In-plane buckling of circular arches and rings with shear deformations

A finite strain formulation is developed for elastic circular arches and rings in which the effects of shear deformations are included. Timoshenko beam hypothesis is adopted for incorporating shear. Finite strains are defined in terms of the normal and shear component of the longitudinal stretch. The constitutive relations for stress and finite strain are based on a hyperelastic constitutive model. Virtual work and equilibrium equations are derived. Closed-form in-plane buckling solutions are developed for circular rings and high arches under hydrostatic pressure. The effects of axial deformation prior to buckling as well as shear deformations are included in the buckling analysis. The formulation developed is compared with solutions in the literature and to the predictions of the finite element package ANSYS. The importance of including the effects of shear deformations for deep arches is investigated.     

Non-linear in-plane analysis and buckling of pinned–fixed shallow arches subjected to a central concentrated load

This paper is concerned with an analytical study of the non-linear elastic in-plane behaviour and buckling of pinned–fixed shallow circular arches that are subjected to a central concentrated radial load. Because the boundary conditions provided by the pinned support and fixed support of a pinned–fixed arch are quite different from those of a pinned–pinned or a fixed–fixed arch, the non-linear behaviour of a pinned–fixed arch is more complicated than that of its pinned–pinned or fixed–fixed counterpart. Analytical solutions for the non-linear equilibrium path for shallow pinned–fixed circular arches are derived. The non-linear equilibrium path for a pinned–fixed arch may have one or three unstable equilibrium paths and may include two or four limit points. This is different from pinned–pinned and fixed–fixed arches that have only two limit points. The number of limit points in the non-linear equilibrium path of a pinned–fixed arch depends on the slenderness and the included angle of the arch. The switches in terms of an arch geometry parameter, which is introduced in the paper, are derived for distinguishing between arches with two limit points and those with four limit points and for distinguishing between a pinned–fixed arch and a beam curved in-elevation. It is also shown that a pinned–fixed arch under a central concentrated load can buckle in a limit point mode, but cannot buckle in a bifurcation mode. This contrasts with the buckling behaviour of pinned–pinned or fixed–fixed arches under a central concentrated load, which may buckle both in a bifurcation mode and in a limit point mode. An analytical solution for the limit point buckling load of shallow pinned–fixed circular arches is also derived. Comparisons with finite element results show that the analytical solutions can accurately predict the non-linear buckling and postbuckling behaviour of shallow pinned–fixed arches. Although the solutions are derived for shallow pinned–fixed arches, comparisons with the finite element results demonstrate that they can also provide reasonable predictions for the buckling load of deep pinned–fixed arches under a central concentrated load.     

In-plane free vibration and stability of loaded and shear-deformable circular arches

The first known equations governing vibrations of preloaded, shear-deformable circular arches are derived according to a variational principle for dynamic problems concerning an elastic body under equilibrium initial stresses. The equations are three partial differential equations with variable coefficients. The governing equations are solved for arches statically preloaded with a uniformly distributed vertical loading, by obtaining a static, closed-form solution and an analytical dynamic solution from series solutions and dynamic stiffness matrices. Convergence to accurate results is obtained by increasing the number of elements or by increasing both the number of terms in the series solution and the number of terms in the Taylor expansion of the variable coefficients. Graphs of non-dimensional frequencies and buckling loads are presented for preloaded clamped arches. They clarify the effects of opening angle and thickness-to-radius ratio on vibration frequencies and buckling loads. The effects of static deformations on vibration frequencies are also investigated. This work also compares the results obtained from the proposed governing equations with those obtained from the classical theory neglecting shear deformation.     

