Specific conditions at the tip of a crack and discontinuities in a material are the challenges in analyzing the growth of cracks using conventional methods. In recent years, a method has been developed based on the non-local mechanics, called peridynamic theory, which has improved the analysis process of such structures. In this theory, the points of matter whose displacement or displacement derivatives are discontinuous are not distinguished from other material points. In this paper, we employed the bond-based peridynamic theory to investigate the rate of crack propagation and the path of crack growth in a beam with an initial crack due to low velocity impact. Two beams made of polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) and steel alloy with different projectile shapes were considered. The effects of changes in the impact velocity and the fracture toughness were studied and the obtained results were validated with other conducted studies. The crack path was predicted successfully and the branching of the crack was captured. The results confirm the ability of the peridynamic theory to model the crack growth in impact problems.

The elastoplastic behavior of a Functionally Graded Material (FGM) simply supported beam consisting of elastic material A and elastoplastic material B under uniformly distributed load is investigated. A power function is used to describe the volume fractions of the constituent materials, and the average stress of the FGM beam is obtained by using the averaging method. This method can avoid the assumption of the varying properties of the whole material, and can consider the different Possion’s ratios of the different constituent materials. What’s more, only the elastoplastic material B in the FGM beam will yield, and the yield function is determined by the stress of material B only, rather than the average stress of the whole material. The method used in this work is more closer to the real material than the method by assuming the variation of the whole properties of FGM. The theoretical results show a good agreement with the finite element results, which indicates that the method provided in this work is valid. With this method, the variation of the elastic and plastic areas, the stress distribution on the cross section, variation of the curvature and neutral layer, and the residual stress distribution of the FGM beam are discussed through numerical results. This work can provide a new way for the design and in-depth investigation of FGM material.

The initial boundary value problem for a beam is considered in the Timoshenko model. Assuming the analyticity of the initial conditions, it is proved that the problem is solvable throughout the time interval. After that, a numerical algorithm, consisting of three steps, is constructed. The solution is approximated with respect to the spatial and time variables using the Galerkin method and a Crank–Nicholson type scheme. The system of equations obtained by discretization is solved by a version of the Picard iteration method. The accuracy of the proposed algorithm is investigated.

This article extends previous numerical studies of the stability properties of intense nonneutral charged particle beams with large temperature anisotropy (T⊥b >> T∥b) to allow for nonaxisymmetric perturbations with ∂/∂θ ≠ 0. The most unstable modes are identified, and their eigenfrequencies, radial mode structure, and nonlinear dynamics are determined.

In this paper, a discrete system model and its equation of motion for beams with arbitrary supports at two ends are established. These supports include elastic, rigid and free supports in translation and rotation directions. Based on theory of oscillatory matrices, a series of qualitative properties of frequencies and modes of this system are derived. The basic properties include: non-zero frequencies are distinct; the ith displacement mode has i - 1 nodes; nodes of ith mode and (i + 1)th mode interlace.

Some additional important qualitative properties owned by rotation modes and strain modes are given as well.

In this paper, the crack problem of a large beam-like strip weakened by a circular arc crack with in-plane bending moments applied at both ends is approximately solved using the complex variable technique. Complex stress functions corresponding to the applied bending moments are superposed with those due to the disturbance of the crack to satisfy the governing boundary equation. The conformal mapping function devised to transform the contour surface of a circular arc crack to a unit circle is then substituted in the boundary equation to facilitate the evaluation of Cauchy integrals. In this way, the complex stress functions due to the crack disturbance are determined and the stress intensity factors are calculated through a limiting process to give their explicit forms. Eventually, the geometric functions for the variation of the stress intensity factors on account of the crack shape are plotted as a function of the curvature of a circular-arc crack.

In this paper the modified differential quadrature method (MDQM) is proposed for static and vibration analyses of beams. Modified weighting matrices are developed and a new formulation process is presented for incorporating boundary conditions such that the numerical error induced by using the δ-method in the original DQM is reduced. The present method is applied to various beam problems, such as static deflections of Euler beams, buckling loads of columns, and free vibrations of Timoshenko beams. Numerical results of the present method are shown to have excellent accuracy when compared to exact values and are more accurate than those obtained by the original DQM. The accuracy and efficiency of the present method have been demonstrated.