Two cantilever beams are connected by a hinge that is supported by a spring as shown in the following figure. Determine:
1. Deflection at the hinge point
2. Reactions at nodes 1 and 3
3. Is it possible to determine the deflection at the center of the right beam without generating a node there? Please explain.
Let E = 210 GPa, I = 4x10^-5 m^4, F = 7500 N, and k = 400 kN/m.
Grading:
- Global stiffness matrix before applying the boundary conditions (3 pts)
- Vector of nodal forces before applying the boundary conditions (2 pts)
- Boundary conditions (1 pt)
- Nodal displacements (1 pt)
- Reactions (1 pt)
- Explanation for question 3 (2 pts)