Finite strip analysis of shear walls and thin plates with abrupt changes of thickness by using modified beam vibration modes

摘要

In Rayleigh-Ritz types of structural analysis, the choice of the trial displacement functions is of utmost importance. This paper presents a new finite strip method for the analysis of deep beams, shear walls and thin plates with abrupt changes of thickness. The essence of the method lies in the adoption of displacement functions possessing the right amount of continuity at the ends as well as at locations of abrupt changes of thickness. The equilibrium conditions at locations of abrupt changes of thickness are taken into account by the incorporation of piecewise continuous correction functions. As these displacement functions are built up from beam vibration modes with appropriate corrections, they possess both the advantages of fast convergence of harmonic functions as well as the appropriate order of continuity. Numerical results also show that the method is versatile, efficient and accurate.