PERGAMON

Computers and Structures 68 (1998) 555560

Generation of shape functions for straight beam elements

Charles E. Augarde *
Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, U.K.
Received 17 June 1997; received in revised form 14 February 1998

Abstract
Straight beam nite elements with greater than two nodes are used for edge stiening in plane stress analyses and
elsewhere. It is often necessary to match the number of nodes on the edge stiener to the number on a whole plane
stress element side. Beam elements employ shape functions which are recognised to be level one Hermitian
polynomials. An alternative to the commonly adopted method for determining these shape functions is given in this
note, using a formula widely reported in mathematical texts which has hitherto not been applied to this task in the
nite element literature. The procedure derives shape functions for beams entirely from the set of Lagrangian
interpolating polynomials. Examples are given for the derivation of functions for a three and four-noded beam
element. # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Finite elements; Beams; Hermitian interpolation; Shape functions

1. Introduction
Analysis of structures using the nite element
method is well established. Many formulations exist
for complex elements but simple elements remain popular since they are usually well-tested and easy to implement into an analysis program. Two-dimensional
plane stress analysis, for thin structures subject to inplane loading, may employ continuum elements, such
as the fteen-node triangle, having a large number of
nodes along a side. Where edge stiening is required,
beam elements can be connected to continua edge
nodes. There is then a requirement for formulations of
beam elements having more than two nodes.
Conventional two-dimensional beam elements have
two degrees of freedom at each node: one lateral displacement and one rotation. Unless the structure is
loaded entirely laterally, axial stiness must also be incorporated, by an additional degree of freedom at each

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

node. With this amendment, beam elements are usually

referred to as frame elements. The axial eects are
uncoupled for straight beams and the determination of
suitable shape functions is straightforward [1].
The author has recently contributed to the development of a complex three-dimensional nite element
model at the Department of Engineering Science,
Oxford University to study the damage accruing to
surface structures from adjacent tunnelling [2].
Modelling was also undertaken in two-dimensions (to
validate the complex model) where tunnel linings were
represented with simple beam elements. The procedure
outlined in this note was used in the implementation of
these beam elements into an existing in-house nite element code (OXFEM).
In this note we are concerned with the generation of
the shape functions which interpolate the lateral displacements along beam elements having more than two
nodes. Bernoulli-Euler beam theory is assumed where
transverse shear deformation is zero. While most nite
element texts describe the simple two-noded beam [1, 4]
few explain how more complex elements may be
formulated [3].

0045-7949/98/$19.00 # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

PII: S 0 0 4 5 - 7 9 4 9 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 0 7 1 - 6

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C.E. Augarde / Computers and Structures 68 (1998) 555560

2. Standard Procedure

where,

The beam element of Fig. 1(a) is dened by two

nodes, a distance l apart, along the element local xaxis. A common convention, and that adopted here, is
to make the nodal coordinates non-dimensional, that
is
x
x ;
1
l
so that the two-noded beam has nodes at x=0, +1.
Using shape functions, lateral displacement w(x) of
the two-noded beam element of Fig. 1(a) is
w
x Nd

where
N fN1 N2 N3 N4 g

&

dT fw1 y1 w2 y2 g:

Nj,(j = 1,4) are the bending shape functions and wi, yi,
(i = 1,2) are the displacements and rotations at the
nodes. Determination of the former, using the method
to be found in many nite element texts [4, 5], proceeds
by rst writing w(x) as an n-termed polynomial with
unknown coecients, n being the number of degrees of
freedom in the element
w
x Xa
a

X f1 x x2 x3 g

&

a T fa1 a2 l a3 l2 a4 l3 g:

Taking Eq. (4) and its rst derivative with respect to x,

four further equations can be formed, one for each
degree of freedom:
d Aa
a
where
2

1
60
6
A4
1
0

6
0
1
1
1

0
0
1
2

3
0
07
7
15
3

Solving for a in Eq. (6) and substituting into Eqs. (4)

and (2) gives
N XA1

The three-node beam of Fig. 1(b), of overall length 2 l,

has nodes at x= 1, 0, +1. The same procedure as
above yields
N fN1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 g;

dT fw1 y1 w2 y2 w3 y3 g;

10

X f1 x x2 x3 x4 x5 g

11

a T fa1 a2 l a3 l2 a4 l3 a5 l4 a6 l5 g

12

and to solve for N requires the inversion of

2
3
1 1 1 1 1 1
6 0 1 2 3 4 5 7
6
7
61 0
0
0
0
0 7
7:
A6
60 1
0
0
0
0 7
6
7
41 1
1
1
1
1 5
0 1
2
3
4
5

13

3. Hermitian Interpolation

Fig. 1. Beam elements showing bending degrees of freedom.

