Natural Vibrations of a Clamped-Clamped Arch With an Open Transverse Crack

The paper presents a finite element model of the arch with a transverse, one-edge crack. A part of the cracked arch is modelled by a curved beam finite element with the crack. Parts of the arch without the crack are modelled by noncracked curved beam finite elements. The crack occurring in the arch is nonpropagating and open. It is assumed that the crack changes only the stiffness of the arch, whereas the mass is unchanged. The method of the formation of the stiffness matrix of a curved beam finite element with the crack is presented. The effects of the crack location and its length on the changes of the in-plane natural frequencies and mode shapes of the clamped-clamped arch are studied.