Buckling of a flush-mounted plate in simple shear flow

The buckling of an elastic plate with arbitrary shape flush-mounted on a rigid wall and deforming under the action of a uniform tangential load due to an overpassing simple shear flow is considered. Working under the auspices of the theory of elastic instability of plates governed by the linear von Kármán equation, an eigenvalue problem is formulated for the buckled state resulting in a fourth-order partial differential equation with position-dependent coefficients parameterized by the Poisson ratio. The governing equation also describes the deformation of a plate clamped around the edges on a vertical wall and buckling under the action of its own weight. Solutions are computed analytically for a circular plate by applying a Fourier series expansion to derive an infinite system of coupled ordinary differential equations and then implementing orthogonal collocation, and numerically for elliptical and rectangular plates by using a finite-element method. The eigenvalues of the resulting generalized algebraic eigenvalue problem are bifurcation points in the solution space, physically representing critical thresholds of the uniform tangential load above which the plate buckles and wrinkles due to the partially compressive developing stresses. The associated eigenfunctions representing possible modes of deformation are illustrated, and the effect of the Poisson ratio and plate shape is discussed.     

An analytical solution for buckling of moderately thick functionally graded sector and annular sector plates

In this article, an analytical solution for buckling of moderately thick functionally graded (FG) sectorial plates is presented. It is assumed that the material properties of the FG plate vary through the thickness of the plate as a power function. The stability equations are derived according to the Mindlin plate theory. By introducing four new functions, the stability equations are decoupled. The decoupled stability equations are solved analytically for both sector and annular sector plates with two simply supported radial edges. Satisfying the edges conditions along the circular edges of the plate, an eigenvalue problem for finding the critical buckling load is obtained. Solving the eigenvalue problem, the numerical results for the critical buckling load and mode shapes are obtained for both sector and annular sector plates. Finally, the effects of boundary conditions, volume fraction, inner to outer radius ratio (annularity) and plate thickness are studied. The results for critical buckling load of functionally graded sectorial plates are reported for the first time and can be used as benchmark.     

One-dimensional von Kármán models for elastic ribbons

By means of a variational approach we rigorously deduce three one-dimensional models for elastic ribbons from the theory of von Kármán plates, passing to the limit as the width of the plate goes to zero. The one-dimensional model found starting from the “linearized” von Kármán energy corresponds to that of a linearly elastic beam that can twist but can deform in just one plane; while the model found from the von Kármán energy is a non-linear model that comprises stretching, bendings, and twisting. The “constrained” von Kármán energy, instead, leads to a new Sadowsky type of model.     

联合载荷作用下简支矩形板的屈曲和过屈曲

本文研究了简支正交各向异性矩形板在两对板受中面压力作用下的屈曲和过屈曲性态,得到了载荷的稳定性区域,证明了临界载荷最多为二重的。利用多参数摄动方法求得临界载荷附近板的过屈曲状态的渐近解,分析了在二重临界载荷附近,当载荷按比例变化时,板的可能的过屈曲状态及其与参数的依赖关系。     

Multiple buckled states of rectangular plates

We consider the buckling of a simply supported plate subjected to a constant edge thrust λ. The aspect ratio l is such that the critical thrust (the first bifurcation point of the associated non-linear eigenvalue problem) is of multiplicity two. A study of the non-linear static problem indicates that there are nine possible equilibrium states. One of these corresponds to the unbuckled state while the remaining eight represent buckled states. A linear stability analysis and a calculation of the potential energy of each of the static solutions indicates that four of the solutions are stable and five are unstable.     

The buckled states of annular sandwich plates

In this paper, the axisymmetric buckled states of an annular sandwich plate (Reissner- type sandwich plate) with the clamped inner edge which is subjected to a uniform radial compressive thrust at the clamped outer edge are studied. Firstly, the basic equation of the buckled problem is derived. Secondly, the critical loads for some parameters are obtained by using the shooting method. Finally, we discuss the existence of the buckled states in the vicinity of the critical loads and obtain the asymptotic expansions of the buckled states.     

