Journal of Sound and <ibration (2002) 254(4), 717}726

doi:10.1006/jsvi.2001.4123, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on

DYNAMIC MODELLING AND VIBRATION ANALYSIS

OF A FLEXIBLE CABLE-STAYED BEAM STRUCTURE
R.-F. FUNG
Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, National Kaohsiung First ;niversity
of Science and ¹echnology, ;niversity Road, >uanchau, Kaohsiung, ¹aiwan 824, Republic of China
E-mail: r+ung@ccms.nkfust.edu.tw
L.-Y. LU
Department of Construction Engineering, National Kaohsiung First ;niversity of Science
and ¹echnology, ;niversity Road, >uanchau, Kaohsiung, ¹aiwan 824, Republic of China

AND

S.-C. HUANG
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chung >uan Christian ;niversity, Chung-¸i,
¹aiwan 32023, Republic of China

(Received 27 March 2001, and in ,nal form 31 October 2001)

In this paper, the non-linear vibration of a cable-stayed beam with time-varying length
and tension in the cable is investigated. A set of non-linear, time-varying di!erential
equations describing this coupling system is derived by Hamilton's principle and the "nite
element method. According to the results of numerical simulation, the tension of the cable is
related to the cable length, which in turn is a function of the longitudinal and transverse
displacements of the cable. Furthermore, it is shown that the tension and length of the cable
can be considerably di!erent by using linear and non-linear models.
 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. INTRODUCTION

Cable is a lightweight and strong tension structure, and is applied on civil engineering
structures and mechanical systems extensively since they are economic means for such
applications as stationing large and small structures. In civil engineering, the time-varying
length problem is almost not found. However, it is a complete analysis of the cable vibration
in mechanical systems, such as lift, platforms for sonar sensors and similar devices. These
"elds of engineering applications require accurate analysis to predict the static and dynamic
behavior of the structures, which may be non-linear and include large deformation of the
#exible cable.
The vibration problem of structural element whose e!ective length varies with time has
been the subject of recent research interest. Wei and Wang [1] analyzed the vibration in
a moving #exible robot arm. Yuh and Young [2] studied the dynamic modelling of an
axially moving beam in rotation. Fung and Cheng [3] investigated the free vibration of
a non-linear-coupled string/slider system with moving boundary. The cables of cable-stayed
bridges subjected to combined parametric and forced excitations was studied by Uhrig [4],

0022-460X/02/$35.00/0  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

718 R.-F. FUNG E¹ A¸.

x x

x=l
xi hi
x = hi

v ( x, t )
Pi x
li wi ( xi , t ) u ( x, t )
yi Oi ui ( xi , t ) I
Oi I
j i O J j i O J
i y y
ki ki
(a) (b)

Figure 1. Schematic of the #exible cable-stayed beam structure. (a) The undeformed con"guration. (b) The
deformed con"guration.

but they did not describe the constraint of the tied point between the beam and the cable in
detail. Non-linear decentralized control of a #exible cable-stayed beam structure was
studied by Magan
a et al. [5], but the studied model was not a continuous system.
Brownjohn et al. [6] studied the dynamic behavior of a curved cable-stayed bridge of
a 100-m span, which was constructed in Singapore, by an in-"eld full-scale test and also by
an analytical model. Tuladhar et al. [7] studied the seismic response of a cable-stayed
bridge and concluded that the seismic response is a result of the interaction between the
input earthquake characteristics and the bridge properties like mass, sti!ness, and support
conditions. Stylianou and Tabarrok [8] studied an axially moving beam and used the "nite
element method to obtain numerical solutions. Al-Bedoor and Khulief [9] studied the
motion of an elastic beam with the prismatic and revolute joints by using Lagrangian
approach in conjunction with the assumed modes technique.
The objective of the present work is to develop a general dynamic model for an elastic
cable-stayed beam structure, in which one end of the cable is tied to the beam at a certain
location. The investigation begins with the development of a continuum model representing
the cable-stayed beam structure. A set of non-linear partial di!erential equations governing
the motion of the cable-stayed beam is derived by Hamilton's principle. After the "nite
element techniques, the numerical integration was performed by using Runge}Kutta
method. It is found that the cable tension is relative to the cable length, which is a function
of the longitudinal and transverse displacements of the cable. Also, the tension and length of
the cable can be considerably di!erent in linear and non-linear models.

