INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, VOL.

40, 473–491 (1997)

A UNIFIED TIMOSHENKO BEAM B-SPLINE RAYLEIGH–RITZ

METHOD FOR VIBRATION AND BUCKLING ANALYSIS
OF THICK AND THIN BEAMS AND PLATES

S. WANG

Department of AAETS, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, U.K.

SUMMARY
First, the shear-locking phenomenon in the w Bk SRRM1–3 is investigated and the shear-locking terms are
identied in both one-dimensional beam and two-dimensional plate analyses. Subsequently the shear-locking
free conditions are proposed and under the guidance of these conditions the Timoshenko beam B-spline
Rayleigh–Ritz method, designated as TBk SRRM, is formulated for vibration analysis of beams based on
Timoshenko beam theory and vibration and buckling analysis of isotropic plates or bre-reinforced composite
laminates based on the rst-order shear deformation plate theory (SDPT). In TBk SRRM the number of degrees
of freedom is exactly the same as that when the Bernoulli–Euler beam theory or classical plate theory (CPT)
is used. However, the TBk SRRM includes the through-thickness shearing and rotary inertia eects in full.
Several numerical applications are presented and they show that this unied approach is extremely ecient
for both thick and thin beams and plates.

KEY WORDS: B-splines; shear-locking; laminates; RRM; vibration; buckling

1. INTRODUCTION
Spline functions have attractive properties for use in structural analysis. Their piecewise form
and high-order of continuity oer the prospect of both eciency and versatility. In practice it is
often that the B-spline functions are used due to their simplicity and locally non-zero nature. In
a number of research works1–7 the author and his colleague have considered the use of B-spline
functions in Rayleigh–Ritz method (RRM) analyses of the free vibration of Timoshenko8 beams
and Reissner9 –Mindlin10 rectangular plates and/or laminates.11; 12 Among many others, References
13–15 also employed B-spline functions for vibration and buckling studies of plates.
In References 1 and 2, equal cubic B-spline functions were used to represent each of the three
fundamental quantities w, x and y . This is a particular example of what is termed w Bk SRRM,
where w and imply that w, x and y are taken to be the fundamental quantities, and k is the
polynomial order of the B-spline functions used (i.e. k = 3 for this example). It was found that this
approach yields results of good accuracy for moderately thick laminates, but that accuracy decreases
signicantly for thin laminates due to shear-locking behaviour. In References 3–5 the occurrence of
shear-locking behaviour in beams and plates has been examined and it has been demonstrated that
such behaviour can be eliminated eectively using an approach which is termed w Bk; k−1 RRM. In
this approach w is represented in beam analysis by B-spline functions of polynomial order k, and
by B-spline functions of order k −1. For plate analysis w is represented by B-spline functions of
order k in each co-ordinate direction, x is represented by B-spline functions of order k − 1 in the

CCC 0029–5981/97/030473–19 Received 26 June 1995

? 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Revised 2 March 1996
474 S. WANG

x-direction and of order k in the y-direction, and y is represented by B-spline functions of order
k in the x-direction and of order k − 1 in the y-direction. The w Bk; k−1 SRRM has been shown
to yield accurate results and good convergence characteristics for both thick and thin beams and
plates. In Reference 6 it is extended to embrace rectangular, composite laminated plates of general
lamination (necessitating the use of an enhanced displacement eld which includes denition of the
two in-plane components of displacement when unbalanced laminates are considered). For plate
analysis the w Bk; k−1 SRRM provides a capability that is somewhat less accurate but rather more
versatile than a RRM based on the use of Timoshenko beam functions.16; 17
Another type of shear-locking free B-spline Rayleigh–Ritz method is formulated in Reference 7
for shear-deformable beam and plate problems. In this method the fundamental quantities are taken
to be w and (= zx ) for the beam and w, zx and yz for the plate, where zx and yz are
the through-thickness shear strains. In beam analysis w is represented by B-spline functions of
polynomial order ka, and by B-spline functions of order kb (usually ka¿kb). For plate analysis
w is represented by B-spline functions of order ka, and zx and yz are represented by B-spline
functions of order kb in each co-ordinate direction. Consequently, this approach is termed as
w Bka; kb SRRM and numerical applications show that it also eectively eliminates the shear-locking
behaviour appearing in the w Bk SRRM, whatever the relative orders of B-spline functions used
in representing the de ection and shear strains. The w Bka; kb SRRM increases the versatility of
B-spline-based Rayleigh–Ritz approaches in solving problems involving shear-deformable beams
and rectangular plates. For these structural components, this approach complements the earlier
w Bk; k−1 SRRM rather than replacing it. However, it has been found that the w Bka; kb SRRM has
very signicant advantages over the w Bk; k−1 SRRM when dealing with the vibration and buckling
of skew plates.3
In all the three approaches, i.e. w Bk SRRM, w Bk; k−1 SRRM and w Bka; kb SRRM, the spatial
displacement elds comprise independent expressions for the fundamental quantities involved. This
paper presents a new B-spline Rayleigh–Ritz method for the analysis of shear-deformable beam and
plate problems based on Timoshenko beam theory for beams and rst-order SDPT for plates. The
method has one distinct feature, namely, each of the fundamental quantities, i.e. w and of a beam
or w, x and y of a plate, is represented by so-called Timoshenko beam B-spline functions with the
same generalized displacement parameters, and hence the number of degrees of freedom involved
is the same as that when Bernoulli–Euler beam theory or CPT is used, respectively. Moreover,
any possibility of shear-locking behaviour is eradicated. Numerical applications for beams and
plates of both thick and thin geometries demonstrate the eciency and accuracy of the approach.
The arrangement of the paper is as follows. In the next section the shear-locking behaviour in
w Bk SRRM is thoroughly investigated in the vibration analysis of beams and plates, the cause of
locking is found and locking terms are identied; consequently, the Timoshenko beam B-spline
displacement elds are generated and used to formulate TBk SRRM for the vibration analysis of
beams and vibration and buckling analysis of rectangular plates in Section 3. Numerical applications
are presented in Section 4, and, nally, in Section 5 conclusions are made.