Secondary buckled states of rectangular sandwich plates

In this paper, for a rectangular sandwich plate with edges simply supported and subjected to a constant compressive thrust λ along two opposite edges; the secondary bifurcation points and the secondary buckled states that bifurcate from the primary buckled states are determined by a perturbation method. These results are useful for their numerical calculation and can be used to explain the phenomenon of “mode-jumping”. Project Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

Exotic vortex wakes—point vortex solutions

Von Kármán was the first to present a quantitative model of the “vortex street” wake as a double row of point vortices, to determine which configurations propagate in the direction of the rows, and to consider the linear stability theory for such states. In the early literature one works with infinite rows of vortices. The vortex street is assumed to continue to infinity both upstream and downstream. Another analytical approach is to use periodic boundary conditions in the direction of the wake. This representation was used by Domm in his analysis of the instability of the Kármán vortex street. Birkhoff and Fisher in 1959 were the first to treat vortices in a periodic strip as a dynamical system in its own right. We have used the periodic system to address problems of vortex wake patterns, in particular vortex wakes that are more complicated than the traditional two-vortices-per-strip configurations. We use the term “exotic” for such wakes. We submit that this approach can yield a number of insights, including results of direct relevance to experiments, in the same sense that von Kármán's analysis has been helpful to the understanding of the regular vortex street wake, and we present the results obtained to date following this program.     

Nonlinear stability and dynamics of composite skew plates under nonuniform loadings using differential quadrature method

The buckling, postbuckling and postbuckled vibration behaviour of composite skew plates subjected to nonuniform inplane loadings are presented here. The skew plate is modelled using first order shear deformation theory accounting for von-Kármán geometric nonlinearity and initial geometric imperfections. The different types of nonuniform loads that have been considered in this study are concentrated load, partial load and parabolic load. The explicit analytical expressions for prebuckling stress distributions within composite skew plate subjected to three different types of nonuniform inplane loadings are developed by solving plane elasticity problem using Airy's stress function approach. It is observed that the inplane normal stress distributions within the skew plate due to above nonuniform loadings do not become uniform even at mid-section. The generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method is used to solve the nonlinear governing partial differential equations. It is observed that the postbuckled load carrying capacity of skew plate under concentrated loading is the lowest compared to other nonuniform and uniform loadings.     

Static instability analysis for travelling membranes and plates interacting with axially moving ideal fluid

The out-of-plane instability of a moving plate, travelling between two rollers with constant velocity, is studied, taking into account the mutual interaction between the buckled plate and the surrounding, axially flowing ideal fluid. Transverse displacement of the buckled plate (assumed cylindrical) is described by an integro-differential equation that includes the centrifugal force, the aerodynamic reaction of the external medium, the vertical projection of membrane tension, and the bending force. The aerodynamic reaction is found analytically as a functional of the displacement. To find the critical divergence velocity of the moving plate and its corresponding buckling mode, an eigenvalue problem and variational principle are derived. Plate divergence, both within a vacuum and when submerged in an external medium, is investigated with the application of analytical and numerical techniques.     

Buckling of a circular plate made of a shape memory alloy due to a reverse thermoelastic martensite transformation

