Abstract:
his thesis presents a method of static analysis for a beam of fixed span length, ofwhich one end of beam is hinged while the other is free to slide over a frictionless roller. Thebeam can be subjected to a point load or a uniform load or applied moment at both ends or thecombination of these load. The equilibrium configurations of the beam under these loadingconditions are to be determined. To solve the problem, an energy functional is formulated whichinvolves the bending strain energy of beam, work done by the concentrated load, the uniformload and the applied moments. For stable equilibrium, the frost variation of the functional isvanished. Since the problem is nonlinear, the finite element method and the Newton-Ralphsoniterative process is used to solve it. The numerical results for each loading case are comparedwith those obtained by the elliptic integral method. They are found to be in good agreement.