2. INVESTIGATION OF SHEAR-LOCKING BEHAVIOUR OF w Bk SRRM

2.1. One-dimensional beam analysis

First, we investigate the shear-locking behaviour of w Bk SRRM in the free vibration analysis
of a one-dimensional Timoshenko beam. It is assumed that the beam has length L, thickness h
and a uniform rectangular cross section. A detailed description was given in References 3 and 4.
Here, some main discussions are reproduced as a preliminary step towards the investigation of
 A UNIFIED TIMOSHENKO BEAM B-SPLINE RAYLEIGH–RITZ METHOD 475

shear-locking behaviour of w Bk SRRM in the vibration analysis of two-dimensional plates. The

basic idea of this investigation is to compare the eigenvalue equation for the free vibration of a
very thin Timoshenko beam and that of a Bernoulli–Euler beam and thus to nd the potential
shear-locking term.
In analysing the vibration of the beam in the w Bk SRRM approach, the beam is partitioned
into q spline sections of length d and the displacement eld is approximated as

w(x) = Mk d1
(1)
(x) = Mk d2

where Mk is a row matrix called modied B-spline function basis1–4 of order k and d1 and d2 are
column matrices of generalized displacement parameters. The sub-indices 1 and 2 represent the
lateral de ection w and cross-sectional rotation , respectively. The strain and kinetic energies of
an isotropic beam can be obtained by substituting equation (1) into appropriate energy expressions
(i.e. equations (6) and (7) of Reference 4, respectively). Then, by applying Hamilton’s principle
the eigenvalue equation for the free vibration of an isotropic Timoshenko beam is obtained as

(Ks + Kb − p2 M)d = 0 (2)

where Ks and Kb are the respective shearing and bending stiness matrices, M is the consistent
mass matrix, p is the circular frequency (rad/s) and
 
d1
d= (3)
d2

is the column matrix of generalized displacement parameters. The petitioned form of equation (2) is
    
Ks22 + Kb22 − p2 M22 Ks21 d2 0
= (4)
Ks12 Ks11 − p2 M11 d1 0

It is noted that the positions of d1 and d2 have been interchanged in equation (4). By eliminating
d2 this equation is condensed to be the form
−1
(d11 − d12 d22 d21 )d1 = 0 (5)

where
d11 = Ks11 − p2 M11
d12 = Ks12
(6)
d21 = Ks21
d22 = Ks22 + Kb22 − p2 M22

When the beam is very thin the eect of rotary inertia could be neglected. Then, the term p2 M22
in d22 is dropped, namely,

d22 = Ks22 + Kb22 (7)

Thus,
−1
d22 = (Ks22 + Kb22 )−1
−1 −1
(8)
= (I + Ks22 Kb22 )−1 Ks22
476 S. WANG

−1
where I is a unit matrix. For a very thin beam the norm k Ks22 Kb22 k¡ 1 and by using perturbation
18;19
theory of matrices equation (8) can be expressed as
 
−1 P
∞
−1 −1
d22 = I + (−Ks22 Kb22 )n Ks22 (9)
n=1

Further, only the rst term of the summation is signicant for a very thin beam and thus we have
that approximately
−1 −1 −1
d22 = (I − Ks22 Kb22 )Ks22 (10)
Therefore, by substituting equations (6) and (10) into equation (5) we obtain the eigenvalue
equation for a very thin beam based on Timoshenko beam theory. It is
−1 −1 −1
(Ks12 Ks22 Kb22 Ks22 Ks21 − p2 M11 + Ks11 − Ks12 Ks22 Ks21 )d1 = 0 (11)
If, instead, Bernoulli–Euler beam theory is used, the spatial displacement eld is
w(x) = Mk d (12)
where Mk is the same as that in equation (1) and d is a column matrix of generalized displacement
parameters. For an isotropic beam the expression of strain energy is given by equation (19) of
Reference 4 and the expression of kinetic energy is given by equation (7) of Reference 4 with
the term removed. Substituting the displacement eld (12) into these energy expressions and
applying Hamilton’s principle result in the eigenvalue equation for free vibration of an isotropic
Bernoulli–Euler beam as
(KBEB − p2 MBEB )d = 0 (13)
where KBEB and MBEB are the respective stiness and mass matrices and BEB denotes the
Bernoulli–Euler beam. Of course, only bending deformation is included in KBEB and before the
introduction of boundary conditions MBEB is the same as M11 in equation (11).
On comparing equation (11) with equation (13) it is clear that the term
−1
Lc = Ks11 − Ks12 Ks22 Ks21 (14)
is a potential shear-locking term. In order to prove this numerically we consider the free vibration
problem of an isotropic beam with two clamped ends (CC beam) since the shear-locking behaviour
in this case is the most evident. In this excise cubic B-spline functions, i.e. k = 3, and ve spline
sections, i.e. q = 5, are used. A frequency parameter
is dened as a non-dimensional term
L2

=p [2(1 + )=E]1=2 (15)
h
where  is Poisson’s ratio (taken to be 0·3),  is the mass density and E is Young’s modulus.
First we use equation (13) to calculate the fundamental frequency parameter
of the beam. For
all slenderness ratios h=L this equation gives the same
which is presented at the bottom of
Table I. Now, equation (11) is used to conduct the same work. The shear correction factor k 2 is
taken to be 0·822. The slenderness ratio h=L of the beam ranges from 10−1 to 10−10 . The results
are presented in the upper part of the table. It can be seen that, as h=L → 0,
is unrealistically
high. Instead of converging to the result of equation (13)
varies inversely with h=L and hence
p approaches a xed value, rather than decreasing, with increase in slenderness, i.e. shear-locking
occurs. By removing the term Lc equation (11) is again applied to calculate the
. This time the
 A UNIFIED TIMOSHENKO BEAM B-SPLINE RAYLEIGH–RITZ METHOD 477

