The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive

Numerical solution of boundary-value problems in structural mechanics by reduction to an initial-value formulation

Distefano, J. Nestor; Schujman, Jaime

UCB/EERC-69/04, Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, 1969-03, 20 pages (505/D55/1969)

The equations of equilibrium of an elastic plate, conveniently approximated by a system of ordinary differential equations, are reduced to an initial value formulation by means of invariant imbedding techniques. Riccati differential equations subject to initial conditions are found for the flexibility and the stiffness matrices of plates of variable lengths subject to arbitrary forces or displacements on the boundary. Several examples involving buckling problems, the solution of plates of infinite length, etc., are presented to show the feasibility and accuracy of the method.

Available online: http://nisee.berkeley.edu/documents/EERC/EERC-69-04.pdf (1 MB)