Out-of-plane static analysis of circular arches by DQM

The differential quadrature (DQ) methodology introduced by the authors [see, Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engng. 191 (2002a) 3509; Int. J. Solids Struct. 39 (19) (2002b) 4927; Int. J. Numer. Methods Engng. 54 (3) (2003a) 847; J. Sound Vibrat. 263 (2) (2003b) 415] is employed for out-of-plane static analysis of circular arches under a wide spectrum of boundary conditions. In addition to the classical boundary conditions, elastic restraints against translation and rotation are also considered. Different loading conditions are examined. Several examples of arches with uniform, continuous or stepped varying cross-sections are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the methodology. The domain decomposition technique in conjunction with the present DQ methodology is examined for certain cases. The results are compared with those of exact solutions for several uniform or stepped sections arches and also for arches on elastic foundations. Accurate converged numerical solutions are obtained with only few grid points. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.