Elasticity solution of multi-span beams with variable thickness under static loads

This paper studies the stress and displacement distributions of continuously varying thickness multi-span beams simply supported at two ends and under static loads. The intermediate supports of the beam may be elastic and/or rigid in one or two directions. On the basis of the two-dimensional plane elasticity theory, the general solution of stress function, which exactly satisfies the governing differential equations and the simply supported boundary conditions, is deduced. In the present analysis, the reaction forces of the intermediate supports are regarded as the unknown external forces acting on the lower surface of the beam under consideration. The unknown coefficients in the solutions are determined by using the Fourier sinusoidal series expansions to the boundary conditions on the upper and lower surfaces of the beam and using the linear relations between reaction forces and displacements of the beam at intermediate supports. The solution obtained is exact and excellent convergence has been confirmed. Comparing the numerical results obtained from the proposed method to those obtained from the Euler beam theory, the Timoshenko beam theory and those obtained from the commercial finite element software ANSYS, high accuracy of the present method is demonstrated.