Table I. Shear-locking behaviour of w Bk SRRM in free

vibration analysis of isotropic CC beams
From equation (11)
h=L with Lc 6= 0
10−1 0·1038717005 × 102
10−2 0·1067465587 × 102
10−3 0·2495343570 × 102
10−4 0·2269044025 × 103
10−5 0·2266666909 × 104
10−6 0·2266643126 × 105
10−7 0·2266642888 × 106
10−8 0·2266642885 × 107
10−9 0·2266642885 × 108
10−10 0·2266642885 × 109

For all h=L:

from equation (11), Lc = 0 0·1028061406 × 102
from equation (13) 0·1042075051 × 102

remains the same for all h=L and is also recorded in the table. It can be seen that this result is
very close to the value obtained by using equation (13). An even better comparison between these
two values can be obtained by using more spline sections. Therefore, it is proved that the term Lc
in equation (11) is, indeed, the locking term in the w Bk SRRM for one-dimensional Timoshenko
beam analysis.
Thus, a full locking-free condition could be stated as
−1
Lc = Ks11 − Ks12 Ks22 Ks21 = 0 (16)

when h=L → 0 and a weak one is

−1
det(Lc ) = det(Ks11 − Ks12 Ks22 Ks21 ) = 0 (17)

where det denotes the determinant of the related matrix. Equation (17) states that the shear stiness
matrix Ks should be singular as h=L → 0 if shear-locking is to be avoided.20

2.2. Two-dimensional plate analysis

In two-dimensional rectangular plate analyses the displacement eld in w Bk SRRM within the
context of SDPT is
w(x; y) = (Xk ⊗ Rk )d1
y (x; y) = (Xk ⊗ Rk )d2 (18)
x (x; y) = (Xk ⊗ Rk )d3

where Xk and Rk are the respective modied B-spline function bases1–4 in the x- and y-directions
and the ⊗ symbol denotes a tensor product. The sub-indices 1, 2 and 3 are associated with w,
x and y , respectively. It is assumed that the length (i.e. in the x-direction) of the plate is A
and the width (i.e. in the y-direction) is B. The thickness is h. The expression for strain energy
of an isotropic plate or an orthotropic bre-reinforced composite laminate with symmetric lay-up
478 S. WANG

is given in equation (7) of Reference 5. The expression for kinetic energy is given in equation
(8) of the same reference. Similarly, by substituting the displacement eld (18) into these energy
expressions and applying Hamilton’s principle we have the eigenvalue equation for free vibration
of a plate base on SDPT as
 d  0
Ks11 − p2 M11 Ks12 Ks13  1
     
 Ks21 Ks22 + Kb22 − p M22
2
Kb23  d2 = 0 (19)
   
Ks31 Kb32 Ks33 + Kb33 − p2 M33  d3   0 

Again, the subscripts s and b in the sub-stiness matrices represent shearing and bending parts,
respectively. By reorganizing di (i = 1; 2; 3) equation (19) is rewritten as
 d  0
Ks22 + Kb22 − p2 M22 Kb23 Ks21  2
  
  
 Kb32 Ks33 + Kb33 − p M332
Ks31  d3 = 0 (20)
   
Ks12 Ks13 Ks11 − p2 M11  d1   0 

Eliminating d2 and d3 equation (20) is condensed to have the form

−1 −1 −1 −1
[(d11 − d12 d22 d21 ) − (d13 − d12 d22 d23 )(d33 − d32 d22 d23 )−1 (d31 − d32 d22 d21 )]d1 = 0 (21)
where
d11 = Ks11 − p2 M11
d12 = Ks12 ; d21 = Ks21
d13 = Ks13 ; d31 = Ks31
(22)
d22 = Ks22 + Kb22 − p2 M22
d23 = Kb23 ; d32 = Kb32
d33 = Ks33 + Kb33 − p2 M33

When the plate is very thin we neglect the eect of rotary inertia by dropping the term p2 M22 in
d22 and the term p2 M33 in d33 . Thus,
d22 = Ks22 + Kb22
(23)
d33 = Ks33 + Kb33
Repeating the same procedure in deriving equation (10) we obtain
−1 −1 −1
d22 = (I − Ks22 Kb22 )Ks22
(24)
−1 −1 −1
d33 = (I − Ks33 Kb33 )Ks33
Substituting the expression of d33 in equation (23) and the expressions of d32 and d23 in equation
(22) into the third set of parentheses in equation (21) gives
−1 −1
(d33 − d32 d22 d23 )−1 = (Ks33 + Kb33 − Kb32 d22 Kb23 )−1
−1 −1 −1
= [I + Ks33 (Kb33 − Kb32 d22 Kb23 )]−1 Ks33 (25)
−1 −1
For a very thin plate the norm k Ks33 −
(Kb33 k¡ 1 and again by using perturbation
Kb32 d22 Kb23 )
theory of matrices18;19 equation (25) is expressed as
 
−1 −1 P∞
−1 −1 −1
(d33 − d32 d22 d23 ) = I + [−Ks33 (Kb33 − Kb32 d22 Kb23 )] Ks33
n
(26)
n=1
 A UNIFIED TIMOSHENKO BEAM B-SPLINE RAYLEIGH–RITZ METHOD 479

