets are the coupling between the flexural and axial
motions; obviously, if R = 00, there is no coupling.
Spectrum Relation
The spectral form of the governing equations is
1 d 2u 2A 1 [ dv d 3 V] o
( EA+-EI)-+PAW u+- -EA-+EI-
R2 ds 2 R ds ds 3
E1d4v + ~EAv _ pAw 2v +.!.. [-EA du + E1d3U] = 0 (3.33)

ds 4 R2 R ds ds 3
Since the coefficients are constant, then the spectrum relation can be obtained by
assuming solutions of the form
On substitution into Equation (3.33) this gives

2 2 ]{ Uo
[ -t2[EA +2EI/R2]+pAw ik[EA+k EI]/R } =0 (3.34)
ik[EA+k EI]/R Ele+EA/R2-pAw2 Vo
The characteristic equation to determine the wavenumber k is then formed by
setting the determinant of this system to zero. The resulting equation is
[EA EI]k 6 - [EI(PAW2 + 2!2A)] k4 _ [( EA + !~)PAw2 _ E~:I] e

- [ ~: - PAW 2 ] pAw 2 = 0
If we introduce the wavenumbers k;, == pAw2 jEA and 13 4 _ pAw2jEI the

characteristic equation can be rearranged as
6 [2k +R22J4
k - o
- k - [421
13 + k IJ2k + [2k - R2-IJ4
R2 - -R4
- 0
13 =0 0
This has six solutions in all, but since only k 2 terms appear, then there are three
basic modes: one associated with the longitudinal behavior and two associated
with the flexural. This can be seen by noting that for very large R the above can
be factored into
(k 2 - f32)(k 2 + f32)(k 2 - k~) = 0
In general, of course, the modes are coupled and it is not proper to speak of a
longitudinal mode or a flexural mode.
Before we solve for the spectrum relations, it is beneficial to check certain
features. First we see if there is a cut-off frequency; set k = 0 in the characteristic
equation to get
1 E A - pAw
[ R2 2J pAw2= 0,
The presence of a cut-off frequency is typical of elastically coupled systems. What
is interesting is that this cut-off is independent of section properties but depends
on the radius. Now look at when the frequency is zero, the characteristic equation
can be factored as
Only one root goes through zero, the others are a double root on the real axis.
Finally, look at what happens as the frequency becomes very large. If we assume
that EA » E 1/ R2 then we get
(k 2 - f32)(k 2 + f32)(k 2 - k;,) = 0
which is the same as for the flat beam.

To get the full behavior of the spectrum relations we must solve a cubic equation.
The formulas for doing this are more complicated than for the quadratic equation,
the set given here are based on References [1, 102]. We re-write the characteristic
equation as
where the coefficients could be complex. Now compute the terms
and
-q
S2 = -[r-+-..;t=r===2=_=q==3:-]i"":""ll
The three roots are given by
Zl (SI + S2) - ~a2

Z2 -~(Sl + S2) - ~a2 + i ~(SI - S2)../3
(3.35)
The six spectrum relations are given as ±vIzi.

A difficulty arises in choosing the appropriate square or cube root since we wish
to compute single Zj at a time. The issue is that while the nth root of a complex
number Z is given by
Z = a + ib = Ae i </> ,
the phase ¢ = tan-I (b/a) has an ambiguity of N77:. We remove this ambiguity
by keeping track of the total phase. That is, starting with some value and with
reference to the unit circle in the complex plane, as the wavenumber goes from
the 4th to the 1st quadrant the total phase is increased by 277:. Conversely, if the
wavenumber goes from the 1st to the 4th quadrant the total phase is decreased by
277:. The nth root is then given by
This scheme works quite robustly when the frequency increment is not too large.
Figure 3.12 shows all six spectrum relations for a curved beam with exaggerated
bending contribution. That is, keeping E A and R fixed (which fixes the cut-off
frequency), we increase E I by increasing the thickness of the beam. The figure
is plotted for the case of h = R. This value is physically unrealistic but it gives
a clearer picture of what the spectrums are doing in the small frequency range. It
appears that there are five branch points in all.
One of the difficulties in using the above formulas for the cubic solution is
that we are not always certain which branch is chosen after a branch point. In the
quadratic case, the ambiguity is removed by adding damping, this does not work
satisfactorily in the present case because of the combination of square and cube
roots. We will now give an approximation to the roots which is valid for slender
beams, that is, when E I « E A R2. The three roots of the characteristic equation
can be approximated nicely as
pAu} 9
± --+--
EI 4R4
± (3.36)
Figure 3.12: Spectrum relations for a curved beam with exaggerated bending coupling.
These approximations are shown plotted in Figure 3.13 for h = R/lO. We note
that by decreasing h (with fixed R) that the complicated region shifts down to the
very low frequencies.
The approximate spectrum relations help us to get a clearer picture of the true
behavior. The coupling, generally, does not cause drastic changes in the spectrums
of the flexural dominated modes (kJ, k 2 ); indeed if h ~ Rj 100 it is clear from the
figure that the major effect is in the longitudinal dominated mode. The deviation
of the two flexurally dominated modes from the uncoupled theory corresponds to
the effect due to an axial compression. The consequences of this for beams were
treated earlier in this chapter. For the longitudinal dominated mode, the behavior
is seen to be similar to a rod with elastic constraint; this situated was treated in
Chapter 2. Finally, notice how the spectra are relatively unaffected at the higher
frequencies.
We conclude that for a slender beam of fixed radius, the most significant aspect
of the spectrum relation is the presence of a cut-off frequency in the longitudinally
dominated mode. The effect of this is illustrated in the following problem.
Impact of a Curved Beam

Consider an infinite curved beam of radius R; physically this would mean that the
beam is in the form of a helix. Our approach to the solution parallels that of the
earlier impact problem, what makes this one interesting is that we now have three
.8 Wavenumber, kh
mode 1
.6
.4
.2 mode 3
.0
-'~:~~3~-"="~",,,,,,,,,,,_ ,_~,~,~hX,~;_
-.2
-.4
-.6 .ode 2
-.8 I , ! , I , , , ! I , , , , , , , ! , , ! , , ••• ..: • ! 1
.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0
Figure 3.13: Spectrum relations for a curved beam: comparison with approximate forms.
coupled modes. The solution for the forward propagating terms is written as
(3.37)
where the amplitude ratios for each mode are obtained from Equation (3.34) as
Ele - pAai + EAj R2

R1,2 = -ik(EA + Elk2)jR '
The solution is arranged so that for the uncoupled case we could set R t = R2 =
R3 = 0 and recover the usual solutions.
The free body diagram for the impact region looks similar to that of Figure 3.5
except that there is also an axial force. At the impact site s = 0, we impose
au =0 u(O, t) = 0,
as '
The first two of these allow the solution to be written as
v(s) A [e-ik,S - ae- ik2S + /JR3e-ik3S]
u(s) A [Rte-ik,S - aR2e-ik2S + tJe-ik3S]
where the coefficients a and tJ are given by

k\ - k3R\R3
a - -,------
k2 - k3R2R3 '
We determine A from the shear relation
After differentiation, this leads to
p
A=-------------------~
2EI {[iki - aiki + f3R3ik~] - ~[k~ RJ - akiR 2 + f3k~]}
The velocity reconstructions are shown in Figure 3.14.
- - transverse velocity
........ axial velocity
s=o
s=R
s=2R
s=3R
._-------------------------------------------------------
. , , , ! , ! Ti!m~ [J.;LS1,
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000.
Figure 3.14: Velocity reconstructions for an impacted curved beam.
There are two points of interest. First, note how the initial zero axial velocity
eventually becomes significant; this is a direct consequence of the coupling. Sec-
ond, note the oscillatory behavior of the transverse velocity; a frequency analysis
of these responses show that the oscillation coincides with the cut-off frequency
given by Wc = Col R. Other aspects of this problem are developed in Chapters 5
and 6 when we consider curved plates.
3.6 Coupled Beam Structure

Consider the coupled structure shown in Figure 3.15 composed of two infinite
beams connected by a distributed spring. This is an example where the behavior
of the separate beams are coupled on the differential level and therefore gives rise
to distinct modes of the coupled system. We use this problem to illustrate how a
complex system can be treated as a waveguide on different levels of abstraction.
This problem was considered experimentally in Reference [115].
I I K
Figure 3.15: Geometry of connected beam structure.
The coupled equations representing the system are easily shown to be
(3.38)
where, for simplicity, we take the properties of each beam to be equal. Obviously,
if K = 0 we get the uncoupled waveguide behavior of each beam.
Wavenumber Transform Solution

We will first derive a double transform (or wavenumber transform) solution to the
problem. Represent all variables VI, V2, ql, and q2 with the Fourier series
2nm
/;m ==--
W
where W is the space window. On substitution, and since the result must be true
for any m, we conclude that
[
(EIl;~ - pAu} + K)
-K
-K
(EI/;~ - pAu} + K) ]{~~ L !~ L = {
From this, we get the transform of the response as
{ VI} =W~~m
V2
1" -1 [a K
(3.39)
where a == (E Il;~ - pAw2 + K) and the determinant is given by
(3.40)
The solutions for VI and Vl can be incorporated in the usual FFT inverse. Unlike the
time reconstructions, it is generally more efficient to compute the above summation
directly rather than use the FFT algorithm because only a few response locations
x are usually required.
The significant contributions to the behavior of the responses is dictated by that

of the determinant 8; Figure 3.16 shows the contours of the determinant at two
frequencies. The minima are the poles of the function in the complex plane; this of
course could allow the integrations to be performed using the residue theorem [7].
This, however, is not something we will pursue directly and we will find it better
to do the integrations (summations) directly on a computer. It is worth noting,
however, that the location of four of the poles changes significantly between the
two frequencies. The meaning of this will become clearer in the next section.
-1
-, imaginary 1 -, imaginary
Figure 3.16: Contours of detenninant as a function of wavenumber ~ h at two frequencies
4.5 kHz and 5.5 kHz.
The remaining specification for the problem is the actual load distribution shape
- for simplicity, let us take it as being a point force. This gives
Responses are shown in Figure 3.17 where the history is that of our smoothed pulse
and the parameters M = 600, W = 150 m (6000 in.) were used. The feature of
significance in the responses is the high frequency rider. This is usually indicative
of some resonance (oscillator) type interaction. Intuitively one can see that the two
beams could begin to behave as a coupled spring mass system; but why is there
only one resonance when the beams have a continuous mass distribution? Is it
because there is only one spring stiffness?
Since our coupled beam system is symmetric, we also show the sum and differ-
ence of the responses at a common x location. The resonance is completely absent
in the sum whereas the difference is almost stationary.
-v1 - - transform
....... v2 o waveguide
(v1 + v2)/2
I! , ! , t, ,," !, ,!!!. , ! , ! , t ! ,
Time [J.1S]
, I , , , I
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000. 6000. 7000. 8000.

Figure 3.17: Response for a coupled-beam structure.
Waveguide Solution
To construct a waveguide solution, we begin by enquiring if free wave solutions
of the form
{}
~1 = { ~1} e-ikx
V2 V2 0
are possible. To answer this, we substitute into the homogeneous governing equa-
tions to get the system of equations
2
[ (E1e- PAW +K) -K ]{~1} =0 (3.41)
-K (E1k 4 - pAw2 + K) V2 0
This is true nontrivially only if the determinant is zero; that is, if
This is the same determinant as Equation (3.40) except that ~ is replaced by k.

This determinant is quadratic in k4; hence it is straightforward to determine the
roots. Surprisingly, these roots simplify to
pAw2 -2K
E1
The individual eight roots are then obtained as the ±1 and ±i fourth roots of each
of these. This indicates that one set of modes will have a cut-off frequency at
{2K
pAw2 -2K =0 or w =
c VPA
This coincides exactly with the resonance observed in Figure 3.17. In fact, this is
the same oscillatory behavior as observed in the curved beam solution and in the
rod with elastic constraint. Again, we see that elastic coupling leads to at least one
mode that is dissipative at low frequencies - this is indicative of energy transfer
between the two systems.
The solution involving the eight modes is written as
VI (x) + Be-ik,x + Ce- ik3X + ... + He+ik4X
Ae-ik,x
V2(X) = Ae-ik,x + Be-ik,x + Ce- ik3X + ... + He+ ik4X (3.42)
The amplitudes for each mode are not independent but related through Equa-
tion (3.41) as
[Elk 4- PAW2+KJA
K VIO = R VIO
A AA
V20 =
where R is called the amplitude ratio. For our special case of similar beams this
is simply ± 1 allowing the solution to be written as
VI(X) Ae-ik,x + Be-ik,x + Ce- ik3X + ... + He+ ik4X
V2(X) = Ae-ik,x + Be-ik,x _ Ce- ik3X + ... _ He+ ik4X (3.43)
To gain further insight into this solution, particularly as it pertains to the waveguide
solutions, consider now the new variables defined as
For the forward moving waves, we then get the very simple representations
(3.44)
We have thus reduced the system to an equivalent waveguide for the average
vertical motion vex, t) and average lateral contraction t{I(x, t). The generic form
of these behaviors are shown in Figure 3.18. It is clear that a superposition of the
two would give an asymmetric motion.
~ ~
antisymmetric -- x symmetric -- x
~ ~
Figure 3.18: Generic shapes of the waveguide behavior. Left is v = (VI + v2)/2, right is
1/f = (VI - v2)/2.
We are now in a position to consider the impact of this coupled structure; note,
however, that if the load is applied equally to each beam then the system can be
treated as a "smeared beam." That is, treated as an ordinary beam but with the
appropriate spectrum relations used. Thus, for the transverse deflections get
(3.45)
The symmetric response is
(3.46)
These are compared in Figure 3.17 to the wavenumber transform results; both sets
of results are completely comparable.
Although the two solutions give the same results, they both have different impli-
cations for our structural analysis. First, the waveguide solution is computationally
more efficient (since it does not have a summation over m). This, however, is bal-
anced by the computational effort to determine the spectrum relation - the present
case is relatively simple, but more complicated situations can be envisioned. The
main advantage of the waveguide solution is that it allows the domain to be seg-
mented. That is, the transform method requires a very large space domain W;
the waveguide, on the other hand, can be finite or semi-infinite. The significance
of this is that we can connect many such waveguides at different positions and
orientation; this is not feasible with the transform method. Thus, one could even
imagine forming a complex connected structure made of finite segments of the
couple beams. This is not conceivable using the wavenumber transform solution.
Problems
3.1 Let the thickness of a beam be given by h = ho (a + x/a) where the width is
assumed constant. Show that the solutions are
•
vex) =
I (A}z(z) + BY2(Z) + C h(z) + DK (z)}
,Jz 2
where the argument is z = 2{JJa.;a+X and {J4 = o}(pA n / E10).

- Reference [105], p. 141.
3.2 Detennine the bending moment history for a beam suddenly heated on one
side.
3.3 An infinite beam has the initial shape
vex, 0) = 0
Show that the shape at any later time is given by
v(x, t) = .t, ~e-x2b2/4,4 cos[atx 2 /4z 4 - ~ tan-I (at /b 2 )]

z
- Reference [56]. p. 145.

4
Higher-Order
Waveguides
The waveguide theories of the last two chapters were based on some elementary
mechanics modeling; the question obviously arises as to the adequacy of these
models. We will try to clarify the issues involved by considering some exact solu-
tions of waves in waveguides; this is a difficult and mathematically cumbersome
area so only a limited number of aspects will be treated. The chapter begins by
looking at waves in extended media and waves in bounded media as illustrated in
Figure 4.1. Perhaps the most important insight into the functioning of the exact
waveguides is the number of modes they support - in fact, they support an infin-
ity of modes. We will show that the behavior of these modes was anticipated by
considering the effects of elastic constraint in the elementary models.
The wave modes play a role similar to that of modes in vibration theory in
that the higher-order ones become important only at the higher frequencies. We
therefore discuss the construction of higher-order models but using only a limited
number of modes. We do this in a rational manner via Hamilton's principle; a
side benefit of this approach is that it shows the way to construct models for more
difficult or geometrically complicated situations.
P-wave
Figure 4.1: Experimental photoelastic picture showing a Rayleigh wave propagating near
a free surface.
105
106 Chapter 4. Higher-Order Waveguides
4.1 Waves in Infinite Media

The simplest exact solutions available are when the waves are propagating in an
unbounded medium; these will therefore be treated first. We use this section to
introduce some notations and terminology that will be used later.
Navier's Equations and Helmholtz Potentials

The deformation of a 3-D body is represented by the three displacements u, v, w.
For convenience, we will sometimes use the indicial notation where Xj = XI, X2, X3 =
x, y, z and Ui = UJ, U2, U3 = u, v, w. An infinitesimal cube of material taken from
a 3-D medium has the stresses shown in Figure 4.2. Note that there are only six in-
dependent components of stress and strain, since the shear components are related
through relations such as a xy = a yx , a xz = a zx and so on.
J-x r" j;
t"", X
a Xl
Z au
Figure 4.2: Stressed infinitesimal element.
The relation between strains and displacement is
aUj aUj
2Eij = -+- (4.1)
aXj aXi
The expanded form of these are
au av aw
Exx = ax ' Eyy = ay , Ezz = -
az
au av av aw aw au
Yxy = ay + ax ' YyZ = az + ay , Yzx =~+az
The components of strain are symmetric. Note that the engineering strain Yij is
twice the corresponding tensorial value, Eij.
Let the material be linear elastic and isotropic, and governed by Hooke's law
taken in the form
211E- -
r IJ
= a-IJ- - 2J-L
A
'7: '
+ 3A 8-·lJ '""' akk aij = 2J-LEij + A8ij L
k
Ekk (4.2)
where JL and A are the Lame constants and 8ij is the Kronecker delta. For future
reference, the relationship among the various material constants are
vE E (1 - v)E
A= , A + 211 = (43)
(1 + v)(1 - 2v) JL = G = 2(1 + v)' .- (1 + v)(1 - 2v) .
The explicit form of these are

1
Exx E [(1 + V)C1xx - V(C1xx + C1yy + C1zz ))
1
Eyy Ii [(1 + V)C1yy - V(C1xx + C1yy + C1zz )]
1
E zz Ii [(1 + v)<1zz - v(<1xx + <1yy + <1zz )]
1 1 1
Yxy -= G C1xy , Yyz = G C1yx , Yzx = G C1zx (4.4)
The reciprocal of these for the normal components are

V
2G[Exx + ---(Exx + Eyy + Ezz )]
1- 2v
v
<1yy - 2G[Eyy + 1 _ 2v (Exx + Eyy + Ezz )]
V
2G[E zz + 1 _ 2v (Exx + Eyy + E zz )] (4.5)
The equations of motion for this infinitesimal element are
" OC1ij ...

~ - 0. + pJi = PUj + 1]Uj (4.6)
j Xl
where Ji are the components of the body force. For example, the first of these in
expanded notation is
OC1xx OC1xy OC1xz 02u ou
- - + - - + - - +p/x = P -2 +1]-
ax oy az at at
The two other equations are obtained by cyclic permutation of the subscripts. Com-
bining the equations of motion and constitutive relation, and using the displacement
as the dependent variable gives the Navier's equations as
(4.7)
This is a set of three (i = I, 2, 3) coupled equations with second-order derivatives

in both space and time.
The Helmholtz decomposition represents the displacements by
oct> oHq
Uj = ~+ LLEjpq-o-' (4.8)
X, p q xp
where Eipqis the pennutation symbol. This represents the three displacements
U 1. U2, U3with the four potential functions <1>, H\, H2 , H3; note that the extra con-
dition uniquely detennines Hq • On substituting for Ui into the Navier's equations,
get on rearranging
where the Laplacian operator is defined as
These equations are satisfied if the tenns inside the square brackets are zero, that
is, if and Hq are chosen such that
2 .. •
/LV Hq - pHq -17Hq = 0 (4.9)
Each of these equations are wave equations and both are nondispersive when there
is no damping, TJ = o.
It will be shown in more detail later that is associated with the P-wave that
travels with speed C p, given by
c 2p A +_
== _ 2/L = E(l - v) =c2 _ _1_ -_ v __
(4.10)
P p(l + v)(l - 2v) 0 (1 + v)(l - 2v)
Note that Cp is always greater than Co with the special cases
if v =0.0, then Cp =Co

if v = 0.33, then Cp = 1.2co
The other three potentials, H q , are associated with the S-wave that travels with
speed Cs given by
2_/L G E 2
C =-=-= =c - - - (4.11)
s p p 2p(1 + v) 0 2(1 + v)
Note that Cs is always less than Co with the special cases
if v =0.0, then Cs = 0.7lco

if v - 0.33, then Cs = 0.6lco
It is worth pointing out that it is interactions with boundaries that usually makes
the waves dispersive; in the construction of a waveguide theory, the boundary
conditions are usually already embedded in the theory and that is why the waves
are usually dispersive.
Figure 4.3: Directions of the waves. P and SV lie in the x-y plane, SH lies perpendicular
to the x-y plane.
Waves in One Plane

Without loss of generality, consider only waves propagating in the x-y plane, that
is, assume there is no z dependence. This is depicted in Figure 4.3 where both the
P and SV vectors lie in the x-y plane. Rather than write out the stresses in terms
of and Hq simultaneously, it is more convenient to separate them as follows.
 only: P-waves

The P-waves are also called dilational, irrotational, longitudinal, voluminal, or
primary (P) waves. The differential equation to be satisfied is
(4.12)
The displacements are
a a
U=-
ax '
v -ay
-, w=o (4.13)
This is a displacement vector in the x-y plane pointing in a direction normal to

the surface represented by the function (x , y, t) and is indicated by the vector P
shown in Figure 4.3. The stresses are
_ AV2<1>
a2<1>
= 2/L-- a xz = a yz = 0 (4.14)
ax8y'
Note that although the strain in the z direction is zero, the corresponding stress
is not; this is a situation of plane strain. The behavior of the P-wave is the 3-D
analog to the one-dimensional longitudinal wave in a rod.
Hz only: SV-waves
The S-waves are also called equi-voluminal, distortional, rotational, shear, or sec-
ondary (S) waves. The differential equation to be satisfied is
a2 a2 } .. .
II
fA'
{- +-
ax2 ay2
Hz - pHz- "'YIHz = 0 (4.15)
The displacements are
aHz aHz
U=- v == - - - w=o (4.16)
ay , ax '
This also is a displacement vector in the x - y plane, but is pointing in a direction

tangential to the surface represented by Hz(x, y, t) and is indicated by the vector
SV shown in Figure 4.3. It is therefore called an SV-wave, or vertically polarized
S-wave. The stresses are
(1xx
a
2H
2J-L-_z
axay
U yy
a2 Hz
... -2J-L--
axay
(1xy == J-L[- a 2 Hz + a 2 Hz]
ax 2 ay2
(1zz == U xz - (1yz - 0 (4.17)
The signs and magnitudes of the normal stresses indicate a state of pure shear stress
on planes oriented ±45° to the coordinate axes. The behavior of the SV-wave is
the 3-D analog to the shear behavior of flexural waves in a beam.
Hx and Hy only: SH-waves

The displacements are given by
aHx aHy
U = v = 0, w= - - - + - - , (4.18)
ay ax
This displacement vector is pointing only in the z direction, perpendicular to both

the P- and SV-waves (as shown in Figure 4.3). That is, it is a shear in the horizontal
direction and is therefore also called an SH-wave.
The fact that there is only one displacement and that the two potentials are
not independent, suggests that we can take the displacement itself as the basic
unknown. The governing equation is then
a2 2 0
J-L { - + -a } W -
..
pw - "1w =
. (4.19)
ax 2 ay2
4.2 Semi-Infinite Media 111
with the stresses computed from
= {Yyy = {Yzz = (Yxy = 0

aw
f..I,-
ax
aw
f..I,- (4.20)
ay
There are only shear stresses present.
The above decompositions of the waves helps in the bookkeeping when solving
boundary value problems. Some examples of this follow in the next few sections.
4.2 Semi-Infinite Media

Only two waves, a P-wave and an S-wave, can propagate in the infinite medium.
When a wave interacts with a boundary, however, new waves are generated. Some
of these can be interpreted as reflections of the incident wave, but there are also
totally new waves generated that are associated with the surface. In seismology,
for example, it is observed that a third wave always follows the arrival of the P- and
S-waves. Rayleigh postulated that perhaps there were surface waves generated.
Some study is needed of these surface waves in order to understand the effect of
free boundary surfaces on wave propagation in waveguides. The geometry of the
half-space is shown in Figure 4.4 where we consider the load to be applied over a
small region but otherwise the surface is traction free.
q(x, t)
(a) (b)
Figure 4.4: Geometry for half-space and doubly bounded space.
Constructing the Potentials

The first step is to construct a set of solutions appropriate for surfaces and we
will do this by combining the 41 and Hz potentials. Consider the 41 potential, the
spectral form of its governing equation is given by
k 2 = poi - iTJw
p - A+2f..1,
In Cartesian coordinates, we can expect exponential solutions of the form e-ik,y e- ikxx .
Substitute this into the governing equation to get the restriction on the wavenum-
bers kx and ky; that is,
Satisfying this equation is equivalent to satisfying the governing differential equa-

tion.
A similar approach for the Hz potential gives its spectral form as
k2 _ pw 2 - iT/w
S=
f..L
The restriction on the wavenumbers is
Again, satisfying this equation is equivalent to satisfying the governing differential

equation.
In the following, we will generally take kx as specified so that the potentials are
where, for phase matching reasons, the same kx appears in both relations. Fur-
thermore, the ky wavenumbers are different for each potential and are determined
from
(4.21)
Note that if kx is greater than k p , then kpy is imaginary and the solution is a wave
in x but evanescent in y. That is, it is localized to near y = O. Both of these spectra
have the characteristic behavior of a rod with an elastic constraint, but the spring
constant depends on the wavenumber kx • A plot of the spectra, for different values
of kx is shown in Figure 4.5.
The spectral form for the displacements corresponding to these potentials are
(4.22)
The stresses corresponding to these are
au {A[ -A(k; + k~y) - 2f..L(k;)]e-ikpyy + B[2f..L( _ksykx)]e-iksyy}e-ikxx

a yy {A[ -A(k; + k~y) - 2f..L(k~y)]e-ikpJY + B[2f..L(ksykx)]e-iks)'Y}e-ikxx
a xy {A[2f..L( -kpykx )]e-ikpyy + B[f..L(k; - k~y)]e-ikSYY}e-ikxX (4.23)
When imposing the boundary conditions at y = 0, say, it is required that the phases
of CI> and Hz be the same. It is clear from the displacement and stress expressions
that this is ensured by having (kxx - wt) common in both potential functions.
-P-mode
--.. -- S-mode
Figure 4.5: Spectrum relations for a range of ~ = 2rrm/ W.
Forced Response of a Semi-Infinite Plane

Let the applied traction along y = 0 be represented as
q(x, t) = P(t)f(x) q(x) = Pf(x)

In this, the shape of the distribution does not change, only its scaling. If the area
under f (x) is unity then P (t) can be interpreted as the resultant force. (Note that we
are looking at a so-called line loading that extends indefinitely in the z direction.)
Now represent the shape with the Fourier series
I; = 2lrm
m- W
where W is the space window. Since f(x) is real-only we could use the usual form
of the Fourier series; however, the exponential form is easier to manipulate.
The tractions along y = 0 are given by
-q = o-yy {A[ -A(k; + k~y) + 21L(-k~y»1 + B[21L(ksyk x )1} e- ikxx

0= O-xy {A[21L( -kpyk x )] + B[IL(k; - k~v)]} e-ik,X
From this we conclude that we must represent both potentials as summations over
kx = I;m = 2rrmtW in order to match the tractions conditions. We now get the
system of equations to be solved as
(4.24)
where
Recalling that k p and ks depend on frequency W n• we see that the solution will
entail summations over n and m; in the following we will take the frequency
dependence for granted and concentrate only on the ~m dependence. We get for
the displacements. for example.
u(x, y) - ~L [Anm[ -i~m]e-ikp)'y + Bnm[ -iksy]e-iks)'y] e-i~mx

m
vex, y) - ~L [Anm[-ikpy]e-ikp)'y + Bnm[i~m]e-ikSYY] e-i~mx

m
This can then be incorporated in the usual FFf inverse; generally. however, it is
more efficient to compute the summations over m directly rather than use the FFf
algorithm because the response is usually required at only a limited number of
points (x, y) .
.5
.4
.3
.2
.1
.0
-.1
-.2
-.3
-.4
-.5
O. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. -.5 -.4 -.3 -.2 -.1 .0 .1 .2 .3 .4 .5
Frequency [kHz] imaginary wavenumber
Figure 4.6: Contours of the determinant. On the left is a slice of Re(~) against frequency
for Im(~) = 0, and on the right is Re(n against Im(~) at 5 kHz.
In computing the coefficients A, B above we must form the determinant of the

[2 x 2] system of Equation (4.24). On multiplying out, this simplifies to
(4.25)
Figure 4.6 shows how this determinant depends on wavenumber and frequency. In
the left figure, the horizontal axis shows the frequency from 0 to 10kHz and the
vertical axis is Re(~)b varying from -0.5 to 0.5. Since most of the contributions
would come from where t. is a minimum, the contours show that these seem
to follow a line ~ = const w. This interesting result implies the possibility of a
nondispersive wave traveling in the balf-plane - we will take that issue up in the
next section but before then we check if the responses indicate something similar.
The remaining specification for the problem is the actual load distribution shape.
For simplicity, let us take this as being rectangular over a length L. This gives
im = (ei~L - l)/(i~m)
Responses are shown in Figure 4.7 where the input history is that of our smoothed
pulse and the parameters M = 600, W = 150 m (6000 in.) were used. Along the
surface we see very little attenuation beyond the x = 200 mm mark.
V y=500mm
V x=500mm
V y=400mm
V x=400mm
V y=300mm
V x=300mm
t y=200mm
V x=200mm
"If>
(a) (b)
I
O.
I
500. 1000.
I I
1500.
y-100mm
. ITime[~l
2000.
I
o.
I
V
500.
, I
1000.
I I
1500.
I
x=100mm
I I I I
2000.
I I
2500.
Figure 4.7: Velocity responses for a point impact on a half-plane. (a) Penetration into the
plane at x = 0, (b) along surface y = o.
The displacement of the surface itself is shown in Figure 4.8. This rather in-
teresting behavior is the type of motion exerted on the foundations of buildings
during an earthquake.
Figure 4.8: Surface Rayleigh behavior at a distance x = 400 mm from the impact site.
Free Edge Waves - Rayleigh Surface Waves

The previous section suggested that a free wave may be propagating along the
surface. We wish now to look into this more closely. The type of surface wave we
are seeking propagates in x along the surface but evanesces in y into the half-plane.
That is, we ask if the potentials
represent such a wave. At this juncture, the wavenumber kx = k is unspecified.

This traction-free condition of Equation (4.24) now becomes
The system of equations is homogeneous, hence we can get a nontrivial solution

only if the determinant is zero. That is,
This determinant is the same as Equation (4.25) with the assignment k ~ ~.

Expanding and rearranging gives
(4.26)
where y is
2 f..L c~ (1 - 2v)
y =--=-co---
)... + 2f..L c~ 2(1 - v)
The characteristic equation is cubic in k 2 , hence there are three possible modes.
Furthermore, since no explicit frequency occurs in this equation (there are only
ratios of wavenumbers which are simple numbers in the undamped case); the
characteristic roots are linear in frequency and the surface wave, if it exists, is
nondispersive.
For the special case of)... = f..L, (v = 0.25) we have y2 = 1/3 and the equation
can be factored as
This gives three possibilities or modes:
kJ 0.50k s , k py = 0. 29ks, ksy = 0.S7 ks

k2 0.56k s, k py = 0. I4ks, ksy = 0.S2ks
k3 1.0Sks, k py = iO.92 ks , ksy = iO.42 ks (4.27)
While all three correspond to waves propagating in x, it is only the third that is
evanescent in y. This special wave is called a Rayleigh wave and the speed is
denoted by CR. The potentials and amplitude ratios are
 Ae"/l-(cRlcp)'kRY e-ikR(x-CRt)
Hz Be...)1-(cRlcs )2 kRy e-ikR(x-CRI)
B 2;}1 - (cRlcp)2
(4.28)
A 2 - (cRlcs)2
This is a nondispersively propagating wave whose depth of penetration in the y di-

rection depends on the wavenumber k R and, consequently, also on the frequency w;
this wave is discussed fully along with numerous applications in Reference [125].
The above is for a specific value of Poisson's ratio, in general, the wave speed is
related to v by
ks CR 0.87 + 1.12v
-=-~----- (4.29)
kR Cs 1+ v
Rayleigh waves are usually caused by some impact or due to nonplanar waves
incident on a surface. Lamb [72] considered this quite extensively in 1904. A more
recent treatment for layered media can be found in References [50,108,109,110].
The significance of these results, from our waveguide perspective, is to show how
a boundary can cause totally new waves to be generated, and that these waves can
have properties unlike those of the incident waves. This was also observed in the
previous chapter when the wave interacted with a joint, but here the effect on the
basic wave itself is being demonstrated. It may help to rephrase this as follows.
The Hz set of solutions must be introduced to help satisfy the boundary conditions.
As a result, the wavenumber has three families of values (or three modes). One of
these modes corresponds to a wave propagating along the surface and decaying
exponentially into the medium. Thus the presence of this wave is really an artifact
of coupling.
4.3 Doubly Bounded Media

We now consider the response of a medium that has two parallel surfaces in relative
proximity as shown in Figure 4.4(b). The disturbances obviously are constrained to
move between the two surfaces and therefore the system behaves as a waveguide.
Of interest is the case where the top and bottom surfaces are traction free except
in a small region where the loads are applied.
We look at two generic cases which can be called anti symmetric and symmetric,
respectively; the former is approximately beamlike or flexural while the latter is
approximately rodlike or longitudinal. The essence of the analysis is that standing
waves are established in the transverse (short) direction while propagating waves
are manifested in the lengthwise direction.
Antisymmetric Potentials
We first concentrate on constructing potentials that can satisfy the lateral boundary
conditions. To this end, we introduce
(4.30)
The spectral form for the displacements corresponding to these potentials are
Ii A[ -ikx]Spy + B[ -ksy]Ssy
v = A[kpy]Cpy + B[ikx]Csy ( 4.31)
and the corresponding stresses given by
O"xx A[ -le(k; + k~y) + 2f.L( -k;)]Spy + B[2f.L(iksy kx )]SSy

O"yy A[ -le(k; + k~y) + 2f.L( -k~y)]Spy + B[2f.L( -iksykx)]Ssy
O"xy A[2f.L(-ikpykx)]Cpy + B[f.L(k; - k~y)]Csy (4.32)
where we use the abbreviations Spy == sin(kpyy)e-ikxX, C py == cos(kpyy)e- ikxx ,

and so on. When imposing the boundary conditions at y = ±h/2, it is required
that the phases of <l> and Hz be the same. This is ensured by having the phase (kxx)
common in both potentials.
Let the applied normal traction along y = ±h/2 be represented as
q(x) = ip I(x)
If we impose that the area under I(x) is unity, then this corresponds to applying
half of the resultant load P on each of the lateral surfaces. Now represent the
distribution shape with the Fourier series
2nm
~m==-
W
where W is the space window. Note that since I(x) is real-only we could use
the usual form of the Fourier series; however, the exponential form is easier to
manipulate. Indeed, since I(x) is symmetric in the problem being considered we
could even use the cosine series expansion.
The tractions along y = ±h/2 are given by
q = ayy = {A[ -le(k;+ k~y) + 2f.L( -k~y)]Sp + B[2f.L( -i ksykx)]Ss }e- ikxX
a
0= xy = {A[2f.L(-ik py kx )]Cp + B[f.L(k; - k~y)]Cs }e- ikxx
where we have used the abbreviations Sp == sin(k py h/2), C p == cos(kpyh/2) and

so on. From this, we conclude that we must represent the potentials as summations
over kx = ~m = 27rm/ W. That is, the system of equations to be solved is
[-A(~; + k~y) + 2JL( -k~y)]S p

[
[2JL( -ikPy~m)]C P
where
After solving for A and B, we can obtain the displacements and stresses, and these
can then be incorporated in the usual FFf inverse to do the time reconstructions.
The responses, when reconstructed, look similar to those of an impacted beam
and so we will not pursue that aspect at the moment. The aspect that this solution
allows us to investigate is the distributions of displacement and tractions on an
arbitrary cross section. This is precisely the information we will require later in
constructing approximate waveguide theories.
Position, y/h
.50
.25
.00
-.25
-.50
Figure 4.9: Exact displacement and traction distributions, on the cross section at
x = 500 mrn, for the antisymrnetric response of a deep waveguide.
Figure 4.9 shows the distributions of the displacements and tractions when a
20kHz narrow-banded pulse was input to a waveguide of h = lOOmm. This
relatively deep waveguide was chosen so as to exaggerate some of the 2-D effects.
Each line in the figure corresponds to a different time and generally seven points
through the thickness were used. The purpose of these plots is to get a sense of how,
dynamically, the distributions on the cross sections vary over time. While there is
some "jaggedness" in the plots, a number of features are quite apparent. The two
features of note are: the u displacements indicate that similar to the elementary
beam theory "plane sections remain plane", but contrary to the elementary beam
theory there is a parabolic shear stress distribution.
Symmetric Potentials
The development for the symmetric problem closely follows that of the previ-
ous subsection. We first construct potentials that can satisfy the lateral boundary
conditions. Introduce
(4.34)
The only difference, in comparison to the anti symmetric case, are the distributions
with respect to y. The spectral form for the displacements corresponding to these
potentials are
u A[-ikx]C py + B[ksy]Csy
v A[ -kpy]Spy + B[ikx]Ssy (4.35)
with the corresponding stresses
axx A[ -)..(k; + k~y) + 2J.t( -k;)]C Py + B[2J.t( -iksykx)]Csy

o-yy A[ -)..(k; + k~y) + 2J.t( -k~y)]C Py + B[2J.t(iksykx )]C Sy
axy A[2J.t(ikpy kx )]Spy + B[J.t(k; - k~y)]Ssy (4.36)
where once more we have used the abbreviations Spy sin(kpyy)e-ikX,

C py == cos(kpvy)e- ikx , and so on.
The problem we are looking at resembles the impact of a semi-infinite rod. We
are not in a position to impose normal tractions along the x = 0 face, the actual
conditions we will impose are zero normal traction and a vertical shear that has
a resultant of zero. The resultant horizontal shears on the lateral surfaces is what
gives the effect of the axial load. This is the 2-D problem equivalent to that solved
in Section 2.6. Let the applied shear traction along y = ±h/2 be represented as
(j(x) = 4ft I(x) , 2nm

~m==-
W
In this, the shape of the distribution does not change; only its scaling does. Again,
ifthe area under I(x) is unity then pet) can be interpreted as the resultant force.
The tractions along y = ±h/2 are given by
o =o-yy {A[ -)..(k; + k~y) + 2J.t( -k~y)]C p + B[2J.t(iksykx )]Cs }e-ik,X

{A[2J.t(ik pyk x )]Sp + B[J.t(k; - k~y)]Ss }e- ikxx (4.37)
From this we conclude that we must represent the potentials as summations over
kx = ~m = 2n m / W. This leads to the system of equations to be solved as
[-)..(~;' + k~y) + 2J.t( -k~y)]C p
[
[2J.t(ikPy~m)]Sp
where
~m = 2nm/W
4.4 Doubly Bounded Media: Lamb Waves 121
The responses, when reconstructed, look similar to those of an impacted rod. As

in the anti symmetric case, however, we wish to investigate the distributions of
displacements and tractions on an arbitrary cross section.
Figure 4.10 shows the distributions of the displacements and tractions where
a 20 kHz narrow-banded pulse was input. Each line in the figure corresponds
to a different time. These features correspond to the elementary rod only in the
crudest sense; recall that the elementary theory assumes there is only a longitudinal
displacement that is uniform on the cross section. We note a lateral contraction (v
displacement) that is almost linear, the presence of a shear traction (although this
is relatively small), and a longitudinal displacement that has a curvature to it. It
would therefore appear that much refinement must be done to the elementary rod
theory to make it better approximate the exact behavior.
Position. y/h
xx-traction 1-+-++-+1-1+-1 xy-traction

x10
Figure 4.10: Exact displacement and traction distributions, on a cross section at

x = 500 mm, for the symmetric response of a deep waveguide.
Waveguide behavior is, in a sense, averaged behavior on the cross section;

although the waveguide distributions may be quite different from the true distribu-
tions, they both could have similar averaged behavior and therefore have similar
propagation characteristics. We therefore look at the propagation characteristics
next.
4.4 Doubly Bounded Media: Lamb Waves

The previous section gave the forced response of the layer; in constructing the
waveguide model we ask the question if free waves can propagate in such a wave-
guide. Again, we will separate the analysis corresponding to the anti symmetric
and symmetric potentials.
Characteristic Equations
For the antisymmetric waves, we ask if the potentials
represent waves that satisfy zero traction on the lateral boundaries. Note that at this
juncture, the wavenumber kx = k is as yet unspecified. The traction free boundary
condition now becomes
[_)..(k 2 + k~y) + 2J.-L( -k~y)]Sp [2J.-L( -iksyk)]Sp ] { A } = { 0 }

[
[2J.-L( -ikpyk)]C p [J.-L(k 2 - k~y)]C p B 0
where
This is the same as Equation (4.33) with the difference that kx is unspecified and
the system of equations is homogeneous. We can get a nontrivial solution for the
homogeneous system only if the determinant is zero. That is,
The wavenumber k can be chosen so that this equation is true. However, this is
a complicated transcendental equation with the relation between wavenumber k
and frequency w (through k p and ks ) obviously multivalued; it therefore must be
solved numerically.
For the symmetric waves, we can proceed as before using the potentials
to get the traction boundary condition as
[-)..(k 2 + k~y) + 2J.-L( -k~y)]Cp

[
[2J.-L(ikpyk)]Sp
The determinant is simplified to
This too is complicated and requires numerical methods for its solution.
Generally, in the exact solution of waveguides, we will encounter characteristic
equations that are transcendental and therefore generally cannot be solved in closed
form. As a consequence, some numerical scheme is usually used for solution. The
next section outlines a simple numerical scheme for obtaining complex roots; this
is the scheme used to obtain the plots.
Solving for k(w)

There are many ways of solving for complex roots, the following is a rather sim-
ple scheme. The basic idea is to consider the complex function representing the
determinant as two separate real functions in (x, y) space. That is, the roots occur
where
k(z) = k(x + iy) - g(x, y) + ih(x, y) .. 0
For k(z) to be zero, it is necessary that both g and h be zero simultaneously. Thus, it
is necessary to find those (x, y) pairs where these functions are zero. We introduce
an auxiliary real function that embodies this; a simple example is
w(x, y) - Ig(x, y)1 + Ih(x, y)1
which is just the sum of the absolute values; in some cases, using the logarithm
of this is better. The problem is therefore reduced to one of finding the minimum
value of the real function w(x, y) in the real (x, y) space.
A straightforward scheme for finding the minimum of a function is to start at
some point (xo, Yo), say, and by estimating the slopes at that point (by function
evaluations at neighboring points (Xl, YI), (X2, Y2» a direction for marching toward
a minimum can be chosen. This is repeated many times with decreasing step size
until a function value as small as desired is achieved. A few extra features in order
to check convergence and to choose the step size complete the algorithm.
This method will find a local minimum; good initial guesses are required in order
for it to find the global minimum. There are no hard and fast rules about obtaining
good initial guesses; however, once a value of a root is obtained at a particular
frequency, then this can be used as the initial guess at the next frequency of the
same spectrum. There is generally no problem until two modes overlap or come
very close to each other. In these cases, it may be necessary to start the iteration at
a higher value of frequency and arrive at the same point from the other side of the
branch point. Once a single spectrum has been determined, then the others can be
obtained in a similar manner (by starting with a different smart guess) or by using
a deflation scheme.
Spectrum Relations for Lamb Waves

Obtaining good starting values is usually the more difficult part of an iterative root
solving scheme. Furthermore, it is very important to know something about the
behavior of the modes so as to ensure that all modes are identified.
In Figure 4.11, the determinant for the symmetric and antisymmetric cases is
shown contoured at (J) = 0 over the range of real and imaginary wavenumber
parameters. It is clear in both cases that there are very many modes. By expanding
the characteristic equations for small frequency, we can show that these occur at
sinh(kh) ± kh = 0 (4.39)
(a)
I ! I ! Ii ! I ! ! I ! ! ! ! I ! ! ! ! I ! ! ! ! I ! ! ! ! I ! ! f ! I ! ! ! ! I ! ! , ! I ! , ! ! I ! ! ! t! ! ! ! t!
-6. -5. -4. -3. -2. -1. O. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Figure 4.11: Contours of t. at w = 0 over kb. (a) Antisymmetric, (b) symmetric.
where the ± correspond to the symmetric and antisymmetric modes, respectively.

