Exact Solution of Free In-plane Vibration of Shallow Circular Arches

The free in-plane vibration of a shallow circular arch with uniform cross-section is investigated by taking into account axial extension, shear deformation and rotatory inertia effects. The exact solution of the governing differential equations is obtained by the initial value method. By employing the same solution procedure, the solutions are also given for the other cases, in which each effect is considered alone, as well as no effect. The frequency coefficients are obtained for the lowest five vibration modes of arches with five combinations of classical boundary conditions, and various slenderness ratios and opening angles. The results show that the shear deformation and rotatory inertia effects are also very important as well as the axial extension effect, even if a slender shallow arch is considered. The discrepancies among the results of the five cases decrease, when opening angle increases for a constant radius and slenderness ratio. The effects of the boundary conditions and the slenderness ratio of the arch are investigated. The discrepancies among the results of the cases become much more important in higher modes. The mode shapes of a shallow arch are obtained for each case.