Dynamic multi-patch isogeometric analysis of planar Euler–Bernoulli beams

This study presents a novel isogeometric Euler–Bernoulli beam formulation for in-plane dynamic analysis of multi-patch beam structures. The kinematic descriptions involve only displacements of the beam axis, which are approximated by non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) curves. Translational displacements of the control points are here considered as control variables. The motivation of this work is to propose a penalty-free method to handle in-plane dynamic analysis of multi-patch beam structures. A simple relation between cross-sectional rotations at the ends of the beams and control variables is derived, allowing the incorporation of the end rotations as degrees of freedom. This improved setting can straightforwardly tackle beam structures with many rigid multi-patch connections, a major challenging issue when using existing isogeometric Euler–Bernoulli beam formulations. Additionally, rotational boundary conditions are conveniently prescribed. Numerical examples with complicated beam structures such as circular arches and frames with kinks are considered to show the accuracy and performance of the developed formulation. The computed results are verified with those derived from the conventional finite element method, and the superior convergence properties of the proposed formulation are illustrated. A possible extension of the present approach to spatial beam structures is discussed.