Finite Element Analysis of a Double Beam connected with Elastic Springs

Abstract

This paper develops a finite element method for double beams subjected to static loading. The double beam consists of two Euler–Bernoulli beams connected continuously by an elastic spring connection. The finite element for a double beam is formulated with eight degrees of freedom based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. The finite element method is implemented in MATLAB software to analyze the behavior of the double beams. The MATLAB code calculates the displacements of both the upper and lower beams. Numerical examples are compared with the analytical solution to demonstrate the high accuracy of the proposed method.