2. FORMULATION OF DYNAMIC EQUATIONS

The schematic representations of the undeformed and deformed con"gurations of

a #exible cable-stayed beam structure are shown in Figure 1(a) and (b) respectively. The
Lagrangian formula is employed to describe a system consisting of m cables and an
Euler}Bernoulli beam. The "xed (Oxy) and (O x y ) co-ordinates are adopted to describe the
G G G
deformations of the beam and the ith cable respectively. One end of the ith cable is "xed on
the ground with a distance k from the "xed end of the beam, while the other end of the cable
G
is tied to the point h on the beam. During the vibration of the structure, the length of the
G
cable may vary with the time.
 DYNAMIC MODELLING AND VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF A BEAM 719
2.1. KINETIC AND STRAIN ENERGIES

The beam is modelled as an Euler}Bernoulli beam with a length l, density , uniform

cross-sectional area A, modulus of elasticity E and moment of inertia I. On the other hand,
the ith cable has a length l , density  , uniform cross-sectional area A , modulus of
G G G
elasticity E , and initial tension P . Additionally, the angle between the beam and the
G G
ith cable is  , which may change with the de#ection of the beam and the cable.
G
The displacement "eld of an Euler}Bernoulli beam may be written as

u(x, t)"u(x, t) I#v(x, t) J, (1)

where u(x, t) and v(x, t) represent the axial and transverse de#ections respectively. I and
J are the unit vectors of the "xed co-ordinate (Oxy). Accordingly, the position vector of an
arbitrary point on the beam after deformation may be expressed as

Rb (x, t)"[x#u(x, t)] I#v(x, t) J. (2a)

Also, let u (x , t) and w (x , t) be the axial and transverse displacement functions of the
G G G G
ith cable, so the position vector of an arbitrary point on the cable may be written as

Rc (x , t)"[l #u (x , t)] i#w (x , t) j, (2b)

G G G G G G
where i and j are the unit vectors of the co-ordinate (0, x , y ).
G H
Therefore, the total kinetic energy of the whole system including a uniform beam and
m cables is

K 1 lG
 
l
1
¹" A[uR (x, t)#vR (x, t)] dx#  A [uR  (x , t)#wR  (x , t)] dx . (3)
2 2 G G G G G G G
 G 
The Lagrangian strains of the #exible cable-stayed beam structure in the corresponding
directions are

 "u !yv # v ,  "0,  "0, (4}6)

VV V VV  V VW WW
where  v is the non-linear term due to the large deformation in the transverse direction.
 V
Moreover, the total strain energy can be written as

 EA uV (x, t)# vV (x, t)#uV (x, t)vV (x, t)#EIvVV (x, t) dx
l
1
;"
2

  
K 1 lG
# E A u (x , t)# w (x , t)#u (x , t)w (x , t) dx
2 G G G VG G  G VG G G VG G G VG G G
G 

#P (t)w (x , t) ,
G G VG G  (7)

where
l!l
P (t)"P #E A G G (8)
G G G G l
G
720 R.-F. FUNG E¹ A¸.

v ( hi , t )

u ( hi , t )

x = hi
u ( hi , t )

wi ( xi , t ) Pi (t )

u i ( xi , t )

O′
Figure 2. The virtual displacement at the tied point of the ith cable.

is the current tension in the ith cable. The second term of equation (8) is due to the change of
the cable length, which is

l"[h #u(h , t)]#[k #v(h , t)]

G G G G G
"[l #u (l , t)]#w (l , t). (9)
G G G G G
Equation (9) describes the relationship of the de#ections between the beam at x"h and the
G
ith cable at x "l . In addition, the virtual work done by the tension P associated with the
G G G
virtual displacements u(x, t) and v(x, t) shown in Figure 2 is