Except for the possible multiple root at the origin, each of these roots are distinct
and therefore once documented can act as excellent initial guesses.
We can gain further useful information about the shape of the spectrum relations
by also looking for cut-off frequencies. That is, putting k = 0 gives
. 27r 1 2][ 2][ 1 2][
anti: We = mh"cp, (m + z)h"cs, sym: We = mh"cs, (m + z)h"c p
(4.40)
These cut-offs suggest (in combination with Figure 4.11) that (some of) the higher
modes begin complex at W = 0 and proceed to intersect the real axis before
becoming real-only. This is the hallmark of an elastic constraint behavior and it
seems that the higher modes in our exact waveguide behave as elastic constraint
modes.
Figure 4.12 shows the complete spectrum relations for the first four antisymmet-
ric mode pairs obtained numerically. The first two begin at the origin but while one
stays completely real the other becomes imaginary-only before having a cut-off
and becoming real-only. The low frequency behaviors ofthese seem to parallel that
of the Bernoulli-Euler beam but the higher frequency behavior of the second mode
is entirely different. The figure also shows some higher mode behavior which, as
outlined above, follows the elastic constraint behavior. An important feature is that
two mode pairs approach the axis simultaneously which means that both the third
and fourth modes need to be considered simultaneously.
Figure 4.13 shows the complete spectrum relations for the first three symmetric
mode pairs. This time only one mode begins at the origin and it stays completely
real. The low frequency behavior of this mode seems to parallel that of the elemen-
tary rod although it is not linear. The figure also shows some higher mode behavior
Figure 4.12: Spectrum relations for the first four antisymmetric mode pairs. The wavenum-
bers range over -2 < krealb < 2, -2 < kimagb < 2.
which as outlined above follows the elastic constraint behavior. Again an important
feature is that the next two modes approach the axis simultaneously which means
that both the second and third modes need to be considered simultaneously. This
is an important distinction between the symmetric and anti symmetric modes: for
the former it is the second and third modes which are next in order of importance,
whereas for the latter it is the third and fourth.
Lamb Modes in Structural Waveguides

The behavior of the Lamb modes are quite complicated - although some intuitive
feel for their effect on the wave can be gained by relating them to the generic
elastic constraint behaviors of the rod and beam. Nonetheless, we find ourselves in
a very awkward position: we successfully solved for the exact solution of a thick
waveguide but discover that the solution is impractical. That is, even if we truncated
the number of modes to a small manageable number, evaluating the spectrum
relation numerically each time a geometric or material parameter is changed is
just too costly; this is all the more costly when there are multiple branch points to
be considered.
Furthermore, although this is not exactly obvious from the above, we are not in
a position to impose the type of natural boundary conditions typical of structural
analyses. For example, we may wish to impose a resultant axial force but relations
such as Equation (4.32) (with the wavenumber association k ~ ~) show that
the traction distribution is quite complicated changing with frequency and mode.
More specifically, we have no way of apportioning the resultant traction among
the different modes.
We break this impasse in the next section by introducing a weak form of the
dynamics problem. With the insight that the wave modes play a role similar to
Figure 4.13: Spectrum relations for the first three symmetric Lamb mode pairs. The
wavenumbers range over -2 < krealb < 2, -2 < kimagb < 2.
vibration modes, we can basically perform a Ritz approximation of the lower

modes. We will use Hamilton's principle as the variational principle. One of the
significant advantages of this approach is that the appropriate specification of the
natural boundary conditions is an automatic by-product of the analysis.
The analog with vibration modes is not strictly correct because the wave modes
are present at all frequencies. The difference is that at the lower frequencies they
are highly evanescent and therefore are highly localized. As long as these modes
remain evanescent then their contribution will be negligible. In this sense, then,
only as the frequency exceeds the cut-off frequencies of the respective modes does
the incorporation of the mode become important.
This explains why the incorporation of the second beam mode is very important
even though it is evanescent - at low frequencies it gives contributions comparable
to that of the propagating mode.
4.5 Hamilton's Principle

Before we broach the idea of approximate structural analyses, we need to introduce
alternative methods for establishing the equilibrium and compatibility require-
ments for structural behavior. Since the equilibrium conditions involve forces, and
the compatibility conditions involve displacements, then a process through which
both conditions are satisfied involves a quantity dependent on both force and dis-
placement; this quantity is called work. We will use this quantity to show that,
when a structure is in eqUilibrium, certain structural variables achieve a stationary
value. This powerful idea will then form the basis for our approximate analysis of
structures. References [60,73,74] are excellent introductions to these variational
or energy approaches.
4.5 Hamilton's Principle 127
Work and Strain Energy

The work done by a force at a point is the scalar product of the force and the
displacement at the point. When the force moves along a path from State A to
State B, the work done is
When external forces act on the structure, stresses are set up inside the body.
Consider a typical small volume of dimensions lix, li y, liz, as shown in Figure 4.2.
This volume is under the action of the following system of stresses:
{O'}T - {O'xx , O'yy, O'u. , O'xy, O'yZ' O'xz}
The small volume is in a deformed state and has a set of strains
{Ef = {Exx, Eyy , Ezz , Yxy, YyZ' Yxzl
A line that was originally of length lix in the undeformed state has a new length
lix(1 +Exx) in the deformed state. Now consider an additional infinitesimal defor-
mation added to the body; a typical change in length is lix(dExx). The work done
by the O'xx component of stress during this change is
dW = (F)du - (O'xxliyliz)lix dExx -= O'n dExxliV
where the symbol V represents the volume. Hence the work increment for the
whole body is obtained by allowing the typical volume to become infinitesimal
and then integrating over the total volume. For the complete system of stresses we
have the generalization
Because of perfect elasticity, the work expended can be regained if the loads are
gradually decreased. That is, the work is stored in the elastically distorted body
in the form of energy known as strain energy or elastic energy. We will use the
i
definition
B
liU - i{O'}T{dE}dV (4.41)
to mean the increment of strain energy.

Let the material obey the linear elastic Hooke's law and consider the initial state
to be the zero strain state. Since the stress-strain relation is linear the strain energy
becomes
Using Hooke's law, this can be put in the alternate fonns of stress only or strain only
when needed. The above relations will now be particularized to some structural
systems of interest by writing the distributions of stress and strain in tenns of
resultants. We have already developed these structural members in the previous
chapters, so the assumptions and restrictions as stated there are still assumed to
apply here.
For the rod member, there is only an axial stress present and it is uniformly
distributed on the cross section. Let F be the resultant force; then a = F I A = E E
and
axial:
210 EA
r
u =! L ~dx =!
210
rL
EA (dU)2 dx
dx
For the beam member in bending, there is only an axial stress but it is distributed
linearly on the cross section in such a way that there is no resultant axial force. Let
M be the resultant moment; then a - -MYI 1= EE and
bending: u =!
2
r
10
L
M2 dx =!
EI 2
r
10
L
EI (d 2V)2 dx
dx 2
The shear forces in a beam can also do some work. Let the shear stress be assumed
to be uniformly distributed on the cross section, and the resultant shear force be
V, then r = V I A = Gy and
shear: u=! L ~dx=!

210 GA
r 210
r L
GA(dV)2dX
dx
For a circular shaft in torsion, the shear stress is linearly distributed on the radius
giving r = TrlJ = Gy and
torsion: U =!
2
lL
0
T2
- d x =!
GJ 2
lL
0
d~ 2
GJ ( - ) dx
dx
where ~ is the twist per unit length, T is the resultant torque, G the shear modulus,
and J is the second polar moment of area.
Virtual Work and Hamilton's Principle

We begin by identifying three states of the structure. In State A, constraints are
in place, but the structure is unloaded. To keep things simple, we consider the
case where the constraints all impose zero displacements and the structure is un-
defonned and unstressed. State B is the true state of loading and defonnation; that
is, the true loads are applied to the structure defined in State A and it is allowed
to defonn to its true state of defonnation and achieve a state of static equilibrium.
Finally, State C is the virtual state of the structure obtained by assigning virtual
displacements. It is in this state that the principle of virtual work provides us with
a suitable statement of equilibrium.
We take as given that the geometric constraints imposed in State A can never
be violated by the true displacements in State B or the virtual displacements in
4.5 Hamilton's Principle 129
State C. A deformable body has an infinite number of material points and hence has
an infinite number of degrees offreedom. We therefore must assume that all real and
virtual displacements are continuous (differentiable) functions of the coordinates
x, y, and z. Functions that have these properties are called kinematically admissible
functions.
The virtual work of a deformable solid body is divided into two parts as follows:
oW = oWe + oWj = (oW S + oW b ) + oWj = (oW S + oW b ) - oU
where aWe is the virtual work of external forces and can be broken further into a
contribution oW S of the surface forces and a contribution oW b of the body forces.
The term aWi is the virtual work of the internal forces, in this case the work due
to the elastic straining of the body. That is, the internal virtual work is given by
aU = Iv [axxoExx + ayyOEyy + .. ·]dY Iv {a}T {oE}dY

=
The principle of virtual work may now be written as
(4.42)
which states that a deformable body is in equilibrium if the total virtual work
is zero for every independent kinematically admissible virtual displacement. We
will interpret the symbol 0 as meaning a variation and the above equation as a
variational principle.
To apply these ideas to dynamic problems, we need to account for two new
aspects: first is the presence of inertia forces, and second is that all quantities are
functions of time. We will take care of the former by use of d'Alembert's principle
and the latter by time averaging. To make the developments concrete, we initially
analyze the one-dimensional rod; the extension to multiple dimensions will follow
easily since we work with scalar quantities.
D' Alembert's principle converts a dynamic problem into an equivalent problem
of static equilibrium by treating the inertia as a body force. For example, for a rod
we treat the total body force (per unit length) as comprised of fb - pAil where
-pAil is the inertia of an infinitesimal volume. The virtual work of the body force
is
oW b =Iv fb oU dY - Iv pAilou dY
In writing this relation, we suppose that the performance of the virtual displacement
consumes no time; that is, the real motion of the system is stopped while the virtual
displacement is performed. Consequently, the time variable is conceived to remain
constant while the virtual displacement is executed.
We will concentrate on the inertia term in the above virtual work expression.
Noting that
-
d(.~) ......
U IJU = U oU + U oU
dt
we can write the inertia term as
f pAu~udV- f PA:t(U~U)dV- f ~TdV

where the concept of kinetic energy, defined as
T == 41 pAu 2dV such that ~T == 1 pAu ~u dV
was introduced. At this stage, the principle of virtual work becomes
~w - ~WS + ~Wb - ~U + ~T - ~ {(u~u)dV = 0

dt Jv
It remains now to remove the last integral term.
Hamilton refined the concept that a motion can be viewed as a path in config-
uration space; he showed that for a system with given configurations at times t\
and t2, of all the possible configurations between these two times the actual that
occurs satisfies a stationary principle. This essentially geometric idea is illustrated
in Figure 4.14 where a varied path in both space and time are shown. To fix ideas,
consider a beam in motion with its position described by v(x, t). At a particular
instant in time, t, we can imagine a varied deformation shape shown as the dotted
line in (a). The end constraints at x = 0 and L are not varied however. Now consider
a particular point on the beam and plot its position over time; this gives the solid
line of (b) and it represents the "Newtonian path" of the point. The addition of the
virtual displacement ~v(x, t) gives a path that may look like the dotted line in (b);
again there is no variations at the extreme times t, and t2'
(a) (b)~V+IlV
......................._._.
.......... t2
......... v(x, t)
v+llv
time
Figure 4.14: Hamilton's configuration space for a beam.
Hamilton disposed of the last term in the virtual work relation by integrating
the equation over time between the limits of the 1 and 2 configurations. The last
term is a time derivative and so may be integrated explicitly to give
-f u~udvl::
By assumption, the configuration has no variations at the extreme times and hence
the term is zero. Consequently, the virtual work relation becomes
f r,
r2 [8W" + 8W b + 8T - 8U]dt = 0 (4.43)
4.6 Modified Beam Theories 131
This equation is generally known as the extended Hamilton's principle. An im-

portant feature of this principle is that it is formulated without reference to any
particular system of coordinates. That is, it holds true for constrained as well as
generalized coordinates.
In the special case when the applied forces can be derived from a scalar potential
function V, the variations become complete variations and we can write
8 1.
I,
/2
[T - (U + V)]dt = 0 (4.44)
This equation is Hamilton's principle, and it may be stated as follows:
Among all motions that will carry a conservative system from a given
configuration at time t\ to a second given configuration at time t2,
that which actually occurs provides a stationary value of the integral.
Hamilton'S principle is a variational principle and it is as general as Newton's

second law. Note that the integral is essentially a time-averaged quantity. Also
note that the work of the body forces is due to all of the body forces except inertia;
the inertia of the system is accounted for through the kinetic energy term.
When we apply this principle, we need to identify two classes of boundary condi-
tions, called essential and natural boundary conditions, respectively. The essential
boundary conditions are also called geometric boundary conditions because they
correspond to prescribed displacements and rotations; the geometric conditions
must be rigorously imposed. The natural boundary conditions are associated with
the applied loads and are implicitly contained in the variational principle.
We now have two alternative ways of stating our mechanics problem. The first
is by a set of differential equations plus a set of associated boundary conditions;
this is known as the strong form or classical form of the problem. The alternate
way is by extrernizing a functional; this is known as the weak form or variational
form of the problem. Although they are both equivalent they lend themselves to
approximation in different ways. What we wish to pursue in the following sections
is approximation arising from the weak form; specifically, we will approximate
the functional itself and use the variational principle to obviate consideration of
the natural boundary conditions since they are a by-product of the method.
4.6 Modified Beam Theories

One of the very successful applications of the variational methods is in aiding the
derivation of approximate structural theories. The approach will be demonstrated
in connection with higher-order rod and beam theories. We pay special attention
to the specification of the boundary conditions since these are not always obvious
in dynamic problems. The geometry and boundary conditions for the beam are as
given in Figure 4.15.
~, ~ 1f--------.ltD.tt-'C q'--(X-) ---It """

Mo, Vo ~ L ~V L, ML
b
Figure 4.15: Timoshenko beam with end loads.
Timoshenko Beam Theory

Consider a rectangular beam of length L, thickness h, and width b. If b is small,
then the beam can be regarded as in a state of plane stress.
displacements u(x, 0) and v(x, 0) as
a-
u(x,y) ~ u(X,O)+y~1 + .. ·=u(x)-ycf>(x)+···
ay .v-o
_ av
v(x,y) ~ V(X,O)+y-1 +· .. =v(x)+y1/!{x)+· ..
ay y-O
where the notations

a-
u(x) = u(x, 0), vex) = vex, 0), cf>{x) = _ au I ' 1/!{x) = ~I
ay y-O ay y-o
were used. The displacements are also functions of time but that is not important at
the moment. Since we are interested in flexural deformations, we set u{x, 0) = O.
Looking at the deformations of Figure 4.9, it can be assumed that the vertical
deflection is nearly constant while the horizontal is almost linear. We therefore
retain only one term in each expansion and obtain the approximate displacements
as
u{x, y) ~ -ycf>(x), vex, y) ~ vex) (4.45)
This says that the deformation is governed by two independent functions, v{x) and
cf>(x), that depend only on the position along the centerline. We could, of course,
retain more terms in the expansion and develop an even more refined theory, but
as will be seen, this expansion is adequate for our purpose.
The axial and shear strains corresponding to the above deformation are
ali au av ( av)
EV\' = - = 0, = ay + ax = -cf> + ax
.. ay Yxy
For a somewhat slender beam undergoing flexural deformation we would expect

that a yy « a xx , so that we can set ayy ~ O. The stresses then become
acf>
a = -yE- ax)' = G (-cf> + av)
n ax ' . ax
It is worth comparing these to the distributions of Figure 4.9. The most significant
difference is in the shear stress distribution; the present distribution can, at best,
only represent the average or resultant shear behavior. Substituting for the stresses
into the strain energy density function, we have
U = i[4axxExx + 4a xyYxy]dV = i[4EE;x + 4GY;y]dV
Substitute for the strain to get the total strain energy as
We assume the same kinematic description applies even in the dynamic case,
therefore the total kinetic energy is
4foLi p[icb 2 + li]dA dx

4foL [pAv 2 + pI cb 2 ] dx
If the applied surface tractions and loads on the beam are as shown in Figure 4.15,
then the potential of these loads is
v - foL q(x)vdx - ML¢L + Mo¢o - VLVL + Vovo
rLq(x)vdx -
- 10
L
M¢lo -vvl o
L
Hamilton's principle for the beam may now be stated as
8 1 10r
II
12 {
L[ . a¢ 2 av 2 ]
HPAv 2 + PI¢2]_4[ E1 Cx) +GA( -¢+ ax) ]+qV dx
+M¢I>vvl~} dt = 0
Taking the variation inside the integrals and using integration by parts, we get
The fact that the variations 8v and 84J can be varied separately and arbitrarily, and
that the limits on the integrals are also arbitrary, lead us to conclude from the terms
in square brackets that
a [av
GA- --4J ] pAv - q
ax ax
a24J
EI-+GA [av
--4J ] (4.46)
ax 2 ax
The associated boundary conditions (at each end of the beam) are obtained from
the remaining terms and are specified in terms of any pair of conditions selected
from the following groups:
{v or V=GA[:~-4J]}, (4.47)
These are the Timoshenko equations of motion for a beam. In comparison to

the elementary Bernoulli-Euler beam theory, this theory accounts for the shear
deformation as well as the rotational inertia.
Adjustable Parameters
Because we started with an approximation for the deformation distributions, this
gave us an approximate potential function from which we derived a governing
differential equation and a set of boundary conditions most consistent with that
approximation. We can imagine, therefore, proposing a different potential and
deriving natural boundary conditions and governing equations that are different
but nonetheless consistent. This is a key point: we use the derivation of the strain
and kinetic energies to establish the form of the potential, but then we are free to add
adjustable parameters because the variational principle will correctly implement
these parameters.
Rather than associate the parameters with the deformation, it is a little more
convenient to modify the potential itself. Reasoning that the shear is represented
least accurately in our modeling, we modify the energy terms associated with it as
where the adjustable parameters Kl and K2 have been introduced. The modified
differential equations become
GAK 1 - a [av
--4J ] pAv - q
ax ax
--4J]
a -4J +GAK 1 [av
2
EI p IK2¢ (4.48)
ax 2 ax
and the associated modified boundary conditions
{q> or M = EI :~ } (4.49)
The coefficients can be evaluated many ways which we discuss below.

The group constant GAK) is essentially the shear stiffness. While isotropic
elastic materials have a definite relation between G and E, here they are allowed
to be distinct. Indeed, in order to recover the elementary theory, it is necessary
to set GAK) = 00. This is saying that there is no shear deformation even though
there are shear forces present. Some special cases of interest are when rotational
effects are neglected (Le., pI K2 = 0) and when shear deformations are neglected
(i.e., GAK) = 00). Imposing both of these would then recover the Bernoulli-Euler
beam theory.
Spectrum Relation
Since there are two dependent variables v, q> and the coefficients are constant, then
assume solutions of the form
v = voe-i(kx-wt) ,
Substituting into the Timoshenko equations gives
GAK\k2 - pA{J}
[ (4.50)
ikGAK\
The characteristic equation in the general case is
The characteristic equation is quadratic in k 2 and hence is easily solved.

There are four roots (two sets of mode pairs) just as in the elementary theory,
hence the solution structure is also the same as before. The behavior of each mode,
however, is changed as can be seen from Figure 4.16. The complete dispersion
behavior is shown in Figure 4.17. The group speed shows a peak before it asymp-
totes to its limiting value. Both modes show excellent agreement with the exact
Lamb modes to a frequency range at least twice that of the first cut-off. To further
explain these plots, we will consider some limiting behaviors.
First, consider the limit as the frequency becomes small. Then
PAW2]\/4 .[PAW2]1/4
k):::::l± [ - - k2 :::::l±1 - -
EI ' EI
These are the Bernoulli-Euler beam spectrum relations. Note that they do not
depend on either GAK 1 or pI K2 and that is why this higher-order theory does
2.0
- Bernoulli-Euler
1.6 - Timoshenko
1.2
.8
.4
real
.0
imaginary
-.4
, Frequency [kHz}
-.8 I! , , , '-T:;! ! , I , , , , , , ,
O. 5. 10. 15. 20. 25. 30. 35. 40.

Figure 4.16: Spectrum relations for the Timoshenko beam theory.
1.2
- Bernoulli-Euler
1.0 - Timoshenko
o Lamb
.8
.6
.4
.2
.0
Frequency [kHz}
, ,
-.2 , ! , , , , ! , , , ,
O. 5. 10. 15. 20. 25. 30. 35. 40.

Figure 4.17: Dispersion relations for the Timoshenko beam theory.
not introduce additional modes. On the other hand, as the frequency becomes very
large
k2 => ±w - -2 IK
JP EI
Both are propagating, nondispersive, modes. Therefore, the imaginary branch must
have turned real. Look for a possible cut-off frequency where k is zero and this is
found to be where
(4.51)
To eliminate the rotational inertia, it is necessary to let pI K2 = 0 and to eliminate

the shear deformation to let GAK 1 = 00. Note that in both cases, the cut-off
frequency goes to infinity giving the second mode only as evanescent.
The limits on the phase and group speeds give for high frequencies
cg"'c- JGAKI
-- and
pA
Both of these high-frequency limits are nondispersive. It is usual to choose values

for KI and K2 such that the limiting high-frequency behaviors are obtained. How-
ever, some authors have shown preference for making the cut-off frequency for
the second mode as the criterion (see Reference [18] for more discussion). Since
the Timoshenko theory is approximate, then neither of these approaches can be
judged more right than the other - it is more prudent to choose K so as to give best
agreement with the exact solution within the frequency range of interest. Without
information to the contrary values of KJ = ;rr2/12 and K2 = 1.0 can be chosen.
These come about by matching the cut-off frequency with the Lamb mode values
of Equation (4.40) which gives
KI = - =
c1 (0.87 + 1.12V)2 ~0.86
c~ 1+ v
These are the values used in obtaining the plots.
Impact of a TImosbenko Beam

The procedure for solving a boundary value problem for the Timoshenko beam is
the same as for the Bernoulli-Euler beam. That is, either displacement or rotation
is taken as the basic unknown [the other being obtained from the amplitude ratio
of Equation (4.50)]. The procedure is illustrated with the problem of the central
impact of a Timoshenko beam. To demonstrate the effect of the second propagating
mode, we will use a narrow banded force history similar to that of Figure 1.7 and
can be seen in Figure 4.18 labeled as the input.
The complete solutions for the deformations are
v(x) Ae- ik,x + Be- ik2X + Ce ik1x + De ik2X

~(x) Ae-ik,x + Be-ik2X + Ceik1x + De ik2X (4.52)
Either deformation can be chosen as the unknown since the amplitude coefficients
are related by
[GAKlk 2 - pAa,z] (unbarred mode) = [ikGAKJ1 (barred mode)
For the impact problem, it is simplest to choose the rotation as the working variable.
input
~ ___________________________________ x=O
x=17.Sm
, ! ! I , I " ! I ! ,
Time [~]
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000. 6000. 7000.
Figure 4.18: Reconstructions of ¢(x, t) showing the presence of a second propagating

mode.
The boundary conditions are then stated in terms of these according to
Displacement: (A, ... ) = (A, ... ) [ikGAKd / [GAK 1k 2 - pAw2 ]
Slope: ¢= ¢
Moment:
Shear Force:
Choosing the slope on the positive x side to be
and imposing the conditions at x = 0 of ¢ = 0 and V = - P/2 gives
(4.53)
Thus, the procedure is essentially the same as used for the elementary theory. The
only real difference is that the resultants are slightly more complicated functions
of the dependent variable.
So as to put the central frequency of the input pulse (30 kHz) above the cut-
off frequency, the beam thickness was increased to 100 mm. (This gave a cut-off
frequency of about 15 kHz.) Such an input force generates responses that also have
many zero crossings. The reconstructions of Figure 4.18 show the propagation of
two separate waves emanating from a single impact. The reconstructions are for
the slope ¢(x, t); notice that at x = 0, it is zero.
4.7 Modified Rod Theories 139
4.7 Modified Rod Theories

The symmetric deformations as presented in Figure 4.10 are quite complicated,
but in broad terms we can identify three distinct behaviors. First is that the lon-
gitudinal displacement has a nonzero mean value, second is that the transverse
deflection is nearly linear, and third is that the longitudinal displacement has an al-
most parabolic distribution superposed on it. This indicates that the next order rod
theory should have two additional deformation modes - the transverse deflection
and the parabolic u(y) shape. This is in contrast to the anti symmetric waves which
only indicated a need to add the shear deformation. There is a direct connection
between the number of deformation modes and the number of spectral modes and
the need for two additional deformation modes is consistent with the spectrum
plots of Figure 4.13 which indicates that the next order theory should actually
include a pair of modes.
We will now consider rod theories with differing number of modes. In each case,
the relevant geometry and material properties are as given in Figure 4.19,
EA, pA, v, L
Fo ---1'-______--'~ FL
t-+ Uo
q(x, t)
Figure 4.19: Rod with end loads.
Love Rod Theory: One Mode

We begin with a one mode rod theory that is an improvement over the elementary
theory but retains much of its simplicity. To add variety in the derivation, we will
treat the rod as being circular in cross section.
As the rod deforms longitudinally, it also contracts due to the Poisson's ratio
effect. Thus, each particle of the rod also has a transverse component of velocity.
We will add this to the kinetic energy term only and assume the strain energy is
negligibly affected. The modified rod theory thus developed is referred to as Love's
rod theory.
The transverse strain is related to the axial strain by Et = -VE, therefore, the
transverse velocity is given by
.. . au
Ut = TE t = -VTE = - V T -
ax
In this, we have assumed that the transverse displacement is proportional to the
distance T from the centroid of the cross section. The total kinetic energy of the
rod is readily found to be
T= 1~p[U(X,t)2+UI(X,t)2]dv=~lL ip[u2+v2r2(:~fJdAdX
Since uis a function only of x (and time) then we can perform the integration with
respect to the cross section to give
where J is the polar moment of area. The total strain energy is given by
U = ~ lL EA (::Y dx
The final term we need is the potential of the applied forces. With reference to
Figure 4.19, the potential of these are given by
v=-lLqdX-(-Fouo+FLud=-lLqdX-FUI~
Substitute these energies into Hamilton's principle to get, after taking the variations
inside,
1 10r
II
12 {
L [PAU8U + v2pJau a8u _ EA au a8uJ dx + F8ul~} dt = 0
ax ax ax ax
Integrate this by parts so as to have all terms multiplied by a common variation
8u:
1II
12
0
[a
2
{lL E A ---;
ax
2 a
+ v 2pJ ---;·· - pAu ] 8u dx
ax
- a a··
[EA-.!:!..+v2pJ-.!:!..-F ] 8ui L} dt=O
ax ax 0
Since the time limits and space limits in the integrations are arbitrary, then the first
integrand is zero giving the governing differential equation for u(x, t) as
a2 u a2 ii
EA-+v2pJ- -pA- =0
a2 u (4.54)
ax 2 ax 2 at 2
It is clear that if either Poisson's ratio or the polar moment of area is negligibly
small then we recover the elementary rod equation.
The remaining terms must also be zero and thereby they specify the boundary
conditions; at either end of the rod, we specify
u or
au 2 aii
F=EA-+v pJ- (4.55)
ax ax
The natural boundary condition is a rather surprising result. We recognize the

first term of it as the usual axial force relation; does the presence of the second
term mean that this relation is no longer valid? Recall the earlier discussion of
the weak forms of problems were it was stated that we must satisfy the geometric
boundary conditions explicitly but that the natural boundary conditions are implied
in the potential function. Actually, both the differential equation and the boundary
conditions are implied in the potential. Because we started with an approximation
for the potential function we derived a governing differential equation and a set
of boundary conditions most consistent with that approximation. We can imagine,
therefore, proposing a different potential and having a natural boundary condition
that is actually the same as the axial force relation. In fact, such a situation arises
in the Mindlin-Herrmann rod theory next.
It is easy to show that the spectrum relation is given by
pA
kl =±w
This has the odd behavior in that it has the opposite of a cut-off frequency - it has
a frequency were the wavenumber goes to infinity. After this critical frequency, the
wavenumber is purely imaginary. What this means is that the transverse motion is
absorbing all the input energy.
1.2 Speed, Cg/Co

1.0
.8
- Elementary
.6 ....... Love
....... Mindlin-Herrmann
.4
-Three mode
o Exact Lamb
.2
.0 Frequency [kHz]
! , ,I " I! ",! , , , , , / I ! I !! ,'!! ! I
o. 5. 10. 15. 20. 25. 30. 35. 40.

Figure 4.20: Dispersion relation for three rod theories.
The group speed is given by
=.j [1 _
3
C = dw EA V2P]W2J2
g dk pA EA
This goes to zero at the critical frequency. Figure 4.20 shows a comparison of the
dispersion behaviors of the Lamb symmetric modes and of the Love theory. (The
effective] and A were computed for a cross section of h x h.) As was done with
the Timoshenlco theory, it is possible to introduce an adjustable parameter. This
ends up appearing in the identical positions as the Poisson's ratio term, that is, as
v2 pJ Kr. The figure shows the dispersion relation when K\ = 1.2.
This plot is complicated in the vicinity of 25 kHz because the exact Lamb modes
indicate the occurrence of two additional propagating modes.
Mindlin-Herrmann Rod Theory: Two Modes

A two mode rod theory could be developed by modifying the Love theory to
take into account the shearing deformation due to the transverse displacement but
retaining the Poisson ratio relation between the axial and transverse strains. A
more general approach, consistent with the nature of the Ritz approximation, is to
allow the transverse deformation to be independent of the axial deformation. This
then leads to the so-called Mindlin-Herrmann rod theory.
The simplest two mode deformation field consistent with the axial motion is
u(x, y) ~ u(x), ii(x, y) ~ y,(x)y (4.56)
This accounts for the lateral displacements but ignores the nonuniform distribution
of u on the cross section. Using these displacements to get the stresses and strains
and after substituting into the strain energy density function and integrating on the
cross section, we get
u = ~lL[(2JL+A)A[(::r +Y,2J+2AA::Y,+JLI[~:r]dX
T = ~ Io [pAu + pl1P] dx
L
2
If the applied surface tractions and loads on the rod are as shown in Figure 4.19,
{L L
V = - 10 q(x)vdx - Fvl o -Q\y,loL
Proceeding as before, but introducing adjustable parameters associated with the
shear and inertia terms, we get the Mindlin-Herrmann equations as
a2u ay,
(2JL + A)A ax 2 + AA ax pAii - q
a2 Y, au (4.57)
JLI K\ ax 2 - (2JL + A)Ay, - AA ax
The associated boundary conditions (at each end of the rod) are specified in terms
of any pair of conditions selected from the following groups:
{u or F=(2JL +A)A::+aAAy,}, {y, or Q=JLIK\~:} (4.58)

These are a set of coupled equations in the longitudinal displacement u(x, t) and
lateral contraction 1/1 (x , t), and were first presented in Reference [93]. Note that
the equation for "" corresponds to elastic constraint. The elementary theory is
recovered by setting /-LI K\ ... 0, pI K2 = 0 and replacing 1/1 in terms of u in the
first of the above equations.
Since there are two dependent variables u and 1/1 and the coefficients are constant,
then to get the spectrum relation assume solutions of the form
On substitution into the differential equations these give the system to be satisfied
as
2
[ -(A + 2/-L)Ak + pAai -ikAA ] { Uo } = 0
ikAA -/-LI K\k2 - (2A + /-L)A + pI K2W2 CPo
Setting the determinant to zero gives the characteristic equation for determining k
as
[(211-+A)A/-LIKtJe+ [4/-L(I1-+A)A 2 - p IK2w2 (2/-L+A)A - pAw2/-LIK\]k 2
- [(211- + A)A - pI K2W2] pAw2 - 0
This characteristic equation is quadratic in k 2 and therefore, in all, there are two
mode pairs in contrast to the single pair of the elementary solution. Figure 4.20
shows the dispersion behaviors.
The mode 1 behavior is real only, but it shows a decreasing speed with frequency.
In the limit of low frequencies, this mode reduces to that of the elementary theory.
The second mode behavior is quite different. First, it exhibits a cut-off frequency
given by
(211- +A)A
pIK2
Below this frequency the second mode attenuates. Where this occurs is also in-
versely proportional to the height h or radius a. Thus slender rods give a large We
and therefore the second propagating component of the wave is usually not ob-
served. Furthermore, even though the mode is present at the low frequencies, the
large value of k2 means that it is highly attenuated for any nonzero x; consequently,
it is usual to neglect it.
Beyond the cut-off frequency, the second mode is a propagating mode but it does
not resemble either of the exact modes. It seems that the addition of a second mode
has improved the estimate of the first mode behavior but only crudely approximates
that of the second mode.
There are a variety of ways to determine K I and K 2. Consider the limiting cases
of low and high frequency (or what is the same thing, small dimensions a or h),
respectively. That is, for low frequencies
{EA
kl =±VPA'
The first mode is the elementary solution. Notice that the second mode is imag-
inary only which contrasts with the Lamb mode of being complex. It is as if
this is approximating the average of the second and third Lamb modes. For high
Rh
frequencies
A
kz=±w - -
2/1 + A
The first of these should coincide with the Rayleigh wavenumber
or (4.59)
Since the Rayleigh wave speed is very close to the shear wave speed then we can
take this ratio as unity, or as
-
KJ
=
(0.87 + 1.12V)2 ~ 0.86
Kz 1+ v
The separate values of the parameters can then be chosen to satisfy the cut-off
frequency condition, that is, KJ = 12/rr2. The dispersion relations of Figure 4.20
were obtained using the parameters KJ = 1.68, K z = 1.80. These were chosen so
that the cut-off frequency coincided with the minimum group speed for the Lamb
modes.
Three-Mode Theory
While the Mindlin-Herrmann theory extended the range of the Love theory, it is
clear from Figure 4.20 that it breaks down in the vicinity of the cut-off frequencies.
The main reason is that the Lamb modes have a pair of modes intersecting in this
frequency range and the Mindlin-Herrmann theory is approximating this by only
a single mode. We will now add a third mode.
We begin by expanding the deformations in a Taylor series and retain one addi-
tional term in each expansion to obtain the approximate displacements
vex, y) ~ 1{I(x)y
In this form, u(x) has the meaning of average axial displacement. The normal and
shear strains corresponding to these deformations are
au au a¢ yZ aji
Exx - = - + -h(1 - 12-), Eyy =- = 1{1
ax ax ax h2 ay
au + av = (_ ¢24~ + a1{l)y
ay ax h ax
The corresponding stresses are
axx = (2/1 + A) [ -au + -

a¢h ( 1 - 12"2
y2)] + A1{I
ax ax h
(fyy (2/-t + 'A)1/! + 'A [ -au + -

afjJh ( I - 122" l)]
ax ax h
Y + -a1/!] y
/-t [ -fjJ24-
h ax
where 'A, /-t are the Lame constants. It is worth comparing these to the distributions
of Figure 4.10. The most significant difference is in the shear stress distribution;
the linear distribution of the present formulation can be interpreted as representing
the average shear behavior. Substituting stresses and strains into the strain energy
density function and integrating on the cross section, we get
The total kinetic energy is
T = ~ lL [PAU 2 + pA ~h2¢2 + Plli,2] dx

If the applied surface tractions and loads on the rod are as shown in Figure 4.19,
where we have associated resultants Q\ and Q2 with the degrees of freedom 1/!
and fjJ, respectively. After using Hamilton's principle, we get
a2 u a1/!
(2/-t + 'A)A-2 + 'AA- pAu - q
ax ax
a2 1/! au afjJ
/-t I ax 2 - (2/-t + )")A1/! -)"A ax - 2/-tAh ax pIlf
(2 /-t +).. )Ia2fjJ 5 AA. Ah a1/! _ pI;;'

ax 2 - /-t 'I'
\0
+ 48/-t ih" 'I' (4.60)
with the associated natural boundary conditions (at each end of the rod)
(4.61)
The differential equations for 1/! and fjJ correspond to elastic constraint, so before
we proceed to consider the full spectrum relation, it is worth looking at the system
composed of just '1/1 and t/J. The characteristic equation is obtained from
[ -GIk2 - (2/L + J...)A + pIw2 ik2GAh ] { '1/10 } = 0

-ikGAhlO/48 -(2/L + J...)Ik 2 - SGA + pIw2 tPo
and the determinant on expansion becomes
[/LI(2/L + J...)I]k 4 - [(2/L + J...i AI - pIw2(/LI + (2/L + J...)I»)k 2
+ [pIw 2 - (7/L + J...)A)pIw 2 + (2/L + J...)AS/LA = 0
There are four roots corresponding to two mode pairs. At w = 0, the roots are
2/LIk2 = (2/L + J...)A ± JJ...2 + 4J.../L - 16/L2
All roots are complex. The characteristic equation also exhibits cut-off frequencies
(where k = 0) given by
(2/L + J...)A
w = .jS/L A
C pl' pI
These two modes certainly capture the behavior of the second and third Lamb
modes as depicted in Figure 4.13.
Figure 4.21: Spectrum relations for the three-mode theory.
The characteristic equation for the full system is

[ - /LI2(2/L + J...)2 A] k 6 + (2/L + J...)I [pI w 2(4/L + J...)A - 4/L(/L + J...)A 2] k4
+ [-(2/L + J...)A[pIw 2 - (7/L + J...)A]pIw2 - 4/L(/L + J...)S/LA 3
+ pAw2I[ -pIw2(3/L + J...)4/L(/L + J...)A]] k 2
+ [pIw2 - (2/L + J...)A)[pIw 2 - 5/LA)pAw2 = 0 (4.62)
This equation is cubic in k 2 and the formulas of Section 3.5 can be used for its
solution. Figure 4.21 presents the full spectrum relation and it seems to capture
all of the relevant behaviors of Figure 4.13. Furthermore, the direct comparisons
of the group speeds in Figure 4.20 shows that the model can be adjusted to give
accurate representation. The figure, in fact, shows the dispersion relations with no
adjustments made to the spectrum relations.
Assessment of the Rod Theories

It is clear from the dispersion plots of Figure 4.20 that the three-mode theory can do
an excellent job in representing the behavior. But the theory has a serious drawback
as regards our later applications to waves in structures. Standard structural theories
account for axial deformations, transverse deformations, and flexural rotations -
the three-mode theory would require additional degrees of freedom not usually
encountered in the standard structural theory. The Mindlin-Herrmann theory does
not resolve this issue because it too would require an additional degree of freedom.
It is possible to construct a structural formulation that takes into account the extra
modes of the higher-order waveguides; our reticence at doing so is purely from a
convenience point of view.
What must be kept in mind when analyzing structures is that the same geometric
parameters are used for the longitudinal and flexural behaviors. Thus, the pertinent
issue is that both the longitudinal and the flexural models be equally valid out to
the same frequency range. When we compare Figure 4.17 and Figure 4.20, we see
that the Timoshenko second mode breaks down at about the same frequency as
the Mindlin-Herrmann and three-mode theories. The difference between the latter
two is that the three-mode theory, just like the Timoshenko theory, has excellent
first mode behavior. It is therefore clear that the Timoshenko and the three-mode
theories are the appropriate match as we move out to a higher frequency range.
Thus the frequency range for the validity of our structural theory would be
out to a frequency somewhere between the first cut-off frequencies of the Lamb
antisymmetric and symmetric modes. That is, about
w 3cs
f=-~--
21l" 4h
For structural materials with h = 25 mm, this is about 100kHz, while if h

100 mm it is about 25 kHz.
However, out to this frequency range, the higher symmetric modes do not have a
cut-off frequency and therefore remain evanescent. We now make the assumption
that the longitudinal behavior can be approximated by a single mode, and that
further, the Love model can be adjusted to give a reasonable approximation for
this mode. In this view of things, the use of the multimode theories would only
provide improved first mode behavior.
In essence, we are saying that, for a given member, the need for a higher-order
beam theory occurs at a lower frequency than that for a rod. It therefore seems
that a simple modified rod theory such as the Love theory, is all that we need in
structural analysis.
Problems
4.1 Consider the possibility of propagating free surface waves propagating with
the boundary conditions at y = 0 of v = 0, axv = O.
4.2 Consider the possibility of free waves in the doubly bounded medium when
the boundary conditions at y = ±h12 are v = 0, ax)" = O. Show that the
characteristic equation is
k~ks\' sin(kpyhI2) sin(ksyhI2) = 0
There are two families of modes, show that they are given by

4.3 Show that for a P-wave incident at an angle 1.11 on a free surface, that the
reflected wave amplitudes are
sin 21.1] sin 21.12 - y2 cos 2 21.12

P: sin 21.1] sin 21.12 + y2 cos 2 21.12 '
where y = cplcs. Determine the angle 1.12

4.4 Show that for an SV-wave incident at an angle 1.11 on a free surface, that the
reflected wave amplitudes are
sin 21.1] sin 21.12 - y2 cos 2 21.12

SV:
sin 21.1] sin 21.12 + y 2 cos 2 21.12 '
where y = c pi cs. Determine the angle 1.12

4.5 At the boundary between a solid half-space and a liquid layer of finite or
infinite extent, it is possible for surface waves similar to the Rayleigh type
to exist. These are called leaky Rayleigh waves. Obtain the characteristic
equation for the wavenumbers.
4.6 Show that the potentials for solving the problem of a line force in an infinite
medium are
H- =
Pk,
-2--e
-lks \' -ik,x
)'e
• 2ksJ.tksv
Problems 149
4.7 SH-waves propagating in a half-space overlaid by a thin solid layer give rise
to the possibility of Love waves. Show that for a layer of thickness T and
properties indicated by a prime, their characteristic equation is
lJ-'ifJ' - IJ-fJ tan(fJT) = 0,

4.8 According to the Pochhammer-Chree theory for waves in cylinders, the po-
tential functions
can be used to solve for axisymmetric waves propagating in a circular cylinder

with traction free boundary conditions. Determine the characteristic equation
and compare the behavior of the first mode with that of the elementary rod
theory.
4.9 Consider waves propagating along a bonded interface between two different
materials. Show that Stonely waves - waves that attenuate exponentially with
distance away from the interface - is possible. Determine the characteristic
equation.
5
The Spectral Element
Method
The only way to efficiently handle wave propagation problems in structures with
complicated boundaries and discontinuities is to develop a matrix methodology
for use on a computer. In this chapter, we develop such a method.
Our approach is similar in style to that of the finite element method but has the
very significant difference that the element stiffness matrix is established in the
frequency domain. This allows the inertia of the distributed mass to be described
exactly. As a consequence, these spectrally formulated elements exactly describe
the wave propagation dynamics and (in contrast to the conventional element) this
means that elements can span all the way from one joint to another without loosing
fidelity. Furthermore, the system of equations to be solved is very small. The
approach provides all the advantages of the spectral analysis method plus the
efficiency and organization of the finite element method. A typical structure with
spectral element modeling in shown in Figure 5.1.
o • nodes
hole
(a) (b)
Figure 5.1: A general structure modeled as connected waveguides. (a) Physical structure,
(b) spectral element model.
150
5.1 Structures as Connected Waveguides 151
5.1 Structures as Connected Waveguides

The main motivation for using the matrix ideas of the finite element method is that
once the basic building block of the element is established, then quite complicated
problems can be solved simply by piecing together these simpler blocks. Precisely
the same can be done with the spectral elements. The general frame structures of
interest are shown in Figure 5.1; these consist of predominantly uniform members
with isolated discontinuities such as joints and holes. The essential point to realize
is that once the local stiffness relation is obtained then the global matrix is obtained
simply by transformation. In this manner, all elements can be described in terms
of common nodal degrees of freedom. The key to the method is the establishment
of a dynamic stiffness relation in the frequency domain.
Two particular cases arise for wave propagation in connected waveguides. The
first is when the member is connected at both ends and is therefore called a two-
noded element. The other is when the member extends to infinity and is connected
at a single point. This will be referred to as a single-noded or throw-off element.
The behavior of both of these are fundamentally different and so will be treated
separately. The latter element behaves as a throw-off bar in the sense that it is a
conduit for energy out of the system. This element is very useful when the time of
interest is short and the structure is large.
A disturbance in a general structure will eventually cause flexural, longitudinal,
and torsional responses in each member. Therefore, the models chosen for each
must be consistent with each other. After the discussion at the end of the last
chapter, we will use the Timoshenko model for the flexural behavior, the Love
model for the longitudinal behavior, and elementary shaft theory for the torsional
behavior. The degrees of freedom for these elements are shown in Figure 5.2.
"I "2 "I

=:..
EA,pA,pJ, L
(a) e=:. ::::;.. II
FI F2 FI
VI, ,pl~ EI, pA, GA, pI, L ~V2'~ ~ VI, ,pI

Lx
II
VI'MI~ ~V2' M2 ~ VI, MI
(b)
(c)
,pI
:::;.
TI
GJ, pI, L ~
.:::::
T2
,pI
:::;::
TI
. II
Figure 5.2: N odalloads and degrees of freedom for three spectral elements. (a) Longitudinal,
(b) flexural, (c) torsional.
Many frame structures can be treated as a collection of the basic elements. For
those cases involving local discontinuities such as holes, cracks, or complicated
joints, we introduce a spectral super-element.
152 Chapter 5. The Spectral Element Method
5.2 Spectral Element for Rods

There are a variety of ways to establish a dynamic stiffness relation; in this and the
following sections, we find it more fruitful to approach it via dynamic shapefunc-
lions. These are essentially interpolation functions between the element ends, but
instead of being simple polynomials, they are the exact displacement distributions.
Shape Functions
The general longitudinal displacement for a rod can be written as
u(x) = Ae-ik,x + Be-ik,(L-x) (5.1)
where A, B are constants determined from the boundary conditions on the element.
Note that the only restriction here is that the rod theory be a one mode theory; thus
it could represent the refined Love theory or a simple rod with elastic constraint.
The displacement end conditions for the two-noded element, shown in Fig-
ure 5.2(a), are
We will refer to uland U2 as nodal displacements or degrees of freedom. After

solving for A, B in terms of the nodal displacements, the longitudinal displacement
at an arbitrary point in a finite rod can then be written as
(5.2)
where
gl(X) = [e-ik,x - e- ik ,(2L-x)jl II
g2(X) = [_e-ik,(L+x) + e-ik,(L-x)jl II , (5.3)
The functions gl (x) and g2(X) are the frequency-dependent rod shape functions.
Figure 5.3 illustrates the frequency dependence of the shape functions. Note that
the functions occur in pairs, where one member of the pair is the "mirror image"
of the other.
The significance of the shape functions is that the complete description of the
element is captured in the two nodal degrees of freedom u1, U2. That is, we saw in
the previous chapters how the forces and other quantities are obtained by differ-
entiation of the displacements, now since the shape function is predetermined for
a particular structural element, we see that this formulation reduces the unknowns
to just the nodal values.
Since the spectral element can be very long then the ability to compute the
response between nodes is necessary. This can be done conveniently using the
shape function and the nodal values. Thus, the displacements and member forces
are obtained simply as
U(X) gj(X)Ul + g2(X)U2
Fcx) E~A[g~(X)Ul + g~(X)U2j (5.4)
5.2 Spectral Element for Rods 153
[X/L]
.0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1.0
Figure 5.3: Frequency dependence of the rod shape functions; gl (x) top. g2(X) bottom.
where the differentiations are easily performed in advance.

