Free Vibrations of Elastica Shaped Arches

This paper deals with the free vibrations of elastica shaped arches. The elastica shaped arches are formed by the post-buckled column whose arc length is always constant. The equations governing free, planar vibration of general arch in open literature are modified for applying the free vibrations of elastica shaped arch and solved numerically to obtain frequencies and mode shapes for hinged-hinged, clamped-hinged and clamped-clamped end constraints. The effects of rotatory inertia, rise ratio and slenderness ratio on natural frequencies are presented. The frequencies of elastica shaped arches are greater than those of parabolic shaped ones. Also, typical mode shapes are presented in figures.