K
=" Pi ) R(h , t)
G
G
K
 G !PG (t)(x!hG)(sin G u(x, t)#cos Gv(x, t)) dx,
l
" (10)

where (x!h ) is the Dirac-delta function,  "tan\((h #u(h , t))/(k #v(h , t))) and
G G G G G G
R(h , t)"u(h , t).
G G

2.2. GOVERNING EQUATIONS

Substituting equations (3), (7) and (10) into Hamilton's principle [10]


t

[(¹!;)#=] dt"0 (11)
t


taking variation, applying integration by parts and "nally collecting the like terms, one
obtains the governing equations for the whole system:

u:AuK (x, t)!EA

x  u (x, t)# v (x, t)
V  V 
K
" !P (t) sin  ) (x!h ), 0(x(l, (12)
G G G
G
 DYNAMIC MODELLING AND VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF A BEAM 721

v:AvK (x, t)!EA


x  V V V 
 v (x, t)#u (x, t)v (x, t) #EIv
VVVV
(x, t)

K
" !P (t) cos  ) (x!h ), 0(x(l, (13)
G G G
G

 
K
u : A uK (x , t)!E A u (x , t)# w (x , t) " P (t) ) (x!h ),
G G G G G G G x G VG G  G VG G G G
G
0(x (l , i"1, 2,2, m (14)
G G

w : A wK (x , t)!
G G G G G  
E A  w (x , t)#u (x , t) w (x , t)
x G G  G VG G G VG G G VG G 
G G VG G 
#P (t) w (x , t) "0, 0(x (l , i"1, 2,2, m
G G
(15)

and also the associated boundary conditions:

u(0, t)"0, u (l, t)# v (l, t)"0, v(0, t)"0, v (0, t)"0, (16a}j)
V  V V
v (l, t)"0, EA [ v (l, t)#u (l, t)v (l, t)]!EIv (l, t)"0,
VV  V V V VVV
u (0, t)"0, u (l , t)# w (l , t)"0,
G G VG G  G VG G
w (0, t)"0, P (t)w (l , t)#E A [ w (l , t)#u (l , t) ) w (l , t)]"0.
G G G VG G G G  G VG G G VG G G VG G
By using equation (16b), equation (16f ) can be rewritten as v (l, t)"0.
VVV

2.3. DISCUSSION

The dynamic equations of the #exible cable-stayed beam structure, which includes
a two-dimensional Euler}Bernoulli beam and cables have been derived previously. From
the governing dynamic equations and the boundary conditions, several important
observations can be made:
(1) The time-varying tension P (t) of the transverse vibration cable appears in the
G
governing equations (12}15) and the boundary condition (16j).
(2) The axial displacement u(x, t) and the transverse displacements v(x, t) of the
Euler}Bernoulli beam in the governing equations (12, 13) are coupled and apparent.
(3) The de#ection w (x , t) of the ith cable is coupled with the axial and transverse
G G
displacements of the beam by the tension P (t) and is consequential.
G
(4) In equation (8), the cable tension depends on the pretension and its current length.
Moreover, the cable length depends on the longitudinal and transverse displacements
of the #exible beam as shown in equation (9). In addition, the angle between the cable
and the horizon also depends on the longitudinal and transverse displacements.
(5) In equations (12) and (13), the longitudinal displacements are directly coupled with
the transverse de#ections.
(6) The #exible vibrations of the cable-stayed beam and the cables are consequentially
coupled by the cable tension. The governing equations (12}15) of the #exible
cable-stayed beam are all non-linear.
722 R.-F. FUNG E¹ A¸.