Now consider the throw-off element. Since there are no reflections, the B term
is neglected. We replace the coefficient A with nodal information by using the end
condition that
14(0) == 14,
where 14, is the single nodal displacement. The displacement at an arbitrary point
in a semi-infinite rod can therefore be written as
(5.5)
The shape function g, (x) is frequency dependent and is complex even in the simple
rod case with no damping.
Dynamic Stiffness for Rods

The member loads at each end of the rod are related to the displacements by
F, -F<O) = _EAA[g~(O)u, + g~(0)U2]
F2 +F<L) = +EAA[g; (L)u, + g~(L)U2]
The dynamic stiffness of the two-noded element can now be written in the matrix
form
This can be written in the familiar form of {ft) = [k ]{ u} where [ k ] is the

frequency dependent dynamic element stiffness for the rod. It is symmetric as
seen from the explicit matrix form
(5.6)
This is shown plotted against the lower frequencies in Figure 5.4. In general.
the dynamic stiffness is complex but in the special case of a simple rod with nO
damping. the matrix is real-only. This is the case shown in the figures.
2.5 Nornalized stiffness

2.0
f--=====-----
1.5
1.0
.5
.0 - - dynamic stiffness
--..... -- conventional
-.5
-1.0
Frequency [kHz]
-1.5 ~........-'-'-'-.......................~~.......-'-.....................................................L........................
O. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Figure 5.4: Comparison of conventional and spectral element stiffnesses. Normalized as
kijJ(EAJ L).
For comparison. the form for the conventional element with the consistent mass
matrix [40] can be written as
A EA [
[k ] = -
L -1
I -1 ]_
1
pALai
6
[2 1]1 2
It is worth nothing that this equation is recovered exactly in the limit as w (and
hence k l ) goes to zero.
The stiffness relation for the throw-off element is simply
(5.7)
Note that it is complex and therefore the structural stiffness matrix is also complex
after assembling. This implies that the system experiences dissipation - a not
unexpected result since the throw-off elements conduct energy out of the system.
There is no corresponding conventional element.
A special characteristic of the two-noded spectral elements is that they have
a very large dynamic range which. in the above. is easily identified as coming
from the term in the denominator. This may be disconcerting initially. but the
same behavior is actually implicit in the conventional finite element formulation.
To elaborate on this. look at Figure 5.4; the conventional stiffness is monotonic in
frequency and kll • for example. goes through zero only once. The spectral dynamic
stiffness. On the other hand. has many zeros as seen from the broader frequency
plot of Figure 5.5. A stiffness that has such wild behavior may seem strange but.
as we show next. this is also implicit in the conventional formulation.
Normalized stiffness _ _ 11
.......... 12
1.
Frequency [kHz]
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , I , , , , I , , , , , , ! , I , , , , ! I
o. 10. 20. 30. 40. 50. 60. 70.

Figure 5.5: Dynamic stiffness behavior at higher frequencies. Normalized as kij / (E A / L).
We will write the conventional stiffness for a single element of length L as
Replace this by two elements each of length L and assemble them (further details 4
on assembling is given later). The resulting stiffness relation is
{ Ft}
~ ,. L
2EA [ (1 - ~~2)
-(1 + 24~2)
-(1 + p~2)
(1 - q~21 -(1 +
0
p;2)
] { UI }
~e
F2 0 -(1 + 24~) (1 - "i2~ ) U2
The middle force is zero because there are no applied loads at that node. Now
u
solve for e in terms of the other displacements and remove it from the equations
to give the reduced system
{ FJ} EA
F2 = T (1 -
1
-h~2)
[(1 - -&~2 + t~2~4)
-(1 + ~~2)2
-(1 + ~~2)2 ] { UI }
(1 - -&~2 + 1~~4) U2
The behavior of kll' for instance, is such that it crosses zero near kL = 1.57
compared to kL = 1.73 before. This is closer to the spectral value of 7r /2 = 1.57.
What is more important, however, is that it has a second zero and it also goes
through an infinity at kL = ,JU = 3.46. Thus the apparently odd behavior of
Figure 5.5 is also implicit in the conventional formulation - if a sufficient number
of elements are used. The spectral approach is equivalent to an infinite number of
conventional elements.
The significant difference. from a practical point of view. between the two for-
mulations is that the number of rod segments in the present formulation need only
coincide with the number of discontinuities. Thus. only one element need be used
per uniform segment. This can result in an enormous reduction in the size of the
matrices to be solved.
A Simple Example
Before we formally develop the assemblage procedure, it is useful to consider the
following simple problem: A semi-infinite rod, fixed at one end and impacted as
shown in Figure 5.6. We will model this as two elements where the second element
is considered as extending to infinity.
>.
:g 10
o CD ® •
®
~ 0
Time [J.ls]
! I ! ! I ! ! I ! ! It, I ! I
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000.

Figure 5.6: Velocity response at Node 2 for a semi-infinite rod modeled with two elements.
The two stiffness relations are
EA iklL [ 1 + e- i2kJL
T (1 - e-i2kJL) _2e- ikJL
EA[ik!l{U2}
An important point is that both elements share the same nodal displacements at
Node 2 and therefore continuity (compatibility) of displacements is automatically
satisfied. Equilibrium at the (imaginary) joint where the applied loads act, gives
Node 1: Node 2:
or in matrix form
Substituting for the nodal forces in terms of the stiffness matrices gives
Note that the boundary conditions to be imposed are quite sitnilar to those of the
conventional element and are imposed in the usual way [40]. That is, since UI = 0,
we can delete its corresponding rows and columns to give the reduced stiffness
relation
The reduced stiffness matrix gives nonzero behavior at Node 2 which is determined
to be
{U2} = i2EIAkl [1 - e-i2kIL]{p}
This represents two pulses shifted in time by the amount needed to travel a distance
2L. The magnitude of the pulse is one-half that of the input.
The velocity response at the impacted node is shown in Figure 5.6. The meaning
of the figure is that the initial pulse causes a forward-moving compressive wave and
a backward-moving tensile one. This latter pulse, on reflection from the fixed end,
retains its sign and is picked up later as a compressive pulse (with negative particle
velocity) at the impacted node. What is particularly significant about this example
is that although the two-noded element exhibits singularities in the stiffness, the
resultant structural stiffness (in this case) does not exhibit any such singUlarity.
Nodal Representation of Distributed Loadings

We end this section by showing how conveniently distributed loads can be incor-
porated into the nodal formulation. For simplicity, we will consider the elementary
rod.
Recall from Chapter 2 that a distributed load enters as an inhomogeneous term on
the right-hand side of the governing equation. The general response for the motion
of the rod can be written in terms of a homogeneous and a particular solution [40].
The homogeneous solution is that of Equation (5.2). To determine the contribution
of the distributed load to the stiffness relation, begin by multiplying the governing
differential equation for u(x) by the shape function gi(X) and integrate between
the limits of the element length
Integrate the first term by parts to get
The term inside the square bracket is zero since gi(X) satisfy the homogeneous
equation. Particularizing gi to its two cases, and realizing that gl (0) "" I, gl (L) = 0,
g2(O) - 0, g2(L) = I, we get that the first term is the axial force at each end. The
two sets of equations are
-f(O)} _EA [-g~(O)

{+F(L) -g;(O)
~}(L)] {~o}
g2(L) UL
= lL {~I(X)
0 g2(X)
} q(x)dx
But since g~(L) = -g;(O), we recognize the square matrix as the dynamic stiff-
ness for the rod element. Consequently, the stiffness relation for the rod with a
distributed load, without approximation, can be written as
{F} + 1L {~~~~~ } ij(x)dx = [ k Hu} (5.8)
In other words, a known distributed load can be replaced with an equivalent set
of nodal loads. In this way, the matrix formulation described so far need not be
changed.
5.3 Spectral Element for Beams

The approach followed here for beams is much the same as in the previous section
for rods but since beams are two-mode systems, then there must be two degrees of
freedom at each node making the stiffness matrix of order [4 x 4]. Additionally,
the amplitude ratios complicate some of the derivations.
Shape Functions
We write the general transverse displacement for a Timoshenko beam in the form
v(x) RtAe-iklx + R2Be-ik2X - RtCe-ikl(L-X) _ R2De-ik2(L-X)
~(x) = Ae- iklx + Be- ik2X + Ce-ikl(L-x) + De- ik2 (L-x) (5.9)
where A, B, C, and D are coefficients determined from the boundary conditions

on the element and Ri are the amplitude ratios given by
ikiGAK I
R- - -~-;;--~~
I GAKtkl- pAw2
First consider the throw-off element with C = D - O. The end conditions require
that
The coefficients A and B can be re-written in terms of the nodal displacement VI

and rotation ~I. Doing this, we can therefore re-write the displacements in the
form
(5.10)
The functions gi (x) are the frequency dependent beam shape functions and are
given by
gvl(X) [Rte-ikIX - R2e-ik2X] / d

gdx) [_R\R2e-iklx + RtR2e-ik2X] / d
gq,\ (x) [e- ikIX _ e- ik2X ] / d
gq,2(X) [_R2e-iklx + Rte-ik2X] / d
where l:!. == (RI - R2). The complete description of this element has now been
captured in the two nodal degrees of freedom VI and ~I. Note that, in all, there
are four shape functions even though there are only two degrees of freedom. This
comes about because, just as for the amplitudes, the shape functions are related
through the amplitude ratios.
The development of the two-noded element, shown in Figure 5.2(b), follows
along the same lines. The end conditions on the element are
~(O) =~I' ~(L) =~

We will do this development more generally in anticipation of results we will need
in Chapter 8. The displacement solution can be written as
{v(x), t/>(X)}T = {t/>hAe- iktX + {t/>hBe- ik2X
+ {t/>hCe-ikt(L-x) + {t/>}4De-ik2(L-x)
where {t/>}i are the respective amplitude ratios. So as to make the matrix notation
a little more accessible, we will take the developments of the rod as the archetype
and use its notation except presented as matrices. The displacement is written as
{v(x), t/>(x)f = {u}(x) ... [eIlAHe(x)J{A} + [eIlBHe(L - x)j{B}

where the two vectors of amplitudes are
{A} == { ! }, {B} == { ~ },
We have defined the amplitude ratio matrices as
The matrix [ ell ] is referred to as the modal matrix. It is a fully populated matrix
r
of order [2 x 2] and typically is not symmetric. The matrix e(x) J is diagonal and
is the unit matrix when the argument is zero.
We wish to replace the vectors {A} and {B} in terms of the nodal displacements
at x = 0 and x = L. That is,
-[eIlB]re(L}J
-[eIlB1re(O)J
i }-
Solve this as a system of matrices to get
{ ~ }- [G 1{ [G ][u1 (5.11)
The explicit form of the [4 x 4] matrix [0] is

Gil = +(r, + r2e2)/ l:!J. , G'2 = -R2(r, - r2e2)/ l:!J.

GI3 - -(r,e2 + r2)/ l:!J., G'4 = +R2(r, e2 - r2)/ l:!J.
G2' = -Crt + r2e,)/ l:!J. , G22 = +R,(r, - r2e,)/l:!J.
G 23 = +(r, e, + r2)/ l:!J. , G 24 ... -R,(r,e, - r2)/l:!J.
G 4, = -G23, G 42 = G24, G 43 = -G2' , G44 = G 22

where
r, = (R, - R2)(1 - e,e2), r2 = (R, + R2)(e, - e2), l:!J. = r? - r?
and e, = e- ik ,L, e2 = e-ik,L.
Substituting for the coefficients in the assumed displacement field of Equa-
tion (5.9), the displacements and rotations can now be written in a compact matrix
form as
(5.12)
where {lV}T[ G] and (N}T r i, J[G] give the shape functions for 4>(x) and vex),
respectively. The {4 x I} vector {N} is a function of x given by
(5.13)
while the matrix r i, J is diagonal and contain the amplitude ratios
rid = diagr+R" +R2, -R" -R2J

In the case of the Bernoulli -Euler beam, the transverse displacement of the beam
can be written in the simple form
(5.14)
The frequency dependent shape functions for the two-noded element are signifi-
cantly more complicated than those for the throw-off element and are given as
8' (x) = r,h, (x) + rzl'2(x)
82(X) = r,h 3(x) + r2 h4(x)
83(X) = r,h 2(x) + r2 h,(x) (5.15)
84(X) = -r,h 4 (x) - r2h 3(x),
r, = i(k, - k 2 )(l - e- ik ,L e-ik2 L),
where
h, (x) = ik2[e- ik ,X - e-ik,Le-ik,(L-x)] - ikJ [e-ik,x _ e- ik ,L e-ik2(L-x)]
h2(X) =_ik2[e-ik2Le-ik,x - e-ik,(L-x)] + ikJ [e- ik ,L e -ik2x _ e- ik2 (L-x)]
h3(X) = [e-ik,x + e-ik2Le-ik,(L-x)] _ [e-ik2X + e- ik ,L e-ik2(L-x)]
h 4 (x) = [e-ik2Le-ik,x + e-ik,(L-X)] _ [e-ik,Le-ik2x + e- ik2(L-x)]
Figure 5.7 illustrates the frequency dependence of the shape functions. The shape
functions occur in pairs where 83 and 84 are the mirror images of 8, and 82,
respectively.
O~~-----;~~~:=---T~~~----~~~~~~O~ZHZ
·····1 kHz
-1 -10 kHz
.0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1.0
Figure 5.7: Shape functions for beam; g, (x) top, g;(x) bottom.
Dynamic Stiffness for Beams

The stiffness relation for the beam element is established by taking appropriate
space derivatives of the shape function. For the throw-off element, for example,
we have
The nodal loads are expressed in terms of the displacement degrees of freedom
through the relationships for the structural resultants
~ d¢ ~ dcp
2~
2~
M(x) = +EI dx ' V(x) = - E I - - plw cp
dx 2
Evaluation of these at x = 0 leads to the dynamic stiffness as
{ -~(O)
-M(O)
}={ ~\ }=EI[~\1
M\ k2\
(5.16)
where the individual stiffness terms are

~ ki - kf
k 11 = -R-"---R'- ,
\ - 2
This symmetric throw-off stiffness matrix is complex and therefore the structural
stiffness matrix will also be complex after assembling. Keep in mind that a complex
stiffness will exhibit a damped behavior in the time domain. In actuality, what is
happening is that the bar is conducting energy out of the system and this appears
as a damping effect.
The two-noded or finite length spectral element looks the same as the conven-
tional element except that the mass is distributed instead of being concentrated at
the ends. Although it is not required in the following, it is assumed that there are
no applied loads between the ends. The development will be summarized using
the more general matrix notation.
Consider a beam waveguide of finite length L with loads applied only at its
ends. We write the shape functions as
where {u} is the collection of four degrees of freedom. This leads to the moments
and shear expressions
M(x) +EI{,v,f[ {; Hil}

Vex) -EI{N"}T[ {; Hu} - plai{N}Trid[ {; Hu}
where primes indicate differentiation. Evaluation at x = 0 and x = L gives
(5.17)
where the square matrix [aN] contains the derivatives
+EI{N"(o)f +plw2{N(O)friIJ
-EI{N'(O)f
-EI{N"(L)}T - plw2{N(L)}T riIJ
+EI{N'(L)}T
The relation between the loads and degrees of freedom can be written in the form
{F} =[ k Hu} (5.18)
where [ k ] is a symmetric [4 x 4] dynamic stiffness matrix, {F} has the nodal

load components {VI, M" V2, M2}, and {u} has the components {VI, 4>" V2, 4>2}.
The individual stiffness terms of the matrix [ k ] are:
~ 2 2
kll = (k2 - kl )(rIZ22 + r2Z21)/ ll.
~ 2 2
k13 = (k l - k 2 )(rIZ21 + r2Z22)/ ll.
kl2 = [-ik2(rIZll + r2Z12) + ikl(rlZll - r2Z12)]/ll.
kl4 = [-ikICrIZI2 - r2Z11) - ik2(rlZl2 +r2Z11)l! ll.
k22 = (-ikl R2 + ik 2 Rd(rlZ22 - r2Z21)/!1
k24 = (ik l R2 - ik2RI)(r1 Z21 - r22Z4)/!1
where
rl = (RI - R 2 )ZIl, r2 = (RI + R2)ZI2, D. = (r~ - ri)/ EI

ZIl =
1 - e-ik,Le-ik,L, ZI2 e-ik,L - = e- ik1L
Z22 = 1+ e-ik,Le-ik,L , Z21 = e-ik,L + e- ik1L
and the remaining terms are obtained using symmetry. Some of these stiffness
terms are shown plotted over the low-frequency range in Figure 5.8.
12.~=......."",,",,"~""
B.
b:::::::==::::====~~~2=~~~
4. I=' __~~~2;2___
O. 12
-4.
- - dynamic stiffness
-B. 11
" "" conventional
-12.
-16.
Frequency [Hz)
-20.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
O. 100. 200. 300. 400. 500. 600. 700. BOO.

Figure 5.8: Comparison of conventional and dynamic stiffnesses normalized as
kll/(E 1/ L 3 ), k 12 /(EI / L 2), k 2 z/(EI / L).
This figure also shows a comparison between the spectral and conventional
dynamic stiffnesses where the form forthe conventional element with the consistent
mass matrix [40] is
12 6L -12 22L 54
A EI [ 6L 4L2 -6L 6L] _
2L' w2 pAL [ 156
22L 4L' 13L -13L]
-3L'
[ k ] =L3
- -12 -6L 12 -6L 420 54 13L 156 -22L
6L 2L' -6L 4L' -13L -3L' -22L 4L'
It is apparent that they both have very similar limiting behavior for small frequency
- the slight differences are due to the use of Timoshenko beam theory for the
spectral element. In fact, when the Bernoulli-Euler beam theory is used, they
agree exactly to order w 2 terms. As can be seen from Figure 5.9, however, for
higher frequencies there are significant differences because the conventional form
behaves monotonically while the spectral element exhibits multiple zeros. For the
conventional element to have these zeros it is necessary to piece many of them
together as was demonstrated for the rod element.
5.4 General Frame Structures

This section reviews the manner in which a 3-D frame structure is treated globally.
A point to bear in mind is that the spectral analysis approach essentially replaces
Normalized stiffness --11

--12
1000.
100.
10.
1.
Frequency [kHz]
! , ! , , ! , !
" " !! ! , ! , , ! , ,
o. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Figure 5.9: Dynamic stiffness at higher frequencies normalized as kll I(E I I L 3),
k 12 /(E I I L 2), k 22 /(E I I L).
the dynamic problem with a series of pseudo-static problems and, consequently,

the assemblage process can be viewed as being identical to that of the static case.
Indeed, much of the development in this section is taken, by analogy, from the
static descriptions of References [3, 40,126]. Some of the frequency domain ideas
appeared in Reference [106].
Member Stiffness Matrix Referred to Global Axes

The displacement of each node of a space frame is defined by three translational
and three rotational components of displacement, giving six degrees of freedom
at each unrestrained node. More specifically, the global displacement and force
vectors at each node are
The global stiffness relation is between these two sets of global quantities.
The member forces are related to the member end displacements by the following
partitioned matrices:
lu}
kab kae kad
[ k""
{F} = ~ba kbb kbe kbd
kea keb kce ked
kda kdb kde kdd
where a bar implies that the term is referred to the local member axes and each [k]
is a [3 x 3] matrix. The expanded form of the first quadrant of the local stiffness
matrix is
kfl 0 0 0 0 0
AB AB
0 kll 0 0 0 k12
AB A8
[ kaa
kba
kab
kbb ] 0
0
0
0
kll
0
AB
0
AS
kll
k12
0
AB
0
0
0 0 k12 0 k22 0
AB AB
0 kl2 0 0 0 k22
The rest ofthe stiffness matrix is filled out just as for the static case. The superscripts
R, B, and S refer to Rod, Beam, and Shaft, respectively.
The matrix required to transform one Cartesian coordinate system rotated with
respect to a second Cartesian coordinate system, sharing a common origin, is
where Lx, m x, and n x are the cosines of the angles that the local i axis makes
with the global x, y, z axes, respectively, as shown in Figure 5.10. The problem
here is to find the remaining elements of [R], as lx, m x , and nx define only the
orientation of the member i axis. A space frame member may have its principal
axes in general directions and this too is to be taken into account. To visualize
how the rotation matrix is constructed, consider three successive rotations from
the structure axes to the member axes. The first rotation is about the z axis and
the second about the y axis. The third transformation consists of a final rotation
z
through the angle y about the i axis, causing the y and axes to coincide with the
principal axes of the cross section. Multiplication of the three successive rotations
gives (with D ~ )1 - n;)
Lx mx
-m x cos y -Lxnx sin y Ix cos y - mxnx sin y nx ]
[R] ~ [ D . D
Dsiny
mx sin y - lxnx cos y -Lx sm y - mxnx cos y
Dcosy
D D
This is the general form of the rotation matrix. It is expressed in terms of the
direction cosines ofthe member (which are readily computed from the coordinates
of the joints) and the angle y, which must be given as part of the description of
the structure itself. A further exposition of transformations relevant to structures
can be found in References [126, 3].
As the translational displacements are independent of rotational displacements,
the transformation of a nodal vector from the local to the global coordinate axes
system uses the matrix
{U}=[THu}, {F} = [ T HF}, [T[- U o o

R o
o R
o o
y
member
~'"'-----+-------,,_ x 9 loba I
z
fx
Figure 5.10: Direction cosines for a general member.
where each [ R ] is the [3 x 3] rotation matrix. As a consequence, the stiffness

relation in global coordinates of an arbitrarily oriented member is represented by
{F}=[k]{u}, (5.19)
where [ k ] is a square, symmetric, and complex [12 x 12] matrix; the throw-off
members are also put in this form by augmenting with zeros.
Structural Stiffness Matrix

The stiffness property of a frame, as a whole, can also be characterized by a square,
symmetric, and complex matrix which relates the external loads with the nodal
displacements. There are many ways to establish this from the element stiffness
matrices; the procedure chosen here (consistent with viewing the problem as a
pseudo-static one) imposes nodal (dynamic) eqUilibrium at each node in tum.
To construct the structural stiffness matrix, assume that the structure is in a
state of (dynamic) equilibrium, then each node (joint) must also be in a state of
(dynamic) eqUilibrium. Consider a free body diagra~ c0!ltainin~ a node under
the action of externally applied forces and torques (Px , Py , ... , Tz ) and internal
member loads at the nodes (Fx, Fy , ... , Mz). Replacing the member nodal forces
in terms of the (augmented) stiffness matrices gives equilibrium as
(5.20)
where [k ] is called the dynamic structural stiffness matrix. Note that since the
individual augmented stiffnesses have many zeros, the resulting matrix is banded.
Furthermore, although each element has different forces, they all share common
displacements at the nodal points. That is, continuity of displacements from mem-
ber to member is automatically assured. A more detailed description of this as-
sembling procedure for static problems is given in References [3, 40].
External forces or displacements may be prescribed at the nodes ofthe structural
system. However, a force and corresponding displacement cannot both be given at
the same node. The global system of equations must be rearranged and renumbered
to account for these boundary conditions. If the known nodal displacements are
zero (such as at a fixed boundary) then we simply "scratch the rows and columns"
corresponding to these degrees of freedom and the remaining stiffness matrix
is then called the reduced structural stiffness matrix relating only the unknown
displacements to only the given external loads.
The stiffness matrix [K] has the symmetry and bandwidth properties of the
corresponding static stiffness matrix and in general, is complex.
Some Programming Considerations

From a programming point of view, the dynamic structural stiffness matrix is
assembled using techniques analogous to those used for conventional finite ele-
ments. The major difference is the addition of a Do-Loop over all of the frequency
components - the problem can be thought of as a sequence of N pseudo-static
problems. This adds a significant computational cost in that the element stiffness
must be evaluated and then assembled at each frequency. The nonzero nodal de-
grees of freedom of the resulting system are found using an equation solver that
takes advantage of the symmetric and banded form of the dynamic stiffness matrix.
Additionally, the solver must treat complex algebra and possible negative diagonal
terms. It should be pointed out that the dynamic stiffness exhibits a wide dynamic
range and therefore it is essential that all computations be done in (at least) double
precision.
The nodal displacement vector {u} is calculated at each frequency by solving
or
the latter form showing, in essence, that we compute the system transfer function.
Consequently, the force history need not be specified (only its location) at assembly
time and therefore the same structural solution can be used for many different input
histories.
A big advantage of the spectral formulation is that since there are a small number
of nodes, then it is feasible to store the complete solution. For example, a plane
frame with 11 members can have, say, 7 nodes, giving a system size of 21. The
storage requirements based on a 1024-point FFT transform and 8-byte words is
about
21 x 512 x 8 x 2 = 168kB
This very small size for the complete solution means it is now feasible to add a post-
processing capability that allows the reading of the nodal solution and obtaining
the member loads or distributions at any desired point without having to redo the
complete solution. This is a very useful feature since the elements can be very
long. Thus the procedure for obtaining the spectral response is to first obtain the
generalized displacements at all the nodes and store them to disk; then, as part of the
postprocessing, the response at particular nodes or arbitrary locations are obtained
by reading the appropriate nodal displacements and performing the conversion.
Two key points to note are that accuracy is improved for the spectral approach
by increasing N (the number of terms in the spectral representation), and that
execution time is essentially linear with N. This contrasts with the conventional
approach which requires, simultaneously, an increase in the number of time steps
and an increase in the system size. Depending on the bandwidth change, the latter
can have a very severe effect on performance. Furthermore, since the computations,
at each frequency, are completely independent of each other but execute the same
instructions, this approach is eminently suited for mUlti-processor computers of
the single instruction multiple data (SIMD) type. See References [26,27,28] for
examples on a massively parallel computer using 16,384 processors.
5.5 Structural Applications

The following examples are used to show the basic operation of the spectral element
formulation, and how it can complement the approaches of the other chapters. The
first demonstrates the flexibility and versatility afforded by the matrix approach,
as well as showing the inherent advantage of having a throw-off element. The
second shows an application where resonance of the structure is important. The
last example is the impact of a fairly complicated structure.
Curved Joint
It was shown in Chapter 3 that the analysis of curved beams introduced coupled
modes and complicated the analysis. Consequently, a great deal of time and effort
must be expended in obtaining the spectrum relation. The present example shows
an alternative approach - the curve is modeled as a collection of straight elements,
each of which has a simple description. The complexity of connecting them all
together is handled by the matrix methodology. To illustrate what happens, we
will consider the sequence of bends shown in Figure 5.11. They correspond to
increasing smoothness in a 90° bend.
p p p
-+- -+- -+-
L L L L
Figure 5.11: Sequence of bends of increasing smoothness.
The responses at the impact node are shown in Figure 5.12. The sharp bend
shows that the incident pulse is reflected as if it met a free end, and very little
of the energy is transmitted. When a 45° transition is introduced, distortion is
5.5 Structural Applications 169
observed in the reflected signal. This indicates mode conversion to flexural waves
as well as more transmission of energy. It is also apparent that there are multiple
reflections within the 45° member. The final case is a fairly smooth somewhat
circular bend. This exhibits the smallest reflected initial pulse and a frequency
analysis of it shows substantial filtering. The smoothness of the reflected portion
of the signal indicates that the higher-frequency components are passing through
unaffected.
- longitudinal
....... flexural
, I t , t I , , ~im~ [~)
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000.
Figure 5.12: Velocity response at the impact site for various bends.
It should be pointed out that while this matrix approach is useful for finite bends
it would not do at all for, say, a helical spring. The analysis of Chapter 3 is then
necessary since it would allow the study of very long bends.
Modal Analysis
While the spectral approach is good for dynamic wave propagation problems,
it also has its use in conventional vibration analysis. This section shows a brief
example.
There is a difference in doing a modal analysis and doing the forced response
analysis. For the modal analysis, the frequency spacing are entirely arbitrary. In
fact, only one frequency need be analyzed if that is all that is desired. For the forced
response, however, the frequencies are dictated by the requirements of the inverse
FFf transform. For finite structures such as the portal frame shown in Figure 5.13,
the propagating pulse has many reflections. Indeed, a true elastic (nondissipative)
system would continue this ad infinitum without diminish of amplitude. Unfor-
tunately for the FFf formulation, this would mean components propagating into
neighboring time windows (as explained in Chapter 1). This can be alleviated
somewhat by including material damping and having a very large time window.
The net result of this is that a finer frequency resolution must be used and this is at
the expense of a large N. The problem is less severe in more complex structures
because the energy from a pulse input is naturally being diffused and will not be
trapped so readily. The portal frame is our the example structure because it is one
often used to demonstrate the vibration of structures.
p
-~===~
L
L
Figure 5.13: Portal frame.
A characteristic of connected structures is that they introduce sharp spectral

peaks in the responses. These are clearly shown in Figure 5.14 for each of the
degrees of freedom at the impact site.
-x-disp
....... y-disp
-- z-rotn
• ! ! , I I ,
Frequency [Hz]
, I ! , ! , I
o. 500. 1000. 1500. 2000. 2500. 3000.
Figure 5.14: Forced frequency scan for the portal frame.
The spectral element method could be used to perform a modal analysis; one
approach simply uses frequency scans such as Figure 5.14. Once the resonances
have been located then precise values can be obtained by zooming in on the fre-
quencies. Doing this is only a matter of inputting a narrower range of frequencies
with a finer increment. The ability to zoom is especially useful for the higher res-
onances because it does not require a finer element model nor does it require the
determination of the lower resonances. This is a decided advantage over the con-
ventional finite element approach. The shapes are reconstructed using the shape
functions at the determined frequency.
Impact of a Truss Structure

This final example shows how a complicated truss structure can exhibit global be-
havior quite similar to one of the elementary structural models. The truss is shown
in Figure 5.15, and comprises a truss lattice structure. The joints are pinned joints
that do not transmit any moments. The truss will be impacted either transversely
or longitudinally as indicated in the figure.
!p - L
2
Figure 5.15: Multi-bay truss structure.
Figure 5.16 shows the lengthwise velocity response when the truss is impacted in
this direction. It exhibits some dispersive characteristics but predominantly seems
to behave like a rod. Actually, looking at the transverse displacement, we see
that it is close to the Love theory and the type of dispersion (affecting the higher
frequencies) is typical of that model.
x=o
x=L
---:..:-=------' f\
.. ..: .--..--.,.'7,,;...:..""
.. ----....---...,............-~.......- - -...-.....~-
x=2L
_ _ _ _ _ _ _--J. .. / " " '.. "
_ _. .:.X. .:.=. ::.3::.L_ _ _ ~~" "" _" "
___ X~=_4~L~ ____ ·~=.. _"___=~..~_______________

Time
, , [JlSl
. ,
o. 500. 1000. 1500. 2000.
Figure 5.16: Lengthwise velocity response in the truss structure.
Figure 5.17 shows how the axial force varies away from the impact site. AlthOugh
not shown, it is antisymmetric in the loads with predominant tension on the top and
predominant compression on the bottom. In loose terms, these axial tensile and
compressive loads give rise to a net moment on the cross section which is exactly
how a beam would behave if struck in a similar manner. Furthermore, the variation
of axial force with distance exhibits the dispersive characteristics of a beam with
the load at the center experiencing the maximum value and longest duration.
x-4L
t ,
o. 2000. 4000. 6000. 8000. 10000.
Figure 5.17: Axial force in truss impacted transversely.
Comments
There are many variations on these problems that can be pursued as well as many
phenomena that can be investigated. For example, it is apparent from Figures 5.16
and 5.17 that a good deal of energy is trapped in the horizontal members near the
impact. So an interesting question is how to design the joints so that this trapping
does not occur and the energy can diffuse throughout the structure. Such a design
would tend to minimize local impact damage. On the other hand, some structural
designs might require the impacted area to trap as much energy as possible so as
to minimize damage to the remainder of the structure.
An aspect of these problems not covered here (but should eventually be ad-
dressed) is that of describing the global flow of energy through the system. Keep
in mind that while the spectral approach is capable of describing (in detail) the
motion of every particle in the structure, the fundamental type of information
recorded are the spectral components of the nodal displacements. It would be of
interest, therefore, to investigate how this global information (which is already in
a convenient reduced form) could be made to give a "big picture" view of energy
propagation. This integrated level is somewhat similar to the modal analysis view
of structural dynamics except that, fundamentally, it is based on a transient event
and not the long-term steady-state behavior. In other words, the inter-component
phase relation is an important part of the picture.
Some preliminary aspects are considered in Reference [83]. The difficulty seems
to be in identifying appropriate global quantities that have heuristic values for
illustrating the flow of energy. The ideas developed in the next section on the
frequency domain formulation of some stationary energy principles could also
playa role.
5.6 Waveguides with Varying Cross Section

So far, the only waveguides we have considered are those of uniform cross section;
certainly the range of applications can be extended if nonuniform cross sections
can also be handled. Since we are particularly interested in deep waveguides that
must be modeled with the higher order beam theory of Timoshenko and a rod
theory such as that of Love or Mindlin-Herrmann, introduction of a cross section
variation into the equations of motion results in differential equations with variable
coefficients, the exact solution of which is very difficult to obtain.
Previous research on tapered waveguides generally considered only the elemen-
tary structural models. The exact solution to the governing differential equation
for a tapered rod of polynomial variation of cross section can be written in terms of
Bessel functions [39]. For the linear taper, the exact solution reduces to the com-
plex exponential form just as in the case of a uniform elementary rod. Cranch and
Alder [20] computed the frequency equations from the exact solution for Bernoulli-
Euler beams with variable cross section. The governing differential equations for
these beams can be solved exactly in terms of Bessel functions and Reference [4]
utilizes this solution to obtain the exact dynamic stiffness. Eisenberger [47], using
a polynomial variation for the axial, torsional and bending stiffnesses derived the
exact dynamic stiffness matrix as an infinite series.
These results show that, even if a closed form solution could be obtained, its
form would be so unwieldy as to make it oflittle practical (routine) value for imple-
mentation in a connected waveguide context. Instead, we develop an approximate
scheme (based on the Ritz method [6, 40]) that makes use of the already established
matrix assemblage methodology.
A Variational Principle
Spectral analysis converts a dynamic problem into a series of pseudo-static prob-
lems with the frequency as a parameter. That is, time no longer appears explic-
itly but is replaced instead by phase relationships among the variables. This is
manifested by all relevant variables being complex. From the frequency domain
statement of (dynamic) equilibrium, the definition of work and internal energy
quantities can be arrived at in a similar manner as is done in the static approach;
we give only a brief summary here.
Borrowing on the definition of virtual work for the time domain [60], we define
the work done by a force P in experiencing a virtual displacement 8ii as
8W == P8ii
This relation resembles the usual definition of virtual work but with the significant
difference that both P and 8ii are complex, frequency dependent quantities. Con-
sequently, the work is also complex. This work definition is also different from
the definition of power as used in power flow analysis [75] where the complex
conjugate of the displacement is used.
We will use the example of the I-D rod to motivate the development of the
general equations. The loading equation is a force balance equation, hence the
total work done by it in the displacement flu (for a rod segment of length L) is
Integration by parts then gives
The last term is equivalent to work done at the ends of the rod volume, that is,
since the end loads are PI = - F(O) and Pz = F(L). We now view the integrated
load term as an equality between external applied loads and internal energies in
the form
Define the potential of the applied loads as the work done by the distributed loading
£l(x) and the end loads PI, Pz as
(5.21)
Define the corresponding energy terms, in analogy to the time domain, as
where llK is the strain energy, {;M the inertia energy. Hence, the integrated ex-
pression for the loading has the equivalent forms
or (5.23)
where if is called the total potential. This is our stationary principle in the frequency
domain; it says that the total potential of the external loads and internal energy
achieves a stationary value at the (dynamic) equilibrium state.
A general plane body can be described by two displacement components {u} T =
{u, ill, three stress components {a}T = {axx, a vv • a x \"}, and three strain components
{E} T = {E xx. Evy , Ytv}. If {q} is the vector containing distributed transverse loading
and {p}T is the applied load vector, then the virtual work and energy terms can be
defined as
_foL {q}T 8{u}dx _ {p}T 8{u}
1 {af 8{E}dV
-1 ci}p{U}T 8{u}dV, cii == (u} - iwcx) (5.24)
and the principle of virtual work (or the principle of stationary potential energy)
is written as
8[Us + UI + V] = 0
where V is the potential of the applied load, Us is the strain energy, UI is the
inertial energy, and the integration is over the volume V. In order to make the
equations more general, a viscous damping factor 1/ is also introduced explicitly
into the inertia energy expression. The word "energy" is not to be taken literally;
we use it only by analogy with the time domain counterparts - if need be, we can
interpret the approach as basically a Galerkin procedure [6]. A complementary
approach to defining the variational principle is given in Reference [52]. Also
worthy of note is the discussion in Reference [112] where a vibration problem
with viscous damping is transformed into an undamped vibration problem with a
negative elastic constraint.
Frequency Domain Ritz Method

Spectral elements developed so far are based on the twin concepts of equilibrium
and compatibility with the exact solution to the governing differential equation
used as the basis for the element shape function. In the following, we will use the
concept of virtual work coupled with a Ritz analysis [6,40] as an alternative state-
ment of equilibrium and compatibility. As we showed in Chapter 4, this facilitates
approximate solutions.
The procedure underlying the Ritz method is that it approximates a continuous
structure by a finite number of degrees of freedom [40]. That is, the displacement
field is approximated by functions (called the Ritz functions) g; (x) associated with
a finite number of independent coefficients. These can be written in an expanded
form (for the u(x) displacement, say) as
(5.25)
where N is the total number of degrees of freedom. To ensure that the character-
istics of the system are taken into consideration, the Ritz functions must satisfy
the essential (geometric) boundary conditions. This assumed displacement field is
substituted in Equation (5.24) and the minimization of the total potential of exter-
nal loads and internal energy with respect to unknown coefficients will yield the
required stiffness (or equilibrium) relation
(5.26)
with (; = Us + U/. Here, {u} is the displacement vector and [K] is the dynamic
stiffness matrix. The procedure as outlined is applicable to any structure; we will
apply it specifically to the simple structure representing a tapered element.
If the assumed displacement field is the exact solution for the governing differ-
ential equation, the Ritz method will yield an exact dynamic stiffness matrix [53].
Otherwise it is approximate, but the accuracy of the representation can be improved
by increasing the number of degrees of freedom. This is equivalent to increasing
the number of terms in Equation (5.25) or increasing the number of segments. In
other words, the length of the element, unlike for other spectral elements, is now
a factor in the performance of the element.
Tapered Spectral Element for Flexural Motion

Consider a tapered waveguide oflength L as shown in Figure 5.18. The width b is
assumed constant and the depth h (x) is assumed to vary with position. The degrees
of freedom considered are the two transverse displacements, VI, V2 and the two
rotations ¢I, ~. The loads are applied only at the ends.
~~
V2
CD ® Dh(X)
EI(x), pA(x), L ~ M2
~2 b
Figure S.18: Nodal loads and degrees of freedom for a tapered Timoshenko element.
Let the displacement solution in the tapered beam be approximated by the uni-
form beam solution
Vex) RIAe-ik,x + R2Be-ik,x - RICe-ik,(L-x) _ R2De- ik ,(L-x)

¢(x) Ae-ik,x + Be-ik,x + Ce-ik,(L-x) + De- ik2 (L-x) (5.27)
where k/ and k2 are the two wavenumbers obtained by solving the characteristic
equation
and RI and R2 are the amplitude ratios
iGAoKlkl
RI= ,
GAKIk? - pA ow2
The cross sectional properties Ao and 10 are at some reference location. These
deformations can be made into Ritz functions by replacing the coefficients with
the nodal degrees of freedom. The displacements and rotations can then be written
in a compact matrix form as
(5.28)
where {N}T[G] and {Nf[id[G] give the necessary Ritz functions for 4> and v
and the explicit form of the [4 x 4] matrix [G) is given earlier in Equation (5.11).
The frequency domain strain energy and the inertial energy for the Timoshenko
beam can be written as
Us ~210(L EI(x) (d~)2 dx + ~ r GA(x)KI (dV _ ~)2 dx

dx 210 dx
-~al [l L pl(x)K24>2dx + lL PA(X)V2dX] (5.29)
where we have retained the adjustable parameters K I and K 2 • The potential energy
of the system with only nodal applied loads is given by
(5.30)
where {F} contains the nodal loads rVI, MI, V2, M2}. The assumed displacement
field from Equation (5.28) is then ~ubs!itute~ into the above two energy expressions
and the sum of the total energy (U = Us + U I ) and the potential energy (V) is then
minimized with respect to the generalized degrees of freedom (u;) to obtain the
dynamic stiffness relation. This can be written symbolically as
A A 2
[k]=[kD]-w[mD]
and the square matrices [tD] and [mD] (which, in the limit oflow frequency, have
the interpretation of static stiffness and mass matrices, respectively) are given by
[k D ] == [G f[lLE1(X){N'HNY dx][ G) (5.31)
+[ G f[lLGA(X)KdN2HN2}T dx][ G)
[mDl - [G f[lLp1(X)K2{N}{N}T dx + lLpA(X){Nd{NdT dx][ G)

and the shape function vectors by
After differentiating {!V} and simplifying, the dynamic stiffness matrix can finally
be written as
[k D ] [G]T [ElorL2J[ II HL2J + GAoKJ rL3J[fAHL3J] [G]
[mD] [G l [P loK 2[ III + pA"KJ r LIJ [fA H LIJ] [G] (5.32)
where the diagonal matrices are given by
r i 2J diagf -ik J, -ik2, +ik J, +ik2J

ri3J diagf-ikJRJ -1, -ik2R2 -1, -ikJRJ -1, -ik2R2 -lJ
The square matrices [ t] and riA] contain the integrals arising out of the cross
section variation and have the following form:
where
e-i(k,+h)x e-ik,L e-ik2Le-i(k,-k2)X ]
e- 2ik ,x e-ik , L e i(k,-k2)x e-ik2L
e-2ik ,(L-x) e-i(k,+k,)(L-x)
e- 2ik, (L-x)
and lex) = I(x)/ 10 , A(x) = A(x)/ Ao. If A(x) and lex) are constant, then the above
leads to the previously derived stiffness, albeit in a different form.
In dynamic problems we do not have a simple separation of mass and stiffness;
the above designations are used nonetheless because in the limit of frequency the
above do indeed show the separation.
Linearly Tapered Element

Consider the particular case when the height h(x) varies linearly, that is,
where E represents the slope or strength of the taper. This gives the variation of
cross sectional properties as
All the integrals in [ iI ] (except i/l3 and i I24 ) are of the form JoL (I +E X / L)3 eax dx,
where a is a complex number. The explicit form of this integral is
{L (
Jo 1+ L
EX)3
eaxdx
The explicit form of il\3 and i124 is
Similarly, all the integrals in [I~] (except ~13 and i A24 ) are of the form JoL(l +
EX / L )e ax dx which can be written explicitly as
l o
L ( EX) ax
1+-
L
1
e dx=-[(l+E)e
a
aL
- l ] - - E[ eaL -1]
a2 L
and that of l~ 13 and l~ 24 as
When E = 0, we can recover the uniform waveguide solution.