The shape functions in Eq. (2) are Hermitian polynomials since the displacement w(x) is interpolated
from nodal rotations as well as nodal displacements.
This contrasts with Lagrangian interpolation, used for
continuum elements' shape functions and for the axial
eects in frame elements. Considering small displacements, the nodal rotations are the rst derivatives of
the unknown real displacement function at the nodes
thus fullling the denition of Hermitian interpolation.
This property allows an alternative procedure to be
used to determine the shape functions to that outlined
above.

C.E. Augarde / Computers and Structures 68 (1998) 555560

The generation of Hermitian (or Hermite) polynomials from Lagrangian interpolation polynomials is
described in many mathematical texts [68]. Despite
the clear understanding that bending shape functions
are equivalent to Hermitian polynomials the technique
described below has not, to the author's knowledge,
been linked to the generation of those shape functions.
One-dimensional interpolation is required for
straight beam elements. The single dimension is along
the element centreline, dened as the x-axis. Onedimensional Hermitian interpolation for an unknown,
w(x) proceeds as [6, 7]
 r 
 
nnod 
X
dw
dw
wx
Hr0i wi Hr1i
. . . Hrri
14
dx i
dxr i
i1
where Hrji is a Hermite polynomial of level r, relating
to node i and to derivative order j of w. The sum is
over the number of nodes, nnod where values of w and
its derivatives are available. The level of the polynomial indicates the highest order derivative used in
the interpolation.
Comparison of Eqs. (2) and (14) reveals that the
bending shape functions are level one Hermitian polynomials as follows:

557

code. The former are required for continuum elements

and the derivatives are required for isoparametric elements. The use of this procedure also provides a systematic approach to allow simpler coding.
4. Examples
4.1. Three-node beam
A three-node element with six bending degrees of
freedom and a total length of 2 l is shown in Fig. 1(b).
This element has nodes at x=(1, 0, 1). The axial
degrees of freedom are omitted from this element as in
the derivations above. Shape functions for these
degrees of freedom are the Lagrangian polynomials of
order 2. From the preceding section, it is clear that
these are also required for the derivation of the bending shape functions.
The Lagrangian polynomials are
L1 x

x x2 x x3
x1 x2 x1 x3

21

L2 x

x x1 x x2
x2 x3 x2 x1

22

Level one Hermitian polynomials are derived from

Lagrangian polynomials by the following formulae:

L3 x

x x1 x x2
:
x3 x1 x3 x2

23

H10i 1 2x xi L 0i xi Li x2

16

H11i x xi Li x2

17

Rewriting in terms of the non-dimensional coordinate

x and substituting for values of x at nodes [i.e. (x1, x2,
x3) = (1, 0, 1)], gives

N1

H101

N2

H111

N3

H102

N4

H112 :

15

where Li(x) is the one-dimensional Langrangian polynomial of degree (nnod 1) calculated at node i, given
by
Li x

nnod
Y

x xj
x
xj
j1;j6i i

18

and L'i(x) is its rst derivative with respect to x. A

polynomial of order (nnod  2 1) is required to interpolate over nnod points, each contributing two
values. Inspection of Eqs. (16) and (17) shows that the
Hermite polynomials are of the correct order for interpolation.
Re-writing Eqs. (16) and (17) in terms of the nondimensional coordinate, x
H10i

1 2l
x

xi L 0i 
xi Li 
x2

H11i l
x xi Li 
x2 :

19
20

The advantage of a derivation based on the

Lagrangian polynomials and their rst derivatives is
that these are already likely to be present in a program

x
L1 
x 1
x 
2

24

L2 
x 
x
x 1

25

x
L3 
x 1:
x 
2

26

The derivatives are

L 01 
x

1
2
x 1
2l

27

1
L 02 
x 1
x 2
l
L 03 
x

28

1
2
x 1:
2l

29

The bending shape functions are equivalent to the following Hermite polynomials:
N2 H101