(7) In the four governing equations, the di!erences between the linear and non-linear
models are contributed by the following non-linear terms:  v (x, t) in equation (12),
 V
 v (x, t)#u (x, t)v (x, t) in equation (13),  w (x , t) in equation (14),  w (x , t)#
 V V V  G VG G  G VG G
u (x, t) w (x , t) in equation (15). The cable tension p (t) is also a non-linear term,
GV G GV G
G G
since it is a function of u (l , t) and w (l , t), which could be seen from equations (8)
G G G G
and (9).
(8) If the non-linear terms are ignored, the governing equations in u and v directions are
still coupled with the cable dynamic equation through the tension P (t).
G

3. FINITE ELEMENT DISCRETIZATION

In the "nite element method, the structural response is usually approximated by

discretized nodal displacements. In this paper, the non-linear e!ects of the beam and cable
are adopted in the "nite element formulation. The beam and cable are divided into
n elements. Each node of the beam has three degrees of freedom and that of the cable has
one degree of freedom. The usual approach in the "nite element method is to assume that
each unknown deformation u(x, t), v(x, t) and w (x , t) is approximated by a "nite series in
G G
the following form:

L L
u(x, t)" N (x) q (t), v(x, t)" N (x) q (t), (17, 18)
SH H TH H
H H
L L
u (x , t)" N (x ) q (t), w (x , t)" N (x ) q (t), (19, 20)
G G SGH G H G G UGH G H
H H
where N , N , N and N are Hermite shape functions [11] and q (t) are the generalized
SH TH SG H UG H H
co-ordinates. The non-linear terms of the #exible cable-stayed beam system appear in the
potential energy function in which v and w can be calculated at the previous time step
V GV
[12]. This is a simpli"ed numerical technique in the "nite element method for non-linear
problems.
By using the "nite element technique and assembling the equation of motion, one obtains
the ordinary di!erential equations for the coupled system

MQG #KQ"P(Q), (21)

where Q is the global displacement vector, M and K are the global mass and sti!ness
matrices, respectively, and P(Q) is the time-varying force vector as follows:
Q"[q 2 q 2 q ]2;L,
 H L
M"[MH], K"[KH], P(Q)"[PH], (22a}d)
where

 
,C K
M*" A(NTuj Nuj#NTvj Nvj )#  A (NTui j Nui j#NTwi j Nwi j ) , (23)
G G
H G


,C
K*" EA (NTu,x Nu,x# v ) NTv,x Nv,x# v ) (NTu,x Nu,x#NTv,x Nv,x))
 V  V
H
K
#EINTv,xx Nv,xx# P (t)NTwi,x Nwi,x# E A (NTui,xi Nui ,xi
G G G
G
# w ) NTwi , x Nwi, xi# w ) (NTui ,xi Nui, xi#NTwi,xNwi,xi)) ,
 G VG  G VG  (24)
 DYNAMIC MODELLING AND VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF A BEAM 723
K
P*" !P (t) sin  Nu (l) ! P (t) cos  Nv (l). (25)
G G G G
G

4. NUMERICAL RESULTS

In order to speed up the computational time for the numerical simulation, it was assumed
that there is only one cable tied to the #exible beam in the simulation. The parameters of the
#exible cable-stayed beam system were selected as: l"2)5 m, l "2)5 m, "7860 kg/m,

 "7400 kg/m, A"10\ m, A "10\ m, E"2)06;10 N/m, E "1)706;
  
10 N/m, I"8)3;10\ m and the ends of the cable are "xed on h "2 m and

k "1)5 m. In that case, the angle between the cable and the horizontal plane is about 533

(+0)925 rad) and the pretension which is acting on the cable is 682 N before the cable is
deformed. For economy in computing process, a time interval of 0)2 s and a desired
accuracy of 10\ are taken [12].
In the simulations, the initial longitudinal and transverse displacements of the #exible
beam and cable were taken as (0, 0)5) m and (0)0001, 0)01) m respectively. The "rst-mode
shape of a uniform beam was used as the initial lateral displacement of the #exible
beam, i.e.,

v(x, 0)"C [sin( x)!sinh( x)! (cos( x)!cosh( x))], (26)



where l"1)875104, "((sin( l)#sinh( l))/(cos( l)#cosh( l))), and the coe$cient
C "0)1835 was assigned for the initial displacement. With the above parameters,

fundamental vibration period of the #exible beam is (2 / ) (A/EI"0)0756 s. In
addition, the lateral "rst-mode shape of the cable may be given by

w (x, 0)"C [sinh( x)!sin( x)# (cosh( x)!cos( x))], (27)

      

where l "4)730041, "((sinh( l)!sin( l))/(cos( l)!cosh( l))), and the

      
coe$cient C "!0)0062 was assigned for the initial displacement.