The question that needs to be answered is whether the element can give rea-
sonable solutions under steep tapered conditions. Hence, the example that follows
will only consider tapered elements having steep slope over a small length. The
comparison is made with a conventional finite element program. The pulse width
is about 50 f.1,S and has a fairly high-frequency content extending to about 50 kHz.
CD
+
®
h=25mm
250mm
Cf (
®
50mm
0
h=75mm
®
(a)
Figure 5.19: Geometry for the tapered beam example. (a) Spectral element model, (b) part
ofFEMmesh.
In order to study the effect of length on the performance of the element, a spectral
element model with four elements are used. With reference to Figure 5.19, Element
(3-4) is tapered with depth increasing from 25 mm to 75 mm over a length of 50 mm.
This gives a slope of E = 2.0. The ends of the tapered element are connected to
deep unifonn spectral elements. The equivalent finite element model (with the
tapered region shown in Figure 5. 19(b» had eight modules through the thickness
and the throw-off regions modeled as a rectangular mesh of length 625 mm.
The force is input transversely at Node 2 and the transverse velocity (iJ) at this
location recorded. For a single tapered element, the solution shown in Figure 5.20
indicates that the approximate nature of the element causes some spurious reflec-
tions. By modeling the tapered region with two elements, the response curves
(also shown in the figure) indicate that the finite element solution and the spectral
element solution virtually overlay each other.
- - Ritz solution
......... FEM
! I !
, , , ! ! ,
.--...,. , , Ti,m~ [~l ,
o. 100. 200. 300. 400. 500.
Figure 5.20: Effect of element length on convergence for a tapered element.
These results establish that good approximations to the true response (as repre-
sented by the finite element responses) can be recovered by using multiple tapered
elements. This shows that, as expected, the smaller the element size the better the
convergence for a given steep taper. References [53, 54] consider other situations
including longitudinal behavior.
5.7 Spectral Super-Elements

The analysis of the propagation of stress waves through a framed structure is
complicated by the presence of joints and local nonunifonnities. Usually these
problems cannot be modeled solely in tenns of connected waveguides. An exag-
gerated situation illustrating this is shown in Figure 5.21(a). The present section
extends the spectral element method to handle wave propagation in such arbitrary
segments and incorporate them as part of the connected waveguide structures.
The essence of the approach is that the complicated region is modeled using
very many conventional finite elements. All of the interior degrees of freedom are
then (dynamically) condensed leaving just the connection degrees of freedom. As a
final step, these are then reduced further so as to be compatible with the waveguide
5.7 Spectral Super-Elements 181
(a) (b)
• 2-D element connection

• Waveguide connection
Figure 5.21: Super-element connected to waveguide spectral elements. (a) Arbitrary joint
meshed with triangular elements, (b) reduction of connection nodes.
degrees of freedom. This process is shown schematically in Figure 5.21 (b). As a

result, we will have an element that has the same type of nodal degrees of freedom
and loads as the connecting waveguides but yet represent a complicated interior
region. More details on the developments can be found in References [53,55].
Formulation of a Spectral Super-Element

The type of nonuniformity we are interested in is understood to occur within a
structure that is composed of predominantly uniform members. Thus the region
modeled as the super-element will contain enough uniform region so that the
connection can be modeled in terms of waveguide connections. The basic idea can
be seen by considering Figure 5.21 which shows a portion of a structure modeled
with conventional 2-D finite elements but the meshed region extends sufficiently
into the waveguides to legitimize imposing the waveguide connectivities.
The equations of motion for the meshed region can be written as [40]
[K ]{u} + [C ]{u} + [M]{u} = {PI (5.33)
where [K] is the stiffness matrix, [C ] is the damping matrix, [M] the mass
matrix, {u} the vector of nodal degrees of freedom, and {P} the vector of applied
loads. The spectral form of the equations of motion are
where iii = (J)2 - icx{J) and [K] is the dynamic stiffness matrix of the region. To
be consistent with the waveguide spectral element formulation, we have taken the
damping as Rayleigh damping [40] in the form [ C ] = cx[M]. The square matrices
are of size [N x N].
The dynamic stiffness matrix [K] is now partitioned according to the connection
and internal degrees of freedom as
(5.34)
where the sub-matrices depend on frequency in the following forms:

~ -2
[Ked = [Ked - w [Me;]
[Kid = [Kii] - ci/[Mii]
and {u e } and {ud are the vectors of connection and internal degrees of freedom,
respectively. Solving the second of Equations (5.34), we get the following for {u;}:
(5.35)
Using this in the first of Equations (5.34), we obtain the stiffness relation for the
super-element as
(5.36)
This equation relates the connection forces {Pc} to only the connection displace-
ments {u c }; all the internal degrees of freedom have been condensed out and in
this way it resembles an element. It is important to realize that so far we have not
introduced any approximation to the super-element stiffness; this contrasts, for
example, with the method of Guyan reduction [57]. The size of [Kss] is [c xc],
where c is the total number of connection degrees of freedom and is expected
to be considerably smaller than N, the total number of degrees of freedom. The
computation of [Kss] requires computation of [Kiir 1 (which is nearly of the order
[N x N]). Doing this efficiently is absolutely essential since it is done for each
frequency component. Moving this computation outside the frequency Do-Loop
is the main difficulty to be encountered and we give it special attention next.
Efficient Computation of [Kss]

Although the size of [K.vs] is very small, its computation requires inversion of
[Kii] = [K;i - iii M;;] at each frequency; this is computationally expensive when
the number of internal degrees of freedom is large. Therefore, it becomes neces-
sary to minimize the amount of computation inside the frequency Do-Loop. This
is accomplished by separating the frequency independent terms from [Kss] and
performing the inversion while retaining the frequency in analytical form.
As a first step, [K;; ]-1 is expressed in terms of its modal parameters (that is, the
eigenvalues and eigenvectors [40])
(5.37)
where {¢} j and A j are the eigenvector and eigenvalue of the jth (undamped)
mode, respectively. This was arrived at by using the orthogonality relations
[<t>][M][<t>f = 11 J, [<t>](K][<t>f = I AJ
with the modal matrix constructed as
[<1>] == [{h, {h, .•. , {lm]
We thus have the inversion of [Xii] while retaining the frequency explicitly. Further,
the product { 1j { }) need be performed only once outside the frequency Do-Loop.
The summation in Equation (5.37) is performed over the first m modes. But if
we follow what is usually done in vibration analyses and include only the lower
modes then we get very poor estimates for the inverse of [Xu]. On the other hand,
if we include all the modes, then the computational cost is a big dis-incentive to do
an accurate modeling of the joint region. We will accelerate the convergence with
respect to the number of modes by using a suggestion made in References [78, 119].
Noting that, without approximations,
1 1 x2 X4
-- = - + - + -::----::-
a - x2 a a2 a 2(a - x 2)
then identifying a ~ A j and x ~ iiJ allows writing [Xii ]-1 as
[Xiir l = [Ki;]-I + iiJ2[Kurl[Mu][Kiirl
+ iiJ4 ~{}j [ A~(Aj1_ ( 2) }}) (5.38)
where we have used the relations
[Ki;]-I = [<1> H A r l [ <1> f

[Kiirl[Mii][Kurl = [<1> H A r l A rl[ <1> r f
Removing the modal vectors from the first two terms in Equation (5.38) is very
important because now the error due to truncation of the number of modes is
confined to the third term only. Further, the error in this third term decreases very
rapidly as the number of modes are increased because of A 7in the denominator.
The validity of using only a few modes was investigated by meshing a small
region of size 25 mm x 25 mm with 2-D plane stress elements to give a total system
size of [82 x 20]. The stiffness and mass matrices were then partitioned accord-
ing to connection and internal degrees of freedom which resulted in a [Xii] of
size [62 x 20]. The inverse of this matrix was first evaluated exactly (at many
frequencies) and the results compared to that obtained through Equation (5.38).
Figure 5.22 gives the ratio of the two values of [K II ] -1 (the behavior of this matrix
element is typical of the others) over a range of frequencies. It is clear that the
approach leads to very good convergence even for a small set of modes. Actually,
the convergence is even better than it appears because the natural frequencies of
the super-element (indicated as squares) will normally be much higher than the
corresponding frequencies for the structure as a whole. Thus, depending on the
size of the super-element (the smaller the better) and the frequency content of
25 modes
o DOD o ODIE o
10 modes
-------ao------103-<~-------El-EHD---G---
V-
5 modes
1. [ ------- Inverse Exact
- Inverse Modal
o Modal frequencies
Freq [kHz]
O. I~"__...............__!._~-'--_'____'____"_'--_'_-'-........__'_.L..__'__'_I---1.1"'--"'--1'
O. 50. 100. 150. 200.

Figure 5.22: Convergence of [K 11 ]-1 with respect to its modes.
the input, even less than five modes may be acceptable. The main achievement
of Equation (5.38) is to give the exact inverse at low frequencies; in this way, the
procedure is essentially that of the "mode acceleration method" commonly used
in modal analysis [19].
Assemblage of Super-Element StifTnesses

A node in our general waveguide element is a point at the center of the cross
section where the resultant forces and average displacements are assumed to act.
The degrees of freedom at each waveguide node are two displacements (u, ii), one
rotation (¢) and one lateral contraction ({fr) due to the Poisson's ratio effect, giving
a total of four degrees of freedom. (When we use the Love rod model we have that
t = -vJu/Jx.) We represent these, and the corresponding forces, as
{U}T = {u, {fr, ii, ¢},
The super-element has connection nodes all across the cross section and each
node allows two degrees of freedom, Uc and Vc where the subscript "e" indicates
connection nodal values. In order to assemble this element along with the wave-
guide elements, it is necessary to further reduce the connection nodes to give
average displacements and resultant forces defined with respect to the center of
each connection. Recall that for the Timoshenko beam and Mindlin-Herrmann rod,
we have the following kinematic relations:
Using the superscript S for the equivalent spectral super-element, the displacement
field across the interface can be written in the local (barred) coordinates as
(5.39)
where Yi is the distance of the ith node measured from the center of the connection.
This reduction process is shown schematically in Figure S.21(b). The resulting
equivalent spectral element stiffness matrix is of size [4C x 4C] where C is the
number of connecting interfaces (there are three indicated in the figure).
Consider one face of super-element connection oriented at an angle e to the
global axes. (Note that the super-element may have many such faces.) For the
super-element, the unbarred and the barred displacements are related by the usual
rotation matrix
where C == cos(e) and S == sinCe). A sirnilarrelationexists between the waveguide

degrees of freedom in the barred and unbarred coordinates [82] and are written as
Consequently, the super-element displacements are related to the equivalent wave-

guide element displacements through
This equation is for a single interface; if there are C connections, then the overall
transformation matrix [ T ] will look like
Tl 0 0 0
o T2 0 0
[T] ~ 0 0 T3 0
o 0 0 Tc
Using these transformation relations, finally allows us to obtain the stiffness re-
lation for the super-element in terms of an equivalent waveguide element. This is
written symbolically as
~ W _ ~ T
[Kss] = [T ][Kss][ T] (5.41)
In this form, the super-element can be assembled along with the other spectral
elements as if it were just another waveguide spectral element.
Waveguide Spectral Super-Element

Writing [Kjir 1 as above enables us to split [Kss]w into frequency dependent
and frequency independent matrices. After simplifying, [Kss]w can be ultimately
written in a neat and elegant form as
(5.42)
where
[A] - [Kee] - [Gd[K;e]

[B] [Mee] + [Gd[MuHG1f - [Gd[M;e] - [Hd[K;e]
[C] [Hd[M;e] - [Gd[MuHHd T - [Hd[M;;][G1f
+ L{G2}j[A2(Aj1_ W2)J G 2}j

J J
[D] [Hd[MuHH1f
- L{G2}j[A2(Ajl_ w 2
J ]
J H 2}j - L{H2}{A~(Ajl_ W 2)JG 2}j
] ]
[E] L{H2}j[A~(Ajl_ W 2)]{H2}j

] ]
and
The matrices [A], [B], [Hd, and [Gd are frequency independent and hence eval-
uated only once outside the frequency Do-Loop. The vectors {G 2 lJ and {H2 }j,
which are involved in the generation of matrices [C], [D], and [E], are evaluated
and stored at each of the first m modes. Details of the computer implementation
of these equations can be found in Reference [53].
When the lumped mass model is used in the formulation, matrices [D] and [El
vanish and all other matrices simplify considerably. The stiffness becomes, simply,
(5.43)
where
[K] [ T ] [[Keel - [Gd[K;e] ] [T f

[M] [T] [[Mee] + [Gd[MuHG1f] [T f
[] [T][ L{G2lJ[ A2(Aj1_ W 2)]{G2}r][ T]T

] ]
with [Gd = [Kc;][Kul- 1 and {G 2 lJ = [Kc;]{q,}j. The matrices [Kl and [Ml have
a simple interpretation in terms of the effective stiffness and mass of the region
representing the super-element.
The matrix [ ] is essentially what makes the spectral super-element unique.
This matrix has built into it the dynamic behavior of the region. This can be seen
in Figure 5.23. Here a segment of a waveguide 125 mm long and 25 mm deep
was meshed and replaced with a super-element and the figure shows the effect of
. .-r. .\:.=-.. ~::,7

0,1,2
1000~ _JJ~---f\==.. =
100. .. 8,9,10
10.
1.
Freq [kHz]
t , , , 1 I, , I
o. 20. 40. 60. 80. 100.
Figure 5.23: Effect of number of modes on the super-element stiffness.
the number of modes on the kll stiffness term. It is clear that beyond five or so
modes that the behavior of the super-element and the waveguide would be indis-
tinguishable if the excitation was band limited to below 40 kHz. The reason why
the stiffness plots do not change with the addition of every mode is because some
of the modes may only affect the flexural behavior, say, and not the longitudinal
behavior.
Angle Joint
This example explores the behavior of waves as they interact with an angled joint.
The joint in Figure 5.24 has a two-dimensional distribution of mass and elasticity
and therefore will cause the waves to behave in a two-dimensional manner.
(a)
P(t)
® 127mm ® 62mm ® ®
Figure 5.24: Waveguides connected by an angled joint. (a) Spectral element model, (b)
super-element mesh.
Modeling such joints has received considerable attention in the literature; we

cite, for example, References [2, 33, 34, 76, 129]. The usual approach of analysis
is to model the joint essentially as a rigid connection and to impose the appropriate
dynamic connectivities between the members. A drawback to this approach is that
as the cross section of the members become large or the frequencies of the waves
become high, then the actual distribution of mass and elasticity becomes important.
One of the significant advantages of conventional finite elements is their modeling
of complicated geometries; this can be fully exploited within the spectral element
approach as demonstrated in this example.
- Spectral element
........ FEM
....... Rigid joint
vl2vo ulim
i:, ==2000mmls
------------~------------V·-IV-·----~~
u/~ 0
, , , , , , , , , , , , ' I Time [J.lSl ....

' ..., ....,........
, .....,-1-'..., - ' -..........-1-...................................................
o. 100. 200. 300. O. 100. 200. 300. 400.
Figure 5.25: Angled joint responses at the impact site and transmitted responses on oblique
member.
The spectral element model of the structure (shown in Figure 5.24) consists
of five elements with the super-element having three nodes or interfaces (5-4-3).
Elements (2-1), (5-6), and (4-7) are throw-off elements and all have the same
depth of 25 mm. The super-element mesh is also shown in the figure. It has 440
internal degrees of freedom and 42 connection degrees of freedom. The structure
is impacted transversely at a point 127 mm from the joint and both transverse and
longitudinal velocities are reported at two points: at the impact site and at a point
127 mm from the center of the joint along the inclined member. Responses were
also computed for the case where the joint was treated as "rigid."
Figure 5.25 shows the responses for all three models. While the results predicted
by the super-element and the conventional finite element virtually overlay each
other, the rigid joint modeling shows significant deviations. The same is also true
for the transmitted responses. This example clearly illustrates the error that is
introduced by treating the joint as rigid. It also demonstrates the ability of the
super-element approach to handle structures having more than two interfaces or
connections.
Recovery of Internal Displacements and Forces

After the global waveguide nodal displacements are obtained, the internal dis-
placements can be extracted through use of Equation (5.35) by first substituting
for {ile} from Equation (5.40). In the resulting equation, [iii ]-1 and [iss]s are
used to give the following simplified equation for the internal displacements:
(5.44)
where {u I S is the vector containing the spectral element displacements at all nodes
and (for the lumped mass case)
[L] == [GilT + cii[Kur1[Mu][Glf + iiJ4 ~{4>li [ AJ(A l _ iiJ2)] {G21;

j
All the matrices involved in [L] have already been computed (as part of the global
solution) and stored on disk. These arrays are also frequency independent and
hence most of the products are performed only once outside the frequency Do-
Loop. Normally, the displacements are required at only a few selected nodes and
using the above form, it is possible to do this conveniently. Consequently, the cost
of recovery of internal degrees of freedom is minimal and can be performed on an
as needed basis.
In this final example, we consider a waveguide with a transverse crack extend-
ing to half of the total depth of 25 mm as shown in Figure 5.26(a). Alternative
approaches and background information on this problem can be found in Refer-
ence [91].
r( •
(a)
t
crack=12.5mm
( ,,+ PIt)
~ V
~ h=25mm
CD ® 127mm
® 25mm @ 254mm
®
Figure 5.26: Waveguide with an open transverse crack. (a) Spectral element model, (b)
super-element mesh.
In order to make the example a little more interesting, a fixed boundary is

introduced at 266 mm from the crack. The region near the crack is modeled as
a super-element as shown in Figure 5.26(b). The mesh has 256 elements with
36 connection degrees of freedom. Only the first 20 modes out of a total 262
were used in the stiffness computation. Since we will use the virtual crack closure
technique [111] for the computation of stress intensity factors, we do not need a
very fine mesh near the crack tip. The structure is impacted longitudinally at a point
140 mm from the crack tip and Figure 5.27 shows the responses for the velocities
at Node 2, the impacted node. The incident longitudinal wave interacts with the
crack and produces both longitudinal and flexural responses. The response curve
for v clearly shows that the flexural effects are significant. These figures indicate
that all the global responses agree very well with the 2-D finite element solution.
The stress intensity factors are determined by performing a local analysis within
the super-element. Both Mode I and Mode II stress intensity factors were computed.
To do this, first the crack tip force and crack opening displacements are obtained
and then transformed to the time domain. The Mode I and Mode II stress intensity
factors are then obtained using the formulas [111]
(a)
- - Spectral element
-------- FEM
5[
u/~) O.
'!
O.
-1.
Vlit
Model
__M_od_e_II_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _~
Time IllS]' ! ! ! ! , ! ! , ! ! , ! ! !
0 100 200 300 400 100 200 300 400
Figure 5.27: Waveguide with a crack. (a) Normalized velocity responses at the impact site,
(b) normalized Mode I and Mode II stress intensity factors.
K ll :::: ~ VLlV
E---
2LlaB
where Lla is the element length at the crack tip, Fx and Fy are the crack tip forces,
and Llu and Ll v are the corresponding crack opening displacements. The results
are normalized with respect to Ko = .j7i(iamax , where a max is max(P(t)f A). These
normalized (absolute) values are also shown plotted in Figure 5.27. The Mode I
response indicates two major peaks, the first due to the incident wave and the
second due to the reflection from the fixed boundary. The mUltiple trailing peaks
are due to the generated flexural waves that propagated to and then reflected from
the fixed boundary. The magnitude of the Mode II response is relatively small;
what is interesting is that it occurs only in response to the flexural waves. All these
results match up very well with the 2-D finite element solution.
5.8 Impact Force Identification

Many cases arise in practice where it is necessary to know the dynamic impact
force, but where it is not possible to instrument the impactor. Examples are the high
velocity impact of aircraft by hail or rain, propeller induced pressure fluctuations on
ship hulls or the impact wear of boiler tubing [65]. Some interesting recent cases
include determining the impact force on fruit [113] and nuclear transportation
casks [5]. Reference [121] gives an excellent summary of the literature on force
identification problems as well as an overview ofthe subject itself; further details on
inverse problems in general can be found in References [92, 102]. These citations
show that this is a difficult problem where a satisfactory solution must combine
efficient numerical methods with good quality experimental data. Since the force
identification problem is fundamentally an experimental one, the recent literature
that uses numerical or surrogate data as input is not cited.
5.8 Impact Force Identification 191
I-- 254 mm ----l
(a)
P(t) ! 2
• •
A f--- 381 mm -----I
B
I-- 381 mm---i 762 mm - - - - - i
•
254mm
(b)
1397 mm
Figure 5.28: Two structural systems used for force identification. (a) Simple beam with
boundaries at locations A and B, (b) complex structure.
In this section, we attempt to layout the pertinent issues involved when multiple
reflections playa significant role. This includes cases where the physical bound-
aries of the structure are relatively close, and the response becomes a complex
superposition of the incident and reflected waves which can no longer be sepa-
rately distinguished. The approach taken is applicable to structures in general, but
to help focus ideas, we concentrate on frame structures. This will also show the
power of the spectral element method. More details and examples can be found in
References [37, 38, 41, 85, 86].
Wave Propagation Responses

The response u(t) at an arbitrary point in a structure is related to the impact force
Pet) as a time convolution in the form
u(t) = 1t G(t - -c)P(-c)d-c (5.45)
where G represents the structure. Note that in this, and the following, u(t) can
represent any response - displacement, velocity, strain, and so on - in the ex-
perimental results to be shown it is the acceleration.
The basic problem of force identification is: given u(t) (perhaps imperfectly) and
knowledge of the structure G (again perhaps imperfectly) find Pet). We emphasize
the imperfect nature of the given information as an essential aspect (and difficulty)
of the problem. That is, the purely mechanical inverse of Equation (5.45) is not
really the issue (see Reference [102] for a selection oftechniques), it is the factors
that exacerbate the ill-conditioning of the problem that are the main concern.
The structures of interest are shown in Figure 5.28. The frame members are made
of aluminum [12.7 mmx 12.7 mm] in cross section. The data recording techniques
and the details of the experimental set-up of Figure 1.9 are as given in papers such
as References [38, 85]. A force transducer with a steel spherical cap of diameter
15 mm constituted the impactor. Accelerometers placed at the locations shown
in the figure were used to record the signals with the data collected at a rate of
2/Ls, this was then smoothed using a five-point moving average. Since obtaining
force from acceleration (for beams and frames) involves a partial integration, the
responses were integrated in time to determine any trends; this trend was then
subtracted uniformly from the measured data. We will refer to this smoothed and
de-trended data as the experimental data.
. • l
······i~"\)i~VN·JWWv,VWVVWiWi\0VWN,VVVV!!VV\{i'
~1~ finite
.Q 0 " semi-infinite
~ .. o·.f\.. ·---··f:.[\j"\v...··.·--·---,--··----·----------------------------------.----------------------------------------
~-1 " • ,. _ _ sensor 1
:i. ------------ sensor 2
-t'- infinite
----J<.--.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I, , ! , I I! f I ! I , ! , ! , ! , , , , , ! ! , ! , , , , ! !
Time
II , !
[~]
! , !
o 1 000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

Figure 5.29: Experimental acceleration responses showing the effect of adding boundaries.
Figure 5.29 shows the acceleration responses at two locations for some simple
beam structures. In each case, the position of the impact site relative to the sensors
remained consistent, with the difference being the addition of free boundaries (at
locations labeled A and B in Figure 5.28(a» to the problem. For the infinite case,
each response consists of a forward wave only which shows a typical dispersive
behavior. In the semi-infinite case, the addition of a single boundary at position
A gives a response which contains a similar incident wave followed by a single
reflection; these reflections can either be separated from or superimposed on the
incident portion of the response. In fact, the latter is more likely for dispersive
systems such as frames.
One of the effects of the reflections is to make the response window larger.
This is evident in the finite beam case where the multiple reflections (between free
boundaries A and B) cause the response to persist for a very long time. This raises
the issue of whether or not the data collected in any finite sample is complete. This
is a complicated issue, but it is apparent in the semi-infinite beam case that, from
a wave propagation point of view, the reflections contain redundant information
that is already available in the incident portion of the wave. The same is true
1000
-sensor 1
...... sensor 2
r--
, , I I I ,
infinite
, F~e9 [k,H31
0 5 10 15 20 25
Figure 5.30: Frequency domain IG(w)1 for simple beam structures.
of the multiple reflections in a complex structure, hence if the reflections can

be appropriately separated, it becomes possible to convert the problem to one of
deconvolving an infinite structure.
Frequency Domain Deconvolution

In the spectral form of the convolution problem, we replace the original unknown
function P(t) with the collection of discrete unknowns Pn. On substituting these
into Equation (5.45), the convolution equation becomes
== L
N
Gn(w) G(tk)e- iWn1, (5.46)
k-l
This equation immediately suggests a solution to the force identification problem

as
Un
Pn (5.47)
A
= -A-
Gn
That is, we deconvolve the structure G from the response U to get the frequency
domain force P. An inverse Fourier transform on P gives the force history. The
power of the Fourier methods is that they establish a one-to-one relation between
the frequency components - each frequency component of force is uniquely
related to each frequency component of response. The effectiveness of the approach
is enhanced when G can be obtained directly as when using the spectral element
method as outlined in the earlier sections.
Figure 5.30 shows the magnitude of G for the same simple structures of Fig-
ure 5.29; in each case Grelates the force to acceleration. For the infinite beam, G
is a simple monotonic function and performing the deconvolution is a straightfor-
ward matter of division. Addition of a single boundary to the problem produces
a G that can have zeros, and this makes division problematic. In other words,
when G is zero (or near zero) the response according to Equation (5.46) is miss-
ing information at those frequencies, hence the reconstructed P is also missing
the information. To elaborate, suppose we are dealing with an N = 1024-point
discrete Fourier transform, then P is represented by N = 1024 unknowns and u
has N = 1024 knowns. However, a subset of these do not give useful information.
Although they may be few in number, their effect on the reconstructed force would
make the force history appear meaningless.
The finite beam presents an additional difficulty. The presence of sharp spectral
peaks is the complementary problem to loss of information - here the response is
overly rich in some frequency components. The deconvolution division can be per-
formed but any mismatch between Uand Gwould render P (at these frequencies)
very suspect. We will refer to this as an over-sensitivity problem.
Equation (5.46) shows that if G has zeros at certain frequencies then uwill also
u
be zero at these frequencies. In other words, has no information about P at these
frequencies. The loss of information can be mitigated by adding noise near the
zeros. That is, we rewrite the convolution and deconvolution problems as
(5.48)
where the asterisk indicates a complex conjugate and R is a small amount of ran-
dom noise. (The addition of noise to the denominator does not, of itself, replace
the lost information, but rather it removes the potential singularity at those fre-
quencies where G becomes quite small.) Figure 5.30 suggests that the placement
of the sensor affects where (and how many) zeros occur. Hence when two sensors
are available, we can rewrite the above as
(5.49)
This will minimize the possibility of zeros or near-zeros occurring in the denom-
inator. Although not explicitly indicated above, the system response functions G
are normalized, in this way the sensors can even be of different type such as ac-
celerometer and strain gage. We will refer to Equation (5.49) as the frequency
domain deconvolution method.
Examples of Force Identification

As a first example, we will do a force identification for the semi-infinite beam.
Figure 5.29 shows the set of responses; each response contains an incident pulse
followed by a single reflection from the free end at location A. (For each sensor,
the responses were truncated before the appearance of any reflections off the far
end of the beam.) Figure 5.31 shows the reconstructed forces obtained using the
frequency domain deconvolution method.
f-- 254 mm ----<
~200[ ____________ measured

o --- reconstructed
(:; 0 sensor 2
~ ~~ ~ __ ____ ____ ______________________=

se_n_s_o_r_S_l_&2
o 1000 2000 3000 Time [J.1S]4000

Figure 5.31: Comparison of reconstructed force histories for the semi-infinite beam using
each sensor separately and as a combination.
o 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Figure 5.32: Measured acceleration responses for a complex structure.
The figure shows the quality of the reconstructed force using one and two sen-
sors; from this it is apparent that the combination of two sensors effectively replaces
any information lost by a single sensor.
The loss of information is a problem specific to the frequency domain methods
and does not appear in any of the time domain deconvolution methods such as
mentioned in Reference [102]. Consequently, the use of multiple sensors should
be the usual practice in frequency domain deconvolution problems.
We finish by looking at the relatively complex structure shown in Figure 5.28(b).
The responses shown in Figure 5.32 contain multiple reflections between the joints
and the free ends, and suggests that this problem embodies some of the difficulties
already highlighted. It also has the difficulty of imprecise structural modeling.
The imprecise modeling is mainly due to the joints -- this is a mechanical joint
of extended mass and elasticity. In reality, the joint behaves somewhere between
the rigid model of connected waveguides and a joint with some elasticity. In the
Frequency [kHz]
o. 5. 10. 15. 20. 25.
Figure 5.33: The system response function IG(w)1 at the two sensor locations.
~200[ ------------ measured

!:
~ 0 - - reconstructed
sensor 2
sensors 1&2
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. Time [1lS14000.

Figure 5.34: Comparison of reconstructed force histories for the complex structure using
each sensor separately and as a combination.
present case, the model can never be determine exactly within the limitation of
connected waveguides.
An examination of the system response functions (shown in Figure 5.33) con-
firms the expectation of very many sharp spectral peaks and the likelihood of an
over-sensitivity problem.
Figure 5.34 shows the force reconstructions using an elastic joint model; the
properties of this model were obtained by a model search method (details can be
found in Reference [84]). This example illustrates the necessity of an adequate
structural model. It also indicates that the purely analytical modeling must be
supplemented by experimental data in order to determine the appropriate model. It
is gratifying to note that the method correctly identifies the presence of the second
impact at about 1100 J1,s.
This section dealt exclusively with the frequency domain deconvolution method.
By employing the spectral element method, the system transfer function, G, is
readily available at any location on the structure. While this is not essential in the
Problems 197
force identification problem, it is a key requirement of solving the complemen-

tary problem of impact location. In this case, an iterative search is necessary in
which force histories from multiple sensors are reconstructed based on a series of
guessed locations [41, 86]. The spectral element method conveniently provides the
system transfer function for each impact location guess with very little additional
computational cost.
Frequency domain force identification plays a central role in the method of
crack detection developed in References [35, 42, 84]. The essence of the idea is
that comparisons of the reconstructed forces, which are relatively simple in shape,
act as an excellent basis for a good cost function.
Problems
5.1 Show that the stiffness relation for a shaft is given by
_2e- ikL
1 + e- i2kL ]{ t }
5.2 Use the Taylor series expansion of the exact stiffness matrix to show that the
matrix representation of the elastic foundation is proportional to the mass
matrix.
5.3 Show that in the limit as w becomes very small, that the spectral shape func-
tions 8n(X) approach those of static problems.
6
Waves in Thin Plates
A plate is a body where one of the dimensions is substantially smaller than the other
two. Plates in flexure are the two-dimensional equivalent of beams and classical
plate theory is its equivalent of the Bernoulli-Euler beam theory, whereas the in-
plane or membrane behavior of plates is analogous to that of rods. Many of the
behaviors of plates and beams are quite similar, therefore only those aspects that
are significantly different will be covered in this chapter.
The two-dimensionality of the plate affects the solution in a number of ways.
Most significantly, because the plate is large in extent, the waves are no longer
confined to follow a I-D guide and are confined only within the lateral surfaces;
the properties of the plate and of the waves can be different in different directions as
shown in Figure 6.1. Additionally, an extended plate can have a localized boundary;
in that case we then refer to the reflected waves as scattered waves. What makes
this interesting is that the incident wave can now bend around the scatterer. We
conclude the chapter by considering a curved plate; this is a rich example of
differential coupling.
Figure 6.1: Contours showing the contrast in deformed shape of isotropic plate (left) and
orthotropic plate (right) 30 JLs after impact. Note the directional dependence of the waves
in the orthotropic plate.
198
6.1 Plate Theory 199
6.1 Plate Theory

Fundamentally, plate theory is an approximate structural theory and therefore it is
best to approach it by way of a variational principle. We will begin by developing
a plate theory (called Mindlin plate theory) that takes the shear deformation into
account - this is the plate equivalent of the Timoshenko beam. The approximations
necessary to achieve the classical or thin plate theory are then easier to rationalize.
Mindlin Plate Theory

Consider a rectangular plate of thickness h as shown in Figure 6.2. The plate lies in
the x-y plane and is subjected to both in-plane and transverse loads. The mid-plane
of the plate is taken at z = o.
z z
Mvv X L.-~ _ _ _ _ _.JI
Figure 6.2: Element of stressed plate.

values as
u(x,y,z) ~ u(x,y)-zo/x(x,y)
u(x,y,z) ~ v(x,y)-zo/y(x,y)
w(x,y,z) ~ w(x,y) (6.1)
where O/X and o/y are rotations of the subscripted faces in the directions of the
curvatures. These say that the deformation is governed by five independent func-
tions: u(x, y), vex, y) are the in-plane displacements; w(x, y) is the out-of-plane
displacement; and 0/Ax, y), 0/ y(x, y) are the rotations of the mid-plane. It is un-
derstood that all variables are also functions of time, but we make the assumption
that the above kinematic representations do not change under dynamic conditions.
The normal and shear strains corresponding to the above deformations are
au au ao/x
En - = - -z--
ax ax ax
au av ao/ y
Eyy - = - -z--'
ay ay ay
200 Chapter 6. Waves in Thin Plates
Yxy
Yxz
Yyz
Because the plate is thin and because the lateral surfaces are traction free, the stress
in the z direction cannot be very large. We therefore assume that it is approximately
zero; that is, we assume a state of plane stress with au ~ O. Substituting for the
strains in the Hooke's law for plane stress then leads to
_E_ [Exx + VEy ,J ~ _E_ [(au + v av) _ z(a1/lx + v a1/ly)]

I - v2 -) 1 - v2 ax ay ax ay
_E_ [E +VExxJ = _E_ [(av +vau) _z(a1/ly +v a1/lX)]
I - v2 yy 1 - v2 ay ax ay ax
o ~~
Gyx = G [(au + av) _ z(a1/lx + a1/ly)]

y ay ax ay ax
Gyxz = G [-1/Ix + ~;] , O'yz = GyyZ = G [-1/I y + ~;]
The combination of constants E /2( 1 + v) = G is called the shear modulus.
The strain energy for a plate in plane stress is
Substitute for the stresses and strains and integrate with respect to the thickness to
get the total strain energy as
U= 1
2
rD[( a1/lx
JA ax
+ a1/l y)2_
ay
V)[4 a1/lx a1/ly _ (a1/ly + a1/lx )2]] dxdy
ax ay
1(1 _
2 ax ay
+1 rGh [(1/1 _ aW)2 + (1/1 _ aW)2] dx dy (6.3)
J2 A x ax ay Y
+11 [E*h[(aU)2 +(aV)2 +2V auav ]+Gh(aU + aV)2JdXdY

2 A ax ay ax ay ay ax
where D == Eh 3 /12(1- v2) is called the plate bending stiffness and E* == E/(I-
v2 ). The total kinetic energy is
T = ! Iv p[u(x, y, Z, t)2 + tt(x, y, z, t)2 + tt(x, y, z, t)2]d'v'

! i [Ph[u 2 + ii + ui] + fzph 3 [V;x 2+ {Jy 2]] dx dy (6.4)
If the applied surface tractions and loads on the plate are as shown in Figure 6.2,
V = - f q(x, y)wdxdy - Nxxu - Nxyv - Mxx'l/lx - Mxy'l/ly - Vxzw + ...
where the edge loads can be on each face. The equations de-couple into in-plane
and out-of-plane sets, hence we now find it convenient to treat them separately.
In-plane Membrane Behavior

The energies for the in-plane behavior are
U = !f
2
E*h [(aU)2 + (aV)2 +2v au av +
ax ay ax ay
!(l _ V)(au + aV)2] dxdy
ay ax
i
2
T = i ph [ti 2 + iJ2] dxdy, V - -Nxxu - Nxyv +... (6.5)
Application of Hamilton's principle now leads to two sets of differential equations.