We solve the axisymmetric buckling problem for a circular plate made of a shape memory alloy undergoing reverse martensite transformation under the action of a compressing load, which occurs after the direct martensite transformation under the action of a generally different (extending or compressing) load. The problem was solved without any simplifying assumptions concerning the transverse dimension of the supplementary phase transition region related to buckling. The mathematical problem was reduced to a nonlinear eigenvalue problem. An algorithm for solving this problem was proposed. It was shown that the critical buckling load under the reverse transition, which is obtained by taking into account the evolution of the phase strains, can be many times lower than the same quantity obtained under the assumption that the material behavior is elastic even for the least (martensite) values of the elastic moduli. The critical buckling force decreases with increasing modulus of the load applied at the preliminary stage of direct transition and weakly depends on whether this load was extending or compressing. In shape memory alloys (SMA), mutually related processes of strain and direct (from the austenitic into the martensite phase) or reverse thermoelastic phase transitions may occur. The direct transition occurs under cooling and (or) an increase in stresses and is accompanied by a significant decrease (nearly by a factor of three in titan nickelide) of the Young modulus. If the direct transition occurs under the action of stresses with nonzero deviator, then it is accompanied by accumulation of macroscopic phase strains, whose intensity may reach 8%. Under the reverse transition, which occurs under heating and (or) unloading, the moduli increase and the accumulated strain is removed. For plates compressed in their plane, in the case of uniform temperature distribution over the thickness, one can separate trivial processes under which the strained plate remains plane and the phase ratio has a uniform distribution over the thickness. For sufficiently high compressing loads, the trivial process of uniform compression may become unstable in the sense that, for small perturbations of the plate deflection, temperature, the phase ratio, or the load, the difference between the corresponding perturbed process and the unperturbed process may be significant. The results of several experiments concerning the buckling of SMA elements are given in [1, 2], and the statement and solution of the corresponding boundary value problems can be found in [3–11]. The experimental studies [2] and several analytic solutions obtained for the Shanley column [3, 4], rods [5–7], rectangular plates under direct [8] and reverse [9] transitions showed that the processes of thermoelastic phase transitions can significantly (by several times) decrease the critical buckling loads compared with their elastic values calculated for the less rigid martensite state of the material. Moreover, buckling does not occur in the one-phase martensite state in which the elastic moduli are minimal but in the two-phase state in which the values of the volume fractions of the austenitic and martensite phase are approximately equal to each other. This fact is most astonishing for buckling, studied in the present paper, under the reverse transition in which the Young modulus increases approximately half as much from the beginning of the phase transition to the moment of buckling. In [3–9] and in the present paper, the static buckling criterion is used. Following this criterion, the critical load is defined to be the load such that a nontrivial solution of the corresponding quasistatic problem is possible under the action of this load. If, in the problems of stability of rods and SMA plates, small perturbations of the external load are added to small perturbations of the deflection (the critical force is independent of the amplitude of the latter), then the critical forces vary depending on the value of perturbations of the external load [5, 8, 9]. Thus, in the case of small perturbations of the load, the problem of stability of SMA elements becomes indeterminate. The solution of the stability problem for SMA elements also depends on whether the small perturbations of the phase ratio and the phase strain tensor are taken into account. According to this, the problem of stability of SMA elements can be solved in the framework of several statements (concepts, hypotheses) which differ in the set of quantities whose perturbations are admissible (taken into account) in the process of solving the problem. The variety of these statements applied to the problem of buckling of SMA elements under direct martensite transformation is briefly described in [4, 5]. But, in the problem of buckling under the reverse transformation, some of these statements must be changed. The main question which we should answer when solving the problem of stability of SMA elements is whether small perturbations of the phase ratio (the volume fraction of the martensite phase q) are taken into account, because an appropriate choice significantly varies the results of solving the stability problem. If, under the transition to the adjacent form of equilibrium, the phase ratio of all points of the body is assumed to remain the same, then we deal with the “fixed phase atio” concept. The opposite approach can be classified as the “supplementary phase transition” concept (which occurs under the transition to the adjacent form of equilibrium). It should be noted that, since SMA have temperature hysteresis, the phase ratio in SMA can endure only one-sided small variations. But if we deal with buckling under the inverse transformation, then the variation in the volume fraction of the martensite phase cannot be positive. The phase ratio is not an independent variable, like loads or temperature, but, due to the constitutive relations, its variations occur together with the temperature variations and, in the framework of connected models for a majority of SMA, together with variations in the actual stresses. Therefore, the presence or absence of variations in q is determined by the presence or absence of variations in the temperature, deflection, and load, as well as by the system of constitutive relations used in this particular problem. In the framework of unconnected models which do not take the influence of actual stresses on the phase ratio into account, the “fixed phase ratio” concept corresponds to the case of absence of temperature variations. The variations in the phase ratio may also be absent in connected models in the case of specially chosen values of variations in the temperature and (or) in the external load, as well as in the case of SMA of CuMn type, for which the influence of the actual stresses on the phase compound is absent or negligible. In the framework of the “fixed phase ratio” hypothesis, the stability problem for SMA elements has a solution coinciding in form with the solution of the corresponding elastic problem, with the elastic moduli replaced by the corresponding functions of the phase ratio. In the framework of the supplementary phase transition” concept, the result of solving the stability problem essentially depends on whether the small perturbations of the external loads are taken into account in the process of solving the problem. The point is that, when solving the problem in the connected setting, the supplementary phase transition region occupies, in general, not the entire cross-section of the plate but only part of it, and the location of the boundary of this region depends on the existence and the value of these small perturbations. More precisely, the existence of arbitrarily small perturbations of the actual load can result in finite changes of the configuration of the supplementary phase transition region and hence in finite change of the critical values of the load. Here we must distinguish the “fixed load” hypothesis where no perturbations of the external loads are admitted and the “variable load” hypothesis in the opposite case. The conditions that there no variations in the external loads imply additional equations for determining the boundary of the supplementary phase transition region. If the “supplementary phase transition” concept and the “fixed load” concept are used together, then the solution of the stability problem of SMA is uniquely determined in the same sense as the solution of the elastic stability problem under the static approach. In the framework of the “variable load” concept, the result of solving the stability problem for SMA ceases to be unique. But one can find the upper and lower bounds for the critical forces which correspond to the cases of total absence of the supplementary phase transition: the upper bound corresponds to the critical load coinciding with that determined in the framework of the “fixed phase ratio” concept, and the lower bound corresponds to the case where the entire cross-section of the plate experiences the supplementary phase transition. The first version does not need any additional name, and the second version can be called as the "all-round supplementary phase transition" hypothesis. In the present paper, the above concepts are illustrated by examples of solving problems about axisymmetric buckling of a circular freely supported or rigidly fixed plate experiencing reverse martensite transformation under the action of an external force uniformly distributed over the contour. We find analytic solutions in the framework of all the above-listed statements except for the case of free support in the “fixed load” concept, for which we obtain a numerical solution.     