In-plane stability of arches

Classical buckling theory is mostly used to investigate the in-plane stability of arches, which assumes that the pre-buckling behaviour is linear and that the effects of pre-buckling deformations on buckling can be ignored. However, the behaviour of shallow arches becomes non-linear and the deformations are substantial prior to buckling, so that their effects on the buckling of shallow arches need to be considered. Classical buckling theory which does not consider these effects cannot correctly predict the in-plane buckling load of shallow arches. This paper investigates the in-plane buckling of circular arches with an arbitrary cross-section and subjected to a radial load uniformly distributed around the arch axis. An energy method is used to establish both non-linear equilibrium equations and buckling equilibrium equations for shallow arches. Analytical solutions for the in-plane buckling loads of shallow arches subjected to this loading regime are obtained. Approximations to the symmetric buckling of shallow arches and formulae for the in-plane anti-symmetric bifurcation buckling load of non-shallow arches are proposed, and criteria that define shallow and non-shallow arches are also stated. Comparisons with finite element results demonstrate that the solutions and indeed approximations are accurate, and that classical buckling theory can correctly predict the in-plane anti-symmetric bifurcation buckling load of non-shallow arches, but overestimates the in-plane anti-symmetric bifurcation buckling load of shallow arches significantly.     

Lateral buckling of beams with shear deformations – A hyperelastic formulation

The equilibrium and buckling equations are derived for the lateral buckling of a prismatic straight beam. A consistent finite strain constitutive law is used, which is based on a hyperelastic model for an isotropic material. The kinematics of the cross-sectional deformations are based on a Timoshenko type beam displacement of the cross-sectional plane using Euler angles and two shear finite rotations coupled with warping taken normal to the displaced plane. Also derived are the second order approximations to the displacements, curvatures, twist and internal actions. The constitutive relationships for the internal actions reveal new coupling terms between the bending moments, torsion and bimoment, which are functions of the cross-sectional warping and shear deformations. New Wagner type nonlinear torsion terms are derived which are functions of the warping of the cross-sectional plane, and are coupled to the twisting and shear deformations of the cross-section. Solutions are determined for the lateral buckling of a prismatic monosymmetric beam under pure bending and the flexural–torsional buckling under axial compression. For the flexural–torsional buckling problem it is found that the Euler type column buckling formula is consistent with Haringx’s column buckling formula while the torsional buckling formula is different to conventional equations. The second variation of the total potential is also derived. The effects of shear deformations are explored by examining the non-dimensional lateral buckling equation for a simply supported beam.     

钢管混凝土圆弧桁架拱平面内徐变稳定分析

核心混凝土的徐变会增加钢管混凝土拱肋的屈曲前变形,降低结构的稳定承载力,因此只有计入屈曲前变形的影响,才能准确得到钢管混凝土拱的徐变稳定承载力。基于圆弧形浅拱的非线性屈曲理论,采用虚功原理,建立了考虑徐变和剪切变形双重效应的管混凝土圆弧桁架拱的平面内非线性平衡方程,求得两铰和无铰桁架拱发生反对称分岔屈曲和对称跳跃屈曲的徐变稳定临界荷载。探讨了钢管混凝土桁架拱核心混凝土徐变随修正长细比、圆心角和加载龄期对该类结构弹性稳定承载力的影响,为钢管混凝土桁架拱长期设计提供理论依据。     

Deformations of an elastic,internally constrained material. Part 1: Homogeneous deformations