The variations l)u, l)v lead to, respectively,
a
2u
(6.6)
== phfii2
a2 v
phfii2 '
These are the Navier's equations and have the associated boundary conditions
where we specify one condition from either set:
{ u or Nxx == - Eh
- 2 [au
- + vav]}
- ,
1- v ax ax
We can give interpretation of the boundary conditions in terms of resultants on
the cross section. For example, the resultants of the normal and shear stresses are
defined on the cross section as
NxAx, y) == f uxx(x, y, z)dz, Nxy(x, y) == f uxy(x, y, z)dz
and leads to
Eh [au av]
(1 - v2) ax + v ay
Eh [av au]
(1 - v2 ) ay + v ax
Eh [au av] (6.7)
2(1 + v) ay + ax
That is, Nxx and so on are the resultant forces per unit length due to the stresses
acting on the edge faces.
We have already considered solutions to the Navier's equations in Chapter 4,
therefore they will not be pursued any further here.
Out-of-Plane Flexural Behavior

The energies associated with the out-of-plane behavior are
U= !fD[( al/laxx + al/layy)2 _

2
!(1 _ V)[4 al/lx al/ly
2 ax ay
_ (al/l y + al/lx
ax ay
)2]] dxdy
+! f Gh [(l/Ix - ~:r +(l/Iy - ~;r] dx dy
T !f [Ph -h,ph [l/J-/ Vi/]] dx dy
[tiJ2] + 3 +
V - f q(x, y)wdx dy - Mxxl/lx - Mxyl/ly - VxzW + ... (6.8)
The variations «5 w, «5 l/Ix, «5 l/Iy lead to, respectively,
q+Gh- a [aw ] +Gh- a [aw ] =

ax --l/Ix --l/I phw
ax ay ay y
-D
1 [ (1 - v)V 2 l/Ix + (1 + v)- - x + -al/ly )] + Gh
a (al/l [aw
- - l/Ix ]
2 ax ax ay ax
1
'iD [ (1 - v)V 2 l/Iv + (1 + v)- - x + -al/ly )] + Gh
a (al/l [aw
- - l/Iy ]
. ay ax ay ay
(6.9)
where Ip == h 3 /l2. These are the Mindlin equations of motion for a plate; this
theory accounts for the shear deformation as well as the rotational inertia. The
associated boundary conditions (on each edge face of the plate) are specified in
terms of any three conditions selected from the following groups:
{w or Vxz = Gh[~: - l/Ix J}

{l/Ix or Mxx = [al/lx + v al/ly ]}
D
ax ay
{l/Iy or Mxv. = -(1 - v)D [al/lx al/ly ]}
ay + -ax-
1 -
2
These are specified for an x face, the other faces are similar.
We can give interpretation to the boundary conditions in terms of resultants of
the stresses on the cross section. For example, taking resultants for the shear stress
defined as
leads to
Qxz = Gh [-lfrx + ~:] = Vxz , Qvz = Gh [-lfrY + aw] = VyZ

" ay
(6.10)
We can also take a moment due to the stresses acting on the edge faces. For example,
and all resultants can be written as
D [a lfrx + v a lfry ]
ax ay
Myy D[alfry +va lfrx ]

ay ax
2Mxy D alfrv
[- "+ alfrx]
- (I-v) (6.11)
ax ay
In order to account for the truncation error of the expansions u and v, we could
add correction coefficients to the energies as was done in Chapter 4. We will not
pursue this here because our interest is to develop a theory for thin plates.
Flexural Behavior of Thin Plates

The plate theory derived here (called classical plate theory) is the 2-D equiva-
lent of the Bernoulli-Euler beam theory. Rather than go directly to the governing
equations, we will retrace the developments of the Mindlin plate but with the
assumptions of the classical theory.
We modify the Mindlin equations to the thin plate theory in two steps. First,
we assume that the transverse shear deformation is negligible; this is equivalent to
saying that the shear stiffness in the transverse direction is infinite. This leads to
aw
- -lfrv = 0
ay "
It is important to realize that while these combinations are zero, their product
with Gh is nonzero (since it is related to the transverse shear resultant). The
displacements for the flexural motion is approximated as
aw aw
u(x, y, z) ~ -z-(x, y), vex, y, z) ~ -zay-(x, y), w(x, y, z) ~ w(x, y)
ax
The normal and shear strains corresponding to the above deformations are
au o2w _ oii o2w

ox = -z ox2 ' Eyy = oy = -z oy2
au ail o2w
Yrv -+-=-2z--
oy ox oxoy
ou ow _ oil ow
Yxz - +- =0 Y,z = - + - = 0
oz ox ' } oz oy
We reiterate that although the transverse shear strains are zero the transverse shear
forces are nonzero. Also note that there is an in-plane shear that depends on the
distance from the midplane - there is no comparable quantity in the beam theories.
Substituting these strains into the Hooke's law for plane stress gives
-Ez [a 2w 02W]
1 - v2 ox2 + v oy2
-Ez [a 2w 02W]
1 - v 2 oy2 + V ox2
-2Gz[ o2W ] (6.12)

oxoy
The strain energy for a plate in plane stress is
Substitute for the stresses and strains and integrate with respect to the thickness to
get the total strain energy as
u
T
where we have made our second assumption that the rotational inertia is negligible.
The potential of the applied loads is
V=- f ow
q(x,y)wdxdy-Mxx--Vxzw+···
ox
where the edge loads can be on each face. Using Hamilton's principle then leads
to the governing equation
(6.14)
Performing the integration by parts required to get the boundary conditions is

rather involved for an arbitrary boundary - a detailed description is given in
Reference [116]. The associated boundary conditions are found to be
{ w or Vxz = -D [aax3 w3 +(2 - v) axay2

a3 w ]}
2 2
{ aw
ax
or Mxx=D[a w +va w]}
ax 2 ay2 (6.15)
The shear to be specified is called the Kirchhoffshear. This shear is not the resultant
Qxz but is actually given by
Kirchhoff shear:
This can be understood by first realizing that the shear moment Mxy can be inter-
preted as a couple comprised of vertical forces a small distance apart. Then, since
the moment is distributed, so too are the vertical forces, which consequently at any
given location will have an imbalance in the vertical forces. Alternatively, the clas-
sical plate theory has restrictive degrees of freedom where the shear strains Yxz and
Yyz are zero. That is, the shear resultants Qxz and QyZ do not have a relationship to
the corresponding deformation. While this can be rationalized in the constitutive
relation by saying that the shear modulus in the transverse direction is very large,
it means that the resultant force is associated with higher order derivatives of the
deformation.
In the later sections we will look at boundaries that are straight, let the boundary
be located at x = constant, then to summarize, the type of boundary conditions
to be satisfied are to be chosen from
Displacement : w = w(x, y, t)
aw
Slope : 4Jx = ""ih
Moment: Mxx = +D [a2~ + v a2~]
ax ay
Shear : VXZ = -D [aax3 w3 +(2 - v) axay2
a3 w ] (6.16)
Note that the Poisson's ratio venters the last two of these and acts to couple the
variations in x to those in y. The corresponding expressions for the y face are
obtained by permuting x and y.
Spectral Analysis
It is easy for us to add some viscous damping to the governing equations, it is just
a matter of modifying the inertia term to give
2 2 aw a2 w
DV V w + TJh at + ph at 2 = q (6.17)
The spectral form for this equation is

(6.18)
The solution of this equation can be written as linear sums of solutions of the
following two differential equations:
phu} - i 1Jhw
(6.19)
D
These form the basic equations for further analysis and emphasize that there are
two fundamentally different modes just as there is for beams.
Consider a plane wave such that w(x, y) = w(x). the differential equation for
w becomes
d2 -
~2 ±fPw=O
dx
This has constant coefficients. hence e- ikx is a kernel solution. The spectrum
relations are then
k2 = ±J-{32
For the undamped case, the relation between the wavenumber and frequency is
given by
kl = ±vfw [ ';;
h] 1/4 , k2 = ±ivfw [ ';;
h]I/4
This is quite similar to that of the beam if the following associations are made
EI D E
-{}- or E {} 2
A h (l - v )
Thus the plate behaves as a beam in plane strain. This applies to the expressions
for the phase and group speeds also:
C =
W
k = vfw
[Dph ]1/4 ' dw
c g = dk = 2vfw
[D]I/4
ph = 2c (6.20)
The behavior of Figure 3.3 for beams can be taken as the behavior of thin plates
when subjected to a plane wave.
6.2 Point Impact of a Plate

Let it be assumed that the response of an impacted plate can be represented ade-
quately by classical plate theory. Since the impact is at a point. then the resultant
wave fronts are circular and the field quantities are axisymmetric. An equivalent
development for applied concentrated moments is shown in References [46. 791.
6.2 Point Impact of a Plate 207
Axisymmetric Equations
The differential operator for the spatial variation under axisymmetric conditions
is
,,2=_+ d2 1 d
__
dr 2 r dr
The governing equations for the plate. when damping is neglected. are similar to
those for the static deflection of plates on an elastic foundation and Reference [123]
has shown that those problems have axisymmetric solutions of the form
w(r) = A10 + BYo + CKo + D/o (6.21)
where 10 , Yo. Ko. 10 are Bessel functions with argument
z = fJr • fJ=vw [~hJI/4

and r is the radial distance from the plate center. The notation used for the Bessel
functions is that of Reference [1] and a summary of their properties can be found
in Appendix A. It is significant that the same spectrum relation holds as for the
plane wave case.
Let the load be applied at the center of the plate and imposing the following
conditions:
• displacement is finite at r = O.
• displacement tends to zero at r = 00.
• displacement behaves as an outgoing wave at r = 00.
gives the kernel solution as
W= A{ 10 - iYo - i~Ko} (6.22)
The remaining coefficient A is determined from the applied load condition. Let
the force be concentrated and again following the approach in Reference [123]
(for a static load) consider the equilibrium of a small cylinder section of the plate
surrounding its point of application. The shear force per unit length Q. at the
cylinder. is related to the force by
p A P
Q=- or Q=-
21Tr 21Tr
But the shear is also related to the displacement by
In the above. the superscript prime indicates differentiation with respect to z = fJr.
Letting r approach zero and equating both relations for Qallows A to be determined
in terms of P. The solution for the displacement now becomes
w(r t)
,
= "
~ 8fPD
-iP {lO - iYo - i~Ko}eiwt
n:
(6.23)
Other aspects of this solution are developed in good detail in Reference [67].
An interesting relation is obtained from the above by looking at the velocity at
the impact site, that is,
W ~-2- {,
. (r= 0,t) = "wP .2 K } iwt = "~
JO-lIO-I- 0 e
·V P {I} eiwt
r;:r;n
8f3 D n: 8-v phD
Since the frequency does not occur in the transfer function, then performing the
summation over all frequency components gives the time domain relation
. 1
w(t) = r;:r;n P(t) (6.24)
8-vphD
That is, the contact force is directly related to the particle velocity at the impact
site. Compare this with the equivalent hereditary relationship determined for the
beam. Reference [90] shows some applications of this formula. This equation no
longer applies when there is damping in the plate.
Strain Responses
For variety, in this section we look at the strain responses for the impacted plate.
These are interesting because while the displacements are finite everywhere the
strains can be infinite.
Some experimentally recorded strain histories are shown in Figure 6.3. Since
these experimental strains will be used actively in the next examples, their origin
will be briefly summarized. The basic experimental set-up is detailed in Refer-
ence [45] and in Chapter 1. An aluminum plate 1.65 mm thick was used with a
steel ball (12.6 mm in diameter) as the impactor. The data was digitally recorded
every microsecond (1 f.,ts) for a total of 4096 points per channel. Once the data are
collected, they are transferred in digital form to the computer where it is de-coded
and scaled. It is also smoothed by use of moving averages. The traces of Figure 6.3
have most of the reflections removed so that the data resembles that of an infinite
plate. Since both the plate and sample window are finite, it is necessary to do some
pre-processing of the strain data. The three main operations as discussed in Chap-
ter 1 are: removing obvious reflections, appending the signal with its long-term
behavior, and padding with zeros. Appending the signal improves the estimate of
low-frequency content. The amount of padding needed depends on the distance of
the gage from the impact site. An estimate of the amount needed is given by
tpad = Xgage
JN!)'T [Ph]
~ Ii
1/4
For the above aluminum plate a gage located at 50 mm would require 250 f.,tS
padding for a window of 1000 f.,tS, but 500 f.,ts padding for a window 5000 f.,ts. In
6.2 Point Impact of a Plate 209
the present case there is ambiguity between some of the reflections and the multiple
impacts. The data are first given a five-point moving average smoothing. The data
from 600 /-LS onward are then given an 80 I-point average smoothing. The resultant
processed signals are the ones shown in Figure 6.3.
- experimental
------- predicted from 50mm
------- predicted from Omm
c:
E
.~
iii 100
§ 0
'E -100 x=O
x=50mm
Time [J.1S] ,
O. 200. 400. 600. 800. 1000.
Figure 6.3: Comparison of predicted radial strains with experimentally measured values
for an impacted plate.
The motivation for the five-point average is that the data will later be sampled by
the FFT every 2 /-LS and this ensures that there are no aliasing effects. The purpose
of the 801-point average is to remove reflections. This type of scheme can be
successful because the mean of the reflections is zero.
The strain histories have some very interesting features. First, the peak strain
observed decreases very rapidly with position. Second, they all tend to the same
limiting behavior which can be shown to be proportional to
The strain decreases in time much more rapidly than for a beam which has a l/..ji
dependence - the reason is that the energy occupies an increasing volume as it
propagates.
The radial and hoop strains are obtained by differentiation of the displacement
to give
h a2 w iPh i2
Err 2 ar2 = 32D {(10 - lz) - i(Yo - Y2 ) + -;-(Ko + K 2 )}
h aw iPh i2
2r a;: = 32D {(10 + lz) - i(Yo + Y2) + -;-(Ko - K2)} (6.25)
This solution has a peculiarity in that at r = 0 the strain is infinite (even though
the displacements are finite) and given by
-
Err
- =-
= Eoe i Ph
- [ 1 - -4i In(r) ]
32D 7C
A variety of schemes can be used to eliminate this singularity; it can be done most
directly by realizing that a strain gage gives the value of strain averaged over its
length. That is, if the gage is of length L and centered at r = 0, then its strain
reading is
-
Err =
iPh [ 4i
32D 1 - ~ In
(f3L)]
2e
This is nonsingular for all finite L. When strain measurements are made at the
impact site, it is this equation that is used in the analysis.
Active Use of Experimental Data

Since most of the reflections have been removed from the experimental traces, we
can therefore consider the experimental plate as effectively infinite. Hence we do
not need to deal with the loss of information as detailed in Chapter 5 and proceed
to do direct deconvolution.
If only the radial strain is considered, then Equation (6.25) can be written in the
following ways:
En (rl) Pn . Gn(rl)
Pn En(rl)/Gn(rl)
En (r2) En(rd· G n(r2)/G n(rl) (6.26)
These correspond, respectively, to the three cases: (1) given the force obtain the
strain at rl; (2) given the strain at rl, obtain the force; and (3) given the strain
at rl obtain the strain at r2. In each case, the force is obtained at the center of
the plate (r = 0) and the transfer functions are known fron Equation (6.25). Of
course, once the new spectral components are known the time histories are obtained
simply by using the FFf inverse. The latter two of Equations (6.26) illustrate the
active use of experimental data. For example, the third equation shows how we
can check the consistency of two experimentally measured strain histories. As
shown in Figure 6.3, we can use the strain measured at location 1 to predict the
strain at location 2 and compare that to the strain actually measured at location 2.
The figure confirms that the data and modeling are of good quality although small
fluctuations measured at x = 50 mm get exaggerated when propagated back to the
origin. This active approach shows how responses measured at a limited number
of points can be used to infer responses at a very large number of points.
Figure 6.4 shows the reconstructions of the force history. They show good agree-
ment with each other, the largest differences being where the reflections are sig-
nificant. Also shown in this figure is the force history predicted using the Hertzian
contact law [36, 37]. The agreement is also very satisfactory, indicating that the
Hertzian contact is good for steel on aluminum.
1.0 Force, PIPo
.B Po = 200 N - Hertz theory

• predicted from Omm
.6 o predicted from 50mm
.4
.2
.0 0°
Time [JlSJ,
-.2
O. 200. 400. 600. BOO. 1000.
Figure 6.4: Comparison of reconstructed force histories with Hertzian contact theory.
These results confirm the basic validity and accuracy of the spectral approach to
actively manipulating experimental data. There are two main areas of sensitivity.
First, the further away from the impact site the gage is located, the weaker the signal
is and consequently the greater the noise level in the predicted force. Second,
reflections tend to obscure the estimated long-term behavior of the strains thus
giving poorer estimates when the contact time is relatively long.
While the effects of reflections can be minimized by using a very large plate,
this often is inconvenient or expensive. The next few sections plus Chapter 8 will
take up the issue of handing reflections directly.
6.3 Wavenumber Transform Solution

The solution of the previous section is limited for a number of reasons: the two
of immediate concern are that it is inconvenient for handling complex spectrum
relations as occurs with damping or elastic constraints, for example, and it does
not lend itself to handling straight edged boundaries. In this section, we extend the
spectral method so as to handle spatial variations of the waves in two dimensions.
This results in an extra summation over the space wavenumbers quite comparable
to what wa~ done in Chapter 4. The adequacy of the scheme is first verified by
re-analyzing the point impact problem treated in the last section and then we apply
it to orthotropic plates.
Basic Solutions
Since the waves, possibly, can have arbitrary shapes in space, consider a represen-
tation of the form
Wt(X, y) = ~ L Wlme-i~mY , (6.27)

m
with the space wavenumber given by ~m = 2rr m / W. The differential equations

governing the transformed displacements are
where we allow f3 to be complex in the form
phwZ - i1Jhw
D
The coefficients of the differential equations are constant, hence the solutions are
exponentials of the form e- ikx . The characteristic equations associated with these
solutions are
-k~ - ~z + f32 = 0, -k~ - ~2 - f32 = 0
giving the spectrum relations as
(6.28)
These spectrum relations are shown in Figure 6.5. It is noted that for a particular
~ the first mode shows a cut-off frequency with the lower-frequency components
being nonpropagating.
The solution for the plate becomes
w(x, y, t) = L L[Ae- ikIX + Be- ik2X + Ce+ik1x + De+ik2X]e-i~mY e iwnr (6.29)

n m
That is, the actual solution is obtained by summing kernel solutions of the above
form for many values of Wn and ~m. In elementary terms, it can be thought of
as containing a forward-moving wave A, a backward-moving wave C, and corre-
sponding evanescent waves B and D. However, because the wavenumbers k\ and
kz can be complex then the above distinctions are somewhat blurred. To amplify
this idea, consider the solution as a plane wave in x (the bracketed term) modified
in y. Then, for a particular ~, the summation over w is similar to that for a beam
in Chapter 3. The corresponding spectrum relations, however, are modified by ~
as shown in Figure 6.5.
It is not always clear, a priori, as to the maximum M to use. The safest approach
is to run the problem for a number of M and check for convergence.
The present formulation is set up to solve problems whose boundary conditions
are specified along x = constant. At the boundary x = L, the solution and the four
conditions can be written as
w(x) Ae-ik,x + Be-ik2X + Ce-ik,(L-x) + De-ik,(L-x)

w A* +B* +C+D
aw -ik\A* - ik2B* + ik\C + ik2D
ax
-mode 1
........ mode 2 F1l'!ql
Figure 6.5: The spectrum relation for different values of the ~m wavenumber.
\
-Mxx
-
D
-\ - (6.30)
VVxz
where the abbreviations
A* == Ae-ik,L ,
have been used. The particular problems of interest will be constructed from com-
binations of these.
Point Impact Response of a Large Plate

The outward propagating solution in the region x > 0 is
(6.3\)
Since this solution must be symmetric about x = 0, then the slope with respect
to x is zero, giving ik2B = -ikJA. The shear near x = 0 is determined from
Equation (6.30) to be
or
Let the applied force spectrum be represented by the Fourier series

where Em = 1 is specifically for a concentrated load. The coefficient A can now be

determined giving the deflected shape as
_ • pA 4
w(x, y, t) = ~
~ I ~
-ik,x
[e
-ik2X
e]
i~v iwt
8DP.2 W ~Em - k - - - k - e- . e (6.32)
n f' m ] 2
It is interesting to note that if ~ = 0, then k] = -ik2 = f3 and the solution for the
impact of a beam is recovered. Also of interest is the comparison with the solution
using Bessel functions given in Equation (6.23). It is seen that both solutions
are the same since the Bessel functions in polar coordinates have the cartesian
representation
{J""
.
'2
-IY - - K I}
0
4
:::}-
W
L [e k
E -----
m k2
-ik,x
e]
-ik2X
e -i~v.
TC m]
This is analogous to Lamb's (1904) relation (13) except that here the summation
is finite.
We can· gain further insight into the behavior of this solution by considering
the behavior of the bracketed term in Equation (6.32) as shown in Figure 6.6.
The figure is for m = 150 arid x = 300 mm. For nonzero x, the k2 exponential is
negligible. When f3 < ~ the k] wavenumber is imaginary and the wave completely
evanesces. When f3 > ~ the wavenumber is real and a component of a wave will
propagate. If we view each ~m as a waveguide, then all the lower frequencies will
be filtered in a manner analogous to that of a rod with elastic constraint. Hence for
a spectrum of ~m' we expect the low-frequency content of the arriving signal to be
dominated by the smaller wave numbers or larger radii.
Figure 6.6: Transfer function for the point impact of a plate; m = 150, x = 300 mm.
-M=3200
------- M=1600
o experiment
c: ------- M=900
'i!! 100
g
'Iii 0
::!l -100
E -M=400
x=O
x=50mm
Time [J.1S] ,
o. 200. 400. 600. 800. 1000.
Figure 6.7: Comparison of experimental strains with predicted values using the wavenumber
transform.
Figure 6.7 shows the comparison of the experimental strains of Figure 6.3 with
those predicted by the above analysis. The results establish the equivalence of the
Bessel and double series solutions away from the impact site. The specifications
for the computations are time window T = 2048 J-LS, N = 1024, space window
W - 20 m and M is as given in the figure. At the impact site, the singularity in
strain is indicated by an increasing peak strain value as M is increased. Again, when
dealing with experimentally measured strains, this singularity can be removed by
integrating over the length of the strain gage.
Although the solutions involving Bessel functions and the wavenumber trans-
form are equivalent, the former is computationally more efficient since only a
single series is involved. Unfortunately, the Bessel form of solution is not suitable
for imposing boundary conditions along a straight edge and so the double series
form must be used. If the response is required at many instances of time and many
locations in space, then a double FFT algorithm should be used for the inversion.
In the present circumstances, however, the solution is required (almost) continuous
in time but only at a limited number of space locations (because the experimental
comparison is with a limited number of strain gage data sets). Consequently, the
summations over m are performed long form, but those over n are done using the
FFT.
Spectrum Relations for Orthotropic Plates

As is apparent from the previous chapters on rods and beams, the extension of
spectral analysis to more complicated structural systems generally results in more
complicated spectrum relations. A generalization of relevance to plates is that of
orthotropic material behavior. That is, the plates can have different properties in
different directions. This is of significance today because of the greater use of

fiber-reinforced composite materials especially in the construction of thin-walled
structures.
The mechanics of composite materials is covered in depth in Reference [64], so
only the relevant equations will be stated here. When the stress strain relation is
orthotropic, the moment-deflection relation becomes
(6.33)
where the curvatures are related to the deflection by
and the elements Dij are the anisotropic stiffnesses. The equation of motion then
becomes
(6.34)
For convenience, assume the coordinate directions coincide with the principal
material directions, then we can set DI6 = D26 = 0 and the equation of motion
reduces to
(6.35)
This equation is equivalent to the isotropic case of Equation (6.14).

Consider a plane wave propagating in an arbitrary direction e:
ill = Ae-ik(xCe+ySo)
where we have set Co == cos(e) and So == sinCe). The characteristic equation is
This gives the spectrum relations as
kl=±y'W [ ~
h J 1/4
, k2 =±iy'W [ ~h J 1 4
/
Doo Doo
Formally, these are the same as for the isotropic plate except that the stiffness
appearing in the relation is a function of the orientation of the wave.
Consider now arbitrary waves of the form
(6.36)
propagating in the plate. The characteristic equations associated with these solu-
tions are
giving the spectrum relations as
-(D12 + 2D66)e + J D) 113 4 + [(DI2 + 2D66)2 - D)l D221~4

-(D12 + 2D66)~2 - J D)) fJ4 + [(DI2 + 2D66)2 - D)l D22]~4
Even though the material is orthotropic, there is still only two families of modes.
When the material is isotropic, we have D22 = D)) = DI2 + 2D66 = D and
DI2 = vD and we see that the above reduces to that of Equation (6.28).
The spectrum relations have an interesting behavior because of the terms inside
the radical; for certain materials, the square bracketed term could be negative
giving wavenumbers that are complex instead of being entirely real or entirely
imaginary. For example, the material properties for graphite/epoxy and glass/epoxy
are, respectively,
1 0.03 0 ] 1 0.07 0]
[ D ]gr/ep = D)) [ 0.03 0.46 0 , [ D ]gllep = D)) [ 0.007 0.57 0
o 0 0.05 o 0.14
These give terms inside the radical of
In both cases, the individual modes of the orthotropic plate behave like a beam on
an elastic foundation.
Point Impact Response of a Large Orthotropic Plate

We finish this section by considering the impact of an orthotropic plate; the solution
approach closely parallels that of the isotropic plate. The solution, in general, for
the plate is
w(x, y, t) =L L[Ae- ik,X + Be-ik,x + Ce+ik1x + De+ik,X]e-i;mY eiw"t

n m
The outward propagating solution in the region x > 0 is
(6.37)
Since this solution must be symmetric about x = 0, then the slope with respect
to x is zero, giving ik2B = -ik]A. The shear near x = 0 is determined from
Equation (6.30) to be
or
q= 2Dik 1 A(kf - k~)
which formally looks the same as for the isotropic plate. Let the applied force
spectrum be represented by the Fourier series
L ijme-i~mV L Eme-i~mY
~ ~
q(y) = ~ = ; (6.38)
m m
which allows the coefficient A to be determined giving the deflected shape as
P Em [e- ikIX e-ik,X] . .

W(X
, Y , t) -- '"""
~ W2D
'"""
~ k2 - k 2 -'-k- - -'-k- e-I~V. e'M (6.39)
n 11 m 1 2 I 1 I 2
Again, this solution looks very similar to that of the isotropic plate and to that of the
beam. Also of interest is the comparison with the solution using Bessel functions
given in Equation (6.23). Contours of displacement constructed from this solution
are shown in Figure 6.1. Note the different speeds of propagation in the different
directions.
6.4 Waves Reflected from a Straight Edge

If the wave is incident normal to the boundary, then the plate generates a reflected
wave and an attenuated wave localized at the boundary. In this respect it is very
similar to that of a beam. When the wave is incident obliquely, however, a wave can
propagate along the boundary. This is the situation of interest here. Reference [68]
considers, quite extensively, the reflection of straight-crested flexural waves from
the edge of a semi-infinite plate. We are also interested in incident waves that are
arbitrarily crested.
Three typical types of boundaries are used here so as to illustrate the nature of
the reflected waves. The relations are obtained by taking special forms of Equa-
tion (6.30) as needed. We leave until Chapter 8 consideration of boundaries in-
volving multiple plates - while the mechanics are straightforward, the solutions
are cumbersome and we opt to wait until we have developed a spectral element
approach.
Incident Plane Waves

Let the boundary be at x = 0 and let the total solution be
where Ce == cos (J and Se == sin (J. This gives a wave generally moving in the y
direction, with the A term being incident, the C term being reflected, and the D
term being an x attenuated vibration. For simplicity, we will assume the incident
evanescent B wave is negligible. Since they all have the common y term then
------
the boundary conditions will be satisfied for any y. The geometry is shown in
Figure 6.8.
reflected
Lx
---
incident
edge
------
Figure 6.8: Wave reflections near a straight edge.
First consider a clamped boundary, the boundary conditions at x = 0 give
w =0= A+C+D
aU!
ax
- 0- -ifJCeA + ifJCeC + fJ) 1 + S~D
giving the coefficients of the generated waves as
C=-
)1 + S~ + iCe A, (6.40)
)1 +S~ -iCe
When the angle of incidence, (J, is zero, then the reflected waves are phase shifted
relative to the incident waves. On the other hand, when (J approaches 1r /2, then
the D term disappears and C = -A showing that the superposition is zero.
Consider now the situation where the edge of the plate is supported by springs
such that the boundary conditions become
aw
M xx =-(l-
ax • Vxz - -Kw
where K and a are the linear and torsional spring constants, respectively. In terms
of the wave coefficients these conditions become
DfJ2 {-(C5 + vS5)A + (1 + S~ - vS5)D - (C5 + vS5)C}

= -afJ {-iCeA + iCee +)1 + S~D}
These are rearranged to give the amplitudes from
-1+v*+iCoa* 1 + v* + J+
1 SJ a*
[
iCo(1 + v*) - K* J+ I SJ(1 - v*) + K*
{ I - v* + i Coa*
= iCo(l + v*) + K*
where
v* - (1 - v)SJ, a* = a/{JD, K* = K/{J3 D
Obviously, the special cases of K = 0 or 00 and a = 0 or 00 can easily be taken off.
It is apparent that the general case is frequency dependent. An interesting point to
note is that Poisson's ratio appears only in association with sin (). This means that
for normal incidence Poisson's ratio does not playa role.
Arbitrarily Crested Waves

The approach taken in this and the next few sections is basically that of Lamb's
1904 classic paper on seismic tremors (Reference [72]) with the only significant
difference being that the waves obey the flexural dispersion relations. The func-
tions WI and W2 are analogous to the P-wave and S-wave potentials in Lamb's
development.
The present formulation [29J is set up to solve problems whose boundary con-
ditions are specified along x - constant. At the boundary x = L, the solution and
the four conditions can be written as in Equation (6.30). In this we assume both A
and B are known.
A simply supported edge condition requires that at the boundary the deflection
and applied moment be zero. That is,
w=o, Mxx =0
giving the simple result
C = _Ae-ik,L, (6.41)
and in full form

[A
wref = -
A
e -ik,(2L-x) + B e -ik2(2L-x)J e -i~y
Thus, the wave appears to originate from an image source a distance 2L away from
the actual source. However, this is the only case where the image idea applies; in
general, the new waves will originate at the boundary itself - we will develop
this idea a little more in the final section of this chapter.
For a fixed edge condition both the deflection and slope are zero,
w=o, aw =0
ax
giving as the system to be solved
Using Cramer's rule this gives
{ C} 1 [kJ + k2 (6.42)
D = kJ - k2 -2kJ
The determinant for the system is
This is zero only when the frequency is zero. The presence of both e- ik , L and
e-ik,L in both C and D shows that the reflected waves cannot be written simply in
terms of image waves.
A free edge boundary requires the applied moment and shear to be zero,
Mxx =0, Vxz =0
The system of equations to be solved is
where
The solution is
2k2k~Jk~2 (6.43)
-kJk~2 - k2k~J
The determinant is given by
(6.44)
It is apparent that the coefficients C and D have a very complicated dependence on

both frequency w and wavenumber ~. With the present spectral formulation this
actually poses no problems when obtaining the inverses (or time reconstructions).
Figure 6.9 shows how this determinant depends on wavenumber and frequency.
The horizontal axis shows the frequency from 0 to 40 kHz and the vertical axis
is Re(~) varying from -8.0 to 8.0. Even if the damping coefficient is nonzero,
real wavenumber
8.
6.
4.
2.
o.
-2.
-4.
-6.
-8. , ,,' ",I , I I" ,,,,,, .. ,,,' .. ,,, I,
o. 5. 10. 15. 20. 25. 30. 35. 40. -8.0 -6.0 -4.0 -2.0 .0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0
Frequency [kHz] imaginary wavenumber
Figure 6.9: Contours of the detenninant. On the left is a slice of Re(~) against frequency
for Im(~) = 0, and on the right is Re(~) against Im(~) at 20 kHz.
the determinant will become so small that significant responses can be observed.
Thus, in comparison to our previous double summation solution, this plot shows
that, of the [N x M) matrix of components, only those along the locus of zero
determinant contribute significantly.
The free edge boundary condition is different from the others in that it is possible
for the determinant to be zero. This is interesting enough that we consider it in
greater detail in the next section.
Free-Edge Waves
In the absence of damping, it is possible for the determinant of Equation (6.44)
to equal zero, therefore raising the possibility of a singular solution for {C, D}.
In other words, it is possible for a free wave to travel along the edge. This wave
is analogous to a Rayleigh wave as detailed in Chapter 4 and in Reference [125);
hence the following development attempts to accentuate the similarities as much
as possible.
In its simplest form, we are interested in knowing if the wave
tV = [Ee- ik1x + Fe-ik2X)e-iky
where
can propagate along the free edge and satisfy the boundary conditions. At present,
the wavenumber k is as yet undetermined. By imposing the free-edge conditions,
this gives
[i~11~2 i~:h] { : }
=0
(6.45)
A nontrivial solution is possible only if the determinant
(6.46)
is zero. (This expression for the determinant is obviously the same as occurred in
the last section.) The wavenumbers where this happens are (after expanding and
simplifying)
This is quadratic in k4 hence it is straightforward to solve and get

114
. [ (l - 3v) ± 2.Jl - 2v + 2v 2 ]
k = ±(1, l)fJ (1 _ v)2(3 + v)
These eight values coincide with the eight zeros of Figure 6.9. We are interested
in free waves, that is when k is real only, hence of the eight possible solutions, we
are only interested in the following pair:
1/4
[ (1 - 3v) + 2Jl - 2v + 2v 2 ]
k = ±fJ
(l - v)2(3 + v)
The quantity inside the bracket is close to unity for all values of Poisson's ratio.
For example,
v = 0.00, k= 1.0000013, kJ = -O.OooOifJ, k2 = -1.4142ifJ
v 0.25,
= k= 1.0004113, kl = -0.0287ifJ, k2 = -1.4145ifJ
v = 0.30, k= 1.0009513, kJ = -0.0436ifJ, k2 = -1.4149ifJ
v = 0.35, k= 1.00196fJ, kl = -0.0626ifJ, k2 = -1.4156ifJ
Our value of v = 0.33 gives k = 1.oo148fJ, kl = -0.0544ifJ, and k2 = -1.4152ifJ.
Using this result in Equation (6.45) gives the amplitudes ratios for E and F as
F = k~1 E = 1 - (1 - v)1.00148 E ~ _v_E

k~2 1 - (1 - v)1.00148 2- v
We can now rewrite the solution as a single summation over frequency as
W = L E[e-O.054fi"x + _V_e-1.415fi"x]e-l.OOJ48ifi"YeiWnf
2-v
(6.47)
n
This wave is characterized by a speed that is slightly slower than the corresponding
speed in the infinite sheet, and by an exponential decay as it penetrates into the
interior of the plate. We will refer to this wave as the "free-edge wave."
The free-edge wave is difficult to isolate because it is dispersive (since f3 is

dispersive) and because it travels only marginally slower than the incident wave.
To make the presence of this wave more discernible, we impact the plate with a
force having a narrow-banded frequency range; the resulting waves disperse very
slowly, and the group behavior of the edge wave is thus easier to observe. The force
history of this pulse and its corresponding frequency spectrum can be inferred from
Figure 6.10.
- double summation
free edge wave
x~
y=O.5m
y=1.0m
~
_______~_.,A!!~~~AL y=1.5m ~
_________v_.vii~~W.vv y=2.0m ~m
---------------------~~ ------~~----
x=200mm
I, , I , I, , I , , , , I , , , , I , , , , ITime [JIs] IL-o...........<....I.I.....,....I,.............. ' ..........' .....,...JI

' LI....
o. 500. 1000. 1500. 2000. 2500. 3000. 2000. 2500. 3000. 3500.
Figure 6.10: Edge behavior.
Figure 6.10 shows transverse velocity responses at various distances from the
impact site along the edge. For comparison, we use the free-edge wave (with
E characterized at y ~ 1500 mm) and use spectral analysis to propagate it both
forward and backward as illustrated earlier in this chapter. The most striking feature
of this plot is that the amplitude of the edge wave diminishes very slowly over
space compared to waves which propagate in the interior of the plate. In addition,
our free-edge solution shows insignificant deviations from the double summation
solution, thus confirming that the edge wave responses behave very similarly to
Rayleigh waves.
Figure 6.10 also shows how the edge wave penetrates the interior of the plate.
The observation points are at y = 2500 mm, and various x locations inward from
the edge. The magnitude of the response decreases rapidly, showing that the edge
wave is localized to regions close to the edge. Furthermore, the close agreement
of the single and double summation responses again helps confirm that the edge
wave responses behave very similarly to Rayleigh waves.
6.S Scattering of Flexural Waves

In the case of waveguides, the end condition is total in the sense that the boundary
covers the complete cross section -- all of the wave experiences the end condition.
6.5 Scattering of Flexural Waves 225
The previous sections have looked at the reflection of waves from a straight edge
that was also total in the sense that the complete extended boundary was involved.
For the two-dimensional plate, however, it is possible for a boundary to be limited
in extent - a circular inclusion as shown in Figure 6.11; this has the significant
consequence that only some of the wave is affected by the boundary. This is a
difficult subject usually covered in specialty books such as Reference [99]; this
section gives only a short introduction to some of the ideas involved.
~ scattered wave
wave~___
incident f G~:=~:~ IJrJJL
.~:ow
*- scattered wave
forward scattered
Figure 6.11: Waves scattered from a fixed circular boundary.
One of the basic issues involved is that the coordinate system used to describe
the incident wave is different from the coordinate system ofthe boundary geometry
and consequently, different also from the coordinates used to describe the reflected
waves. To illustrate the consequences ofthis, we will consider a plane wave incident
on a fixed circular boundary, the schematic of the event is shown in Figure 6.11.
Incident Plane Wave

Consider an incident plane wave extending indefinitely in the y direction and given
by
where x = 0 is the origin of our new coordinate system describing the boundary
and we have assumed negligible damping. For simplicity, we will take the incident
evanescent term to be negligible (B ;::::; 0).
The geometry of the boundary is circular as shown in Figure 6.11 hence we
need to represent the incident wave in this coordinate system. Let
e-ik,x =e-ik,rcos8 = LEm(-i)m1m(k1r)cosm8, Eo=I,Em=2

m
where 1m are Bessel functions of the first kind. This representation is actually a
Fourier series with 1m as the Fourier coefficients; in that case we have the relation
We therefore have a representation of the incident wave as
W= LEm(-i)mA*Jm(k1r)cosme
m
Just as e-i~mY modified the plane waves in Equation (6.29) to give circularly crested
waves, so does cos me modify the circular waves to give the plane waves.
plane wave
~'""'-'''-/
plane wave
IL.......,............,...II...................-...I..................-...L....................,....,j1 Time [)lSJ 1...1....

' .............,...JI.................,.,I"..",I....................-...I......................
' .J..1..................'-0..1
O. 500, 1000. 1500. 2000. o. 500. 1000. 1500. 2000. 2500.
Figure 6.12: Effect on number of terms on expansion.
The first question we need to resolve is the number of terms necessary in the
expansion representing the incident wave. Figure 6.12 shows the reconstruction
of the plane wave at x = 0 and y = 300 mm for different number of M. The
symptom of not having enough terms in the expansion manifests itself as a sort of
wrap-around problem. At the distance y = 300 mm, it is necessary to have about
M = 60 to get good convergence. The figure also shows that the representation
deteriorates as the distance y is increased for a fixed number M.
Scattered Wave
The governing equations for flexural waves in cylindrical coordinates are
1 a2 ]
[ -a2+ -
I a
-+--
2
w±j3 w=O
A 2 A
ar2 r ar r2 ae
Let the displacement be represented by a Fourier series in the hoop direction, that
is,
w(r, e) = Wm cos(me) L
m
6.5 Scattering of Flexural Waves 227
The equation for the amplitudes is
These are Bessel equations with the solutions
These Bessel functions are shown plotted in the Appendix; note that both Ym and
Km go to infinity at the origin r ... 0 whereas 1m goes to infinity at large argument.
Hence, when we look at the exterior problem we take B = -i A so that the solution
is a Hankel function that coincides with an outward propagating wave, and we take
D=O.
A general wave emanating from a circular region is therefore represented by
tV = :~::>m(-i)m[AmHm(klr) + Bm Km(kl r)] cosme

m
where Hm - Jm - iYm is the Hankel function. We therefore have for the total
response in the plate surrounding the boundary
tV = L:>:m(-i)m[A* Jm(k1r) + AmHm(k1r) + BmKm(k1r)] cosme

m
The coefficients Am, Bm are now determined from the boundary conditions.
For simplicity, we will consider only the fixed boundary case, References [71,
99] are good sources for the treatment of some other cases. For the fixed edge
condition at r .. a, we have
w(a)=O,
aw
-=0
ar
giving as the system to be solved
[ Hm
H'm
where the prime indicates differentiation with respect to the argument z - k1r.
Using Cramer's rule, this gives
For a fixed argument, this determinant approaches zero as the order m increases.
To avoid numerical difficulties, we use ratios of the Bessel functions and write the
solution as
where
K~(kla) J~(kla) H~(kla) J~/(kla)

Am Km(k1a) Jm(k1a) -Bm Hm(k1a) Jm(k1a)
Jm(k1a)
- K~(kla) H~(kla) , Jm(k1a)
-
K~(kla) H~(kla)
Km(k1a) Hm(k1a) Km(k1a) Hm(k1a)
Note that the derivatives are computed from the recurrence relations as given in
the Appendix.
Figure 6.13 shows some of the responses at various positions around the bound-
ary. First, along the line x = -2a we see the effect of the back-scattered wave,
that is we see the wave reflecting off the object at an angle.
--.. -- forward scattered only

x =2a
(','
- total response x =2a

---- back scattered only
- --- ---_ __ __ ____ x = 4a
y=4a
---- .... -----

, " I" I " , I Time [IJS) .......
I , .............................................................................. 1 ....................
' ....
o. 500. 1000. 1500. 2000. 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Figure 6.13: Scattered responses near the boundary. (a) Near side at x - -2a, (b) far side
at y = o.
Since there are responses in the shadow region, we could say there is a diffrac-
tion effect, that is, the wave has "bent around" the boundary. Generally, however,
diffraction is associated with sharp edges and in the present case we say there
is a forward scattered wave. It should not be very surprising that there is a for-
ward scattered wave since, in the absence of the boundary, the incident plane wave
is present and therefore the scattered wave is necessary to cancel it. We expect
the total response to be relatively small in the shadow region, hence the forward
scattered wave must be large enough to cancel the incident wave.
To further elaborate on the scattered waves, we will consider the far-field (k I r »
1) response. Replace the Bessel functions with their asymptotic forms
6.6 Lateral Boundary Conditions 229
where the angle dependence is in the term
1/1.(0) =L €m( _i)m [Am(kta) e- i <-Jr/4-mJr/ 2)] cos mO

m llm(kta)
The scattered power is related to the quantity 11/1(0)1 2 and Figure 6.14 shows the
angle dependence of this quantity for a number of frequencies. The plots are
normalized with respect to their areas (or total power). As the frequency increases,
a greater proportion of the scattered power is directed in the forward direction; this
field interacts with the incident wave to give a long shadow region.
----.
--... wave
...... / direction
50kHz
Figure 6.14: Directivity plot of the power function 11/r(6)1 2 over a range of frequencies.
6.6 Lateral Boundary Conditions

We saw in the previous section how the analysis is greatly complicated when
the coordinates for describing the waves is different from that of the boundaries.
Another significant situation where this difficulty arises is when conditions on two
nonparallel boundaries must be satisfied simultaneously. The situation is depicted
in Figure 6.15 for the case of two boundaries perpendicular to each other. The
solution
w(x, y, t) = L L[Ae- ik,X + Be- ik2X + Ce+ik1x + De+ik2X]e-i~mY e iwnt
n m
is general enough to satisfy the boundary conditions along two x =constant edges
simultaneously - it is the boundary conditions along y =constant that pose the
difficulty and this is what we consider in this section.
What we call the x axis is of course arbitrary, in the following we will choose
the x =constant boundaries to be the more significant boundary and that the
y =constant boundary is more remote and hence less significant. Should it happen
that both boundaries are equally significant, then the ideas to be presented are still
applicable but their implementation will be very cumbersome.
Pinned Boundary
When the lateral boundary condition corresponds to that of a pinned boundary
then we can effect a solution in a very simple fashion. Let the disturbance be at
image _ .
moments
lateral boundary
load j Lx
Figure 6.15: Geometry of a quarter plane.
x = 0, y = 0, and the boundary be at y = L. If we now add to the solution for

the infinite plate, a similar solution but opposite sign and located at the image site
x = 0, y = 2L, as shown in Figure 6.15, then they will both superpose at y = L
to give zero deflection and zero moment. That is, the superposition adds a second
solution of the form
w(x, y) = - I ) A e - ik1X + Be- ik2X + Ce+ik1x + De+ik2X]e-i~m(2L-Y)

m
and it is easy to verify that at y = L we have w = 0 and aw/ay = o.

To make this more concrete, consider the impact of an infinite plate with a single
lateral boundary. We will impose that x = 0 is a line of symmetry and hence the
solution is
The coefficient A is determined by the imposed force condition. From this we see
that the solution does not have enough parameters to simultaneously satisfy the
lateral condition. The superposition idea adds to this a second solution
and it is easy to verify that choosing A = - A will then satisfy the boundary
condition.
Figure 6.16 shows the effect of the pinned boundary - in many ways the results
could be anticipated from those of the pinned beam. Indeed, if this boundary is
remote enough then essentially plane waves impinge on it and the beam analysis
is applicable.
The second of the two plots shows the behavior of aw/ay along the boundary.
While the deflection is zero, we see that the slope has increased to twice the infinite
plate value.
6.6 Lateral Boundary Conditions 231
y=300mm
y=200mm
y = 100mm x=200mm
y =300mm x=300mm
I I I I I I I I Time [JISl I I I I I I I I
O. 500. 1000. 1500. 2000. O. 500. 1000. 1500. 2000. 2500.
Figure 6.16: Responses for pinned lateral boundary located at y = 300 mm. Left is
w(x = 0, y), right is ilw/ily(x, y = L).
Fixed Boundary
Consider now the case when the lateral boundary is fixed, that is, both the deflection
and slope is zero. A superposition similar to the previous section will satisfy the
zero deflection but in doing so the slope condition will be grossly violated. There
is not an image source that will set this slope to zero and simultaneously leave the
deflection unaffected. Consider the fixed boundary as being a pinned boundary but
with a distributed moment chosen precisely to set the slope the zero. If we can find
such a moment distribution then we have the required solution.
We begin by considering the solution for a concentrated moment located at
x = 0 and y = L. We can obtain this from the y derivative of the concentrated
force solution - the validity of this can be explained by visualizing the shear
distribution along x = 0 as being a bell shaped curve, the y derivative corresponds
to a shear distribution that goes from positive to negative giving a resulting couple
about the x axis. We express this solution as
(6.48)
Irrespective of the amplitudes A, this solution will always have w = 0 along y = L.

