Lecture notes on energy theorems

BME Dept. of Structural Mechanics

Energy theorems

1 Stationarity of the potential energy

Let us study a linearly elastic structure which is in an undeformed, stress free (so-called reference) state in the beginning. Then some loading is applied on the structure, under which it deforms, hence stresses and strains evolve in the elastic material. The internal stresses and strains are connected by the material laws of linear elasticity. The question is what the nal state of the deformation process is, i.e., what the equilibrium conguration of the structure is?

1.1 External potential energy

An external force is called potential if the work done by the force is path independent. In the case of a potential force, the work that the force does depends only on the starting and the end positions of its point of application, but does not depend on the (shape of the) path along which the point of application is displaced. If a force is potential, then there exists a potential energy function ext (x, y, z ) from which the components of the force can be directly computed as: Fx = ext (x, y, z ) , x Fy = ext (x, y, z ) , y Fz = ext (x, y, z ) . z (1)

Example. The weight of a body is a typical potential force. The weight mg always points down, toward the center of Earth. Here m denotes the mass of the body and g is the gravitational acceleration. Such a weight load is shown in Fig. 1: the force G = mg acts at height z = h downward in the given coordinate system, where axis z crosses the center of Earth. Thus, the projections of G on the coordinate axes are: Fx = 0, Fy = 0, Fz = G. The potential of force G is G (z ) = mgz + C, where C is an arbitrary constant. The above potential gives the components of the force, indeed, which can be proven using Eq. (1): Fx = G ( z ) = 0, x Fy = G ( z ) = 0, y Fz = G ( z ) = mg = G. z

The change in the external potential while the point on which G acts is displaced from height h to z = 0 is the potential in the nal position minus the potential in the starting position: G |z=0 G |z=h = mgh. 1 (2)

Lecture notes on energy theorems

BME Dept. of Structural Mechanics

This quantity is the opposite of the work done by the force G on the translation h:
0 0

WG =
h

Fz d z =
h

G (z ) dz = mg [z ]0 h = mgh. z

(3)

During this translation force G loses some of its ability to do work: exactly as much as the potential decrease (2). The potential energy of a force is the ability of the force to do work.
z

h G

Figure 1: A weight load G of a body The total (or exact) differential of the potential energy function (x, y, z ) of a force is the opposite of the elementary work of the force: d = ext ext ext dx + dy + dz = Fx dx Fy dy Fz dz = dW. x y z (4)

Therefore, the change in the potential energy of a force between an initial state A and a nal state B is the opposite of the work done by the force between these states:
B AB Wext B

=
A

dW =
A

A d = B ext ext

(5)

1.2 Internal potential energy

The internal potential energy is the stored elastic energy that accumulates in the elastic material during the deformation of the body from the undeformed, stress-free state to some distorted conguration. It is the opposite of the internal work that the internal stresses do on the (associated) internal strains during the deformation: int = Wint . Since the internal associated work is negative, the internal potential is always positive. In the case of a linearly elastic spring, the internal potential energy is: int,spr = 2 k 2 x, 2 (7) (6)

Lecture notes on energy theorems

BME Dept. of Structural Mechanics

where x is the elongation of the spring with respect to its stress-free reference state. Notice that the internal spring force R can be obtained from the above potential using the derivations given by (1): int,spr = kx. R= x In the case of a linearly elastic bar of length under tension/compression, the internal potential is EA 2 int,bar = (z ) dz, (8) 2 0 z where EA is the normal stiffness of the bar and z is the normal strain caused by some force load. If the normal force distribution is constant along the bar, then the above formula yields: int,bar = EA 2 N , 2 (9)

where N = k is the elongation of the bar with respect to the stress-free state, due to the force load. It is the total elongation minus the elongation k caused by the kinematic loading. Typical kinematic loadings are the thermal load (T , positive for increasing temperature), the fabrication error (positive if the member was made longer than planned), and the support displacement (positive if the bar in the stress-free state is too long to t between the body and the displaced support). In the case of a linearly elastic bent beam of length , the internal potential is int,beam EI = 2

2 (z ) dz,
0

(10)

where EI is the bending stiffness of the beam and is the curvature caused by some force load.

