C. Molins et al., FLEXIBILITY-BASED LINEAR DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX STRUCTURES WITH CURVED-3D MEMBERS, Earthquake engineering & structural dynamics, 27(7), 1998, pp. 731-747
A flexibility-based formulation of a new mass matrix for the dynamic a
nalysis of spatial frames consisting of curved elements with variable
cross-sections is presented. The main characteristic of such formulati
ons is the exact equilibrium of forces at any interior point, with no
additional hypotheses about the distribution of displacements, strains
or stresses. Accordingly, the derived element mass matrix takes into
account the exact stiffness and mass distribution throughout each elem
ent. In validation tests, results obtained with this method are compar
ed with those obtained by other numerical or analytical formulations,
showing the accuracy of the proposed method. The comparison of experim
ental results for a multispan arch bridge subjected to a dynamic load
with those achieved by means of the proposed method are finally includ
ed to illustrate its efficiency in the treatment of complex structures
. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.