Free vibration analysis of civil engineering structures by component-wise models

Higher-order beam models are used in this paper to carry out free vibration analysis of civil engineering structures. Refined kinematic fields are developed using the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF), which allows for the implementation of any-order theory without the need for ad hoc formulations. The principle of virtual displacements in conjunction with the finite element method (FEM) is used to formulate stiffness and mass matrices in terms of fundamental nuclei. The nuclei depend neither on the adopted class of beam theory nor on the FEM approximation along the beam axis. This paper focuses on a particular class of CUF models that makes use of Lagrange polynomials to discretize cross-sectional displacement variables. This class of models are referred to as component-wise (CW) in recent works. According to the CW approach, each structural component (e.g. columns, walls, frame members, and floors) can be modeled by means of the same 1D formulation. A number of typical civil engineering structures (e.g. simple beams, arches, truss structures, and complete industrial and civil buildings) are analyzed and CW results are compared to classical beam theories (Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko), refined beam models based on Taylor-like expansions of the displacements on the cross-section, and classical solid/shell FEM solutions from the commercial code MSC Nastran. The results highlight the enhanced capabilities of the proposed formulation. It is in fact demonstrated that CW models are able to replicate 3D solid results with very low computational efforts.