The total solution (incident wave, image wave, and concentrated moment) is
expressed as
This solution is capable of satisfying the slope condition at only a single point. Let
this be at x = 0, y = L, we then require
If this is set to zero on a term by term basis, we get
This, in conjunction with Equation (6.48), gives a solution that cancels the incident
wave everywhere not just at the boundary; in other words we cannot effect a solution
for arbitrary wavenumber ~m •
However, it is still possible to get a zero localized slope, but now we must work
on the frequency component. We know that the amplitude A is related to the applied
force in the manner
Am = PQm
(this can be seen from the impact solutions from earlier in the chapter). It is clear
that Amust have a similar representation
We can then solve for T (which now has the interpretation of the applied moment)
as
Lm Qm(l- ~)[-2i~e-i~mL]
T= P k2
Lm Qm(l- :~)(i~m)2
Figure 6.17 shows some of the responses at various positions along the line x = 0;
in comparison to Figure 6.16 we see that the reflections are diminished. This is not
surprising since the clamped condition generates evanescent waves which tends to
diminish the strength of the reflected propagating components.
Figure 6.17 also shows some of the slope responses near the point of application
of the concentrated moment. It is clear that the moment influences only a small
region in its vicinity - in the present case of about 25 mm radius. This situation
is identical to what we saw in the previous section on the scattering from a rigid
boundary; the present case is the limit as the radius of the rigid boundary goes to
zero.
For us to simulate an extended fixed boundary would require many concentrated
moments. When selecting their amplitude, not only must the phase of the incident
wave be considered, but also the presence of all the other concentrated moments.
In other words, the distributed amplitudes must be obtained by solving a set of
simultaneous equations. This adds significantly to the computational cost. How-
ever, if the lateral boundary is somewhat remote, then a good approximation can
be obtained from a sparse distribution of concentrated moments, and furthermore,
these need only be phase matched to the incident wave.
6.7 C lfved Plates and Shells 233
--'V V\./I~~-=-=
"A ~ x=25 mm
y=300mm X= 18mm
y =200mm
x= 12mm
-pinned
........ infinite -fixed
-pinned
y= 100mm x=6 mm
x=Omm
w........ . I! ! ! ! I ! ! ! ! I ! ! ! ! I Time [IISI I !!! !!!! ! I ! ! ! ! I ! ! ! ! I
o. 500. 1000. 1500. 2000. O. 500. 1000. 1500. 2000. 2500.
Figw'e 6.17: Responses for a pinned lateral boundary with a single fixed point. Left is
w(x ,,0, y), right is (Jw/(Jy(x, y = L).
6.7 Curved Plates and Shells

Then is considerable intrinsic interest in curved plates and shells because of such
structural applications as arches, containment vessels, and fuselages to name a few.
We now look at some aspects of curved plates - to simplify matters, we consider
only circular uniform cylinder segments. More detailed analysis than what will
follow can be found in References [77, 81].
Deformation of Cylindrical Shells

We looked at the response of curved beams in Chapter 3; the theory derived ne-
glected any variation of response with respect to the lengthwise z direction. Adding
this variation will be the main difference of this section. There are a variety of ways
to derive the shell equations; we find it most expedient to continue using the ap-
proa,;h established in the earlier chapters. That is, we first specify the deformation,
obtain the strains, convert to the coordinates of Figure 6.18, obtain the energies, and
then use Hamilton's principle to derive the equations of motion and the boundary
conditions.
Following the procedure established in Section 3.5, we can approximate the
deformation of the shell in cylindrical coordinates as
ur(r, e, z) :::::: ur(e, z)
uo(r, e, z) :::::: uo(e z)-~ ( -

lour
---uo)
, R oe R
OUr
uz(r, e, z) :::::: uz(e, z) - ~az (6.49)
Figure 6.18: Free body diagram for curved shell segment. Left is cylindrical coordinates;
right is curved shell coordinates.
with ~ == (r - R) and where the third equation allows for bending about the z axis.
These give the nonzero strains as
(6.50)
In comparison to the curved beam equations, we have added the displacement in

the axial direction, and retained any variations in that direction, that is, with respect
to z.
At this stage, it is worth our while to convert the above to a more usual form
of notation. It is typical in shell analysis to have a hoop coordinate s, an axial
coordinate y, and a transverse coordinated z pointed toward the origin of the
circle. That is, we have
R(J - s, z--y, r--z

giving for the corresponding displacements
Uo-U, Uz - -v, Ur--W
We now can write our approximate deformation relations as
u(s, y, z) ~ u(s, y) - z (~; + i)

aw (6.51)
v(s, y, z) ~ v(s, y) - z ay
w(s, y, z) ~ w(s, y)
The nonzero strains are then

6.7 Curved Plates and Shells 235
Ess
Eyy (6.52)
2Esy -
Other shell theories have slightly different expressions for these strains; the present
theory is closest to that of Reisner [104, 95]. An excellent survey of the different
theories are given in References [77, 81]. The theory developed here is the shell
equivalent of the classical plate theory and the Bernoulli-Euler beam theory.
Equations of Motion
While it is possible to derive the equations of motion based on a free body diagram,
it is much more advantageous to use Hamilton's principal since we then get the
set of boundary conditions consistent with these equations.
The strain energy for a small segment of shell in plane stress is
U- ~ Iv [E*(E;s + E;y + 2VEssEyy) + Gys~] dV
where E* == E /(1 - v 2 ). Substitute for the stresses and strains and integrate with
respect to the thickness to get the total strain energy as
where
( a2w + a2w +..!.. aU)2 (6.53)

as 2 ay2 R as
2 (a 2w 1 au) I 2
- 2 ( l - va)w - +-(I-v) (a
2 -w- +1-aU)2
ay2- -as+2 - R as 2 asay R ay-
where, as withftatplates, D == Eh 3 /12(1- v2 ) and E == Eh/(l-v 2 ). In the above,
U I represents the strain energy due to the membrane strains while U2 represents
the contribution from the bending strains. The total kinetic energy is
T = ~ Iv p[u(x, y, Z, t)2 + v(x, y, Z, t)2 + w(x, y, z, tf]dV

~ I. i ph [li2 + il 2 + w2] ds dy (6.54)
where we have neglected the rotational inertia. Let the potential of the applied
loads be
aw
l/I=--
as
These equations are grouped in terms of membrane E[.] and flexural D [ .] contri-
butions. This rather complicated collection of equations are a combination of the
the flat membrane. flat plate. and curved beam equations.
The associated boundary conditions on the side s =constant are specified in
terms of one each of the following pairs:
u or Qu = E [au _ w + v av] + D [a 2w +..!.. au + v a2w]

as R ay R as 2 R as ay2
v or Qv = !(1 - v)E
2 [av au]
as + ay
w or Qw =- D
R
[aasu2+ (1 _ v) aay2u] _ D [aasw + (2 _ v) asay2
2 2 3
3
aw ]
3
aw or Qm = D [-
a2w + va2w 1 au]
-+- - (6.56)
as as 2 ay2 R as
It remains now to interpret the resultants and relate them to these boundary con-
ditions.
Resultants
Referring to Figure 6.18. we can form the resultants per unit length as
Nss =- f ass dz •
After substituting for the stresses and strains in terms of our approximations leads
to
Nsv 1
= -(1 - [av au]
v)E- - + - (6.57)
. 2 as ay
We can also form the resultant moments per unit length
Mss == - f O'sszdz, Msy == - f O'syzdz
Again, after substituting for the stresses and strains in terms of our approximations
leads to
1
Ms = -D(l-
y 2
v)- - +2-
ay R as
a [u aw]
Comparing these expressions to those for the boundary conditions, we see that the
natural boundary conditions are equivalent to specifying
1
Qu Nss + liMss
Qv Nsy
Qw
_ aMss _ 2 aMsy = v:
as ay sz
Qm Mss (6.58)
The first of these resembles the resultant load expression used for curved beams,
while the third resembles the Kirchhoff shear stress relation.
Spectrum Relation
In order to proceed, we need to have the spectrum relation. Assume solutions of
the form
which, on substitution into the governing equations, gives the homogeneous system
of equations
-y
using
-£[t2 + 1(1 - v);2] + phu} , y == 1(1 + v)£ik;

_£[;2 + 1(1 - v)k 2 ] + phw2 , (l3 == D[k2 + ;2f - phw2
The ai, a2 and y terms alone define the flat membrane problem, while a3 alone
defines the flat plate flexural problem. All the other terms are couplings due to the
curvature. The curved beam result is obtained by setting ~ = O.
The characteristic equation, obtained from the determinant of this system, is the
most complicated spectrum relation we have encountered so far. It is quartic in
k 2 , which makes it extremely difficult to solve in simple form. Fortunately, it is
not necessary to resort to a purely numerical scheme for solution since an explicit
solution is available. Following Reference [1], we first write the characteristic
equation as
Z4 + a3z 3 + a2z 2 + alz + ao = 0
This has the conjugate factorization
[Z2 + (a + b)z + (c + d)] [Z2 + (a - b)z + (c - d)] = 0
if we choose the coefficients such that
b= ~J8c + a~ - 4a2 , d=Jc 2 - ao
and c is chosen as a solution of the cubic equation
c 3 - ~ [a2]c 2 + ~ [al a3 - 4ao]c + ~ [aoa~ + a~ - 4aoa2] = 0
The formulas given in Section 3.5 are used to solve this cubic equation.
These equations can be easily programmed. The difficulty that arises is in choos-
ing the appropriate square or cube root in both the cubic and quadratic solvers, as
well as the appropriate root from the cubic solver. It is seen that while there are
only four z roots, the formulas give a multiplicity of 144 roots. This is especially
acute since we wish to compute a single Z j at a time. The issue is that in computing
the nth rootofacomplex number z = a+ib = Aei ¢, the phase q, = tan-I (b/a) has
an ambiguity of Nrr.
We remove this ambiguity by keeping track of the total phase. That is, starting
with some value and with reference to the unit circle in the complex plane, as the
wavenumber goes from the 4th to the 1st quadrant the total phase is increased by
2rr. Algorithmically, we compute complete modes separately at each m. Starting at
a large value of frequency, we work toward the lower frequencies, keeping track of
the phases. The root c is chosen as the one that had the largest real value initially.
Approximate spectrum relations are useful here in identifying the appropriate
modes. This scheme works quite robustly when the frequency decrement is not too
large. Periodic checks with an iterative root finder helps confirm the correctness
of the roots. It must be said that determining the spectrum relations is now a
significant operation in itself, and unlike the previous reported cases, they are
no-longer computed on-the-fly as part of the structural analysis.
An idea of the variety of behaviors is shown in Figure 6.19 for a value of
~ = 2rrm/ W with m = 50. Not surprising, there are many branch points in the
spectrum relation. Most of the complicated behavior occurs in the vicinity of low
frequency as was also the case for the curved beam in Chapter 3. We know this
~
I.... :>..--·. . . · · · · . · · . · ·. ···-..· · ·. ·=~
_Kl
.......
.. ..... K4
................
..........
""'"
...•...•...
•......•..
.......
Figure 6.19: Spectrum relations for m = 50.
region is where the thickness is relevant and to exaggerate its effects, the plots are
for the case when h / R = 0.1 and R = 250 mm for an aluminum plate.
It is difficult to get a clear idea of the complete spectrum relations from Fig-
ure 6.19, but just as we did for the curved beam, we will introduce an approximation
that will help to delineate the separate contributions. An approximation that is rea-
sonable for thin shells, that is, when h « R, is given by
e I
2 1
kp - R2 - ~
2
k 22 k~ _ ~2
1 2 4 1 ~2
k 32 --~ + /3 + 4R4 - R2
2R2
e4
3
--~
2R2
2
-
4
/3 + 4R4 - R2
9 ~2
(6.60)
where k~ == w 2p(1 - v 2)/ E, k~ == w 2p2(1 + v)/ E, and /3 4 == w 2ph/ D. The first

two are the membrane dominated modes and recover the plots shown in Figure 4.5
when R is very large. For small ~m only the first of these are affected by the radius
and gives a cut-off frequency even when ~ = O. The third and fourth modes are the
flexural dominated modes. Again, for large R they recover the spectrum relations
of Figure 6.5. In general, the radius has a relatively small effect on these modes
except in the region of very low frequency.
Impact of an Infinite Curved Plate

Consider an infinite curved plate of radius R; physically this would mean that the
plate is in the form of a coiled helix. Our approach to the solution parallels that
of the earlier impact problems, what makes this one interesting is that we now
have four coupled modes. That is, we wish to illustrate the level of complexity
introduced by the multiple modes, and justify the use of a matrix methodology.
The solution for the forward propagating terms is written as
u(s) Ae- ik,s + Be- ik2S + Ce- ik3S + De- ik4S

iJ(s) Ae- ik,s + Be- ik2S + Ce- ik3S + De- ik4s
w(s) Ae- ik,s + Be- ik2S + Ce-ik,s + De- ik4S
The 12 coefficients are not independent but are related through the amplitude ratios.
Let us write the solutions as
where the symbol ¢ indicates an amplitude ratio. The solution is arranged so that
we can set ¢ = 0 to recover the familiar form for the uncoupled cases. We can
regroup this solution into the somewhat more compact form
The free body diagram for the impact region looks similar to that of Figure 3.5
except that there is also an axial force. At the impact site s = 0, we impose
u(O,t)=O,
aw
-=0
as
and we specify that the in-plane shear traction is zero:
a =C[au+av]=O
sx ay as
This gives three equations for the four unknown coefficients. Let us choose C as
the reference unknown, then the system of 3 equations can be arranged as
While a [3 x 3] system can be solved in closed form, no advantage is gained by

doing so. We opt instead to solve it numerically and write the solution for the three
coefficients in the symbolic form
This system is solved at each value of frequency OJ, and each value of wavenumber
~. We are now in a position to write all of the displacements in terms of the single
unknown C. First introduce the subscript notation
The matrix form is
{ ~
W
} (s) = [~: ~~ ~:] !~ }+ { ~:
~31 ~2 ~34
{
g4 ~33
} g3
The final piece of information comes from the impacting force. We have
or
'i1-
P = ,",{D[2
L - k j + 2~ 2
(1 - ] . j [2
v) ~Ijgj +' Dlk k j + ~ 2(2 - v) ] ~jgj }C
j R
where the summations are over the modes. This allows us to solve for C in terms
of P.
Some velocity reconstructions are shown in Figure 6.20. Note that the responses
at the large angles are scaled by 10 which indicates the very rapid decay of am-
plitude. The most significant point of interest is the oscillatory behavior of the
transverse velocity. This we observed also in the curved beam example. What is
interesting here is that there is not a single cut-off frequency (there is one for each
m mode) and yet a single dominant spectral peak establishes itself.
The cylindrical shell is a very complicated example of coupling - not only are
the number of variables cumbersome to work with, but evaluating and interpreting
the spectrum relation is also quite a challenge. It, therefore, can be imagined that
related problems such as conical or elliptical shells would begin to pose almost
insurmountable difficulties. In Chapter 8, we will introduce a matrix methodology
that will help alleviate some of these difficulties, and point a way to the spectral
analysis of complicated thin-walled structures. The method has much in common
with the spectral element method of Chapter 5.
360 xl0
270 xl0
180 xl0
90 xl0
Frequency [kHz]
, , 1 , 1 Time [~] ...,1.....................................~...........
, .........................
I ' ..........
, '....'..L'.... ' ........
' '..............
' 1
O. 2000. 4000. 6000. 8000. O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14.
Figure 6.20: Out of plane velocity responses for an impacted curved plate. Left is time
responses w; Right is frequency response Iwi.
Problems
6.1 Show that the governing equation for a plate on an elastic foundation is
where Nu . Ny)" Nxy are the in-plane loads per unit length.
6.2 Show that the solution for the initial value problem w(r, t) = foe-"I"',
w(r, t) = 0 is given by
w(r, t) = ~ [cos ( _;:2 ) + -r sin ( _;:2 )] e-j'/(l+r'}

1 + -r2 1 + -r2 1 + -r2

6.3 Show that the response to a rectangular pulse of duration -r is
w(r, t) b = JD/ph
H(x)
where Si and Ci are the sine and cosine integrals, respectively.

- Reference [56], p.243
7
Structure-Fluid
Interaction
There are many practical situations where the interaction between the dynamics of a
structure and a surrounding fluid is of great importance. The most obvious is noise;
noise is the propagation of acoustic energy through the fluid. The interaction can
also influence the response of the structure itself; examples include dams, chimney
stacks, ships, fuselages, propellers, and transmission cables.
A structure immersed in a fluid can experience three types of loading. The first
is the structure-borne excitation caused by the propagating structural waves. The
second is a pressure loading arising from some source within the fluid; this acts
as a distributed external loading on the structure. The third is the "self-loading" or
fluid loading caused by the moving structure interacting with the fluid. This also
acts as a distributed loading but since the magnitude depends on the motion of the
structure, it has the effect of coupling the structure and fluid motions. Our primary
interest in this chapter is of a problem where a typically finite structure is coupled
to a relatively extended second medium as shown in Figure 7.1. We briefly review
some of the basics of acoustic waves but more thorough treatments can be found in
References [51, 66, 97]; the finer points of structure/fluid interaction are covered
in the excellent summary paper by Crighton [22].
baffle plate baffle
Figure 7.1: Moire of the real and imaginary parts of the fluid pressure near a finite panel
vibrating at 1 kHz. Note the nonzero pressure near the immobile baffle.
243
244 Chapter 7. Structure-Fluid Interaction
7.1 Acoustic Wave Motion

Wave motion in fluids is a special case of fluid dynamics; however, to effect prac-
tical solutions it is usual to make some assumptions and approximations. This
sections tries to establish the background of these assumptions and to develop the
relevant equations.
Linearized Acoustic Wave Equations

We restrict ourselves to motion only in the x-z plane as shown in Figure 7.2. The
fluid and any structural components extend uniformly in the y direction.
Figure 7.2: Element of fluid with stresses.
The time variation of the fluid density Pa and pressure Pa, due to the passage of
an acoustic wave, may be written as
Pa(r, t) = Pa(r) + p(r, t), Pa(r, t) = Pa(r) + p(r, t) (7.1)
where Pa, Pa are the mean (ambient) values, and p(r, t), p(r, t) are the fluctuations.
(We use the subscript 'a' to stand for 'acoustic medium'.) Substituting these into
the equations for fluid motion and treating the fluctuations as small quantities leads
to the following continuity and equilibrium equations:
ap au aw
- +Pa- +Pa- =0
at ax az
aaxx aaxz .. aaxz aazz ..
- - + - - =Pa W (7.2)
~+~=Pau,
ax az
where aij are the stress components. The constitutive behavior of the fluid is
described by
au aw II(~
a' a'
axx = -p+2j.t-,
ax a-- = -p+2j.t-,
az
a
xz
=
az +~)
f"" ax
P_ B!!...- = _B(au + aw) (7.3)
Pa ax az
where B is the bulk modulus and j.t is the viscosity. Note that the stress is related
to both the volumetric behavior as well as the strain rate.
7.1 Acoustic Wave Motion 245
These equations are more easily manipulated in the frequency domain, and in
their spectral form appear as
~ au
P +p,-+p,-=O
aw
a ax a aZ
aa aa aa aa
--a:;- + az =
xx xz 2~ xz zz 2 ~
-PaW -- + -- = -PaW W
U,
aX az
~
=-
~ . au
p + 2JL1W- , ~ = JLiw -(au + -aw)
O'xx
ax O'xz
az ax
~ ~ . aw ~ p (au aw)
O'zz - -p + 2JL1W- ,
az p = B Pa = -B ax + ih (7.4)
Rearranging these equations, the spectral form for the displacement becomes
(7.5)
which is quite similar to the Navier's equations presented in Chapter 4. Therefore,

a Helmholtz decomposition representation can be taken as
~
U=-+-,
alP aiI ~
W=---
alP aiI
ax az az ax
which leads to
These equations are completely equivalent to those of Chapter 4. It is clear that

there are two modes of behavior.
In order to look at the wave behavior of these modes, consider plane waves
propagating in the fluid. The wavenumbers are
Note that k~s is entirely imaginary and depends linearly on the frequency - this
means that the response is similar to diffusion (or Fourier heat conduction), con-
sequently, the shear response will be localized to the boundaries or where the
disturbance is initiated. The other mode exhibits dissipation due to the viscosity,
but when the viscosity is negligible, the acoustic wave speed is nondispersive and
given by
a _ W
C = (B
ka yPo
Table 7.1 shows some typical property values for air and water. Later, we will
consider the interaction of acoustic waves with plates; for comparison, Figure 7.3
shows the phase speeds of waves in a thick steel plate and a thin aluminum plate.
246 Chapter 7. Structure-fluid Interaction
Modulus Density Wave Speed

Material psi GPa Ib·s2 /in.4 kglm 3 in.!s km/s
Air 0.02x10 3 0.14xlO- 3 0.11 X 10-6 1.20 13.5x103 0.30
Water 0.42x106 2.90 0.12xlO- J 1100 60.0x10 3 1.50
Table 7.1: Nominal properties for air and water.
.4
phase speed, CICo
.3 1=-------------:::;::00.,...::;.'---------- water
.2
coincidence
2.Smm aluminum
/
.1 rL-~~========== air
.0 Freq [kHz]
LI.-...........'-'-'.......................I....:I.................................................................................................................................................
O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14. 16.

Figure 7.3: Phase speeds for waves in air and water, and their comparison with the flexural
phase speeds in aluminum and steel plates.
Inviscid Fluid
A common assumption for most fluids it that they are inviscid; this leads to certain
simplifications. The constitutive relations become
O'xx--p=-
A A P,
B- O'zz = - p = -
A A P,
B-
Pa Pa
leading to the momentum relations
ap
- = PaW
2A
ax U,
Combining these with the expression for P/ Pa gives the Helmholtz equation gov-
erning the pressure field as
or (7.7)
plus the associated boundary conditions
{p; := = Pa w2u } , -
ap
aZ = PaW
2
W
A}
7.2 Plate-Fluid Interaction 247
This set of equations will be our primary equations governing the dynamic response
of the fluid. Note that it exhibits only one mode of wave behavior.
In the subsequent sections, we will consider structures composed of multiple
panels modeled as collections of plane surfaces or plates. There a cartesian co-
ordinate system local to the plane will be used. Under these circumstances, for
example, a distributed pressure source can be represented by
p(x, Z) = L P(~m' wn)e-ik,Ze-i~mx , (7.8)

m
The wavenumber behavior of kz is similar to the first plate mode in Figure 6.5. In
the case when P is unity, this corresponds to a concentrated pressure source; the
representation, however, is valid for more general pressure distributions. A similar
representation for the components of the motion gives the displacements in the
fluid as
_ -ikz_
w=--p, (7.9)
w2 Pa
Since our interest will be in fluids contacting plates, consider the fluid to be in
contact with a surface located at z = 0 and whose normal displacement is ill, then
the first of the above equations indicates that the displacement and the pressure
are related through convolution integrals since, at Z = 0,
In other words, the pressure in the fluid at any point is related to the displacement
response at every point on the surface. It is this convolution relation that is the
source of many difficulties in the structurelftuid interaction problem.
7.2 Plate-Fluid Interaction

Since the panels investigated in most interior noise applications are thin, then
it seems adequate to use classical plate theory to model the panel systems. Our
interest here is on aspects of the fluid interaction, therefore for simplicity we take
the plate as acting uniformly in the y direction. Figure 7.4 depicts the typical
loadings experienced by the plate.
Following the developments of Chapter 6, the equation of motion for the plate
reduces to
a 4w aw a2w
D ax4 + IJhat + ph at 2 = q(x, t) - p(x, Z = 0, t) (7.10)
The loading on the plate has two parts: q (x, t) is the applied distributed transverse
loading and p(x, z = 0, t) is the distributed fluid pressure loading. These equations
are complemented by the fluid equations
L: IUid B, Pa
:
~IY t"tt
++ftt
q =-p
q = qe
plate: D, ph
~
Figure 7.4: Geometry of the plate with fluid loading.
(7.11)
and the interface condition between the fluid and plate
z= 0) ,
a p(x, z = 0) 2 ~
(7.12)
Wplate(X) = Wfluid(X,
az
--=--,----'- = W PaWplate(X)
We will apply these equations to a number of situations so as to elucidate the

effects of the fluid.
Incident Plane Wave

As a first example, consider an infinite plane wave impinging on a single infinite
sheet completely immersed in fluid. The total pressure variation is a combination
e
of waves moving in x and ±z making an angle with the normal to the plate. That
is,
where Co == cos e and 58 == sin e. The incident pressure amplitude Pi is known

but we do not know the reflected pressure amplitude Pr nor the transmitted pres-
sure amplitude Pr. If the plate separates two dis-similar fluids, there would be a
refraction effect and the transmitted angle would be different from the incident
angle, and thus introducing an additional unknown. (The extra relation would then
come from matching the phases.)
The pressure induces a response in the plate given by
which must satisfy the plate equation
[D ~44 - phw 2 + iWT/h]W = -p(x, z = 0)
At this stage, we do not know the wavenumber k. Substituting for the displacement
and pressures into this plate equation gives
There are three unknown amplitudes W, Pr, Pt and one unknown wavenumber
k; we need another equation. We get this from the boundary conditions at z = 0,
namely,
ap+
-- = PaW
2 A
W or
az
and
or
where continuity of displacement between the plate and fluid is assumed. When
we combine these equations together, they must all have a common phase behavior
with respect to x, hence we conclude that the wavenumbers are related by
Canceling the common phases, we find the amplitudes from

_ _ PaW 2 W-
Pi - Pr C
= -:------k
1 a II
'
This leads to the displacement solution
-2Pi
W= ----------~----------~ (7.13)
2p w2
Dk:S: - phw2 + iWTJh + . a
-lkaCe
and the reflected and transmitted pressures obtained from
_ _ Pa W2W _ PaW 2 W-
Pr = Pi + -.-k-C- , PI = C
-:------k
-I a e 1 a 0
Note that if the fluid is on one side of the plate only, then the factor of 2 in the
w
denominator of is changed to unity.
Figure 7.5 shows the variation of transmitted and reflected pressures for an
incidence angle of f) = 40°. These responses are surprisingly complicated. To help
understand them we will consider some special cases. If the plate is very rigid then
w~ 0 and we get Pr = Pi and PI = 0, and the total pressure acting on the plate is
2 Pi. This is true for any angle of incidence. This is the so-called blocked pressure.
For flexible plates in the limit of W = 00 we also have w ~ 0 and Pr = Pi, Pt = O.
That is, the plate is behaving as if it is very rigid. Conversely, in the limit of W = 0
we have Pr = 0 and Pt = Pi; the plate is transparent to the wave.
Figure 7.5 shows that at a certain frequency there is a significant change in
behavior. To explain this, first consider when the incident angle is normal, then
k = 0 and the displacement is
-2p,
W= --~--~----
-phw2 + iWTJh + 2iwPaca '
- transmitted
........ reflected
Figure 7.5: Transmitted and reflected pressures for an incident angle of (j = 40°.
since W / ka = Ca' The responses are dominated by the inertia of the plate and the
stiffness has no influence. The reason for this is that the plate wavelength A = 2rr / k
is infinite and hence the plate is not in flexure. Consequently, the plate is moving as
a rigid body. Also note that the inertia of the fluid appears like a viscous damping
term.
For arbitrary incident angles, the mass and stiffness contributions are oppo-
site in sign and hence there are combinations when it is possible for the reactive
component to be zero. That is, when
or
The frequency, W co , at which this occurs is called the coincidence frequency. Thus
for a given angle of incidence there is a unique coincidence frequency Wco; however,
since So cannot exceed unity, there is a lower limiting frequency for the coincidence
phenomenon given by
We
2!Ph
= Cay
c~ /
D = coh y 12(1 - v 2) (7.14)
where We is known as the critical frequency or lowest coincidence frequency. We

will refer to We simply as the coincidence frequency. The coincidence frequency
occurs when the phase speeds of the plate bending wave and of the acoustic wave
in the fluid are equal as is indicated in Figure 7.3.
The significance of the coincidence frequency is that wave components in the
plate above this frequency are radiated easily into the fluid. That is, at coincidence
the transmitted and incident waves are the same and there is no reflected wave.
This is indicated in Figure 7.5 by noting how the trend to zero for the transmitted
wave was interrupted at coincidence. This is another example of the energy transfer
between two coupled elastic systems appearing as increased damping in one of

them.
The phenomena discussed above depends on the extent of fluid loading, thus it
is useful to have a measure of this loading. Following Reference [22], fluid loading
is characterized by two independent parameters: a mass ratio ex = PaCa/ phw and
a speed ratio M = c/ca = ka / k. We have M = 1 at coincidence. Both parameters
are frequency dependent; we can arrange for only one parameter which is varied
with w by introducing
PaCa Pa Co J 2
E == - - = - - / 12(1 - v ),
phwc P Ca
The parameter E, called the intrinsic fluid loading parameter, is the same for all
plates of a given material embedded in a given fluid. This is typically small with
values such as
steel/water: 0.130, aluminum/air: 0.002, aluminum/water: 0.460
In the examples that follow, we will take aluminum/air as the case of light fluid
loading and steel/water as the case of heavy fluid loading.
Line Loading of an Infinite Plate in a Fluid

Consider a single infinite sheet with fluid only on one side and impacted along a
narrow line. Spectral analysis assumes solutions in the form
ill = L wme-i~mx , ij = L qme-j~mx ,

m27r
~m==-
W
(7.15)
m m
The pressure has a similar representation, except that we must realize it is two-
dimensional:
(7.16)
m
Combining these with"the plate equations, we get
[D~~ - phw~ + iWnT/h]w m = qm - Pm
We need one more equation. This comes from the conditions at z = 0:
ap 2-
"""ih = PaW W,
where continuity of displacement between the plate and fluid is assumed.

The displacement of the plate is determined to be
- -j~mX
A()
W X = '~
" wme
- -i"'m x = '
~ " - - - - - =qm
e
-:.------::- (7.17)
m m D~4
P w2
_ phw2 + iw T/h + _a_
m n n -ik z
(a) (b)
L=100mm
x=O x=O
x=O.Sm
x=1.0m
x=1.0m --1'1111111111111111111
x=1.Sm x=1.5m
x=2.0m
" " I
o. 2000. 4000. 6000. 8000. o. 2000. 4000. 6000. 8000. 10000.
Figure 7.6: Time domain responses for the line loading of an infinite aluminum plate in air.
(a) Plate responses w(x, t), (b) fluid pressures p(x, z = L, t).
As with the case of a plate in a vacuum, q", is chosen to be 1.0 to represent a point
load at x = O. Figure 7.6 compares the w-velocity responses for an aluminum plate
in air and the resulting pressures 100 mm from the plate.
The plate responses look similar to those of the beam and plate encountered in
Chapters 3 and 6, respectively. The pressures, however, exhibit an unusual trailing
behavior. In addition, the period of the zero crossings is almost constant whereas
for the plate velocity they increase. Figure 7.7 compares the same responses but
in the frequency domain. The most striking feature of the pressure is the spectral
peak in the vicinity of 5 kHz - this corresponds to the coincidence frequency as
seen from Figure 7.3. The peak gets sharper further away from the impact site.
What we also notice is that the amplitudes in the vicinity below coincidence are
diminishing rapidly. This is seen through the exponential term
For a given wavenumber ~, low-frequencies are evanescent. This becomes even

more severe for the higher wavenumbers. Hence, at any given location, the pressure
response will be lacking in low-frequency content and be lacking information about
the shape of the applied load.
From an inverse problems point of view, this makes the acoustics problem very
difficult because it indicates that remote measurements are incapable of inferring
the source of the disturbance. This has given rise to an experimental area called
Near Field Holography [87] where an array of sensors is placed very close to the
vibrating surface so as to minimize the loss of information due the evanescing of
the waves.
7.3 Double Panel Systems 253
(a) (b)
L= 100mm
~
x=O x=O
~
±
x=O.5m x=O.5m
~
x=1.0m x=1.0m
x=1.5m x=1.5m
x=2.0m
I Freq [kHz]
~I, ,
x=2.0m
, ,I
III II II II I I II I, , ,I II I II I I II I I II IIII II
o. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. o. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14. 16.
Figure 7.7: Magnitude of the frequency domain responses. (a) Plate responses liww(x)l,
(b) fluid pressure lfi(x, z = L)I·
7.3 Double Panel Systems

Noise radiation is often reduced by the addition of a "trim panel", that is, a second
panel parallel to the source panel. We will consider a simple version of the problem
where the only coupling is through the fluid as indicated in Figure 7.8. This is the
analogous problem to that solved in Chapter 3 where the beams were connected by
distributed springs. The difference here is that the connecting medium has inertia
as well as stiffness.
plates: D, ph t
I
I W2
Lx
L fluid: B, Pa
t
t
I Wj
P
Figure 7.8: Geometry of the double plate system.
Line Loading Response

For simplicity, we take both plates as having identical properties. The equations
of motion for the two plates are, respectively,
q2 + p(z = L) (7.18)
254 Chapter 7. Structure-Auid Interaction
The pressure in the cavity has waves propagating in both z directions, hence we
represent it by
p(x, z) = L)Ame-ik,Z + iJme-ik,(L-z»)e-i~mX ,

m
We wish to concentrate on the plates for the moment, so we will remove the
pressure in the following manner. Assuming there is continuity of displacement
between plate and fluid, the momentum relation becomes
-
ap = PaW W
2 A
or
aZ
This can be particularized to both interfaces so as to solve for the coefficients in
terms of the displacements. That is,
{1} _
B
Pa w2 jik z
-1+e 2
[1 -e] {~l} ,
e -1 W2
We are now in a position to write the relation between the pressure on the two
plates in terms of the displacements
{ - p(O) } _
+p(L)
[-I e
This, in fact, is an acoustic spectral element in the sense that the pressures at the
generalized nodes (the location of the plates) are related only to the displacements
at these nodes. Also, the form of the matrix is identical to that of the spectral
element for the rod, Equation (5.6).
We complete the solution by adding this pressure to the equations of motion for
the plates to get
(7.19)
These can now be solved to get responses as shown in Figure 7.9.

Figure 7.9 compares the w-velocity responses for two aluminum plates separated
by an air gap of 100 mm (4 in.). The response of the first plate looks typical and
is almost identical to Figure 7.6. The second figure is much more interesting.
The response is much smaller (which is why double panels are often used for
noise suppression) but we see two quite separate effects. The first is an almost
nondispersive group that seems to get bigger the further it propagates. The other
is a low-frequency undulation. The nondispersive part is obviously related to the
pressure histories of Figure 7.6. The undulation is due to the development of a
coupled mode between the two plates quite similar to that of the antisymmetric
mode of the spring coupled beams in Chapter 3.
7.3 Double Panel Systems 255
(a) (b) L-100 mm
x-O
x=1.0m
x=1.5m
x-2.0m
, , , , , I " ,I"" I , , •••• I . , , , I , • , , I , , , , I
o. 2000. 4000. 6000. 8000. o. 5000. 10000. 15000. 20000.

Figure 7.9: Time domain responses for the double panel. (a) Impacted plate, (b) trim plate
magnified by 15.
Figure 7.10 compares the frequency domain response and again we see the
spectral peaks in the vicinity of 5 kHz for the trim panel. These peaks are not
as crisp as in the single plate case; it seems that the cavity resonances may be
contributing to this. To help bracket this effect, consider the case of rigid walls and
only plane waves propagating in the cavity. The resonance frequencies are given
by
NCa
IN - 2L ::::: 1.7, 3.4, 5.1, 6.8, ...
where the frequency is in kHz. These resonances are occurring in the vicinity of the
frequency range of interest as well as covering the coincidence frequency, hence
we now consider the effect of these resonances a little further.
Reverberation Analysis
The thrust of the analysis is to decompose the result of Equation (7.19) and thereby
help explain the features of Figures 7.9 and 7.10. We begin by noting that, without
approximation, we can write
1
-I +e2
[1+e 2
-2e
-2e ]
l+e 2 =-
[I
0
0]
I
2e [e
+ -1+e2 -I
The plate equations become
(a) (b) L = 100 mm
~_::5m ~x=0.5m
\~ x=1.0m ~X=1.0m
x=1.5m x=1.5m
x=.2.0m x=2.0m
1""1",,1,,,,1 ",1",,1 II I Freq [kHz) 1""1""1",,1,,,,1,,,,1, ,I ,,,1

O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14.
Figure 7.10: Frequency domain responses for the double panel. (a) Impacted plate, (b) trim
plate magnified by 10.
where
D.. = D~~ - (ai ph - iWl"/h) - PaW2/ ikz
We recognize the first matrix as describing uncoupled single plates with fluid
loading. The second matrix causes the reverberation where the acoustic wave
reflects multiple times inside the cavity.
Note that
1 2 4 e N +2 2 4
--=I+e +e +···+--~l+e +e + ...
l-e 2 l-e 2
where the approximation is most valid if there is some dissipative mechanism. We
can now write the reverberant pressures as
{ -~(O)}
+p(L) rev
= PaW22 [ e2
ikz -e
-e]
e2 (1 + e2 + e4 + ...) {WI}
W2
Look closer at the pressure on the first plate, for example,
-p(O) =
The interpretation is that W2, for example, causes a pressure wave which impinges
on the first plate after it travels a distance L; this is reflected and travels a further
distance of 2L before it impinges again. And the process continues. The factor
7.4 Waveguide Modeling 257
of "2" is important because it is the pressure if the plate were rigid, this is the
so-called blocked pressure previously mentioned. A similar interpretation is given
for the pressure on the second plate.
A final point that is worth noting is that there are two attenuation effects occurring
in the solution. Since all materials have some damping then the waves associated
with the longer reflection paths will eventually disappear. Second, any initially
localized disturbance will expand to occupy a greater and greater volume over the
reflection paths and therefore will diminish. A useful approximation, then, is to
assume that only the very first incident wave causes a fluid loading, that is, for our
double panel we have
{-
+p(L)
~(O) }
rev
:::::: Pa W2 2 [0
ik z -e
{
~e] ~21 }
This is the blocked pressure approximation. It must be realized that this approx-
imation is separate from the self-loading effect which is already included. The
blocked pressure is a useful approximation of the fluid loading when the fluid is
light or the structure is relatively stiff.
7.4 Waveguide Modeling

We saw in the other chapters that if we can replace the wavenumber transform
solution with a waveguide solution then that allows us to terminate the waveguide
and we are thus in a position to assemble complex structures. Our goal here is to
formulate the acoustics problem in terms of a waveguide; but while the effect of
the fluid loading is that of a distributed pressure, its nonlocal character makes it
different in many respects from the pressure caused by a distributed spring, say,
and hence we must invoke special procedures.
Investigation of Free Wave Response

To begin our construction of a plate waveguide, we ask if it is possible for free
waves to propagate in the plate immersed in a fluid. The spectral form for the
equations of motion for the plate and the fluid can be written as
d 4 ill(x) 2 A A
D - -4- - (phw - iw.,.,h)w(x) = -q(x, z = 0),

dx
Assume now a solution for the plate of the form ill = we- ikx which leads to the
pressure response of
_ Pa w2 _
p = ----;-k w,
-I z
It must be borne in mind that as long as k z is chosen as above then, irrespective

of the value of k, the fluid equations are satisfied. This leads to the characteristic
equation
(7.20)
The third term in the first equation describes the effect of the fluid loading. A
detailed explanation of the significance of each term in Equation (7.20) is given
by Crighton [22] and the roots of this characteristic equation have been studied
extensively in References [21,23,24].
With the presence of the fluid loading, an analytical solution to this characteristic
equation is not obvious. Figure 7.11 show contours of the characteristic equation
below and above the coincidence frequency. We see that it is dominated by four
roots. It is desired to identify the roots that correspond to the plate flexural and
evanescent waves.
2.0
1.5
1.0
.5
.0
-.5
-2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -.5 .0 .5 1.0 1.5 .5 -1.0 -.5 .0 .5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Figure 7.11: Contours of the characteristic equation at 5 kHz and 15 kHz for a steel plate
in water.
When the response of Equation (7.17) is viewed as a contour integral in the

complex planes of Figure 7.11, it has contributions from the poles and a contribu-
tion which arises from the branch cut associated with kz • This latter contribution is
most significant at impact points and comers [22]. By neglecting this contribution,
we would be in a position to replace the responses with just the pole contributions.
That is, we would have a waveguide representation. To quantify this contribution,
we consider the relatively large fluid loading case of the response of a 25 mm
thick steel plate in water. Figure 7.12 shows the responses with and without the
branch cut contribution. The agreement of the two solutions is good with some
!\
- - transform
- - waveguide
-------- no fluid
x=o
x=1m
x=2m
I , !
Time [f..LS] I
, , !
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000.