Further, only the rst term of the summation is considered for a very thin plate and thus we have
that approximately
−1 −1 −1 −1
(d33 − d32 d22 d23 )−1 = [I − Ks33 (Kb33 − Kb32 d22 Kb23 )]Ks33
−1 −1 −1 −1 −1
= (I − Ks33 Kb33 )Ks33 + Ks33 Kb32 d22 Kb23 Ks33
−1 −1 −1 −1
= d33 + Ks33 Kb32 d22 Kb23 Ks33 (27)
Therefore, substituting equations (22)–(24) and (27) into equation (21) results in
−1 −1 −1
{Ks11 − p2 M11 − Ks12 (Ks22 − Ks22 Kb22 Ks22 )Ks21
−1 −1 −1
−[Ks13 − Ks12 (Ks22 − Ks22 Kb22 Ks22 )Kb23 ]
−1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1
[Ks33 − Ks33 Kb33 Ks33 + Ks33 Kb32 (Ks22 − Ks22 Kb22 Ks22 )Kb23 Ks33 ]
−1 −1 −1
[Ks31 − Kb32 (Ks22 − Ks22 Kb22 Ks22 )Ks21 ]}d1 = 0 (28)
By expanding this equation and neglecting the terms in which the bending stiness sub-matrices
appear more than once we nally obtain the eigenvalue equation for free vibration of a very thin
plate based on SDPT. It is
−1 −1 −1 −1
(Ks12 Ks22 Kb22 Ks22 Ks21 + Ks13 Ks33 Kb33 Ks33 Ks31
−1 −1 −1 −1
+Ks13 Ks33 Kb32 Ks22 Ks21 + Ks12 Ks22 Kb23 Ks33 Ks31 − p2 M11
−1 −1
+Ks11 − Ks12 Ks22 Ks21 − Ks13 Ks33 Ks31 )d1 = 0 (29)
When CPT is used the spatial displacement eld is

w(x; y) = (Xk ⊗ Rk )d (30)

and the eigenvalue equation is

(KCPT − p2 MCPT )d = 0 (31)

where KCPT and MCPT are the stiness and mass matrices, respectively. KCPT excludes any through-
thickness shearing deformation by theory. MCPT is the same as M11 in equation (29) before the
introduction of boundary conditions.
Similar to what has been done in one-dimensional beam analysis on comparing equation (29)
with equation (31) it is apparent that the term
−1 −1
Lc = Ks11 − Ks12 Ks22 Ks21 − Ks13 Ks33 Ks31 (32)

is a potential shear-locking term. A numerical test has been carried out to demonstrate this point
of view and the results are presented in Table II where the fundamental frequency parameter

dened in equation (15) of an isotropic square plate with four clamped edges (CCCC plate) is
calculated using equations (29) and (31) with cubic B-spline functions (i.e. k = 3) and ve spline
sections (i.e. q = 5) in each direction. The Poisson’s ratio  = 0·3 and the shear correction factor
k 2 = 0·822. It can be seen that, as thickness-to-width ratio h=A → 0, the solution of equation (29)
with the term Lc included is unrealistically high. Instead of converging to the solution of equation
(31) at the bottom of the table the solution of equation (29) varies inversely with h=A and hence
p is locked to a xed value, i.e. shear-locking occurs. By removing the term Lc equation (29)
gives a constant value of
. Moreover, this value is very close to the solution of equation (13).
480 S. WANG

Table II. Shear-locking behaviour of w Bk SRRM in free

vibration analysis of isotropic square CCCC plates
From equation (29)
h=A with Lc 6= 0
10−1 0·1743475159 × 102
10−2 0·1785294303 × 102
10−3 0·3655324167 × 102
10−4 0·3210327192 × 103
10−5 0·3205565246 × 104
10−6 0·3205517591 × 105
10−7 0·3205517114 × 106
10−8 0·3205517109 × 107
10−9 0·3205517109 × 108
10−10 0·3205517109 × 109

For all h=A:

from equation (29), Lc = 0 0·1712645131 × 102
from equation (31) 0·1757581368 × 102

Therefore, it is clear that the term Lc given in equation (32) is, indeed, the locking term in the
w Bk SRRM.
Thus, a full locking-free condition could be stated as
−1 −1
Lc = Ks11 − Ks12 Ks22 Ks21 − Ks13 Ks33 Ks31 = 0 (33)

when h=A → 0 and a weak one is

−1 −1
det(Lc ) = det(Ks11 − Ks12 Ks22 Ks21 − Ks13 Ks33 Ks31 ) = 0 (34)

Equation (34) states that the shear stiness matrix Ks should be singular as h=A → 0 if shear-
locking is to be avoided.20 It is worth noting that the locking-free conditions, i.e. equations (33)
and (34), are also applicable to non-rectangular plates since no restriction on the shape of the
plate is made in the derivation of the conditions.
The shear-locking behaviour in the nite element analysis of plates and shells when using shear-
deformation theory has been studied by many authors. References 20–26 are a few examples of
many works dealing with this problem.

3. TIMOSHENKO BEAM B-SPLINE RAYLEIGH–RITZ METHOD

3.1. One-dimensional beam analysis

If an assumed displacement eld satises the locking-free conditions (16) for one-dimensional
beams and (33) for two-dimensional plates, the shear-locking phenomenon would be eradicated.
One way to construct such a B-spline displacement eld is suggested by inspection of the
Timoshenko beam mode functions.13 These functions satisfy equation (16) automatically as h=L →
0 since they themselves are functions of the thickness h. Naturally, this leads to constructing what
will be referred to as Timoshenko beam B-spline displacement eld, which are regarded as the de-
formation curves of a Timoshenko beam under point loads, since the usual cubic B-spline functions
have their physical meaning as the de ection curves of a Bernoulli–Euler beam under point loads.
 A UNIFIED TIMOSHENKO BEAM B-SPLINE RAYLEIGH–RITZ METHOD 481

Let us consider an isotropic Timoshenko beam. The two equilibrium equations are
P
n−1
k 2 GA0 (w0 − ) = − Pq (x − xq )
q=1 (35)
EI + k 2 GA0 (w0 − ) = 0
where Pq (q = 1; 2; : : : ; n − 1) are point loads applied at x = xq (q = 1; 2; : : : ; n − 1) and (x − xq ) is
the Dirac function. A0 and I are the area and second moment of area of the beam cross section,
respectively. E is the Young’s modulus, G is the shear modulus and k 2 is the shear correction
factor.
The solution of equation (35) is
1
w(x) = [S3 (x) − ˜x S300 (x)]
EI (36)
1 0
(x) = S (x)
EI 3
where the single and double primes represent the rst and second derivatives with respect to x,
respectively. Also, ˜x is the ratio of the bending stiness D̃11 to through-thickness shear stiness
Ã55 of the beam, i.e.