The nonlinear elastic response of a class of materials for which the deformation is subject to an internal material constraint described in experiments by James F. Bell on the finite deformation of a variety of metals is investigated. The purely kinematical consequences of the Bell constraint are discussed, and restrictions on the full range of compatible deformations are presented in geometrical terms. Then various forms of the constitutive equation relating the stress and stretch tensors for an isotropic elastic Bell material are presented. Inequalities on the mechanical response functions are introduced. The importance of these in applications is demonstrated in several examples throughout the paper.This paper focuses on homogeneous deformations. In a simple illustration of the theory, a generalized form of Bell's empirical rule for uniaxial loading is derived, and some peculiarities in the response under all-around compressive loading are discussed. General formulae for universal relations possible in an isotropic elastic, Bell constrained material are presented. A simple method for the determination of the left stretch tensor for essentially plane problems is illustrated in the solution of the problem of pure shear of a materially uniform rectangular block. A general formula which includes the empirical rule found in pure shear experiments by Bell is derived as a special case. The whole apparatus is then applied in the solution of the general problem of a homogeneous simple shear superimposed on a uniform triaxial stretch; and the great variety of results possible in an isotropic, elastic Bell material is illustrated. The problem of the finite torsion and extension of a thin-walled cylindrical tube is investigated. The results are shown to be consistent with Bell's data for which the rigid body rotation is found to be quite small compared with the gross deformation of the tube. Several universal formulas relating various kinds of stress components to the deformation independently of the material response functions are derived, including a universal rule relating the axial force to the torque.Constitutive equations for hyperelastic Bell materials are derived. The empirical work function studied by Bell is introduced; and a new constitutive equation is derived, which we name Bell's law. On the basis of this law, we then derive exactly Bell's parabolic laws for uniaxial loading and for pure shear. Also, form Bell's law, a simple constitutive equation relating Bell's deviatoric stress tensor to his finite deviatoric strain tensor is obtained. We thereby derive Bell's invariant parabolic law relating the deviatoric stress intensity to the corresponding strain intensity; and, finally, Bell's fundamental law for the work function expressed in these terms is recovered. This rule is the foundation for all of Bell's own theoretical study of the isotropic materials cataloged in his finite strain experiments on metals, all consistent with the internal material constraint studied here.     

Non-linear in-plane postbuckling of arches with rotational end restraints under uniform radial loading

This paper presents a thorough and comprehensive investigation of non-linear buckling and postbuckling analyses of pin-ended shallow circular arches subjected to a uniform radial load and which have equal elastic rotational end-restraints. The differential equations of equilibrium for non-linear buckling and postbuckling are established based on a virtual work approach. Exact solutions for the non-linear bifurcation, limit point and lowest buckling loads are obtained; in particular, exact solutions for the non-linear postbuckling equilibrium paths are derived. The criteria for switching between fundamental buckling and postbuckling modes are developed in terms of critical values of a geometric parameter for an arch, with exact solutions for these critical values of geometric parameter being obtained. Analytical solutions of non-linear buckling and postbuckling problems for arches with rotational end-restraints are of great interest, since they constitute one of the very few closed-form analyses of buckling and postbuckling behaviour of continuous structural systems. These exact solutions are a contribution to the non-linear structural mechanics of arches, as well as providing useful benchmark solutions for verifying non-linear numerical analyses.     

Nonlinear analysis and buckling of elastically supported circular shallow arches

Arches are often supported elastically by other structural members. This paper investigates the in-plane nonlinear elastic behaviour and stability of elastically supported shallow circular arches that are subjected to a radial load uniformly distributed around the arch axis. Analytical solutions for the nonlinear behaviour and for the nonlinear buckling load are obtained for shallow arches with equal or unequal elastic supports. It is found that the flexibility of the elastic supports and the shallowness of the arch play important roles in the nonlinear structural response of the arch. The limiting shallownesses that distinguish between the buckling modes are obtained and the relationship of the limiting shallowness with the flexibility of the elastic supports is established, and the critical flexibility of the elastic radial supports is derived. An arch with equal elastic radial supports whose flexibility is larger than the critical value becomes an elastically supported beam curved in elevation, while an arch with one rigid and one elastic radial support whose flexibility is larger than the critical value still behaves as an arch when its shallowness is higher than a limiting shallowness. Comparisons with finite element results demonstrate that the analytical solutions and the values of the critical flexibility of the elastic supports and the limiting shallowness of the arch are valid.     

Non-linear in-plane buckling of rotationally restrained shallow arches under a central concentrated load

This paper investigates the non-linear in-plane buckling of pin-ended shallow circular arches with elastic end rotational restraints under a central concentrated load. A virtual work method is used to establish both the non-linear equilibrium equations and the buckling equilibrium equations. Analytical solutions for the non-linear in-plane symmetric snap-through and antisymmetric bifurcation buckling loads are obtained. It is found that the effects of the stiffness of the end rotational restraints on the buckling loads, and on the buckling and postbuckling behaviour of arches, are significant. The buckling loads increase with an increase of the stiffness of the rotational restraints. The values of the arch slenderness that delineate its snap-through and bifurcation buckling modes, and that define the conditions of buckling and of no buckling for the arch, increase with an increase of the stiffness of the rotational end restraints.     