Figure 7.12: Comparison of the wavenumber transform solution to the waveguide solution
that neglects the branch cut contribution.
deviations occurring at the load site that are primarily in the low frequency range.
This is confirmed at the large x locations. We therefore conclude that in cases of
moderate fluid loading (and especially for aluminum plates in air), the branch cut
contribution can be neglected. Furthermore, the approximation is reasonable even
for steel in water if the responses away from the impact site are of interest.
It would be possible to include an approximate model for the branch cut contri-
bution, but that will not be pursued here.
Considering Equation (7.20), it can be noticed that if the fluid loading term is
set to zero, the characteristic equation of the plate in a vacuum is recovered. For
the vacuum response, the plate can be described in terms of two modes with the
corresponding spectrum relations given by
- [PhW 2 - i w1Jh ] 1/4 - . [Phw 2 - jWTJh ] 1/4

k\ = k2 =-1 (7.21)
D ' D
where kl corresponds to the propagating flexural wave and k2 corresponds to

an evanescent flexural wave as we have seen in Chapter 3. The plot of these
wavenumbers for plates of2.5 mm aluminum in air and 25.4mm steel submerged
in water can be found as the thin dashed lines in Figures 7.13 and 7.14, respectively.
A steel plate submerged in water is seen to exaggerate the effect of fluid loading
on the structure.
Solutions to the characteristic equation, found numerically as illustrated in Chap-
ter 4, are also shown in Figures 7.13 and 7.14 as circles. These figures indicate that
the fluid loading primarily has the effect of altering the imaginary part of the first
4.~---------------------------,
wavenumber, kh
3.
o exact
2.
real -approx'n
1.
···no fluid
O.t-----
-1.
real x400
-2.
imaginary x400
-3.
Freq [kHz]
4.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
O. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Figure 7.13: Wavenumber behavior for an aluminum plate in air. (Left) k 1 (w), (right) k2 (w ).
mode. We see that at coincidence and beyond, the effect is of increased viscous
damping -- this is consistent with the observation that the fluid is receiving more
of the energy at these frequencies. But otherwise the behavior is very similar to
the in vacuum behavior. That is, the pole contributions are associated with root k,
which corresponds predominantly to the propagating flexural wave, and with root
k2 which corresponds predominantly to an evanescent flexural wave.
There exists a third root to the characteristic equation that appears only above
the coincidence frequency, which is not seen in either of these plots. The possibility
of this root causing a structural wave is of interest and requires a more detailed
interrogation of the structure. The wavenumber transform solution for the impact of
a plate, as described in the previous section, is now used as a numerical experiment
to examine the effect of this third root. To make the wave more discernible, we
impact the plate with a force having a narrow-banded frequency range as shown
in Figure 1.7. The resulting waves disperse very slowly and the group behavior
of the waves are easier to observe. By inputting a force centered about a certain
frequency, a wave traveling at the corresponding group speed should be identifiable
if it exists.
The velocity responses for an input force centered about 15 kHz is shown in
Figure 7.15_ This figure is very interesting in that the presence of two waves can
be identified, one wave corresponds to the plate flexural wave mode and the other
corresponds to a wave traveling at the speed of sound in the fluid. Although the
fluid loading on the structure causes a third structural wave to be present, it can
be seen that this wave can only be distinguished at large distances with very large
magnification and only over a very narrow frequency range. It therefore seems
reasonable to neglect this wave in the modeling of connected structures. That is,
we assume there are two dominant structural waves resembling those for a structure
in a vacuum.
2.0--------------~
wavenumber, kh
o exact
-approx'n
.5
no fluid
-.5 real x10
-1.0
imaginary x10
-1.5
Freq [kHz) Freq [kHz)
-2.0 u........J..........J.............Lu..u.J............L.u.......J............L.u..u..L.........Ju......u u.......J...........J.........u.J............L.u.......J............L.u..u..L.........Ju......J................
O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14. 16. 18. 20D. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14. 16. 18. 20.
Figure 7.14: Wavenumber behavior for a steel plate in water. (Left) kj(w), (right) k2(W).
Modified Spectrum Relations

Making the assumption that there are only two dominant structural waves allows
us to obtain approximate analytical expressions for the roots of Equation (7.20).
The approximations can be determined by rewriting the characteristic equation in
the form
Notice that if the fluid loading term is set to zero, kl and k2 expressed in Equa-
tion (7.21) can be found from the terms inside the first and second set of brackets,
respectively. By assuming that the appropriate roots will also come from these
terms and using kl and k2 as the first guess, approximations for the exact roots can
be written as
1
1 PaW
kl ~ ± kzl == Jk?; - tV
f3 + 2Dikzlf3 2 '
1
2 PaW
k2 ~ ±i
f3 + 2Di kzlfJ2 ' kzl == Jk?, + f32 (7.22)
These approximate solutions for kl and kl are also plotted in Figures 7.13 and
7.14, respectively. There is very good agreement between the approximations and
the exact numerical roots over the entire frequency range including the region near
coincidence.
By incorporating the fluid loading term directly into the modified spectrum re-
lations, we are now in a position to replace the double summation wavenumber
transform solution by a single summation over frequency. This is useful when an
x=1m
x4 x=2m
x16 x=3m
x64 _~AA~~~AA" x=4m

-----------------------------vvV~~ijVvvv----------------
x256 x=5m ~~flA~~~~nA"

---------------wvvVV~ijWvv Time [j.1S]
I , , I ! , , , I
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000.
Figure 7.15: Response at large distances on the structure showing the presence of a wave
traveling at the sonic speed Ca ~ 1.5 km/s. Note the magnifications used.
enclosed structure is viewed as having two distinct regions; an interior region and
an exterior region. The interior region has loadings due to both the fluid and the
radiation from the vibration of other plates. However, the exterior region only ex-
periences loadings from the fluid. Using the modified spectrum relations, the fluid
loading for the exterior problem can be accounted for without considering the fluid
response. In this way, the solid/fluid interaction problem is partially decoupled.
We conclude this section by illustrating the difference the waveguide formulation
makes by reconsidering the example of the impact of an infinite plate.
Although we have solved essentially the same problem before in Chapter 3, we
will do it again in the new variables. The transverse displacement of an infinite
plate with two forward propagating waves are expressed as
w(x) = Ae-ik,x + Be- ik2X
where kl and k2 are the modified spectrum relations presented in Equation (7.22).
The boundary conditions for this problem are that at x = 0 the slope of the plate is
zero (ow/ox = 0) and the applied load is related to the shear by
J ~ ~ o3 W
--P=V=-D-
2 ox3
The response of the plate is then determined to be
W ~ (x ) = P [-ik,X
e - -kJe -ik2X] (7.23)
2DikJ (k~ - k~) k2
This solution is to be compared to that of Equation (7.17). The biggest difference
is that the present solution does not require the summation of m. The waveguide
responses of Figure 7.12 were computed using this solution.
It is clear that it is now possible to solve for the response of impacted finite
plates with a surrounding fluid.
7.5 Radiation from Finite Plates

When investigating the interior noise of a cabin, say, the response of the fluid,
in addition to that of the structure, is required. We are also interested in the fluid
response because it can be the source of an excitation on a different part of the
structure. Radiation of energy from the dynamically loaded plate was implicit in
the other sections, but here we wish to concentrate on the radiation from finite
plates. The geometry of our problem is shown in Figure 7.16.
fluid: B, Po Lx
plate: D, ph tp baffle
2L
Figure 7.16: Geometry of the finite plate of length 2L baffled to infinity.
Finite Plate Response

We write the general transverse displacement for the plate in the form
where A, B, C, and D are constants determined from the boundary conditions on

the segment. Also, by using the modified spectrum relations, we claim that this
adequately represents the behavior of a plate immersed in a fluid.
It is advantageous, when dealing with finite or multiply connected structures,
to use a solution formulation that already incorporates the connectivities - we
made use of this in Chapter 5 when developing the spectral element method. The
end conditions on the plate segment are
dw(L) ~
--=""2
dx
Solving for the coefficients in terms of the nodal degrees of freedom allows the
transverse displacement of the plate to be written in the form
(7.24)
The frequency dependent shape functions are given as

81(X) 'Ih l (x) + '2h2(X)]/ tl

82(X) 'lh 3(x) + '2h4(X)l! tl
83(X) 'lh 2(x) + '2hl(X)]/ tl, 'I = i(k l - k2)[1 - ele21 (7.25)
84(X) [-'lh 4(x) - '2h3(X)]/ tl, '2 = i(k l + k2)[1 - ele21
tl -,~ - ,i ' el = e-ik,L e2 = e- ik2L
where
hI (x) = +ik2 [e- ik ,x - e-ik2Le-ik,(L-X)] - ikl [e- ik2X _ e- ik ,L e -ik2(L-x)]

h2(X) = _ik2 [e-ik2L e -ik,x - e-ik,(L-x)] + ikl [e-ik, L e -ik2x _ e- ik2 (L-x)]
h3(X) = [e-ik,x + e-ik2Le-ik,(L-x)] _ [e- ik2X + e- ik ,L e -ik2(L-x)]
h 4(x) = [e-ik2Le-ik,x + e-ik,(L-x)] _ [e-ik,Le-ik2x + e- ik2 (L-x)]
These shape functions, when plotted, are very similar to those as depicted in
Figure 5.7 for the beam. Indeed, these become the shape functions for the Bernoulli-
Euler beam model when we consider thin plates in vacuum. Again, the shape
functions occur in pairs where 83 and g4 are the mirror images of gl and 82,
respectively.
The deflection of a semi-infinite plate can be written in a similar manner as
(7.26)
with
The complete description of this plate segment has now been captured in the two
nodal degrees of freedom WI and ~I.
As an example of using this procedure, consider the response due to the impact
of a finite aluminum plate in air. Treating only half of the plate, we have that
WI = W O , 1/11 = 0, W2 = 0, 1/12 = 0, and the shear relation! P = - V = Dwo"'. This
gives the solution
These responses are shown in Figure 7.17(a); the presence of multiple reflections
are obvious. Figure 7.18(a) shows the corresponding frequency domain behavior
where the reflections give rise to multiple spectral peaks.
Also shown in these figurs are the undamped resonance frequencies for the
vibrating plate. It is clear that the impact has excited many of the symmetric
modes of vibration. We will now look at how these vibrations are transmitted into
the fluid.
Time [Il.5]
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ~I~I~~I~I~I~I~I~,.,~,~,~I~,~,~~I~,~,~,~,~I
o. 2000. 4000. 6000, 8000. O. 2000. 4000, 6000. 8000. 10000.
Figure 7.17: Time domain responses for an impacted aluminum plate of length
2L = 500mm. (a) Plate responses w(x, t), (b) fluid pressures p(x, z = L, t).
Fluid Response from a Finite Plate

The challenge we have here is to match the motion of the finite plate to that
of the fluid. But the domain for the fluid is (at least) the half space z > 0 and
- 00 < x < 00 which is considerably larger than the length of the plate. Therefore,
to match the plate and fluid boundaries, we must extend the plate boundary in the
x direction. If the finite plate is baffled, that is, extended on both sides with very
stiff material, then the displacements can be matched by imposing w = 0 outside
of the finite plate. We will assume that this can always be done even if the plate is
not physically baffled but is attached to other plate segments.
At the surface of the plate, z = 0, the fluid displacement must be equal to the
plate displacement. This response in the fluid has the spectral representation
w(x, z) = L Wme-ik,ze-i~mx ,
m
By extending the plate deflection over the full space window of the fluid, we can
then give it the spectral representation
W(x) = L wme-il;m x
m
Applying this to the shape functions gives
(7.27)
o resonance, sym
• resonance, anti-sym
x=O x=O z=L
x-O.25L x-L z=L
x=O.50L x=2L z=L
x=0.75L x=2L z=O

~o.o. 0.0. 0 • 0 • 0 • 0 • 0 ...,.0.0.0.0. 0 • 0 • 0 • 0 • 0
Freq [kHz]
1 .~......, .......
u...~,~,.L. I""~,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,-,'..J.I~,...
, ....
' ,...I~,~,...
, '-',1 1
...,....,~,~,.L.I~',....,~,.l..I.....
, '~'..LI~,.....
' '~'..J.I....
,~,.....'ul.....
, .... ,.........J
,~,..J,lu,.....
o. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14.
Figure 7.18: Frequency domain responses for an impacted plate of length 2L = 500 mm.
(a) Plate responses liww(x)l, (b) fluid pressure lfi(x, z = L)I.
where
8jm = Lgj(x)e-i~mXdx
These integrals are easily evaluated; indeed we need only replace the exponential
terms of hj (x) in Equation (7.25) with
II = lL e-ikIXe-i~mXdx = i(e-ikILe-i~mL - l)/(';m +k 1)
h = lL e-jk2xe-j~mxdx = i(e-jk2Le-i~... L - l)/(';m + k2)
13 = lL e-jkl(L-x)e-i~mXdx = i(e-i~mL - e-ikIL)/(';m - k l )
14 = lL e-ik2(L-x)e-i~mxdx = i(e-i~mL - e- ik2L )/(';m - k 2 ) (7.28)
We have assumed that the shape functions gj(x) are zero outside the length of the
plate element; this is equivalent to assuming each finite plate segment is baffled to
infinity. The continuity of Wi and Vti between plate segments ensure continuity of
the fluid field. In the case of the semi-infinite plate segment, the displacement only
consists of the terms WI and .(j,1, then only the first two integrals II and h need be
evaluated. Furthermore, letting L --+ 00 gives the integrals as I j = i/(';m + k j ).
In piecing together the solution, we treat the plate as having two segments with
the boundary conditions
This leads to the solution for the fluid displacement written in terms of the central
deflection of the plate as
w(x, z) = Wo L [K3me-ig",(X+L) + Klme-i~mX] e-ik,z

m
Note that the representation for the first plate segment must be shifted an amount
L. The pressure is given by
The pressure responses for the fluid can be seen in Figure 7.17 for a baffled alu-
minum plate in air. Similar to the plate response, these responses indicate the
presence of multiple reflections occurring in the plate. This figure also indicates
that the baffled finite plate not only excites the fluid directly in front of it but also at
a distance along the baffle. The pressure at x = 2L, z = 0 is nonzero even though
the plate is baffled at that location - this is further indication that, in fluids, the
relation between the pressure and displacement is nonlocal. This, perhaps, is seen
even more clearly in Figure 7.1 which shows the 2-D pressure distribution at 1 kHz.
The frequency domain depiction of these responses is shown in Figure 7.18.
The structural resonances again appear as spectral peaks. It can be seen that the
frequencies at which the structural resonances were present in Figure 7.18 are read-
ily transmitted into the fluid. Intuitively, we might have thought that the response
should be largest along a line normal to the plate. The responses shown in these
plots indicate that this is not so. Furthermore, the directivity plot of Figure 7.19
shows that the direction of maximum pressure is even frequency dependent.
10kHz
5kHz
1kHz
500Hz
100Hz
Figure 7.19: Directivity patterns for impacted finite plate. Also shown are the plate shapes
at each frequency.
To help explain the situation, we will now look at a far-field approximation to

the previous results. We take this opportunity to introduce the method of stationary
phase as a means of approximating the integrals often occurring in spectral analysis.
Far-field Approximation
The pressure response can be written in the fonn
Consider the situation when W(O is somewhat broad banded, then the integral
is most affected by the exponential tenn. Since the exponential tenn is oscillatory,
most of the contribution to the integral comes from where the phase has a minimum
value since at large phase they will tend to self-cancel. Approximate the phase in
that vicinity as
We use the assumption that the first derivative is zero to detennine the wavenumber
i:
~o where the phase has a stationary value. The integral then becomes
p(x, z) ~ W(~)e-i(<t>v+<t>~~' d~ =
(2) /fifW(~(})e-i[<t>(~o)+7T(4J
with the stipulation that <P/(~O) = O. This approximation is the method of Stationary
Phase. It is generally accurate in the large phase region which means asymptotically
large time or asymptotically large distances. See References [56, 66] for more
details on its application.
Specializing the method to our case, we have
where we have introduced cylindrical coordinates. Setting the first derivative to

zero gives
2
" -r W - (") PaW
<Po = . 2 () = W <;0 'k . A..
ka sm ¢ -I asm'l'
These are the values of wavenumber that will tend to make the phase a minimum
value and hence give the main contribution of the integral. Substituting these into
the integral approximation then gives
~(} = ka cos¢
This interesting result shows that the far-field pressure depends on angle only
insofar as w(~o) depends on the angle. For example, suppose that the displacement
shape is that of a rectangle, then we have the angle dependence of the pressure
given by
_ sin(~o) sin(kaL cos ¢)
w(~o) = - - = -'---'--
~oL kaL cos¢
Realizing that ka = W / c u , we see that the angle would change dramatically as the
frequency is changed.
Figure 7.19 shows the directivity patterns at a number of frequencies; the near
field behavior was computed from the full solution with r = 2L. It is clear that
these patterns are very sensitive to direction when the frequency gets close to
coincidence. Also shown are the deflected shapes of the plate at each frequency.
These shapes indicate an almost sinusoidal plate deflection except at the center
and edges - these are the points of significant radiation.
7.6 Cylindrical Cavity

Our final acoustic example looks at the case where the fluid is completely sur-
rounded by the structure. The simplest such structure is a circular cylinder; we
look at it because it also gives another illustration of the use of Bessel functions.
The geometry of our problem is shown in Figure 7.20.
2R
Figure 7.20: Geometry of a circular cylinder containing a fluid.
Pressure Field
With reference to Figure 7.20, we expect a variation of pressure in the hoop (or
e) direction when a general load is applied. The Helmholtz equation in cylindrical
coordinates is
a2 I a 1 a2 ] ~ 2~
[ -a 2 + --a + -2 ae 2 P +kaP = 0
r r r r
Let the pressure be represented by a Fourier series in the hoop direction, that is,
p(r, 0) = L Pm(r) cos(mO)

m
Then the amplitudes are given by
The Bessel functions of the second kind, Ym, approach infinity at the origin r = 0
hence for this particular problem we will take B = O. Note, however, that if we
were looking at the exterior problem then we would take B = -iA so that the
solution is a Hankel function that coincides with an outward propagating wave.
The pressure and displacements in the fluid are represented by
p(r, 0) = L Am1m(kar)cos(mO), ur(r, tJ) = L ur(r) cos(mtJ)

m m
As we have done before, we wish to express the coefficient Am in terms of the

boundary displacement. In general, we have
ap 2~
a;: = PaW Ur or
m m
Let the displacements be specified at r = R and be indicated by u~, then" we have
The pressure and displacements are now represented by
In these, the pressure and displacement are written in terms of the single function
u~ which is the radial displacement of the outer shell. We can therefore interpret
the displacement expression as a shape function relation. The contours of some of
these shape functions are shown in Figure 7.21. These contours help visualize the
standing wave that is established inside the cylindrical cavity.
Shell Response
We looked at the response of curved plates in Chapter 6; we now adapt these
equations to the complete cylindrical shell. This will be straight-forward since
we are assuming there is no variation in the (global) axial y direction. Replacing
s = RO and making the associations U r = -W, UIJ = U we get that the equations
are essentially the same as for the beam - only the effective material properties
change. That is,
Figure 7.21: Contours of displacement u(r, 8) at 3 kHz.
- - d2u - dw - d 3w 2
(E + D ) - - E - + D - + phw U
d(J2 d(J d(J3
- d 4w - - du - d 3u
2
D - - + Ew + D - - E - - phw W
d(J4 d(J3 d(J
qr - p(r ~ R) (7.29)
where we have used the definitions

- Eh
E = --.,,-----:-
- (1 - v2)R2 '
The cylinder radius R appears explicitly only in these material properties.

Since we want to match the displacement around the boundary of the structure
with that of the fluid, represent the displacement as a Fourier series in the same
form as done for the pressure. That is, let
u(r, (J) = L u sin(m(J) ,

m w(r, (J) = L wm cos(m(J)
m m
The system of equations to be solved is then assembled as
Substituting for the pressure, get
[
-(E + D)m 2 + phw2
- - 3 - 4 -
Em + Dm 3 2
PaW J(kaR)
2
]{ Um }
- =
{qo}
-
- Em - Dm Dm + E - phw - Wm qr
kaJ'(kaR)
Consider the case where there is only a normal applied load qr = q, ql! ~ 0, the
solution is obtained directly by use of Cramer's rule. The two displacements are
" (Em + Dm 3 )
u(r, (J) - ~ Il qm sin(m(J)
" -(E + D)m 2 + phw 2 _
w(r, (J) ~ Il qm cos(m(J)
where the system determinant is
These displacements can be reconstructed in the usual manner. We will leave this
to the next chapter where the variation in the axial direction is accounted for. What
is of more direct interest here is the role of the fluid loading as it affects the cylinder
in comparison to its effect on the infinite plate and the two parallel plates.
Fluid Loading
This is our third generic fluid loading geometry. The relevant equation in each case
is:
single:
parallel:
cylinder:
Some reinterpretation of parameters needed to be done is order to make the com-