1.3 The theorem

The total potential energy is the sum of the internal and external potentials: tot = int + ext . (11)

The stationarity theorem of the potential energy: among all the geometrically admissible displacement systems of an elastic body the real one corresponds to a stationary value of the total potential energy. It is the necessary and sufcient condition of equilibrium: it gives the geometrically admissible displacement system which is statically admissible, too, i.e., the real one.

1.4 Application of the theorem

The degree of freedom of a structure is the number n of independent (geometrical) parameters that dene all the geometrically admissible congurations of the structure.

Lecture notes on energy theorems

BME Dept. of Structural Mechanics

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e1

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e1

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 2: Degree of freedom: the number of independent geometric parameters needed to dene all the geometrically admissible congurations of the body. (a) A rigid body supported by a xed hinge and two elastic bars: the rotation e1 about the hinge can describe any admissible displacement of the body. (b) A rigid body supported by a roller and two elastic bars: the rotation e1 and the horizontal translation e2 of the roller can describe all the geometrically admissible congurations. (c) A rigid body supported by three elastic bars: the rotation e1 and the horizontal and vertical translations e2 , e3 of some point of the body are needed to dene all the admissible displacements. The degree of freedom of an elastic rod is innite: we need to dene the position of each point of the beam axis and give the rotation of each cross section, but there are innitely many points of the beam axis, and so there are also innitely many cross sections. For the sake of simplicity, we only deal with structures that are composed by some rigid bodies connected to elastic springs and/or truss members. The geometry of these structures can always be dened by a nite number n of parameters, which are denoted by e1 , e2 , . . . , en and can be translations or rotations, as shown in Fig. 2. The total potential energy can be given as a function of these parameters: tot = tot (e1 , e2 , . . . , en ). The necessary and sufcient condition of equilibrium is that the total potential energy must be stationary. It means that the potential energy function tot (e1 , e2 , . . . , en ) must have a horizontal tangent (plane) if the structure is in an equilibrium conguration. The mathematical conditions for a multi-variable scalar function to have horizontal tangent plane is that all the partial derivatives of the function with respect to its variables must be zero. Thus, the potential energy is stationary if the following equations hold: (e1 , e2 , . . . , en ) = 0, e1 (e1 , e2 , . . . , en ) = 0, e2 (e1 , e2 , . . . , en ) = 0. en

(12)

The above expressions are equivalent to the equilibrium equations of the structure. The real displacement system of the structure can be obtained by solving Equations (12) for the geometric parameters e1 , e2 , . . . , en . 4

Lecture notes on energy theorems

BME Dept. of Structural Mechanics

2 Stationarity of the complementary potential energy

Let us have a linearly elastic structure which is in an undeformed, stress free (so-called reference) state in the beginning. Then some (force or kinematic) loading is applied. The question is what the real force system of the structure is after loading?

2.1 External complementary potential energy

In the lecture about mechanical work we have seen that a force acting on a particle does work on the displacement of the particle. However, we have also dened complementary work, which is the work done by a given displacement of a particle on the force acting on it. In the case of a load bearing structure, prescribed (absolute) displacements can only be support displacements: some supports may translate in a direction which may originate from the settlement of the foundation, for example, as shown in Fig. 3.
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2 C

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1 B (a) es (b) es (c) S1 es

Figure 3: Support displacement of a structure due to the settlement of a foundation: prescribed displacement at point B. (a) The given displacement. (b) Support B translates with the given displacement eS (no deformations are indicated). (c) The complementary work done by the prescribed displacement on the bar force S1 : W = eS S1 . Notice that the same effect evolves if the bar is cooled down, or fabricated shorter. The change in the external complementary potential energy is dened to be the opposite of the complementary work done by prescribed displacements: ext = Wext . (13)

2.2 Internal complementary potential energy

In an elastic material the internal complementary potential energy is the opposite of the internal complementary work done by the strains on the (associated) stresses: int = Wint . In the case of a linearly elastic spring, the internal complementary potential energy is: int,spr = 5 1 2 R , 2k (15) (14)

Lecture notes on energy theorems

BME Dept. of Structural Mechanics

where R is the spring force. In the case of a linearly elastic bar, the internal complementary potential, if the normal force is constant along the whole length , is int,bar = k S + S 2. 2EA (16)