The existence of buckled states on a perforated thin plate

On the basis of the generalized yon Kàrmàn theory for perforated thin plates established in [1, 2], the existence of buckled states for perforated plates subjected to self-equilibrating inplane forces along each edge systematically is investigated. This work completely generalizes the results in [3, 4].     

Nonlinear stability analysis of a clamped rod carrying electric current

This paper is devoted to the analysis of the nonlinear stability of a clamped rod carrying electric current in the magnetic field which is produced by the current flowing in a pair of inifinitely long parallel rigid wires. The natural state of the rod is in the plane of the wires and is equidistant from them. Firstly under the assumption of spatial deformation, the governing equations of the problem are derived, and the linearized problem and critical currents are discussed. Secondly, it is proved that the buckled states of the rod are always in planes. Finally, the global responses of the bifurcation problem of the rod are computed numerically and the distributions of the deflections, axial forces and bending moments are obtained. The results show that the buckled states of the rod may be either supercritical or subcritical, depending on the distancz between the rod and the wires. Furthermore, it is found that there exists a limit point on the branch solution of the supercritical buckled state. This is distinctively different from the buckled state of the elastic compressive rods.Project supported by the Foundation of the Natural Science of China and Gansu Province     

Computational Aspects of Pseudospectra in Hydrodynamic Stability Analysis

This paper addresses the analysis of spectrum and pseudospectrum of the linearized Navier–Stokes operator from the numerical point of view. The pseudospectrum plays a crucial role in linear hydrodynamic stability theory and is closely related to the non-normality of the underlying differential operator and the matrices resulting from its discretization. This concept offers an explanation for experimentally observed instability in situations when eigenvalue-based linear stability analysis would predict stability. Hence the reliable numerical computation of the pseudospectrum is of practical importance particularly in situations when the stationary “base flow” is not analytically but only computationally given. The proposed algorithm is based on a finite element discretization of the continuous eigenvalue problem and uses an Arnoldi-type method involving a multigrid component. Its performance is investigated theoretically as well as practically at several two-dimensional test examples such as the linearized Burgers equations and various problems governed by the Navier–Stokes equations for incompressible flow.     

