A FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR ANALYZING THE EFFECT OF DEAD LOADS

Based on Takabatake' s works, in this paper, a conception of load-induced stiffness matrix is proposed, and a beam element with the effect of dead loads included is developed. The effects of dead loads on natural frequencies are presented by the FEM for simply supported and cantilever beams. Two types of dead load, uniform load per unit length and concentrated load, are considered in the analysis. The validity of the proposed procedure is confirmed in the numerical examples. It is shown that the proposed method is applicable to practical structures under various support conditions due to the advantages of the FEM.