A shearable and thickness stretchable finite strain beam model for soft structures

Soft materials and structures have recently attracted lots of research interests as they provide paramount potential applications in diverse fields including soft robotics, wearable devices, stretchable electronics and biomedical engineering. In a previous work, an Euler–Bernoulli finite strain beam model with thickness stretching effect was proposed for soft thin structures subject to stiff constraint in the width direction. By extending that model to account for the transverse shear effect, a Timoshenko-type finite strain beam model within the plane-strain context is developed in the present work. With some kinematic hypotheses, the finite deformation of the beam is analyzed, constitutive equations are deduced from the theory of finite elasticity, and by employing the standard variational method, the equilibrium equations and associated boundary conditions are derived. In the limit of infinitesimal strain, the new model degenerates to the classical extensible and shearable elastica model. The corresponding incremental equilibrium equations and associated boundary conditions are also obtained. Based on the new beam model, analytical solutions are given for simple deformation modes, including uniaxial tension, simple shear, pure bending, and buckling under an axial load. Furthermore, numerical solution procedures and results are presented for cantilevered beams and simply supported beams with immovable ends. The results are also compared with the previously developed finite strain Euler–Bernoulli beam model to demonstrate the significance of transverse shear effect for soft beams with a small length-to-thickness ratio. The developed beam model will contribute to the design and analysis of soft robots and soft devices.     

Long-term non-linear behaviour and buckling of shallow concrete-filled steel tubular arches

This paper presents a theoretical analysis for the long-term non-linear elastic in-plane behaviour and buckling of shallow concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) arches. It is known that an elastic shallow arch does not buckle under a load that is lower than the critical loads for its bifurcation or limit point buckling because its buckling equilibrium configuration cannot be achieved, and the arch is in a stable equilibrium state although its structural response may be quite non-linear under the load. However, for a CFST arch under a sustained load, the visco-elastic effects of creep and shrinkage of the concrete core produce significant long-term increases in the deformations and bending moments and subsequently lead to a time-dependent change of its equilibrium configuration. Accordingly, the bifurcation point and limit point of the time-dependent equilibrium path and the corresponding buckling loads of CFST arches also change with time. When the changing time-dependent bifurcation or limit point buckling load of a CFST arch becomes equal to the sustained load, the arch may buckle in a bifurcation mode or in a limit point mode in the time domain. A virtual work method is used in the paper to investigate bifurcation and limit point buckling of shallow circular CFST arches that are subjected to a sustained uniform radial load. The algebraically tractable age-adjusted effective modulus method is used to model the time-dependent behaviour of the concrete core, based on which solutions for the prebuckling structural life time corresponding to non-linear bifurcation and limit point buckling are derived.     

Nonlinear in-plane thermal buckling of rotationally restrained functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite shallow arches under uniform radial loading

The nonlinear in-plane instability of functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) shallow circular arches with rotational constraints subject to a uniform radial load in a thermal environment is investigated. Assuming arches with thickness-graded material properties, four different distribution patterns of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are considered. The classical arch theory and Donnell’s shallow shell theory assumptions are used to evaluate the arch displacement field, and the analytical solutions of buckling equilibrium equations and buckling loads are obtained by using the principle of virtual work. The critical geometric parameters are introduced to determine the criteria for buckling mode switching. Parametric studies are carried out to demonstrate the effects of temperature variations, material parameters, geometric parameters, and elastic constraints on the stability of the arch. It is found that increasing the volume fraction of CNTs and distributing CNTs away from the neutral axis significantly enhance the bending stiffness of the arch. In addition, the pretension and initial displacement caused by the temperature field have significant effects on the buckling behavior.     