˜x = EI=k 2 GA = D̃11 = Ã55 (37)

and when a rectangular cross section is considered ˜x is equal to Eh2 =12k 2 G, and
x2 P (x − xq )3+
x3 n−1
S3 (x) = c0 + c1 x + c2 + c3 + Pq (38)
2! 3! q=1 3!

is the usual cubic spline function, and cq (q = 0; 1; 2; 3) are integration constants which are de-
termined by the four end conditions. It is seen that the number of integration constants is the
same as that in Bernoulli–Euler beam theory. The cubic spline function S3 in equation (38) can
be expressed in terms of cubic B-spline functions as

S3 (x) = M3 r (39)

where M3 is the direct cubic B-spline function basis1–4 and r is the column matrix of (n + 3)
displacement parameters which are linearly related to the (n + 3) coecients, cq (q = 0; 1; 2; 3) and
Pq (q = 1; 2; : : : ; n − 1). Substituting equation (39) into equation (38) gives

w(x) = (M3 − ˜x M300 )r

(40)
(x) = M30 r
This expression is referred to as the Timoshenko beam B-spline displacement eld for one-
dimensional beams. In general, this eld can be expressed as
w(x) = (Mk − ˜x Mk00 )r
(41)
(x) = Mk0 r
where k is the order of B-spline functions.
It is seen that in order to maintain C 0 continuity the cubic B-spline functions are the lowest-
order B-spline functions which can be used in this eld since the second derivatives of B-spline
functions are involved in the rst equation of equation (41) and B-spline functions of order k
482 S. WANG

maintain C k−1 continuity at spline knots. It is noted that the two displacement quantities, i.e.
w and , have the same displacement parameters r, and, therefore, the total number of degrees
of freedom in this displacement eld is the same as that in the Bernoulli–Euler beam theory.
Clearly, when h → 0 (and hence ˜x → 0) → w0 . Therefore, the locking-free condition (16) will
be automatically satised.
The Timoshenko beam B-spline Rayleigh–Ritz method, denoted as TBk SRRM, for the free vi-
bration analysis of one-dimensional beams can therefore be easily formulated by using the displace-
ment eld (41) in conjunction with Hamilton’s principle. The details of this standard development
are not presented here and only the nal eigenvalue equation is given as
(K − p2 M)r = 0 (42)
with
22 33
K = D̃11 (Ikk + ˜x Ikk ) (43)
and
00
M = h[Ikk − ˜x (Ikk
02 20
+ Ikk ) + ˜2x Ikk
22 11
] + I Ikk (44)
where the B-spline function integrals are dened as
Z L r
rs @ Mk @ s Mk
Ikk = dx (45)
0 @xr @xs
In order to introduce boundary conditions the generalized displacement parameters r should be
related to knot values of w and at the ends of the beam. This can be done by using the local
transformation technique described in References 1– 4. It should be noted, however, that the local
transformation matrices given there are no longer suitable here since the displacement parameters
r are the same for both w and . Thus a new local transformation is developed here. The new
generalized displacement parameters are chosen as
d = {w0 ; 0; r−k+2 ; : : : ; rq ; : : : ; rn−3 ; n; w n }t (46)
which is related to r through a local transformation Rx whose specic forms are given in the
Appendix for cubic and quartic B-spline functions.
Once the generalized displacement parameters r in equation (42) are transformed into the form
d dened in equation (46) through the local transformation matrices Rx established above the end
conditions can be introduced. Thus by solving this eigenvalue equation the natural frequencies of
the beam can be obtained. In this paper the Sturm sequence method is used as an eigenvalue
equation solver. Numerical applications are given in Section 4.

3.2. Two-dimensional plate analysis

For two-dimensional plate problems, the displacement eld (41) is generalized as
w(x; y) = [(Xk − x Xk00 ) ⊗ (Rk − y Rk00 )]r
y (x; y) = [(Xk − x Xk00 ) ⊗ Rk0 ]r (47)
x (x; y) = [Xk0 ⊗ (Rk − y Rk00 )]r
where Xk and Rk are the direct B-spline function bases1–4 in the x- and y-directions, respec-
tively. An explanation of x and y may be required. There are two choices for the values of
 A UNIFIED TIMOSHENKO BEAM B-SPLINE RAYLEIGH–RITZ METHOD 483

x and y , one of which is to choose the ratios of the bending stiness to the through-thickness
shear stiness of the two corresponding beams lying in the x- and y-directions, respectively,
i.e.

x = D̃11 = Ã55 ; y = D̃22 = Ã44 (48)

Another is to choose the ratios of the bending stiness to the through-thickness shear stiness of
the plate, i.e.

x = D11 =A55 ; y = D22 =A44 (49)

Numerical tests have shown that the second choice can improve the eciency and hence equation
(49) are adopted in the following study.
On substituting the displacement eld (47) into the expressions of strain and kinetic energies
given respectively in equations (7) and (8) of Reference 5 for an isotropic plate or an orthotropic
bre-reinforced composite laminate, we obtain the stiness matrix K and mass matrix M. The
nal forms of K and M are recorded here.
K = D11 I22 ⊗ (Ĵ00 − y Ĵ02 ) + D22 (Î00 − x Î02 ) ⊗ J22

+ D12 (Î20 ⊗ Ĵ02 + Î02 ⊗ Ĵ20 )

t t
+ D66 [I11 ⊗ (Ĵ11 − y Ĵ13 ) + Î11 ⊗ Ĵ11 + Î11 ⊗ Ĵ11 + (Î11 − x Î13 ) ⊗ J11 ]

+ A44 y2 (Î00 − x Î02 ) ⊗ J33 + A55 x2 I33 ⊗ (Ĵ00 − y Ĵ02 )

+ A45 x y (Î32 ⊗ Ĵ23 + Î23 ⊗ Ĵ32 ) (50)

