National Taiwan University Advanced Structural Theory

Department of Civil Engineering Instructor: L.-J. LEU

Fall 2019
Midterm Examination, December 5, 2019
Time: 10:00-12:00

1. Fig. 1(a) shows a cable element with a pretention force T and its stiffness matrix is often called
geometric stiffness matrix mainly due to the pretension and is known as T  1 1 , where the
L  1 1 
corresponding DOFs are the vertical displacement <v1 , v2 T .

(a) Fig. 1(b) shows a simple beam stiffened by a cable with pretention T via two rigid bars. The
stiffness matrix of the stiffened beam can be written as K 66  K b  K c , where the six DOFs
are shown in Fig. 1(b), K b is the stiffness matrix of the unstiffened beam and K c is the
stiffness matrix arising from the effect of the prestressed cable. Make use of the above
geometric stiffness matrix to determine K c . (16%)

(b) Let the stiffness matrix of the stiffened beam be denoted as K 22 if only two DOFs are used

as defined in Fig. 1(c). It is known that K 22  TT K 66T , where K 66 is the stiffness matrix

determined in (a). Determine T in terms of the well-known shape functions Ni ( x) (i=1,2,3,4);

where N1 ( x) and N3 ( x) are associated with vertical displacements and N 2 ( x) and N 4 ( x)
are associated with rotations. The shape functions are supposed given and there is no need to
determine them. (8%)

2 4
v1 v2 L 3 L 5 L 1 L L L 2
1 6
T T    
L

Fig. 1(a) Fig. 1(b) Fig. 1(c)

2. Beam AB is supported by a truss BCD as shown in Fig. 2. Given that support A settles 
downward, member BC has a temperature increase of T and member BD has a fabrication

error of magnitude e too short. Determine the equivalent load vector (Peq ) 41 if the thermal

expansion coefficient of member BC is  . (12%)

3. Determine the stiffness matrix K 55 for the structure shown in Fig. 3. (10%)

2
EA, EI, L 3 d3
A 1 d4
B d1 d2 d5 EIc , L
EIa , L EI b , L
2L EA A
EA L B 30o C D
C 30 o 45 o D
4 E EA, L
EA

Fig. 2 Fig. 3
1
4. As show in Fig. 4, a composite element with the length of L consists of four axial elements and
two rigid ends. The cross-sectional areas of the four axial elements are Ai (i =1,2,3,4) and the y
coordinates of the section centers are yi (i =1,2,3,4) . Assume the four axial elements have the
same material with Young’s modulus of E. The DOFs for the composite element are
di (i =1,2,3,4) , where d1 and d3 are horizontal displacements and d2 and d4 are rotations as
shown. Note that d1 is the displacement at x  0 and y  h1 and d3 is the displacement at
x  L and y  h2 , where y2  h1  y1 and y3  h2  y2 . Let the DOFs of this composite element
be denoted as d  d1 , d 2 , d 3 , d 4 T . Use the definition of stiffness coefficients to derive the
stiffness matrix K 44 column by column in terms of EA / L, y1 , y2 , y3 , y4 , h1 , and h2 . (16%)

5. Use the equilibrium equations from the stiffness method: K 22 Δ 21  P21 , where
Δ 21   A ,  B T are the rotations of nodes A and B that are positive when counterclockwise, to
solve the system shown in Fig. 5 by the following steps.

(a) Determine K 22 (in terms of EI and L) and P21 (in terms of P and L). (8%)

(b) Solve for Δ 21 (5%)

(c) Obtain the member end shear forces in terms of P and member end bending moments (positive
when counterclockwise) in terms of P and L for members AB and BC. (6%)

w=P/L
A
B
EI, L
y4 d2 EI, L
y3 d4
y2 d3 P
y1 d1 h2
h1 EI, L
rigid rigid
x=0 x=L C

Fig. 4 Fig. 5

6. Solve KU  P using the Gaussian elimination method, where

1 2 2 1   14 
 2 2 2 8   8 
   
K and P   . (10%)
 2 2 10 36 56 
  34 
1 8 36 31

7. The member stiffness equation for a member subjected to distributed loads can be written as

kΔ l  f fef  f . Starting from this equation, describe the detailed procedure to obtain the global

stiffness equation: KU  Pc  Peq . (9%)