The transient responses of the linearly and non-linearly #exible beam and cable are
compared in Figure 3. In the simulation, the #exible cable-stayed beam system was
considered with a light damping, i.e., C"0.001M#0.0001K. Figures 3(a) and 3(c) show,
respectively, the longitudinal displacement of the beam at the free end and that of the cable
at the mid-point. The displacements are negative in Figure 3(a) but are positive in
Figure 3(b) because the beam is under compression but the cable is under tension. In the
"gures, a dash line denotes the response of a linear model while a solid line represents the
response of a non-linear model. It is seen that the high-frequency amplitudes are absorbed
by damper after t"0)03 s. Figures 3(b) and 3(d) show, respectively, the transverse
de#ections of the beam and the cable at the same points of Figures 3(a) and 3(b). The
longitudinal displacement of the #exible beam for the linear model is much smaller when
compared with that in the non-linear case. However, the transverse displacements for the
linear and non-linear models are almost the same as shown in Figure 3(b). It is also
observed that in Figures 3(a) and 3(b) the longitudinal displacements of the beam are much
smaller than those in the transverse direction. Figure 3(e) shows the time history of the cable
tension, which includes the pretension and the e!ect due to the change of the cable length
within the vibration process. Figure 3(f ) depicts the time history of the angle change
between the cable end and horizon. This change varies with the longitudinal and transverse
724 R.-F. FUNG E¹ A¸.

Figure 3. The transient responses of the #exible cable-stayed beam system. (a) The free-end longitudinal
displacements of the beam. (b) The free-end transverse displacements of the beam. (c) The middle-point
longitudinal displacements of the cable. (d) The middle-point transverse displacements of the cable. (e) The time
history of the cable tension. (f ) The current angle between the cable and the horizon. (g) The current length of the
cable: ---, linear; *, non-linear.

displacements. Figure 3(g) shows the change of the cable length, it also depends on the
longitudinal and transverse displacements of the cable at x"l as in equation (9).
G
Also, from Figure 3 it is seen that the responses of cable-stayed beam structure predicted
by a linear model are larger than those by the non-linear model, except Figures 3(b) and
3(d). This implies that the linear model may overestimate the structural responses and cable
tension, and thus lead to an over-conservative member design for the structure. Therefore,
using the non-linear model can be economically bene"cial for engineering applications.
 DYNAMIC MODELLING AND VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF A BEAM 725
5. CONCLUSIONS

The non-linear vibration of the #exible cable-stayed beam was studied in this paper. The
derivation of the dynamic formulation via Hamilton's principle was based on the
expressions of the kinetic energy, strain energy and the virtual works done by the cable
tension. At any time instance, the tension of the cable includes the pretension and the e!ect
due to the changes of its length. From the dynamic formulations and the numerical
simulation results, the following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) In the linear and non-linear cases, the longitudinal displacements are always much
smaller than those in the transverse direction.
(2) The longitudinal displacement in the non-linear case is much larger than that in the
linear case.
(3) The non-linear terms in the formulation are due to the large geometric deformation in
the transverse direction. If the selected initial transverse de#ection is small enough
and the longitudinal displacement of the #exible cable-stayed beam system can be
neglected, the non-linear terms of the beam and cable are negligible.
(4) The longitudinal displacement of the #exible beam is always negative because
a pretension is applied on the cable.
(5) In equations (8) and (9), the tension is related to the cable length which is in turn
a function of the longitudinal and transverse displacements of the cable. Furthermore,
the tension and length of the cable can be considerably di!erent in the linear and
non-linear models.
(6) The angle between the cable and the horizon is related to the longitudinal and
transverse displacements of the #exible cable-stayed beam. The time histories of the
angle are di!erent in the linear and non-linear cases.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The support from the National Science Council of the Republic of China under Contract
NSC-89-2218-E327-002 is gratefully acknowledged.