M = h(Î00 − x Î02 ) ⊗ (Ĵ00 − y Ĵ02 )

h3 00
+ [(Î − x Î02 ) ⊗ J11 + I11 ⊗ (Ĵ00 − y Ĵ02 )] (51)
12
For buckling problems the potential energy of the applied in-plane stresses, i.e. x0 , y0 and
0xy ,is
Z B Z A  2  2
1 @w @w @w @w
Vg = h x0 + y0 + 20xy
2 0 0 @x @y @x @y
( " 2  2 # " 2  2 #
h2 @ x @ y @ x @ y
+ x0 + + y0 +
12 @x @x @y @y
 
@ x@ x @ y@ y
+ 20xy + dx dy (52)
@x @y @x @y
In this expression the three terms involving the squares and the product of rst derivatives of
w represent the out-of-plane destabilizing in uence of the prescribed stresses. The terms involv-
ing rst derivatives of x and y are the so-called curvature terms of SDPT whose signicance
increases with plate thickness and which also constitute an out-of-plane destabilizing in uence.
On substituting the displacement eld (47) into this expression we obtain the geometric stiness
484 S. WANG

matrix Kg as follows:

Kg = h{x0 (Î11 − x Î13 ) ⊗ (Ĵ00 − y Ĵ02 ) + y0 (Î00 − x Î02 ) ⊗ (Ĵ11 − y Ĵ13 )
+ 0xy [(Î10 − x Î30 ) ⊗ (Ĵ01 − y Ĵ03 ) + (Î01 − x Î03 ) ⊗ (Ĵ10 − y Ĵ30 )]}
h3 0 11
+ { (Î − x Î13 ) ⊗ J11 + y0 (Î00 − x Î02 ) ⊗ J22
12 x
+ 0xy [(Î10 − x Î30 ) ⊗ J12 + (Î01 − x Î03 ) ⊗ J21 ]}
h3 0 22
+ { I ⊗ (Ĵ00 − y Ĵ02 ) + y0 I11 ⊗ (Ĵ11 − y Ĵ13 )
12 x
+ 0xy [I21 ⊗ (Ĵ01 − y Ĵ03 ) + I12 ⊗ (Ĵ10 − y Ĵ30 )]} (53)

The sub-matrices with ‘top-hats’ in equations (50), (51) and (53), i.e. Îrs and Ĵrs (r; s = 0; 1; 2; 3),
are dened as
Î00 = Ikk
00
− x Ikk
20
; Î11 = Ikk
11
− x Ikk
31

Î01 = Ikk
01
− x Ikk
21
; Î12 = Ikk
12
− x Ikk
32
(54)
Î02 = Ikk
02
− x Ikk
22
; Î13 = Ikk
13
− x Ikk
33

Î03 = Ikk
03
− x Ikk
23
; Î23 = Ikk
13
− x Ikk
23

and
Z
rs @ r Mk @ s Mk
A
Ikk = dx
0 @xr @xs
Z B r (55)
rs @ Mk @ s Mk
Jkk = dy
0 @xr @xs
Therefore, in the free vibration problem the eigenvalue equation is

(K − p2 M)r = 0 (56)

where p is the circular frequency, whilst in the buckling problem the eigenvalue equation is

(K − fKg )r = 0 (57)

where f is a load factor.

Similarly, the displacement parameters r should be transformed into another form d in which
boundary conditions could be introduced. That is

d = Rr (58)

This matrix R is the tensor product of the two corresponding one-dimensional local transformation
matrices, i.e. Rx and Ry . Namely,

R = Rx ⊗ Ry (59)

where Rx is dened in the Appendix and Ry can be similarly dened in the y-direction.
The specic form of d is obtained by substituting equation (59) into equation (58) as follows:

d = {w0t ; gy0
t t
; r−k+2 ; : : : ; rjt ; : : : ; rm−3
t
; gym
t
; wmt }t (60)
 A UNIFIED TIMOSHENKO BEAM B-SPLINE RAYLEIGH–RITZ METHOD 485

where
w0 = {w00 ; x00 ; w10 ; w20 ; : : : ; wi0 ; : : : ; wn−1; 0 ; xn0 ; wn0 }t
gy0 = { y00 ; r00 ; y10 ; y20 ; :::; yi0 ; :::; y n−1; 0 ; rn0 ; yn0 }
t

.. .. ..
. . .
rj = {w0j ; x0j ; r−k+2;j ; r−k+3;j ; : : : ; rij ; : : : ; rn−3;j ; xnj ; wnj }t (61)
.. .. ..
. . .
gym = { y0m ; r0m ; y1m ; y2m ; :::; yim ; :::; yn−1; m ; rnm ; ynm }
t

wm = {w0m ; x0m ; w1m ; w2m ; : : : ; wim ; : : : ; wn−1; m ; xnm ; wnm }t

Some further explanations and comments about the displacement eld (47) are useful and are
given as follows:
1. The cubic B-spline functions are the lowest-order B-spline functions which can be used in
this eld in order to ensure the C 0 continuity.
2. From expressions (60) and (61) it is seen that the generalized displacement parameters d
do not include the boundary knot values of x at the boundaries y = 0; B and of y at the
boundaries x = 0; A, i.e. xi0 , xim and y0j , ynj (i = 1; 2; : : : ; n − 1 and j = 1; 2; : : : ; m − 1).
The boundary conditions, concerning x at y = 0; B and concerning y at x = 0; A, have been
assumed to be the same as those of w and have been pre-imposed in the eld (53).
3. The most attractive aspect of this eld is that the total number of degrees of freedom involved
based on SDPT is exactly equal to that in CPT since all three displacement quantities have
common displacement parameters. However, the through-thickness shear and rotary inertia
eects are included in full. As the thickness of the plate h → 0, x → 0 and y → 0, and
the shear-locking free condition (33) will be automatically satised.
A FORTRAN program has been developed to solve the eigenvalue equations (56) and (57) to
obtain natural frequencies and buckling loads by using the Sturm sequence method once boundary
conditions are applied. The numerical applications are described in the next section.