Modified von Kármán equations for elastic nanoplates with surface tension and surface elasticity

In this paper, modified von Kármán equations are derived for Kirchhoff nanoplates with surface tension and surface tension-induced residual stresses. The simplified Gurtin-Murdoch model which does not contain non-strain displacement gradients in surface stress-strain relations is adopted, so that the von Kármán strain-compatibility equation can be expressed in terms of the stress function and deflection. The modified von Kármán equations derived here are different than the existing related models especially for elastic plates with in-plane movable edges. Unlike the existing models which predict a surface tension-induced tensile pre-stress for an elastic plate with in-plane movable edges, the present model predicts that this tensile pre-stress is actually cancelled by the surface tension-induced residual compressive stress. Our this result is consistent with recent clarification on similar issue for cantilever beams with surface tension, which implies that the existing models have incorrectly predicted an invalid tensile pre-stress for an elastic plate with in-plane movable edges which leads to significant overestimation of postbuckling load and free vibration frequencies. In addition, our numerical examples indicated that surface stresses can moderately increase or decrease postbuckling load and free vibration frequency of Kirchhoff nanoplate with all in-plane movable edges, depending on the surface elasticity parameters and the geometrical dimensions of nanoplates.     

Compressive strength of edge-loaded corrugated board panels

Postbuckling strength of simply supported corrugated board panels subjected to edge compressive loading has been studied experimentally using a specially developed test fixture. Although the load versus out-of-plane displacement response was highly sensitive to the presence of initial imperfections in the panels, the collapse loads did not vary much, which is attributed to the stable postbuckling behavior of the plates. Thin plates collapsed at nearly twice the buckling load, while thick panels collapsed at loads below the elastic critical buckling load. Local buckling of the facing on the concave side of the buckled plate was observed at load levels close to the collapse load. The plate collapse was triggered by compressive failure of the facings that initiated at the unloaded edges. A simplified design analysis was derived based on approximate postbuckling analysis and compared with an existing design formula for corrugated board panels and boxes.     

Dynamic response of various von-Kármán non-linear plate models and their 3-D counterparts

Dynamic von-Kármán plate models consist of three coupled non-linear, time-dependent partial differential equations. These equations have been recently solved numerically [Kirby, R., Yosibash, Z., 2004. Solution of von-Kármán dynamic non-linear plate equations using a pseudo-spectral method. Comp. Meth. Appl. Mech. Eng. 193 (6–8) 575–599 and Yosibash, Z., Kirby, R., Gottlieb, D., 2004. Pseudo-spectral methods for the solution of the von-Kármán dynamic non-linear plate system. J. Comp. Phys. 200, 432–461] by the Legendre-collocation method in space and the implicit Newmark-β scheme in time, where highly accurate approximations were realized.Due to their complexity, these equations are often reduced by discarding some of the terms associated with time derivatives which are multiplied by the plate thickness squared (being a small parameter). Because of the non-linearities in the system of equations we herein quantitatively investigate the influence of these a-priori assumption on the solution for different plate thicknesses. As shown, the dynamic solutions of the so called “simplified von-Kármán” system do not differ much from the complete von-Kármán system for thin plates, but may have differences of few percent for plates with thicknesses to length ratio of about 1/20. Nevertheless, when investigating the modeling errors, i.e. the difference between the various von-Kármán models and the fully three-dimensional non-linear elastic plate solution, one realizes that for relatively thin plates (thickness is 1/20 of other typical dimensions), this difference is much larger. This implies that the simplified von-Kármán plate model used frequently in the literature is as good as an approximation as the complete (and more complicated) model. As a side note, it is shown that the dynamic response of any of the von-Kármán plate models, is completely different compared to the linearized plate model of Kirchhoff–Love for deflections of an order of magnitude as the plate thickness.