REFERENCES

1. P. K. C. WANG and J.-D. WEI 1987 Journal of Sound and <ibration 116, 149}160. Vibration in
a moving #exible robot arm.
2. J. YUH and T. YOUNG 1991 Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, American
Society of Mechanical Engineers 113, 34}40. Dynamic modeling of an axially moving beam in
rotation: simulation and experiment.
3. R. F. FUNG and W. H. CHENG 1993 Journal of the Chinese Society of Mechanical Engineering 12,
229}239. Free vibration of a string/slider nonlinear coupling system.
4. R. UHRIG 1993 Journal of Sound and <ibration 165, 185}192. On kinetic response of cables of
cable-stayed bridges due to combined parametric and forced excitation.
5. M. E. MAGANA, P. VOLZ and T. MILLER 1997 Journal of <ibration and Acoustics 119, 523}526.
Nonlinear decentralized control of a #exible cable-stayed beam structure.
6. J. M. W. BROWNJOHN, J. LEE and B. CHEONG 1999 Engineering Structures 21, 1015}1027.
Dynamic performance of a curved cable-stayed bridge.
7. R. TULADHAR and W. H. DILGER 1999 Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering 26, 631}645. E!ect
of support conditions on seismic response of cable-stayed bridge.
8. C. C. SPYRAKOS 1994 Finite Element Modeling in Engineering Practice. Morgantown, WV: West
Virginia University Press.
9. B. O. AL-BEDOOR and Y. A. KHULIED 1996 Journal of Sound and <ibration 190, 195}206.
Vibration motion of an elastic beam with prismatic and revolute joints.
726 R.-F. FUNG E¹ A¸.

10. L. MEIROVITCH 1970 Methods of Analytical Dynamics. New York: McGraw-Hill.

11. M. STYLIANOU and B. TABARROK 1994 Journal of Sound and <ibration 178, 433}453. Finite
element analysis of an axially moving beam, part I: time integration.
12. J. N. REDDY 1993 An Introduction to ¹he Finite Element Method. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

APPENDIX A: NOMENCLATURE

A the uniform cross-sectional area of the beam

A the uniform cross-sectional area of the ith cable
G
C a light damping matrix
E modulus of elasticity of the beam
E modulus of elasticity of the ith cable
G
h the distance between the other end of the cable tied on the beam and ground
G
I moment of inertia of the beam
I, J the unit vectors of the "xed co-ordinate Oxy
i, j the unit vectors of the "xed co-ordinate O x y
G G G
k the distance between the cable and the beam
G
K the global sti!ness matrix
l the length of the ith cable
G
l the length of the beam
l the change of the cable length
G
m numbers of cables
M the global mass matrix
N ,N Hermite shape functions
SH TH
N ,N Hermite shape functions
SG H UG H
Oxy the global co-ordinates "xed on the beam
Oxy the global co-ordinates "xed on the cable
G G G
P the initial tension
G
P (t) the current tension in the ith cable
G
P(Q) the time-varying force vector
q (t) the generalized co-ordinates
H
Q the global displacement vector
Rb (x, t) the position vector of an arbitrary point on the beam after deformation
Rc (x , t) the position vector of an arbitrary point on the cable after deformation
G
¹ the total kinetic energy of the whole system
; the total potential energy of the whole system
u(x, t) the displacement "eld of an Euler}Bernoulli beam
u(x, t), v(x, t) the axial and transverse de#ections respectively
u (x , t), w (x , t) the axial and transverse displacement functions of the ith cable
G G G G
 , , the Lagrangian strains of the #exible cable-stayed beam structure
VV VW WW
 the angle between the beam and the ith cable
G
 the density of the beam
 the density of the ith cable
G