4. NUMERICAL APPLICATIONS

4.1. Beam problems

The free vibration of two types of beam is considered here by using the TBk SRRM with k = 4.
The rst type is of one clamped end and one free end (CF beam) and the second type is of two
clamped ends (CC beam) which is the same as that considered in Section 2 for shear-locking
investigation. The geometry and material properties are also given there. The results are expressed
in terms of a frequency parameter
dened in equation (15).
Detailed numerical results are recorded in Tables III and IV for the CF and CC beam, respec-
tively. These results are related to the rst three modes of vibration of beams with slenderness
ratios of h=L = 0·1 and 0·001; and are in the form of convergence studies of
with the number
of B-spline sections q. The comparative results quoted at the bottom of the tables are exact within
the connes of Timoshenko beam theory. NDOF denotes the number of degrees of freedom. A
clear point to emerge is that the rates of convergence are very satisfactory for both the thick and
thin geometries. There is no sign of shear-locking at all.
486 S. WANG

Table III. Values of

for thick and thin CF beams
h=L = 0·1 h=L = 0·001
q NDOF Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3 Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3
1 3 1·6243 9·8643 51·292 1·6371 10·349 54·993
2 4 1·6236 9·8174 25·963 1·6366 10·317 28·900
3 5 1·6236 9·7341 26·619 1·6366 10·260 29·499
4 6 1·6236 9·7285 25·697 1·6366 10·257 28·775
5 7 1·6236 9·7273 25·608 1·6366 10·257 28·733
6 8 1·6236 9·7270 25·586 1·6366 10·256 28·722
7 9 1·6236 9·7268 25·578 1·6366 10·256 28·720

Reference 4 1·6236 9·7266 25·568 1·6366 10·256 28·718

Table IV. Values of

for thick and thin CC beams
h=L = 0·1 h=L = 0·001
q NDOF Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3 Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3
1 1 9·8043 — — 10·450 — —
2 2 9·8043 25·091 — 10·450 28·768 —
3 3 9·7576 25·716 45·430 10·415 29·366 56·515
4 4 9·7554 25·061 47·785 10·415 28·750 59·277
5 5 9·7548 25·005 45·594 10·414 28·719 56·570
6 6 9·7546 24·991 45·287 10·414 28·710 56·360
7 7 9·7546 24·987 45·201 10·414 28·708 56·304

Reference 4 9·7545 24·981 45·123 10·414 28·707 56·276

4.2. Plate problems

It has been shown in Section 2 that the w Bk SRRM has a very strong shear-locking behaviour
in the free vibration analysis of an isotropic square CCCC plate. To test the locking-free nature
of the TBk SRRM the same problem is considered here by using the TBk SRRM with k = 4. The
frequency parameter
is also dened in equation (15). Detailed numerical results are presented
in Table V in a manner of convergence study for both thick (h=A = 0·1) and thin h=A = 0·005)
plates. It is found that the rates of convergence are good and the shear-locking phenomenon is
completely eliminated.
The second sets of results concern the validity of the TBk SRRM in application to the vibration
analysis of bre-reinforced composite laminates. Here we consider a ve-layer-orthotropic square
laminate with two types of boundary conditions. In the rst type the two edges in the x-direction
are simply supported and the two edges in the y-direction are clamped (SCSC laminate), while
in the second type all the four edges are clamped (CCCC laminate). Once more, both thick and
thin geometries are considered, with h=A values of 0·1 and 0·01 for the SCSC laminate and 0·1
and 0·005 for the CCCC laminate. The lamination scheme is 00 =900 =00 =900 =00 . The thickness of
each 00 layer is h=6 and that of the 900 layer is h=4. Material properties are dened as

EL =ET = 30; GLT =ET = 0·6; GTT =ET = 0·5; LT = 0·25;

in the usual notation. The shear correction factors used are k42 = 0·59139 and k52 = 0·87323.
 A UNIFIED TIMOSHENKO BEAM B-SPLINE RAYLEIGH–RITZ METHOD 487

Table V. Values of
for thick and thin isotropic CCCC plates
h=A = 0·1 h=A = 0·005
Mode Mode
q NDOF 1, 1 1, 2/2,1 2, 2 1, 3-3, 1 1, 1 1, 2/2, 1 2, 2 1, 3-3, 1
1 1 15·97 — — — 17·56 — — —
3 9 15·96 30·94 43·26 50·41 17·56 36·26 53·09 64·36
5 25 15·95 30·45 42·93 50·56 17·56 35·81 52·79 64·42
7 49 15·95 30·43 42·92 50·22 17·56 35·80 52·77 64·48

SDPT result5 15·86 30·27 42·41 50·24 17·56 35·88 52·91 64·93
CPT result27 17·56 35·81 52·80 64·21 17·56 35·81 52·80 64·21

Table VI. Values of

∗ for thick and thin orthotropic SCSC laminates
h=A = 0·1 h=A = 0·01
Mode Mode
q NDOF 1, 1 1, 2 2, 1 2, 2 1, 1 1, 2 1, 2 2, 2
1 3 4·509 20·24 64·77 — 6·195 18·06 45·90 —
3 15 4·492 8·083 9·369 11·57 6·184 14·57 14·67 20·08
5 35 4·490 7·921 9·226 11·35 6·184 14·37 14·50 19·83
7 63 4·490 7·913 9·217 11·33 6·184 14·37 14·50 19·83

SDPT result6 4·489 7·914 9·216 11·33 6·184 14·37 14·50 19·86
CPT result14 6·215 14·55 14·61 20·06 6·215 14·55 14·61 20·06

Table VII. Values of

∗ for thick and thin orthotropic CCCC laminates
h=A = 0·1 h=A = 0·005
Mode Mode
q NDOF 1, 1 1, 2 2, 1 2, 2 1, 1 1, 2 1, 2 2, 2
1 1 5·676 — — — 9·267 — — —
3 9 5·642 8·745 10·19 12·23 9·242 16·34 22·14 26·22
5 25 5·638 8·592 9·987 11·95 9·242 16·08 21·69 25·71
7 49 5·638 8·584 9·974 11·93 9·241 16·08 21·68 25·70

