New accurate efficient modeling techniques for the vibration analysis of T-joint thin-walled box structures

We propose new accurate efficient modeling techniques for the vibration analysis of T-joint thin-walled box structures. The essence of the present techniques is to use beam elements to model thin-walled members of the joint, but the elements are based on an eight-degree-of-freedom (8-DOF) beam theory capable of handling warping and distortion. Two approaches are considered to model the interfacing joint region connected to three adjacent thin-walled box structures: the first one is to model the joint region with plate elements and the second one is to use a joint element derived to be consistent with nearby 8-DOF beam elements. The efficiency of the present techniques comes from the use of beam elements to model the box structures while the accuracy comes from the use of the higher-order beam theory accounting for warping and distortion. The procedures to match the dissimilar elements and to develop the joint element are also presented in this work. The effectiveness of the present approaches is demonstrated by numerical examples.