Saint-Venant Decay Rates for the Rectangular Cross Section Rod

A finite element-transfer matrix procedure developed for determination of Saint-Venant decay rates of self-equilibrated loading at one end of a semi-infinite prismatic elastic rod of general cross section, which are the eigenvalues of a single repeating cell transfer matrix, is applied to the case of a rectangular cross section. First, a characteristic length of the rod is modelled within a finite element code; a superelement stiffness matrix relating force and displacement components at the master nodes at the ends of the length is then constructed, and its manipulation provides the transfer matrix, from which the eigenvalues and eigenvectors are determined. Over the range from plane stress to plane strain, which are the extremes of aspect ratio, there are always eigenmodes which decay slower than the generalized Papkovitch-Fadle modes, the latter being largely insensitive to aspect ratio. For compact cross sections, close to square, the slowest decay is for a mode having a distribution of axial displacement reminiscent of that associated with warping during torsion; for less compact cross sections, slowest decay is for a mode characterized by cross-sectional bending, caused by self-equilibrated twisting moment.