A Finite Element Program for Elastic Straight and Curved Beams

The amount of structural problems that can be solved by the use of classical analytic concepts of Mechanical Engineering is limited, in most cases, to simple uniaxial structures. Any additional aspect, as excessive number of constrains or arc shaped structures, can increase the difficult to obtain the solution or even prevent at all. A numerical approach, as utilization of FEM (Finite Element Method), can make possible the solution of these structures. A finite element program for elastic straight and curved beams is developed to provide an alternative way to solve planar uniaxial structures problems. Statical Variational Formulation approach is used to build a FEM model. Routines are implemented using VB (Visual Basic), needed to make extensive calculations and to present the results in a professional way. A couple of examples are solved to make a quantitative comparison with analytic solutions.