APPLICATION OF THE GENERALIZED DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHOD TO DEFLECTION AND BUCKLING ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS

The method of differential quadrature developed by Richard Bellman in the 1970s is a numerical solutiontechnique for differential systems by means of a polynomial-collocation approach at a finite number of points. Inthis paper a global method of generalized differential quadrature is presented to solve the problems on deflection,buckling and vibration behaviour of structural components. Furthermore, the applicability of this method to thedeflection analysis of beams due to a point load is also demonstrated. An inherent advantage of the approach isits basic simplicity and small computational effort with easy programmability. Results are obtained for variousboundary and loading conditions and are compared with existing exact and numerical solutions by othermethods. Numerical examples have shown the accuracy, efficiency and great potential of this method forstructural analysis.