The degeneration of two classes of thick beam elements has been conducted, one (DB6) based on the conventional Timoshenko beam assumptions whereas the other (DB7) based on the assumed cubic axial displacement profile. While an adjustable shear correct...
The degeneration of two classes of thick beam elements has been conducted, one (DB6) based on the conventional Timoshenko beam assumptions whereas the other (DB7) based on the assumed cubic axial displacement profile. While an adjustable shear correction factor is required for the DB 6 element to compensate for the unrealistic distribution of shear strain across the thickness, the DB 7 element assumes the more realistic quadratic profile of shear strain at the outset. With the plane-stress continuum solution as reference, solutions obtained by these two element models are compared with the analytical Timoshenko solution, the analytical thin beam solution and several available solutions of other existing beam elements. The result indicates that the performance of the higher order beam element DB 7 is consistently superior to any others. This is true for the whole range of aspect ratios of beam, in both static and free vibration analyses.