A local point interpolation method for static and dynamic analysis of thin beams

The local point interpolation method (LPIM) is a newly developed truly meshless method, based on the idea of meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) approach. In this paper, a new LPIM formulation is proposed to deal with fourth-order boundary-value and initial-value problems for static and dynamic analysis (stability, free vibration and forced vibration) of beams. Local weak forms are developed using weighted residual method locally. In order to introduce the derivatives of the field variable into the interpolation scheme, a technique is proposed to construct polynomial interpolation with Kronecker delta function property, based only on a group of arbitrarily distributed points. Because the shape functions so-obtained possess delta function property, the essential boundary conditions can be implemented with ease as in the conventional finite element method (FEM). The validity and efficiency of the present LPIM formulation are demonstrated through numerical examples of beams under various loads and boundary conditions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.