Here k is the elongation of the bar caused by some kinematic loading. The complementary potential energy is the area enclosed by the force-elongation diagram and the vertical (force) axis, as it is indicated in Fig 4.
S int

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lk

11111111111111 00000000000000 00000000000000 11111111111111 00000000000000 11111111111111 00000000000000 11111111111111 00000000000000 11111111111111 00000000000000 11111111111111 00000000000000 11111111111111
lN

lN =Sl/E/A

Figure 4: The internal potential energy int and the complementary internal potential energy int in the case of a linearly elastic bar subjected to both force and kinematic loadings: the area enclosed by the force-displacement diagram and the horizontal or vertical axis, respectively

2.3 The theorem

The total complementary potential energy is the sum of the internal and external complementary potentials: tot = int + ext . (17) The theorem of stationarity of the complementary potential energy: among all the statically admissible force systems of an elastic body the real one corresponds to a stationary value of the total complementary potential energy. It is the necessary and sufcient condition of compatibility: it gives the statically admissible force system which is geometrically admissible, too, i.e., the real one.

2.4 Application of the theorem

A structure is called statically indeterminate if the static equilibrium equations are insufcient for determining the internal forces and reactions. The degree of static indeterminacy is the number m of (independent) unknown static parameters (reactions or internal forces) that 6

Lecture notes on energy theorems

BME Dept. of Structural Mechanics

must be prescribed in addition to the use of equilibrium equations to completely describe the static state of the structure. The structure is said to be statically determinate if the degree of static indeterminacy is equal to zero. The structure is said to be statically indeterminate if the degree of static indeterminacy is greater than zero.

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1111111111111 0000000000000 0000000000000 1111111111111 0000000000000 1111111111111 0000000000000 1111111111111 0000000000000 1111111111111 0000000000000 1111111111111 0000000000000 1111111111111 0000000000000 1111111111111 0000000000000 1111111111111 0000000000000 1111111111111 0000000000000 1111111111111 0000000000000 1111111111111

(a)

(b)

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(c)

Figure 5: Some statically indeterminate structures composed by rigid bodies, elastic bars, and springs. The degree of static indeterminacy is (a) m = 1, (b) m = 2, and (c) m = 3. The degree of static indeterminacy of some simple structures are shown in Fig. 5. In Fig. 5 (a) there can be seen a (plane) rigid body supported by a xed hinge and two elastic bars. The static unknowns are four, while there are only three independent equilibrium equations, thus the structure is once indeterminate statically: m = 1. In Fig. 5 (b) a rigid body supported by ve elastic bars is shown, which is two times statically indeterminate: m = 2. Finally, Fig. 5 (c) shows a compound (Gerber) structure composed of 2 rigid bodies and a central hinge. This structure is supported by six bars and one spring. These 7 static unknowns plus the 22 internal force components at both sides of the hinge is 11, while there are only 3+3+2 = 8 independent equilibrium equations. Therefore, the structure shown in Figure 5 (c) is three times statically indeterminate: m = 3. It means that if arbitrary values are set for three bar forces, for example, then the other static unknowns (the rest of the bar forces, the spring force, and the forces in the hinge) can be uniquely computed from the independent equilibrium equations. For the sake of simplicity, we only deal with structures that are composed of some rigid bodies connected to elastic springs and/or truss members. We denote the independent unknown static parameters of the structure by S1 , S2 , . . . , Sm . The total complementary potential energy can always be written as a function of all the independent static parameters: tot = tot (S1 , S2 , . . . , Sm ). The mathematical conditions for the multi-variable scalar function tot (S1 , S2 , . . . , Sm ) to 7

Lecture notes on energy theorems

BME Dept. of Structural Mechanics

be stationary is that all the partial derivatives of the function with respect to its variables must be zero. Thus, the complementary potential energy is stationary if the following equations hold: tot (S1 , S2 , . . . , Sm ) = 0, S1 tot (S1 , S2 , . . . , Sm ) = 0, S2 tot (S1 , S2 , . . . , Sm ) = 0. Sm The above expressions are equivalent to the compatibility equations of the structure. The real force system can be obtained by solving Equations (18) for the static parameters S1 , S2 , . . . , Sm , and then using the equilibrium equations for the computation of the rest of the static unknowns. Some examples are shown in the lecture.

(18)