Earthquake Analysis of Spatial Rod Systems

A master element to be employed as a general spatial rod finite element is presented. This spatially curved and pretwisted element can have variable cross-section and variable curvature change. It may also be resting on an elastic foundation. Also, a finite element formulation for a general earthquake analysis of spatial rods is presented. The theoretical foundation has lead to a general-purpose computer program which could conveniently be utilized in the dynamic and/or earthquake analysis of spatially curved and pretwisted skeletal systems. Employing this theoretical-numerical scheme, several examples of skeletal structures subjected to ground excitations are analyzed.