N3 H111

N5 H102

30

N6 H112

N8 H103

N9 H113 :

31

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C.E. Augarde / Computers and Structures 68 (1998) 555560

Note that the rst four are not the same as those in
Eq. (15) since each set is based on dierent order
Lagrangian polynomials.
From Eqs. (24) and (27) and with substitution for x1
we obtain



i2
3 hx
H101 1 2l
x 1

x 1
2l
2
5
1
3

x2 x3 x4 x5 :
32
4
2
4

Similarly,
hx
i2 l
x 1 
x 1 
x2 x3 x4 x5
H111 l
2
4

33


 
1
H102 1 2l
x
x2 x4

x
x 12 1 2
l
34
H112 l
x
x
x 12 l
x 2
x3 x5

Fig. 2Caption overleaf

35

C.E. Augarde / Computers and Structures 68 (1998) 555560

559

Fig. 2. (a) Shape functions for a three-node beam element. (b) Shape functions for a three-node beam element.

H103

H113

 h
i2
3
x
1 2l
x 1

x 1
2l
2
5
1
3

x2 x3 x4 x5
4
2
4
hx
i2 l
x 1 
x2 x3 x4 x5 :
l
x 1 
2
4

lated to derivatives have slopes of 1 at the associated

node.
36

37

The suitability of the above as shape functions can be

demonstrated by plotting each polynomial (Fig. 2).
The polynomials related to displacements have value 1
at the associated node and zero elsewhere. Those re-

4.2. Four-node beam

Fig. 1c shows a beam with four nodes having the
same overall length as the three-node beam. The nondimensional coordinates (x) of the nodes are 1, 1/3,
+1/3 and +1. Eight shape functions are required, derived from the following Lagrangian polynomials and
derivatives:


9
1 x
2
3
L1 
38
x x
x
16
9 9

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C.E. Augarde / Computers and Structures 68 (1998) 555560

N1

N2

1
x3
13 15
x 243
x2 281
512
1215
x4 1413
x5 729
x6 891
x7

46

l
1 x 19
x2 19
x3
256
99
x4 99
x5 81
x6 81
x7 :

47

Plotting these two functions [Fig. 3(a), (b)] shows that

they also satisfy the basic requirement of shape functions as outlined above.
5. Conclusion
This work presents an alternative derivation of
bending shape functions for simple beam elements, for
implementation of many-noded straight beam elements
within a nite element analysis code. While the elements described are simple, the theory will be of interest to developers of other C1 continuous elements such
as rectangular plates.
Acknowledgements
Fig. 3. Shape functions for a four-node beam element.

L2 
x



27 1
x2
x x3
16 3
3

39

L3 
x



27 1
x2
x x3
3
16 3

40

L4 
x



9
1 x
x2 x3
16
9 9

41

L 01 
x



9 1
2
x 3
x2
16l 9

42

L 02 
x



27
2
1 x 3
x2
16l
3

43

L 03 
x



27
2
2
1 x 3
x

16l
3

L 04 
x



9
1
2
x 3
x2 :
16l
9

This work was carried out as part of an EPSRC

funded project examining numerical modelling of tunnelling at the Department of Engineering Science,
University of Oxford, UK under the guidance of Dr
H.J. Burd. The author would like to acknowledge the
help and contribution of Dr Burd to this work.
References

44

45

The rst two shape functions, relating to lateral displacement and rotation at node 1, can then be derived as

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London: Chapman & Hall, 1992.
[2] Augarde CE. Numerical modelling of tunnelling processes for assessment of damage to buildings. D.Phil
thesis. University of Oxford, 1997.
[3] Dawe DJ. Matrix and Finite Element Displacement
Analysis of Structures. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984.
[4] Cook RD. Concepts and Applications of Finite Element
Analysis. 2nd ed. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1981.
[5] Mohr GA. Finite Elements for Solids, Fluids and
Optimisation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
[6] Jacques I, Judd C. Numerical Analysis. London,
Chapman & Hall, 1987.
[7] Morris JL. Computational Methods in Elementary
Numerical Analysis. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons,
1983.
[8] Spanier J, Oldham KB. An Atlas of Functions. London:
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