SDPT result7 5·637 8·585 9·974 11·93 9·244 16·11 21·73 25·76
CPT result28 9·26 16·13 21·79 25·83 9·26 16·13 21·79 25·83

In this numerical application the results are presented in terms of a frequency parameter
∗
dened as
 1=2
∗ A2 

=p (62)
h (Q11 )h
where (Q11 )h has the value 0·517745EL .
Similar to the study conducted in the above isotropic CCCC plate vibration analysis a conver-
gence study is considered here for TBk SRRM with k = 4. The results are recorded in Tables VI
and VII for SCSC and CCCC laminates, respectively. These results relate to the rst four modes
488 S. WANG

Table VIII. Values of Kc for thick and thin orthotropic laminates with various boundary conditions
h=A q NDOF U(SSSS) B(SSSS) NDOF U(SSSF) B(SSSF)
0·1 1 9 1·154 0·5773 12 0·7519 0·4275
2 16 1·154 0·5773 20 0·7519 0·4230
3 25 1·152 0·5760 30 0·7498 0·4216
4 36 1·152 0·5759 42 0·7496 0·4211
5 49 1·152 0·5759 56 0·7495 0·4208
Reference 29 1·151 0·5755 0·7493 0·4290

0·01 1 9 1·569 0·7843 12 1·030 0·5771

2 16 1·569 0·7843 20 1·030 0·5771
3 25 1·568 0·7839 30 1·029 0·5756
4 36 1·568 0·7838 42 1·029 0·5756
5 49 1·568 0·7838 56 1·029 0·5756
Reference 29 1·574 0·7867 1·033 0·5777
h=A q NDOF U(SCSC) B(SCSC) NDOF U(CCCC) B(CCCC)
0·1 1 3 1·800 0·8898 1 2·830 1·405
2 8 1·800 0·8898 4 2·214 1·309
3 15 1·788 0·8475 9 2·145 1·214
4 24 1·787 0·8450 16 2·157 1·214
5 35 1·787 0·8442 25 2·147 1·210
6 48 1·787 0·8439 36 2·144 1·209
Reference 29 1·786 0·8441 2·141

0·001 1 3 3·435 1·550 1 6·287 3·143

2 8 3·435 1·550 4 6·287 3·143
3 15 3·424 1·513 9 5·833 2·948
4 24 3·423 1·508 16 5·832 2·947
5 35 3·423 1·507 25 5·824 2·944
6 48 3·423 1·507 36 5·823 2·943
Reference 29 3·424 1·507

of vibration. It is seen that the rate of convergence is very satisfactory for both thick and thin
geometries.
Now the analysis is extended to study the buckling of the above bre-reinforced composite
laminates. Various boundary conditions and three thickness-to-width ratios, i.e. h=A = 0·1, 0·01
and 0·001, are involved. The laminates are assumed to be either uniaxially (i.e. x0 ) or biaxially
(i.e. x0 and y0 with x0 = y0 ) compressed. A buckling stress parameter Kc is dened as

Kc = c0 A2 h=2 D11 (63)

where c0 is the critical buckling stress and it is xc

0 0
in the uniaxial case and either xc 0
or yc in
the biaxial case.
In this application the TBk SRRM with k = 4 is also used and the results are presented in Table
VIII where U and B denote uniaxial and biaxial buckling, respectively. The rates of convergence
for both thick and thin laminates are excellent. The results for the thin laminates again show that
the shear-locking phenomenon has been completely eliminated.
 A UNIFIED TIMOSHENKO BEAM B-SPLINE RAYLEIGH–RITZ METHOD 489

5. CONCLUSIONS
The shear-locking phenomenon in the w Bk SRRM has been investigated. The shear-locking terms
are identied in both one-dimensional beam and two-dimensional plate analyses. Subsequently,
the shear-locking free conditions are proposed and under the guidance of these conditions the
Timoshenko beam B-spline displacement elds for both beams and plates are constructed. Then
these displacement elds are used to formulate a Rayleigh–Ritz method for the vibration analysis
of beams based on Timoshenko beam theory and the vibration and buckling analysis of isotropic
plates or bre-reinforced composite laminates based on the rst-order shear deformation plate
theory. This approach is designated as the TBk SRRM.
A variety of numerical tests have been conducted including the vibration analysis of thick and
thin beams, and the vibration and buckling analysis of thick and thin isotropic plates and bre-
reinforced composite laminates. These tests have shown that the TBk SRRM is extremely ecient
for both thick and thin geometries. There is no sign of shear-locking at all. In the TBk SRRM
the number of degrees of freedom is exactly the same as that when Bernoulli–Euler beam theory
or classical plate theory is used. However, the TBk SRRM includes the through-thickness shearing
and rotary inertia eects in full. Therefore, it can be concluded that the TBk SRRM is an ecient
unied approach for studying the free vibration and buckling problems of both thick and thin
beams and plates.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author thanks the referees for their valuable comments.

APPENDIX

Local transformation matrix Rx

For cubic B-spline functions

 
a1 a2 a1
 
 a3 0 −a3 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 · 
 
1 


Rx = · (64)
3! 



 
 · 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 a3 0 −a3 
 
a1 a2 a1

where

a1 = 1 − 6x =d2 ; a2 = 4 + 12x =d2 ; a3 = 3=d (65)

490 S. WANG

For quartic B-spline functions

 
b1 b2 b2 b1
 
 b3 b4 −b4 −b3 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 · 
1 



Rx =  ·  (66)
4!  
 
 · 
 
 
 1 
 
 −b4 −b3 
 b3 b4 
b1 b2 b2 b1
where
b1 = 1 − 12x =d2 ; b2 = 11 + 12x =d2 ; b3 = 3=d2 ; b4 = 3b3 (67)

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