parisons with the infinite plate. For the two parallel plates we take W2 = 0 and
W = 2rr R, L = 2R. For the cylinder we take u = Uo = 0 and ~ = m/ R. All three
have the common [D~4 - phui] term. The shell has the added elastic constraint
effect of E* but this is unrelated to the fluid. In fact, if there is no fluid, then
the three equations are very similar. We expect the cylinder to exhibit resonances
but where does this enter these equations? We must keep in mind that the infinite
plates are represented over a space window W that is very large but the cylinder
has W = 2rr R that is relatively small. The waves coming from the neighboring
windows causes the resonances.
We have a hierarchy of pressure contributions given by
2 1
single: PaW --:--k
I z
1 + e- i2k ,L
parallel: p w 2 _ _ _ _,...,---_
a ikz(l _ e- i2k,L)
2 J(kaR)
cylinder:
PaW kaJ'(kaR)
In each case k z = Jk~ - ~~, ~m = m2rr / W. The variation of these pressure contri-
butions against frequency are shown in Figure 7.22 for a few values of wavenumber
~m'
- infinite
...... parallel
-cylinder
~~~~F~~~~~~
Freq [kHz]
o. 5. 10. 15. 20. 30.
Figure 7.22: Comparison of pressure contributions from infinite plate, two parallel plates,
and the circular cylinder.
To further elaborate on the plots, look just at the portion of the pressure term
that is specifically different. We have
single:
parallel:
cylinder:
The second form in each case corresponds to the appropriate expansion of k z • For
each m, a frequency spectrum of k z goes through zero once. For the parallel plates
this occurs where
When m = 0, this corresponds to the characteristic equation for the free vibrations
of the fluid with free boundaries. Similarly, the zeros occur for the cylinder when
When m = 0, this corresponds to the characteristic equation for the free vibrations
of the fluid with free boundaries, and as m -+ 00 it corresponds to the free
vibrations of the fluid with fixed boundaries. Note that there are nO spectral peaks
for frequencies such that
ka <; or w < 2rrmca/W
where W is the space window. At these frequencies. the pressure waves are evanes-
cent.
Although we only focused on the pressure contribution of the fluid loading.
this example serves to demonstrate the rather complicated interaction between the
wave phenomena and the structural dynamics that can occur in coupled structural
systems.
Problems
7.1 Show that the far -field pressure radiated from a piston of radius a is
• 2 iiJJ 1(kaa sin 0) e- ikaT
P = PaW .
kaa smO r
7.2 Show that the far-field pressure radiated from a point loaded infinite plate is
• 2 iiJ cosO
p(r, 0) = PaW - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , - -
1 - ikah(P/Pa)cosO[1- (W/Wc)2sin4 0)

7.3 Consider the I-D problem of a spring mounted piston sliding in a tube of
radius a and terminated by a rigid closure. Show that the relation between a
force acting on the piston and the displacement is
A • A
P = Iwu[1l'a]
2[ -iPaca
2 k L +
i(wZM - K)]
(2)2
1l'a tan a W 1l'a

7.4 Show that the asymptotic response of a line loaded plate in a fluid has the
branch cut contribution
P e- i [ka x-lr/4J
tDB(X) ~ - - = - - - ; ; - -
PaC~...fii (ka x )3a

7.5 Consider a plane wave incident on a rigid cylinder of radius R. Show that the
scattered pressure is
"( £I) "~ (.)m J~(kaR)Hm(kar) £I
p r, U = Pi ~ Em I H:"(ka R ) COS mu

7.6 Consider the effect of shell elasticity on the scattering of plane waves.
8
Thin-Walled
Structures
The thin-walled structures of interest in this chapter are generally enclosed regions,
as typified by an aircraft fuselage. They are modeled as combinations of folded
plates and cylindrical shell segments as shown in Figure 8.1. Other examples of
structures which fall into this category include plates with stringers, corrugations,
channels, ducts, troughs, open and closed thin-walled tubes with one or more cells.
As pointed out in Chapter 5, the only way to efficiently handle problems with
complicated boundaries and discontinuities is to develop a matrix methodology
for use on a computer. The approach we use here is similar to that of the spec-
tral element method developed in Chapter 5 for the waveguide analysis; how-
ever, for the present extended structures, the stiffness is established in the fre-
quency/wavenumber domain.
The method to be developed has much in common with the finite strip methods
of Cheung [14] and Eterovic and Godoy [49]. There are significant differences,
however. Our elements use the exact dynamic solution and hence have the advan-
tage that there is no restriction on size or frequency range - they are not strip
elements.
Figure S.l: Complex multicelled thin-walled structure modeled as a collection of flat and
curved extended elements.
275
276 Chapter 8. Thin-Walled Structures
8.1 Membrane Spectral Elements

The in-plane or membrane response of the thin plate is essentially that as developed
in Chapter 4 with a change of effective modulus since the thin-walled structures be-
have in plane stress instead of plane strain. Much of the developments follows by
analogy with Chapter 5, hence we will emphasize only those aspects that are dif-
ferent. The geometry of a typical extended element is shown in Figure 8.2. More
details are found in References [108, 110].
Figure 8.2: Degrees of freedom for a flat element.
Shape Functions
The Helmholtz potentials for both symmetric and anti symmetric loadings are given
as
<l>nm(X, y)
Hznm(x, y)
m
(8.1)
where L is the length of the element as shown in Figure 8.2, and k p and ks are the
wavenumbers as given in Chapter 4. The displacements u and v, therefore, have
spectral representations with the kernels
Unm(X, ~m, w n) + [_Anme-iklnmX + Bnme-iklnm(L-X)] ik 1nm

± [+Cnme-ik2nmX + Dnme-ik,nm(L-X)] ~m
± [-Anm e-iklnmX _ B nm e-iklnm(L-X)] ";tm
t
+ [+C nm e -ik2nmX - Dnm e- ik2,,,,,(L-X)] z'k2nm (8.2)
where the ± correspond to choosing either the symmetric or antisymmetric terms,

respectively. It is noticed that these signs are associated with the ~ term, hence we
will drop the ± and it need only be necessary to make the change ~ -+ -~ as
appropriate. The subscripts n and m are cumbersome to carry along. therefore in
the subsequent developments these will be dropped; their presence will be inferred
from the tilde.
To get the shape functions. we replace the above coefficients with the frequency
and wavenumber dependent generalized nodal degrees of freedom U I. VI. U2. and
V2. Although we have only four coefficients. we have two functions and this results
in two sets of shape functions. These can be arranged as
u(x) 8r(X)UI + 8~(x)vl + 8~(X)U2 + 8~(X)V2

Vex) (8.3)
The frequency and wavenumber dependent shape functions for the two-noded
element are significantly more complicated than those we have looked at before
and are given as
8r(x) = ikJ"z;] (x) + ~h;;(x). (8.4)
where the functions ht are

hll (x) +ik2 [(e2/1 + !z)e-ik,x ± (e2!z + II)e- ik ,(L-x)1/Ll
h 21 (x) +~ [(edl - !z)e-ik,x ± (e2!z - II)e-ik,(L-x)]/ Ll
h31 (x) -ik2 [(e2!z + II)e-ik,x ± (e2/1 + !z)e-ik,(L-x)]/Ll
h41 (x) -~ [(e2!z - II)e-ik,x ± (e2/1 - !z)e-ik,(L-x)]/ Ll
(8.5)
hl2(x) -~ [(el II + !z)e- ik2X ± (el!z + II )e- ik2 (L-X)]/ Ll
h22 (x) -ikl [(edl - !z)e- ik2X ± (ed2 - II )e- ik2 (L-x)]/ Ll
h32 (X) +~ [(ed2 + lI)e-ik,x ± (edl + !z)e- ik2 (L-x)]/ Ll
hdx) -ikl [(ed2 - lI)e- ik2X ± (edl - !z)e- ik2 (L-x)1/ Ll
and
II = (klk2 - 52)(el - e2). !z = (klk2 + 52)(1 - ele2)
Ll == I? - If. el = e- ik , L. e2 = e- ik2L
Figure 8.3 illustrates the wavenumber dependence of the shape functions where
5 = 2n m / W and W = 4 m. The shape functions occur in pairs where 83 and 84 are
the mirror images of 81 and 82. respectively. Note that as m increases each shape
function exhibits behavior localized to the node. This occurs because both kl and
k2 are complex for large m as illustrated in Figure 6.5.
Working in the analogous way. we get for the semi-infinite plate
(8.6)
where
[k l k 2e- ik ,x + 52e-ik2X1/ Ll • 8~(X) = ik l 5[e- ik ,x - e- ik2X 1/ Ll
[klk2e-ik2X + 52e-ik,x]/ Ll , 8r(x) = ik25[e-ik2X - e-ik,x]/Ll
_ klk2 +5 2 (8.7)
1.
". -m=O
\ •... •.... m=100
....•.•.
-m=200
\
". \
\
'.'.'.'.
'.'. ·····m=300
\
g1
.
~\ g2
.............................. '.'
~~• .lJ
o. ••••
.------:c~=---=...........- - r~....................................
". .~ . . . . . . ". g1x2
~,............·-;:~-....pos~ion (xlL]
I, , , , I , , , , I , , , , I , , , , I !, , , .! ' , , , I " ' , !, , " I , , , , !, , , , I , , , , I " , , I , , , , I " ' , I
o. 2. 4. 6. 8. O. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Figure 8.3: Membrane shape functions at 5 kHz. At left is g"(x) and at right g"(x),
We reiterate the significance of the shape functions is that they allow the complete
dynamic description of the element to be captured entirely in terms of the nodal
degrees of freedom - the functions themselves are used to interpolate (exactly)
between the nodes.
Dynamic Stiffness Relations

With the representation of the displacements established in terms of the nodal
degrees of freedom. it is now a straightforward task of differentiation in order to
get the stresses and nodal tractions.
We begin with the two noded element. The spectral representation of the normal
and shear stresses (o-xx. o-YY' and o-xy) are found from the displacements. the strain-
displacement relations. and the constitutive relations. The unit normals at Node 1
are nx ~ -1. ny ~ 0 and at Node 2 are nx ~ 1. ny = O. thereby giving the relation
between the nodal forces per unit length and stresses as
-o-xxlh. Nxx2 = o-xx2h

-o-xy1h. N xy 2 = o-xy2h
These play the role of nodal loads.

The nodal displacements are related to the generalized nodal forces through the
frequency and wavenumber dependent dynamic element stiffness matrix
(8.8)
where now the dynamic stiffness matrix [knm ] is of size [4 x 4]. is complex and
symmetric, and can be written as
(8.9)
where the individual stiffness terms are explicitly
J.Lh ~m [~~ - ~;ki + 2k~kn ZIIZ21

:h
il nm
kJ4 2~mklk2k~ [e- ikIL Z22 - e- ik2L z22]
k13 :hnm
2ik2k~ [klk2e-ik2Lz21 + ~;e-ik2Lzl1]
k24 :hnm
nm
2iklk~ [klk2e-ik2LzlI + ~;e-ikILz2d
The determinant quantity il nm is
il nm = 2~;klk2[4e-ikILe-ik2L - Z12Z22] - [k;ki + ~~]Zl1Z21

Zjl = 1 - e-2ikjL , Zj2 = 1 + e-2ikjL
A very interesting aspect of this matrix is that it has a form (in terms of repetition
of entries) similar to that of the spectrally formulated beam element of Chapter 5.
This comes about essentially because both the beam and the 2-D membrane have
two degrees of freedom per node.
Figure 8.4 shows the frequency and wavenumber dependence of the diagonal
stiffnesses. Note that the higher m give significantly larger stiffnesses and that
significant "resonant" behavior is only seen at the lower m values. This is consistent
with the behavior of the shape functions.
The one noded or throw-off element is treated in the same way. The unit normals
at Node 1 are nx = -1, ny = 0 thereby giving the relation between the nodal loads
(per unit length) and stresses as
(8.10)
Substituting for the stresses (using the expressions of Section 4.1), we eventually
get the relationship between the nodal loads and nodal displacements as
~m[2~; + 2klk2 - k~]

(8.11)
iklk~
10.[1~
1............•............•..
k11 m=200 k22

Frequency [kHz]
I , I .
O. 5. 10. 15. O. 5. 10. 15. 20.
Figure 8.4: Dynamic stiffnesses normalized as kll /[Eh/ L(1 - v 2 )] and k 22 /[Gh/ L], re-
spectively.
This is written in shorthand as
where [k nm ] is a [2 x 2] dynamic stiffness matrix. It is symmetric and complex.

Each stiffness shows a significant imaginary contribution. Furthermore, the
throw-off element does not exhibit a resonant behavior. This element recovers
the solution for the half plane [108]; the Rayleigh wave behavior which might
have been thought to be in the above enters into the relation only after solving for
the displacements.
Boundary Conditions and Loads

The boundary conditions are implemented by the partitioning of the system ma-
trices. Some typical boundary conditions at Node 1 are, for example, the fixed
boundary condition:
UI = VI = 0
the free boundary condition:
and the normal load boundary condition:

N.ul S(y)P(t)
[!a +~amcos(~mY)+ ~bmSin(~mY)] [tJ\e

o iwt
]
Nt.' I 0 (8.12)
The last condition corresponds to an arbitrary normal loading with S(y) represent-
ing a spatial variation of the load having the Fourier coefficients am, bm, and P(t)
the time variation of the load with the Fourier coefficients fin.
Simple Example
As a simple example. we will consider the response of an infinite sheet subjected
to a concentrated load. This is a problem whose solution can be represented in
many forms - it is instructive to see how it relates to the element approach.
We conceive of the infinite sheet as made of two semi-infinite elements sharing
common uland VI displacements along the axis x = O. To help in understanding
the assemblage process, consider a Node 2 at x = +00 and a Node 3 at x = -00.
The stiffness relations for each element is
{
-
Nxxl
N xyl
}12 ~m[2~~ + 2klk2 - k~J
ik)k~ ]{~: }
{ fo!.xxl
-
N xy1
} 13 -~m[2~~ + 2klk2 - k~]
iklk~ ]{~: }
The negative off-diagonal term comes about because the second element is rotated
1800 about the y axis. (The effect of orientation is developed more formally later
in this chapter.) The assemblage process is simply a matter of imposing nodal
eqUilibrium. In this case, of course, we are dealing with a generalized node. but
the process is completely equivalent to what was done in Chapter 5. We need
balance of both the x and y loads, that is.
_ { !f.XX) } 12 _ { !f.xXI } 13 + { N!.x = P } = 0

N.ryl N xyl Py = 0
Substituting for the stiffness relations we get
~ [2!~~~ 2i~k~ ] { ~: } = { ~ }
This gives the solution
_ .6.-
Ul = P VI = 0
2J.Lhi k2k~ ,
This is a result obtained by Lamb [72]. It is surprising that the V displacement
along x = 0 is zero.
The actual responses are reconstructed by using the double summation. Rather
than do that, consider the response at an arbitrary position. Using the shape func-
tions and nodal solution. we get
£lex, y) E ~ [klk2e-iklx + ~2e-iklX] cos~my

m
V(x. y) = E ~ [-ik2~e-iklx + ik2~e-ik2x]sin ~my

m
If we now replace the functions of y with their exponential fonn, then we can write
the radial displacement for the first mode as
We can put this in a fonn suitable for approximating the far field by the method of
stationary phase (this approximation was developed in Chapter 7) as
"r(X, z) =
roo \{I(~)e-i<l>(~) d~
Loo
Specializing the method to our case, we have
\II =
where we have introduced cylindrical coordinates. Setting the first derivative of

the phase to zero gives
~o = k p sin 9 ,
and the integral approximation is then
",(r, 9) ~ -i Pcos 9
2(2J.t + J..)h
J
2n e- i [k,.r+lTj 41
kpr
This shows that the displacement diminishes as 1/,.;r in the far-field - a conclu-
sion we also drew for the flexural behavior of an infinite sheet subjected to a point
load.
8.2 Spectral Elements for Flexure

We summarize the development of flexural plate elements. Unlike the case of
the in-plane behavior where there are two displacement functions, we can use a
single function to represent the transverse displacement. Nonetheless, there are two
degrees of freedom at each edge and therefore the results are quite similar to those
of the membrane case. More details can be found in References [26, 27, 28, 30).
Displacement Representation
The general spectral solution for the dynamic response of the plate in vacuum can
be written as
W (x ,
A
~
y) = L..-m [Amne-ik,x + Bmne-ik2X (8.13)
where the wavenumbers are given by
f34 = (phw2 - iTJhw)/ D
The subscripts m and n are understood on the wavenumbers kJ and k2, and L
is introduced to associate the reflections coming from a boundary at x = L. For
convenience, most of the subsequent expressions will omit the summation and
omit the m and n subscripts; both of these will be implied.
Since the acoustic problem is also of interest, we will just briefly describe here
how fluid loading can be incorporated into the response of plates. Developing
a full matrix formulation for the acoustic problem in finite enclosed structures
is beyond the intended scope of this book. The primary difficulty is associated
with the multiple radiation loadings and we would need to develop an appropriate
"bookkeeping" scheme to keep track of the various loadings. The problem is com-
pounded because the various radiating surfaces are at different angles. What we
will show here, however, is that the fluid loading effect itself can be incorporated
by simply modifying the spectrum relation. The solutions are then valid for the
exterior problem where the fluid is on the "outside" of the structure and acts to
conduct energy away from the structure.
By utilizing the general equation of motion for the plate element presented in
Equation (6.14) and replacing the loading in terms of the pressure, a characteristic
equation similar to that of Equation (7.20) can be determined as
kZ =Jp-p_C2
a Sm
Proceeding as we did in Chapter 7, modified spectrum relations to incorporate

fluid loading into the structural response are determined to be
(8.14)
where the fluid wavenumbers are
These are very easy to incorporate into the structural response. In the subsequent
developments, we take that kJ and k2 are general enough to handle these cases.
Shape Functions
First consider the throw-off element with C = D = O. The end conditions require
that
The constants A and B can be rewritten in terms of the nodal displacement WI and
rotation {J x I. Doing this, we can therefore rewrite the displacements in the form
(8.15)
The functions 8i(X) are the frequency dependent plate shape functions and are
given by
(8.16)
The complete description of this element has now been captured in the two nodal
degrees of freedom W1 and {JI'
The development of the two-noded element, shown in Figure 8.2, follows along
the same lines. The end conditions on the element are
dw(O) - dw(L) -
w(O) = WI, ~ =1/F\, w(L) = W2, -- = 1/F2
dx
Solving for the coefficients in terms of the nodal degrees of freedom allows the
transverse displacement to be written in the form
(8.17)
The frequency and wavenumber dependent shape functions for the two-noded
element are significantly more complicated than those for the throw-off element
and are given as
8\(X) [r\h\(x) + r2h2(x)]/ ~
82(X) [r\ h 3(x)+ r2h4(x)]/ ~
(8.18)
83(X) [r\h 2(x) + r2 h l(x)]/ ~
- -
84(X) = -[r1h4(x) + r2h3(x)]/ ~, ~ = r? - r}
where
h\ (x) ik 2 [e- ik ,X - e2e-ik,(L-x)] - ik1 [e-ik,X - e\e-ik,(L-x)]
h 2(x) -ik2 [e2 e - ik ,x - e-ik,(L-x)] + ikl [e\e-ik,x _ e-ik,(L-X)]
h 3(x) [e-ik,x + e2 e - ik ,(L-x)] _ [e-ik,x + e\e-ik,(L-x)]
h 4(x) [e2 e - ik ,x + e-ik,(L-x)] - [e\e-ik,x + e-ik,(L-x)]
and
r1 =i(k2-kl)[1-e1e2L r2=i(k2+k\)[el-e2]
e1 = e-ik,x, e2 = e-ik,x
Functionally, these are the same shape functions used in describing the beam
waveguide behavior; the difference is that the wavenumbers k1 and k2 have a
dependence on l; .
Figure 8.5 illustrates the wavenumber dependence of the shape functions. The
shape functions occur in pairs where 83 and 84 are the mirror images of 81 and
82, respectively. Note that the higher m tend to give distributions localized to the
node.
1
-m=O
.... -m=100
-m=200
·····m=300
g1
g2
position [X/L]
I. • I , I I. . I I. I.
"
o. 2. 4. 6. 8. o. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10.
Figure 8.5: Shape functions gi(X) (left) and their derivatives (right) for a plate in flexure at
1 kHz.
Dynamic Stiffness Relations

The throw-off element is a semi-infinite plate and has only one node or straight
boundary. Extemalloads may be applied only at edges so the interior of a throw-off
element will only experience incident waves coming from the node.
The process of obtaining the stiffness relation is simply that of differentiation
to obtain the bending moments and shear forces on the edges. First, moment and
shear expressions as given by the boundary condition expressions are expanded by
replacing w(x, y) with the spectral representation of Equation (8.17). This leads
to
(8.19)
This is a dynamic stiffness relationship between the loads applied at the edge of a
semi-infinite plate, and the deflections along this edge.
The process to obtain the stiffness relation for the double noded element is the
same as for the throw-off element and leads to
(8.20)
The matrix [k] is the dynamic plate element stiffness matrix; its individual terms
are
kll D {-k l k2[k; - k~][rIZ22 + r2Z2Jl} / /j.

k12 D {-iklk~1 [rIZI! + r2Z12] + ik2k~2[rIZI1 - r2Z12l} / /j.
k13 D {-kl k2[k; - k~][rIZ21 + r2Z22]} / /j.
kl4 D {-iklk~1 [r1Z12 + r2ZII] - ik2k~2[rIZI2 - r2ZII]} If).

k22 D {-[ki - k~][rIZ22 - r2Z2I1} If).
k24 D {-[kf - k~][rlZ21 - r2ZI2]} If).
k23 -kI4 , k33 = kll , k34 = -kl2 , k44 = k22

f). r2 _ r2
2 I
rl i(k2 - k l )[1 - e-ikILe-ik2L], r2 = i(k2 + kd[e-ik,L - e- ik2L ]
and
ZII
1_ e-ik,Le-ik2L, ZI2 = e- iklL _ e- ik2L
Z22 1 + e-ikILe-ik2L , Z21 = e- ik1 L + e-ik,L
The wavenumber combinations dependent on Poisson's ratio are given by
Notice that [k] is a symmetric complex [4 x 4] matrix. This matrix relates applied
forces and moments along the edges to transverse displacement and rotation there.
Figure 8.6 shows the variation of the two main diagonal terms as a function of
frequency. The main point to note is that the number of spectral peaks diminish as
m is increased. This is in keeping with the idea that the plate stiffens as m increases.
-m=O
.... ·m=50
-m=100
m=150
10
k11 k22
Frequency [kHz]
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
O. 5. 10. 15. O. 5. 10. 15. 20.

Figure 8.6: Dynamic stiffness for kll /(12D/ L 3 ) andk22 /(4D/ L) for different values of m.
8.3 Folded Plate Structures

This section reviews the manner in which a 3-D plate structure is treated globally.
Since much of the development in this section is taken, by analogy, from that in
8.3 Folded Plate Structures 287
Chapter 5 we concentrate mainly on establishing the notation and meaning of the

participating terms. Again, a point to bear in mind is that the spectral analysis
approach essentially replaces the dynamic problem with a series of pseudo-static
problems and, from this point of view, the assemblage process is therefore identical
to that of the static case. The folded plate structures of interest are joined along
common edges as illustrated in Figure 8.7.
Figure 8.7: Assemblage of 3-D folded plate elements. The complete connection edge is a
generalized node.
Member Stiffness Matrix Referred to Global Axes

Plates of unequal thickness, stiffness, and viscous damping may be joined along
common edges by merely summing together the dynamic stiffness matrices [k] for
different elements into a global stiffness matrix [K]. To join the membrane and
flexural elements, we introduce nodal load and degree of freedom vectors with
respect to local coordinates as
- ... -
{Nxxl , Nxyl, Vxzl,
- - - --
kln l ; N xx2 , N xy2 , V z2, kl x2}
{~I' ~I' WI, J, xl; ~2' ~2' W2, J, x2}
We then have the combined element stiffness relation as
where [ k ] is an [8 x 8] matrix. The terms of [ k ] representing in-plane degrees

of freedom (u, v) and for out-of-plane degrees of freedom (w, l/Ix) are already
given. It is now necessary to relate these two sets of global quantities.
The global y axis coincides with the local y axis and each plate element can
be at an arbitrary orientation about the y axis as shown in Figure 8.7. During a
rotation, jj and {j, are left unaffected. The rotation matrix is
288
[R] =
[
cos8
Si~ 8 o
o
o
- sin8
o
cos8
o
0
0
0
1
l
Chapter 8. Thin-Walled Structures
As the translational displacements are independent of rotational displacements, the

transformation of a nodal vector from the local to the global member coordinate
axes system uses the matrix [ T ] as
{U}=[T]{u}, {F}=[T]{F}, [T]=[[R] 0 ]

- 0 [R]
where [ R ] is the 4 x 4 rotation matrix. As a consequence, the stiffness matrix in

global coordinates can be written as
The resulting general plate element models both in-plane and out-of-plane waves.
Structural Stiffness Matrix

There are many ways to establish the structural stiffness matrix from the element
stiffness matrices. The procedure chosen here (consistent with viewing the problem
as a pseudo-static one) imposes nodal (dynamic) equilibrium at each node in tum.
At each node there are eight quantities of interest:
ft, Pv.i\ are applied force components,

tv is the applied moment,
u, iJ, w are resulting translational displacement components,
is the resulting rotational displacement.
Note that the global rotation about the y axis, ;Py, is equal to the negative local
v,x. To illustrate the procedure for constructing the structural stiffness matrix,
assume that the structure is in a state of (dynamic) equilibrium, thus each node
Goint) must also be in a state of (dynamic) equilibrium. Consider a free body
diagram containing a node under the action of externally applied loads internal
nodal loads (Nx_'" Nxy , ... , St.,). Replacing the member nodal forces in terms of
the (augmented) stiffness matrices gives equilibrium as
(8.21 )
where [K] is called the dynamic structural stiffness matrix. A more detailed
description of this assembling procedure for static problems is given in Refer-
ence [40].
The applied loads are taken in the form
8.3 Folded Plate Structures 289
where S(y) is the distribution shape along a node. We then have the structural
stiffness relation
where {S P} is a vector indicating the degrees of freedom which are loaded. For a
single impact, say, {S} has zeros at all indices excluding the term representing the
load point and becomes {S}P.
Computer Program Structure

The dynamic structural stiffness matrix is assembled using techniques analogous
to those used for spectral elements of Chapter 5. The major difference is that here
the Do-Loops are over all of the frequency and wavenumber components. This
results in the assemblage of a dynamic stiffness matrix at each frequency and
wavenumber. The nonzero nodal degrees of freedom of the resulting system are
found using a similar equation solver.
The process of generating the global stiffness matrix [Knm] involves the follow-
ing operations for each element:
Step 1: Compute the in-plane stiffness matrix in local coordinates.
Step 2: Compute the flexural stiffness matrix in local coordinates.
Step 3: Augment and sum the two matrices into an [8 x 8] matrix, [k nm ].
Step 4: Rotate the element to match the global coordinate system.
Step 5: Delete the zero global degrees of freedom.
Step 6: Assemble the reduced global stiffness matrix, [Knm].
The program then solves the complex, banded, linear system of equations, rep-
resented by [Knm]{u nm } = {S}, to get the unit or system response functions. The
problem can be thought of as a sequence of N x M pseudo-static problems.
In common with the waveguide spectral elements, a big advantage ofthe spectral
formulation for folded plates is that there is a small number of nodes, and hence
the in-core memory requirements are very small. For example, a folded plate with
three members can have, say, four nodes, giving a system size of 16 degrees of
freedom, and the memory required (excluding code) is about 16 x 8 x 2 = 256 bytes.
This is very modest. However, if we wish to store the complete solution, then the
information stored per node is very large. The storage requirements based on a
1024 point FFT transform, a 512 space transform, and 8 byte words is about
16 x 512 x 512 x 8 x 2 = 67 MB
This is a relatively large memory requirement; however, it does mean that it is

now feasible to add a post-processing capability that allows the reading in of the
nodal solution and obtaining the member loads or distributions at any desired point
without having to redo the complete solution.
The spectral method, like other techniques for dynamic analysis of plate struc-
tures, is computationally intensive; it requires several hundred thousand, or even
millions, of solutions to a small system of linear equations. Unlike other tech-
niques however, the spectral method gives exact results over large regions and
automatically produces the frequency response function.
Another benefit of the spectral element method of finding dynamic behavior
of structures is that it is ideally suited for multiprocessor computers of the single
instruction multiple data (SIMD) type. The many solutions to the small dynamic
stiffness matrix equations cited above are computations which are completely in-
dependent of each other, and can therefore be performed simultaneously. Although
the efficiency of most parallel algorithms usually decreases as the number of pro-
cessors increases, the spectral element method maintains maximum efficiency on
the largest of multiprocessor computers [26,27,28]. As computer hardware ar-
chitectures become increasingly parallel the methods underlying the approaches
shown here will gain tremendous computational advantages.
8.4 Structural Applications

Joints connecting out-of-plane folds change the nature of the reflected waves since
the joints couple in-plane and flexural behavior. We will look at one simple ex-
ample, a cylindrical box as shown in Figure 8.8, that illustrates the issues nicely.
When a structure is impacted, there are generally two aspects of the response we
are interested in. First is the dynamic response local to the impact site since the
interaction between the structure and impactor determines the actual force history.
Second is the response a distance away from the impact site since this will deter-
mine how energy propagates into the structure. The cylindrical box allows us to
study both of these aspects. To help put the results in perspective, we have also
included results from a Timoshenko beam analysis.
Figure 8.8: Box cylinder geometry.

Box Responses
Our test structure is a thin-walled cylindrical box with a square cross section having
sides oflength 102 mm as shown in Figure 8.8. We model the box as a collection of
folded plates with the folds located at the nodal dots. Later, to make the example
more interesting, we increase the thickness of the plates so as to make the box
have properties (in the context of our applied force history) of both a folded plate
structure and a simple beam; the relationship between these two structures gives
an interesting insight into the behavior of complex structures.
The top face of the box is impacted at its center with the smoothed force history
of Figure 1.7. Velocity responses at three locations on an x - z plane through the
impact site are shown in Figure 8.9. The sets of curves labeled "w" are flexural
responses. The "u" curve is an in-plane velocity response in the side panel which
is induced by the original flexural wave interacting with the folds. In-plane waves
travel more rapidly than flexural waves and their effects will therefore be seen
much earlier.
wtop
Time [f..LS]
!
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000.

Figure 8.9: Cylinder box velocity responses.
Apart from the arrival times, there is very little insight immediately obvious from
these plots. We now show the effect of the various folds on the reflections and in
doing so illustrate some of the unique features of the spectral element method.
Evolution of Resonance
An interesting study is to look at the effect of adding folds to the plate. Figure 8.10
shows the sequence of models of the box beam where an additional comer is
added at each step. For clarity, only the right half of the symmetric sections are
shown. The four models in this figure have the same properties as the complete
102 mm x 102 mm structure. Throw-off elements (denoted by elements ending
with a squiggle, I) absorb all waves transmitting through the last comer in each
.- ...~
o 1 2 3
Figure 8.10: Folded plate sequence geometries. The structures are symmetric about the line
of action of the force.
j folds
=c=~O
2
full
Frequency [kHz)
I~,~~~~~~~~~~,ITime[~)~~'~'~I~,~,~'~I~"~'~I~~I~"~,~,~I~,~,,.,~I~,~,~,I
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14.
Figure 8.11: The evolution of structural resonance at the impact site. (a) Time responses,
w(t), (b) system frequency response 161.
model. The sequence helps to explain the responses in the lowest curves of Fig-
ure 8.9.
Each fold adds a new set of reflections. These reflections are discernible in Fig-
ure 8.11 (a). A deeper insight is gained by looking at the system transfer functions
for the same cases where in the frequency domain we have
Ii = OP
What we see is the formation of spectral peaks. This is essentially the vibration
resonance behavior. It is interesting to note that while the time domain responses
have established themselves by the third fold, the frequency plots show that the
spectral peaks will get sharper. This is because the spectral element method is
showing the system response not modified by the spectrum of the input loading.
Figure 8.12 shows the same information but at a location 200mm down the
cylinder. Again we see the evolution of the resonances, but we also see a very
important filtering effect. It is noticed that the low-frequency components have

very small magnitudes and that G is almost flat up to about 400 Hz. This would
have significant effect if a force deconvolution is attempted.
folds: 0 ~-------------------------~
full
Frequency [kHz]
L...o.................JL-<-..............J..................I....L.........'-'-.-...J'I Ti me [J.I.S]1....,....,....' ....
' ,-,I'...'....' ....' ....
1 ....
' ,...........
1....
' ....
' ,....,....1........
, ....
' ,...1....,....' ....
' I....,....,....' ......
....J, 'I
o. 1000. 2000. 3000. 4000. O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14.
Figure 8.12: The evolution of structural resonance at y = 200 nun. (a) Time responses,
w(t), (b) system frequency response IGI.
Beam and Folded Plate Behavior

The analyses below use a larger plate thickness of 3 mm and smaller cross section
dimensions of 51 mm x 51 mm. These were chosen so as to make the separate
trends of plate-like and beamlike behavior easier to identify. We will call this
structure a box-beam.
Figure 8.13 shows displacement histories in the global z direction at three lo-
cations on the cross section through the impact site. Although the dimensions of
the box beam are relatively small, the three locations show quite different behav-
ior. The top and bottom faces show significant vibratory behaviors that are out of
phase with each other; the middle point has very little of this. In fact, the middle
point resembles more the character of the Timoshenko solution although the latter
overestimates the total displacement. The curve at the impact site shows that the
box beam is much softer than the Timoshenko beam, that is, the box beam gives
an initial displacement that is significantly larger.
We now examine responses of the box beam and Timoshenko beam in the
frequency domain. Frequency domain acceleration responses at a cross section
700 mm from the impact site are shown in Figure 8.14. While not obvious from
the plots, the characteristics of the box beam and Timoshenko beam responses are
very similar at low frequencies but differ markedly after 2.8 kHz when the box
beam begins to exhibit resonant peaks. Above this frequency both the centerline of
--top
--middle
------ bottom
------ beam
x=700mm
Time [/:\s]
O. 1000. 2000_ 3000_ 4000. 5000.
Figure 8.13: Box displacements.
the box beam side panels and Timoshenko results show a pronounced attenuation
while the top and bottom faces show enhanced response. The transition frequency
occurs at the first natural frequency of the box beam's cross section; to illustrate this,
we compare in Figure 8.14 the resonance frequencies of a square frame having the
same properties as a unit length of the box beam cross section (acting under plane
strain conditions). The multiple resonances of the frame coincide, approximately,
with the beginning of the peaks in the box beam response.
top
side
00 00 0
I , , , , I , , , , I , , t , I , , , I ,
O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14. 16.

Figure 8.14: System response functions at x = 700 mm.
The pertinent question arises: can the box beam be approximated by a Timo-
shenko beam model? The significant difference between the two models is that
the folded plate model, being three dimensional, has many more modes than the
simpler beam theory. The issue is not so much whether or not the modes are ex-
cited but whether they appear in the monitored degrees of freedom. For example,
the vertical (global z direction) behavior of the centerline of the box beam side
panel is similar to that of the Timoshenko beam; however, its out -of-plane behavior
bears no resemblance. An understanding of when the Timoshenko theory is not
applicable can be obtained by considering the vibrations of the cross section. The
first resonance occurs at about 2.8 kHz (which is inside the input range of 0 to
12 kHz) and therefore is significant. If, however, the cross section were reduced
to 25 mm x 51 mm, say, while keeping the same amount of material the first reso-
nance would increase to about 15 kHz and the cross sectional behavior would not
be significant; a Timoshenko theory would then suffice.
8.5 Segmented Cylindrical Shells

Our final extension of the spectral approach is to curved extended structures. This
was initiated in the previous chapters but it is only after implementing the matrix
approach that any reasonable problems can be solved.
Figure 8.15: Segment of cylindrical shell.
We saw that the membrane behavior of a flat plate required four generalized
degrees of freedom, while the out-of-plane flexural behavior also required four.
A folded plate structure, which exhibits both membrane and flexural behavior,
then required eight degrees of freedom. A segment of a curved cylindrical shell,
as shown in Figure 8.15, exhibits behavior similar to that of the folded plate and
therefore has eight degrees of freedom. For the folded plate, we assembled the
[8 x 8] stiffness as a combination of two [4 x 4] elements plus a rotation matrix.
But the curved element has all displacements coupled and hence we have to tackle
the stiffness matrix directly as an [8 x 8] system. This is too cumbersome to do
explicitly; consequently, we layout a computer based method for establishing the
shape functions and subsequently the stiffness matrix. This, of course, adds to
the computational burden, but in return we get an approach that is conceptually

simpler and helps to unify the special results established earlier in this chapter and
in Chapter 5.
General Shape Functions

Since the system size is large, we need a more organized way to handle establishing
the shape functions and subsequently the element stiffness. In developing our
matrix scheme, we will see that the key new ingredient is the matrix of amplitude
ratios.
For each wavenumber k j , Equation (6.59) gives the relation among the ampli-
tudes. The characteristic system can be represented as
This is homogeneous and therefore, at best, we can only get amplitude ratios.
For example, we can solve for the remaining two terms as a function of U o . In
anticipation of a later need, we augment the system with
ow
--1/1=0 or
os
and write the solutions at a particular wavenumber k j as
where the symbol eI> indicates an amplitude ratio. Although the vector {eI>} shown is
normalized with respect to u o , it is possible for other modal vectors to be normalized
differently. This must be done for each mode k j and hence there are eight vectors.
We choose to represent these as [eI>] = [[ eI> A], [eI> B)] where
and [eI> B) is the same but evaluated at the wavenumbers -k j • That is, the [4 x 4]
partitions [eI>A] and [eI>B] are evaluated at +k j and -k j , respectively; they are
fully populated and typically are not symmetric. The normalizations are arranged
so that the uncoupled flat plate solutions are easily recovered.
For each mode, the corresponding amplitude Uoj is undetermined; to make the
notation resemble what we have already used, we will label each of the these
8.S Segmented Cylindrical Shells 297
A, B, .... The solution for the displacements can then be expressed as Consider
a segment of shell of length L in the hoop direction. We begin by expressing the
displacements as
u(s) = AlI e- ik ,s + B\2e- ik2S + ... + Gl7 e- ik3 (L-s) + Hlse- ik4 (L-s)
with similar expressions for V, and v" but involving the amplitude ratios <l>2j'
w,
<l>3j, and <l>4j, respectively. The length is introduced to include reflections coming
from a boundary located at s = L. This displacement solution can be rewritten as
{u(s), v(s), w(s), v,(s)}T {U}(s)

{hAe-ik,s + ... + {}sHe- ik4 (L-S)
We will write this in an even more compact matrix form; so as to make the matrix
notation more accessible, we will take the developments of the rod in Chapter 5 as
the archetype and use its notation (except changed to matrices). The displacement
for the shell segment is written as
{U}(s) = [AHe(s)j{A} + [BHe(L - s)j{B}
where the diagonal matrix of exponentials and the vector of amplitudes are give
by
j IA} = {n IB} ={ ~I
We wish to replace the vectors {A} and {B} in terms of the nodal displacements at
s = 0 and s = L. That is, we introduce
u(O) = u] , v(O) = VI , w(O) = w], V,(O) = V,I

with similar terms at s = L. We write this in matrix notation as
{u]. VI. WI, V,d T = {uh = {U}(O) [AHe(O)j{A} - [BHe(L)j{B}
{U2' V2, W2, V,2}T = {uh = (U}(L) [AHe(L)J{A} - [BHe(O)J{B}
Solving for the coefficients gives
{{A}}
{B}
= [G) {{Uh} = [[G
(uh [G 11
lI ]
2
where each partition of [G) is of size [4 x 4]. We are now in a position to write
the displacements in terms of the shape functions. They are
(U}(s) = [g(s)]dul! + [g(s)h{u}Z (8.22)

where the [4 x 4] matrix of shape functions are defined as
[g(s)lJ [<t>AJre(s)J[GJ1] + [<t>BHe(L - s)J[G2d

[g(s)h [<t>AHe(s)J[G I 2] + [¢BJre(L - S)J[G22] (8.23)
There are a total of 4 x 4 x 2 = 32 shape functions. While not obvious from the
above, it turns out that, even in this general case, the collection of shape functions
associated with the degrees of freedom at the second node are the mirror image
of those associated with the degrees of freedom at the first node. The results for
the throw-off element are simply those associated with [G I d. These formulas can
be used to recover all the shape functions already derived in this chapter and in
Chapter 5.
By way of example, Figure 8.16 shows the g33(S) cos(~mY) shape function of a
270° shell segment; this shape function is associated with the WI degree of freedom
and thus can be plotted as a radial displacement off the original shape. The other
Figure 8.16: Sample of shape functions for a 270 shell segment.

0
shape functions behave in a similar manner. It is clear from this figure and from
the above developments, that once the nodal degrees of freedom are determined
then the shape functions can be used to compute the responses at any intermediate
locations. This is a crucial attribute since the segments can be very large.
Dynamic Stiffness Relation for Curved Shell Element

The next step in the element development is to derive a stiffness relation for the
shell segment. The process is simply that of expressing the resultant forces and
moments in terms of the displacement solutions given in Equation (8.22). We write
r
these resultants in matrix form as
{F}(s) = {Nss + *Msn /V.,y, V,z, Mss (s) = [ a ]{U}(s)

where [ a ] is the matrix collection of differential operators of size [4 x 4]. After
substituting for {U}(s) in terms of the shape functions we get
{F}(s) [ a ][g(s)]duh + [ a )[g(s)h{uh

[ag(s)]duh + [ag(s»)Z{uh (8.24)
Relating the member resultants at s = 0 and s = L to the nodal loads at the same
locations leads to the stiffness relation
[-ag(O)h] {{U h } (8.25)

[+ag(L)h {uh
or simply
{F} = [k(w, nHu}
where
The matrix [ k ] is the [8 x 8] dynamic element stiffness matrix that is frequency

and wavenumber dependent, complex, and symmetric. The stiffness relation for
the throw-off or one-noded element is simply
(8.26)
The stiffness matrix in this case is of size [4 x 4]. These stiffness relations can be
used to recover the results already given for flat elements.
For illustrative purposes, Figure 8.17 shows the normalized k 11 , k22 , k33 , and
k44 diagonal terms for the same shell used to illustrate the shape functions. As
is typical with spectral elements, they exhibit a very large dynamic range. The
normalizations are with respect to the stiffnesses for straight thin beams [40] but
modified for plates. That is, they are presented as
- 3
k11/(Eh/L), kzZ/(Gh/ L) , k33/(12D / L ),
Note that the kll stiffness is substantially less than the static values, and it is only
after the cut-off frequency (~ 3 kHz for m = 0) does it become greater than unity.
On the other hand, k33 is always significantly larger than the static straight value;
this is because the L 3 in the denominator predicts an inordinately small static value.
K11
K22
K33
- - unity reference
--m=O
---------m=40
.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
Figure 8.17: Normalized stiffnesses kll , k22 , k33 , and k44 , for a 270 shell segment.
0
Point Loading of a Complete Cylinder

The advantage of the curved element is that it can be combined with other elements
- either flat or curved - to form significantly more complex structures. The
variety of possibilities is too great to pursue here, so we will be content with the
single example of a closed cylinder. The geometry of our problem is shown in
n
Figure 8.18.
- p
2R
R = 250mm
-:u·® CD·
h =25mm
Figure 8.18: Geometry for the point loaded circular cylinder.
We form the complete cylinder by combining two curved elements of the same
material properties each of which is a half-circle. Because of symmetry, we could
model the shell with a single half-circle element or as a single whole-circle element.
In the latter case, half of the applied load must be placed at each node and the extra
conditions of" 1 = 0, ~1 = 0; "2 = 0, ~2 = 0 be imposed. The two element model
was chosen so as to verify the assemblage process. The elements are joined at
the common nodes by merely summing together the appropriate dynamic stiffness
matrix components to form a global stiffness matrix [K]. We must therefore first
rotate each element stiffness to this global system. The transformation requires the
use of a simple [6 x 6] rotation matrix [ T ] that is of the form
[ T ] = [[R(oa)] 0 ]
[R(a + 2,8)]
where R(O) is the [3 x 3] rotation matrix [40]. This takes into account that the ends
of the curved element are oriented differently to each other. In our case, if the nodal
coordinates are (Xl, Zl) and (X2, Z2), then with 2p = J(X2 - ZI)2 + (Y2 - ZI)2 and
J
q = R2 - p2, the angles are given by
Since only two elements are present, we will assign the coordinate system of one to
be the global coordinate system and rotate the other. The global stiffness matrix is
then simply formed by adding the two global element stiffness matrices together.
Typical velocity reconstructions for three points, 0 = 0°, 90°, 180°, along the
circumference are shown in Figure 8.19.
- - curved elements
o 64 flat elements
Time [us]
I I I I I I I I I I I I I ! t I I I I I I ! ! ! I I
o. 2000. 4000. 6000. 8000. 10000.
Figure 8.19: Comparison of the nonnal velocity reconstructions for the point excitation of
a closed cylinder. The lengthwise position is y - O.
For comparison purposes, the same shell was modeled using 64 flat spectral
elements. The two sets of results are indistinguishable even though there are very
many reflections. It is worth pointing out that when fewer flat elements were
used the results deteriorated as the time increased. This shows the significant
computational savings in using the curved element.
There are obvious multiple reflections occurring. The waves travel around the
circumference and interact with each other. We can get an alternative insight by
looking at the system response function {; where u = {; P and P is the input load.
Note that this facility is an integral attribute of the spectral element formulation.
From Figure 8.20, we can see that many resonance frequencies are being estab-
lished. These would be the frequencies of interest if an impulse/modal analysis
experiment vibration experiment were being performed. It is interesting to note that
the w response at 0° and 180° exhibit similar resonant behavior, but the response
at 90° is missing many of the intermediate resonances.
zero reference
90
180
Freq [kHz]
II I I I I I !!! I !! I I II ! I I I I I! 1 I! I I ! I I!! I I I I I 1 I! ! ! ! I! ! ! ! I
o. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Figure 8.20: System response functions for the point excitation of a closed cylinder.
A significant peak appears at about 3.3 kHz. An analysis of the amplitude ratios
shows that this peak is coming entirely from the first mode even though the response
overall is dominated by the third mode. This is the same peak that is observed in
Figure 6.20 where the curvature acts effectively as a continuous boundary and sets
up a standing wave.
8.6 Future of Spectral Elements

Based on the problems we have considered, it is clear that once there is more
than one connection in a structure, it is essential to have a matrix methodology
to handle the many unknowns. The spectral element approach presents itself as a
well founded matrix method that embodies a number of efficiencies we have long
associated with the conventional finite element method. For the range of problems
they are suited for. they show great efficiencies and conveniences. But what of its
8.6 Future of Spectral Elements 303
potential for further development as applied to extended structures?

To assess the future of the spectral elements we need to first re-cap some of its
features and put our objectives into perspective. The three great attributes of the
spectral element approach are:
• Frequency domain formulation. The frequency domain information such as
transfer functions and system functions are generated automatically. This
enables a duality between the time domain and frequency domain - infor-
mation not readily seen in one is often apparent in the other. Furthermore,
the inherent parallelism of the spectral approach can be utilized on multi-
processor machines.
• Very large areas can be handled. As a counterpoint to conventional elements,
the spectral elements conveniently handle extended regions; the former al-
ways models a region as a collection of very many small subdomains.
• It is stiffness formulated. This means the process of assemblage for complex
structures is easy. More fundamentally, it identifies the minimum essential
variables (the degrees of freedom) for adynamic description of the structure.
The approach as presented so far has difficulty with localized discontinuities of
properties or geometry unless the have a very simple geometry. At present, there
is also the restriction that lateral boundaries must be relatively far away. This can
be minimized somewhat by the procedures introduced in Chapter 6, but this is
at the cost of extra computation. Similarly, there is a restriction that the material
properties and geometry in the lateral direction be uniform. It may be possible
with some experience with the present methods to extend them to, say, conical
shells but this will be with considerable effort. Finally, the relatively simple circular
cylinder gave a spectrum relation just at the limits of solvability. More complicated
geometries will exacerbate this difficulty even more.
But do we really need to determine the element stiffness analytically? Let us step
back and reconsider. The spectral approach converted the problem to the frequency
domain. The spectral element approach is the frequency domain stiffness relation.
What we really want is a frequency domain stiffness relation that will facilitate
assemblage of complex structures. We have shown that for many situations this
stiffness can be established analytically, but this is not an essential aspect. The
spectral super-element, as developed in Chapter 5, is an idea that implements
the spectral based stiffness relation without analytically establishing the stiffness
relation. This may offer a route to develop a spectral element approach to general
structures.
Perhaps, the most general and straightforward implementation for thin-walled
structures, is to segment the very large area into a number of smaller (but still
relatively large) sub-domains. A conventional modeling of each sub-domain with
the dynamic condensation will then leave a super-element with many connection
degrees of freedom. A smart pre-processor can be used to accomplish this in such
a way that many of the super-elements can be re-used. Conceivably, any dynamic
linear problem that can be tackled by conventional finite element methods can
also be treated. But it will have the added advantage of being formulated in the
frequency domain.
A more challenging difficulty is to make the super-element part of the current
collection of extended elements. The essence of the challenge is the delimiting
of the boundaries. The current plate elements have a very large lateral dimension
and somehow the small super-element must be attached to it. There are a number
of possibilities two of which are shown in Figure 8.21. We now try to elaborate
further on these possibilities.
Figure 8.21: Some schemes for utilizing the spectral super-element concept and attaching
them to the extended elements. Left is a super-element with large parallel edges, right is a
super-element inside an extended spectral element that has parallel and circular boundaries.
The first is to mesh the complete region between the two parallel sides and
reduce it to just the edge degrees of freedom. The size of the super-element is
too large to do this directly. therefore. the key difficulty of the problem is how to
combine extenders with the meshed region before performing the condensation.
Suppose this is done. We now need to transform the frequency domain element to
the wavenumber domain. Let us represent the stiffness relation as
{u} ~ [\11 Hu}
where [ \11 ] represents the coefficients for the Fourier transform. If we choose the
nodal spacing for {u} to coincide with ll. y in the transform. then we have
{i} == [ k Hu} .
Because of the special nature of [ \11] the [ k ] matrix will also have a special
form. In fact. we expect it to be block diagonal. Note that the relation between
[k] and [k] is essentially that of a double Fourier series. This will require a modal
representation that has a great number of modes (because the slab is long); if.
however. we can accelerate this representation (by utilizing the extenders. for
example) then again we can handle any local discontinuity.
Problems 305
As a second possibility, we could isolate a circular region which is modeled using

the conventional elements and then condense the degrees of freedom to those just
at the circular boundary. If, further, we have a spectral element that combines a
circular boundary within the two parallel boundaries, then we have the facility
to make the super-element part of our folded structures as in Figure 8.21. The
difficulty is that this element would require a Bessel functions expansion much as
was done in Chapter 6 with the scattering problem; there would be difficulties for
the large order that would probably be required.
Finally, an intriguing possibility is to use the frequency/wavenumber spectral
elements to generate a frequency domain spectral stiffness relation equivalent to a
super-element. Consider the straight edge of one of our current extended elements.
The displacement at any point is
u(y) = LU m COS~mY,
m
Suppose now y is discretized to equi-spaced values then we have unit responses at

each of these points. Placing the applied load at a sufficient number of points and
solving simultaneously gives the stiffness matrix. The key point to realize is that
it is not necessary to discretize the whole edge - only that part of the edge that
will participate in the connection.
The spectral element approach to extended areas is still in relative infancy. The
above has attempted to show that there are exciting challenges to be overcome in
extending it to more general structural problems. The success of the waveguide
spectral elements shows that such an effort is well worth undertaking.
Problems
8.1 Show that for a plane wave, the in-plane element displays uncoupled the u
and v degrees of freedom and the stiffness is given by
kllnm 0 kl3nm 0 ]
[ knm] = [ 0 k22nm 0 k24nm
kl3nm 0 kllnm 0
o k24nm 0 k22nm

8.2 Show that at large wavenumber, the behavior at Node 1 is uncoupled from
that at Node 2.

8.3 Let the distributed displacement fields (U(x, Y, z)} be represented by an ex-
pression of the form u(x, Y, z) - LN(x, y, z)J{u} with similar expressions
for the other displacements v(x, y, z) and w(x, y, z). Show that the potential
energy for a general elastic body may be written as
Show that this leads to
[ k ) == i[ B f[ & )[ B )dV, {F} == i[ g f{fS}dA, [ B) == ['D)[ N)
which are general expressions for the stiffness matrix and loading.
8.4 Consider the transverse deflection of a plate and let the deflections be repre-
sented by
M 4
w(x, Y) = LYm(Y) L Nr(x)ur
m-l r-l
where U r are the degrees of freedom at x = 0 and x - L. Show that if N r (x)

are taken as the shape functions for a simple beam that some of the terms in
the [3 x 4] matrix [ B ] are given by
This expression forms the basis for the finite strip method.
8.5 Continuing the previous problem, let
Ym(Y) = sin(m1l'Y/W) - sin~mY
and obtain an explicit expression for the stiffness terms.

8.6 Show that the mass matrix for the plate finite strip is given by
[m ]m. = [m ] l phYmYn dy
where [m ) is the [4 x 4) consistent mass matrix for a beam.

Afterword
One moves forward from this mystic landing to Fourier analysis, pe-
riodogram analysis, Fourier analysis over groups, and one comes
rapidly to great technological applications, and always a sense of the
actual and potential unities that lurk in the corners of the universe.
P.J. DAVIS and R. HERSH [32]
It is opportune now to assess the accomplishments of this book and (perhaps more
important) to point out what is missing.
This book has emphasized the analysis of structures in situations that facilitate
their treatment as connected waveguides. Thus, the primary effort is devoted to
developing the spectral analysis method for solving wave propagation problems in
rods, beams, and plates. It is shown that within the spectral framework, the incorpo-
ration of damping, coupling effects and higher-order theories, is a straightforward
and simple matter. The introduction of the spectral element approach formalized
the connection procedure for use on a computer and accordingly extended the
range of application of these methods to more general structures. Furthermore,
the inherent parallelism of the spectral methods make them eminently suitable for
hosting on the new multi-processor computer architectures. Additionally, the in-
corporation of experimental data in many of the examples demonstrates the affinity
of the spectral methods for experimental methods.
What emerges is an approach that exhibits a striking unity between the analytical,
computational, and experimental methodologies.
A topic introduced but not developed is that of a global approach to waves in
structures. The spectral element approach demonstrated in Chapters 5 and 8 is very
exciting because it offers the possibility of performing wave analysis in compli-
cated structures without having to resort to expensive, time-consuming cascading
methods. The efficiency of the approach resides in the fact that the only unknowns
are those associated with the connectivities at the joints and therefore are few in
number. The beauty of such an approach is that the structure can be analyzed as
a whole without worry of the detailed history of each wave in each member -
only if necessary is the detailed wave behavior reconstructed, and this can be done
quite efficiently as part of the post-processing. A further side benefit is that it brings
wave propagation and vibration analyses closer together and it makes such global
307
308 Afterword
methods as modal analysis possible, but all the time it still has the possibility of
recovering the detailed behavior. It seems that what is really needed in dynamic
structural analyses is some global or higher level evaluation of the results. The
spectral analysis approach has the potential to offer this - the frequency domain
energy measures introduced in Chapter 5 could playa role - but it is not devel-
oped as yet. The development of a global approach to wave propagation in complex
structures must be considered the next challenge.
Only barely treated in this book is the whole series of problems dealing with
waves in extended media interacting with discontinuities (such as holes or cracks)
causing dynamic stress concentrations, diffraction, and scattering. These problems
can be treated by spectral analysis but they require the development of some new
tools invariably involving multiple series (or integral) representations. These topics
are really part of the more general one of the exact formulation of wave problems
and their subsequent asymptotic approximation. While many such solutions can
be found in the literature, they generally are too cumbersome to be of direct value
within our connected structures context. An exciting possibility is to extend the
spectral super-element concept to encompass these problems. Some conjectures
for achieving this were given at the end of Chapter 8, but very little work in the
area has been done as yet. The compelling aspect of the spectral super-element
approach is its suitability for hosting on multi-processor computers.
These two problems represent different departures from the contents of this
book. The first is to a level of integration, the second to a level of more local detail.
The spectral methodologies presented in this book provide a useful middle ground
for beginning both studies.
Appendix:
Bessel Functions
Bessel functions, and the other special functions, arise as solutions to many bound-
ary value problems and their use can greatly extend the range of the spectral meth-
ods. The major properties of the Bessel functions are summarized here so as to
facilitate their use. Additional sources of information are References [1,105,124],
the book by Press et al. [102] has Fortran coding of these functions.
Bessel Equations and Solutions

An equation of the form
d2w
Z2_- + zdw
- + (Z2 - n2 )w = 0, n~O
dz 2 dz
is called Bessel's equation and has the two independent solutions
where in, Yn are Bessel functions of the first and second kind, respec-
tively. These are shown plotted in Figure A.I. Note that Y(z) is singular as z --+ 0
and that both functions tend to zero as z --+ 00. Actually, in and Yn exhibit a
damped oscillation and for this reason, the solutions are often written in terms of
the Hankel functions of the first and second kind given by
A related Bessel equation (which can be obtained by replacing z with iz) is
and has the two independent solutions
where In, Kn are called modified Bessel functions of the first and second kind,
respectively. These are shown plotted in Figure A.2 as e- z I(z) and e+ z K(z),
respectively.
309
310 Appendix: Bessel Functions
1.0 ............
.8 ..... ....... ............ ., ......• J
.6
.4
.2
.0 -2
-.2 .~--~~~~. -10
-.4
-.6 .....: ........ ;. ........:- ......... .
-.8 ... ., .. .. .. ...
-1.0 z
O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 1 O. 12. 14. 16. 18. 20.
1.0
.8 ...• v
.6
.4 .:_0
.2 /'""--.;,?--.;..........:..:
....... : _ 1
.0 ·.-2
-.2 ~.,.,c,.,;._.: - 1 0
-.4
-.6 ......... ,: ........:.
-.8 . . .. ,.,,':;,
~
. ........: ...... .
-1.0 Z
O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14. 16. 18. 20.
Figure A.I: Bessel functions In(z) and Yn(Z).
Many equations are transformable into Bessel equations and a very useful gen-
eral form is
d2w dw
Z 2 _ + (1 + 2a)z- + (/32 Z2Y + <5 2 )w = 0
dz 2 dz
This has the solution [l05]
w = z: [C lv(/3;Y) + C2YV(/3;Y)] ,
1
A similar general form can be set up for the modified functions.
Limiting Behavior
When manipulating Bessel functions, the following recurrence relations are very
useful:
2n
-Mn - M n- 1 ,
z
_2 dMn
dz
2n
--Ln +Ln- 1 ,
z
dL n
2-
dz
Appendix: Bessel Functions 311
K
.8
_0
.6 -1
..
-2
.4
:=r=~~~~~'''~'''~'.~~.. -10
.2 .-' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '.' . . .
~ , . . , . ... . . . .:
.0 Z
O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14. 16. 18. 20.
1.0 ......... " .....
.8 ......
_0
.6 _1
-2
.4 -10
.2
.0 Z
O. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14. 16. 18. 20.
Figure A.2: Modified Bessel functions e+ z Kn(z) and e- z In (z).
where Mn represents any of the functions in, Yn , H;" H;, and Ln represents either
In or einTf Kn.
Bessel functions have the small argument expansions
~ ( Z2)m
1 (
In
)
Z =
(1
2Z
)n
:::0 -"4
1I
m!r(n + m + I)
1 (n - m - I)! 2
__ (lz)-n"
7r 2 ~
n-I
m!
(lz2)m
4
+ -In(lZ)in(z)
7r 2
m=O
1 1
+ 1) + 1/!(n + m + 1)}(_~z2)m _ _ __
00
__ (~z)n L{1/!(m
7r m=O m!(n + m)!
(1 )n ~ (I 2)m 1
2Z :::o"4Z m!r(n + m + 1)
~(~z)-n L (n - mm -
n-1
l
1)1
. (_~z2)m + (-I)n+lln(~z)In(z)
m=O •
00 1
+(-1)" ~(~z)n L{1/!(m + 1) + 1/!(n + m + 1)}(~z2)m _ _ __
m=O m!(n + m)!
where r is the gamma function and 1/!(n) = L lin - .5772. For very small
arguments, in particular,
312 Appendix: Bessel Functions
10 ~ 1 - ~Z2,
10 ~ 1 + ~Z2,
It is apparent that the functions Yo, 10 exhibit singularities z = o.

When the argument is increased, then these functions have the asymptotic be-
haviorof
J
n
=::} fT cos (z _ ::.4 _ mr)
'1/;-;' 2 '
1 •
In=::} ;;::c::: e- ,
v2rrz
It is more apparent here that 1n, Yn exhibit a damped oscillation and In, Kn behave
as exponentials. The Hankel functions have the limiting behaviors
That is, they have the exponential form of the circular functions with the difference
that they decrease in amplitude for large argument. Consequently, the use of the
Bessel functions in spectral analysis of waves is similar to that of the circular
functions.
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Index
Acelerometer, 24, 191 Dispersion relation, 31, 46, 54

Adjustable parameters, 134, 137, 142, 177,203 Dispersive, 32, 50, 62, 68
Aliasing, 20, 26 Dissipation, viscoelastic, 54
Amplitude ratio, 98, 103 Distributed loads, 68, lIS, 120, 157
Amplitude spectrum, 30, 31, 36 Dynamic stiffness, 153, 166,288,299
Angular frequency, 8 Dynamic stiffness, reduced, 167
Assemblage, 166, 184,288,301
Elastic constraint, 51, 81, 99
Baffled plate, 265 Energy, 127, 130, 133, 139, 142, 145, 174, 177,
Beam, governing equations, 134 200--202,235
Beam, Timoshenko, 134 Essential boundary, 131
Bernoulli-Euler beam theory, 135 Evanescence, 87
Bessel functions, 207, 227, 310 Evanescent waves, 33, 77, 80, 112, 117, 136
Blocked pressure, 249,257
Boundary conditions, 131, 134, 135, 141, 142, Far-field, 228, 268, 274
202,246,262 Fast Fourier transform, 17
Branch cut, 258, 274 Filter, 88, 91
Broad banded, 42, 268 Flexural motion, 74, 202
Buckling, 84 Flexural stiffness, 76
Fluid loading parameter, 251
Carrier wave, 34 Folded plates, 286, 292
Cauchy integral, 71, 100,258 Forced frequency scan, 169
Cavity resonance, 255 Forward transform, 8, 17
Characteristic equation, 56, 94, 135, 143 Fourier heat conduction, 55, 57
Classical plate theory, 198, 203 Fourier series, 13, 118, 269
Coincidence frequency, 250 Fourier transform, discrete, 15
Continuous Fourier transform, 8 Free edge wave, 116
Convolution, II, 22, 191 Free wave, 222, 257
Coordinates, generalized, 131 Free-edge wave, 222
Coupled system, 54, 99, 241
Cracks,189 Global stiffness, 166,289,301
Cut-off frequency, 51, 82, 95, 102, 124, 136, Group speed, 34, 54, 57,141
143, 146,212 Group wave, 34
Cylindrical coordinates, 91, 226, 233, 269
Hamilton's principle, 131
D'Alembert solution, 45, 72, 76 Hankel functions, 227, 270, 310
D'Alembert's principle, 129 Heat conduction, 33, 55, 245
Damping, viscous, 44, 50, 181,250,260 Helmholtz decomposition, 107,245
Degrees of freedom, 151, 152 Helmholtz equation, 246, 269
Delta function, 12,71 Helmholtz potentials, 276
Diffraction, 228 Holography, near field, 252
Diffusion, 245 Hooke's law, 44, 106, 107,200
Directivity pattern, 269
320 Index
Impact. 47. 78. 97.137.171.206.213 Radiation, 263

Inertia. 129 Rayleigh wave, 105, 117.222
Interference. 22. 194 Real function. 10, 16, 19
Inverse transform, 8, II Residues, 71
Inviscid fluids, 246 Resonance,23,63
Resultants, 93, 201. 236
Joints, 66, 78, 87-89, 91,168,171,187,196 Reverberation, 256
Kinematically admissible, 129 Ritz method. 175
Rod. governing equations. 140
Kirchhoff shear. 205
Rod. Love's theory, 139, 171
Lamb waves, 121 Root solvers. 56. 95.123.238
Lame constants, 107, 145
Lateral boundaries, 229 S-wave, 108, 111
Lateral contraction, 44,139,171 Scaling. of argument. 10
Scattered wave, 228
Leakage, 27
SH-wave. 110
Line loading, 113
Shape function, 270, 277
Linearity of transforms, 10
Shape functions, 152. 158,263.284,298
Local stiffness, lSI
Shear distribution, 119
Love waves, 149
Side lobes, 21
Mass matrix, 154, 163, 177 Spectral analysis, 7
Material properties, 46, 58.246 Spectral element. 185.254,276.282,299
Matrix. modal. 159 Spectrum relation. 30, 46. 50, 53, 57, 141.212,
Membrane. 198.201,276 237
Mindlin plate theory. 199 Spectrum, definition. 7
Mindlin-Herrmann rod theory. 142 Standard linear solid, 53
Modal matrix. 159 Standing waves. 66. 70. 83.117
Mode conversion. 88 Stationary phase, 42, 268, 282
Modes. propagation. 30, 124, 125 Stonely waves. 149
Modulated signals. 21 Strain gage. 23. 210. 215
Moire, 243 Stress intensity factor, 189
Moment-deflection. 76. 216 Strong forms. 131
SV-wave. 110
Narrow banded. 42, 119 System transfer function, 30. 167
Natural boundary. 131
Navier's equations. 107. 20 I. 245 Thin plates. 203
Noise, 194.243 Throw-off element, 151. 161.279
Nondispersive. 31 Time shifting, 10
Nyquist frequency, 17. 19,20 Transfer function, 36
Trim panel, 253
Orthotropic materials. 215
Variation, 129
P-wave. 108. III Variational principle, 131
Padding. 27 Velocity restraint, 50
Parallel computation. 168. 290 Virtual work, 128, 173
Periodic structure. 73
Phase shift. 9.13,27,86 Wave groups, 22
Phase speed, 31. 34, 54 Wavenumber, 30
Plane strain, 109, 206, 276, 294 Weak forms, 125, 131
Plane stress, 132, 200, 276 Windows, 26
Plate stiffness. 200 Winkler foundation. 81
Plate, governing equations, 202 Work. 126
Plate, Mindlin, 202 Wrap-around, 38, 226
Pochhammer-Chree theory, 149
Power, scattered, 229
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Spectral Analysis Using Fast Discrete Fourier Transforms, 2nd ed.
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Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Applied Mechanics EA. Leckie

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Dynamic Systems and Control K.M. Marshek

Mechanics of Materials I. Finnie

Processing K.K. Wang

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Mechanical engineering. an engineering discipline borne of the needs of the in-

Austin. Texas Frederick F. Ling

very interesting spectrum relations. The variety of examples were chosen so as to

May, 1997 James F. Doyle

Series Preface vii

4.5 Hamilton's Principle . . . 126

We must gather and group appearances, until the scientific imagination

This small book is an introduction to the spectral analysis method as a means of

What Is Spectral Analysis?

response is synthesized by a judicious combination of these wave trains.Thus the

Structures and Waveguides

form, can be viewed as a hydraulic or electric network analog. Unfortunately, the

Wave Propagation and Vibrations

Themes and Threads

One of the recurring material parameters is the ratio

Co = ~ = 200 X 103 in.!s = 5000 mls

When a natural nondimensionalizing factor, such as Co or the acceleration g,

1.1 Continuous Fourier Transforms

C(O) = i: F(t)e- iOt dt = i: F(t)dt

and zero otherwise, the transform is then

-100. -50. o. 50. 100.

Figure 1.2: Continuous transform of a rectangular pulse with a = 50 f-LS.

If a pulse is visualized to be at different positions relative to the time origin, then

Properties of Fourier Transforms

F(at) <:} -C(wja) (1.4)

2rr FR = ! [C R coswt - C/ sinwt]dw, CR = ![FR cos wt + F, sin wt]dt

2rrF/ = ![CRSinwt+c/cOswt]dW, C/ =- ! [FR sin wt - F/ coswt]dt

where the following decomposition was used

Using the inverse transform relation for FA gives

u(x t) = Pe-i(k'x-w't)2cos [!/)'k (x _dw