Free vibration analyses of axially loaded laminated composite beams based on higher-order shear deformation theory

The dynamic stiffness matrix method is introduced to solve exactly the free vibration and buckling problems of axially loaded laminated composite beams with arbitrary lay-ups. The Poisson effect, axial force, extensional deformation, shear deformation and rotary inertia are included in the mathematical formulation. The exact dynamic stiffness matrix is derived from the analytical solutions of the governing differential equations of the composite beams based on third-order shear deformation beam theory. The application of the present method is illustrated by two numerical examples, in which the effects of axial force and boundary condition on the natural frequencies, mode shapes and buckling loads are examined. Comparison of the current results to the existing solutions in the literature demonstrates the accuracy and effectiveness of the present method.     

倒三角形截面板管连接式钢圆弧拱在平面内的稳定承载力研究

采用理论推导与数值模拟相结合的方法,对倒三角形截面板管连接式钢圆弧拱在平面内的弹性屈曲和弹塑性屈曲进行了深入研究。首先,理论推导了拱的截面剪切刚度,并提出了拱在全跨均布径向荷载作用下的弹性屈曲公式。此外,还提出了避免连接板和弦杆在拱发生整体弹性失稳之前发生局部失稳的限制条件。然后,分别研究了在全跨均布径向荷载和全跨均布竖向荷载作用下,拱的整体弹塑性失稳机理。结果表明,在全跨均布径向荷载下,拱在1/4跨和3/4跨附近的弦杆会发生屈服,最终发生拱的整体弹塑性失稳。基于数值结果,建立了拱在全跨均布径向荷载作用下的稳定曲线,并针对拱发生整体弹塑性屈曲提出了相应的稳定承载力设计公式。在全跨均布竖向荷载作用下,钢拱发生整体失稳时,在拱脚两端附近的下弦杆会进入屈服。同样地,本文也提出了拱在全跨均布竖向荷载作用下,发生整体弹塑性失稳时的稳定极限承载力设计公式。本文所建议的公式与有限元结果符合得较好,可供实际工程设计参考。     

On inner constraints in plane circular arches

Summary A one-dimensional model of plane circular arches with rigid sections is introduced. Suitable strain measures are defined as deviations from rigid displacements. If the arch is thin, constitutive arguments make the shearing strain negligible. Hence, the shearing indeformability will be assumed as inner constraint. By means of a formal power series expansion of the exact measures of deformation it is shown that the shearing indeformability implies some constraints on the axial strain. In particular, the first-order axial strain must vanish in the case of infinitesimal displacements. The same procedure is applied to pure flexible arches, in order to compare the two sets of results. It is shown that the hypothesis of finite pure flexibility is not compatible with small deformations of the arch. An example is provided to evaluate the effects of the two constraints at the first non-linear step of the perturbation expansions. This work has been supported by the “Progetto giovani ricercatori” grant of the University of Rome “La Sapienza” for the year 2002.     

Column buckling under general loads with allowances for pre-buckling shortening and shear deformation

Summary The paper investigates the elastic buckling behaviour of columns under a combined trapezoidal distributed axial load and an end concentrated load. The buckling analysis takes into account the effects of pre-buckling shortening and shear deformation. For shear deformation, Engesser's assumption of the shear force acting perpendicularly to the centreline of the deflected column is adopted. Based on the derived incremental total potential energy functional, the finite element method is employed for solution. The effects of pre-buckling shortening and shear deformation are investigated and approximate formulas are proposed to incorporate them into the assessment of buckling loads for columns.

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Knickung von Stäben mit Vorstauchung und Schubverformung bei allgemeiner Belastung

Übersicht In diesem Beitrag wird die elastische Stabknickung unter axialer, trapezförmiger Streckenlast und Einzellast am Ende untersucht. Der Einfluß einer Stabverkürzung vor dem Knicken und von Schubverformung wird berücksichtigt. Hinsichtlich der Schubverformung wird Engessers Annahme verwendet, d. h., die Querkraft wirkt senkrecht zur Achse des verformten Balkens. Ausgehend vom Funktional der inkrementellen, totalen potentiellen Energie wird zur Lösung die Finite-Element-Methode benutzt. Die Effekte von Vorstauchung und Schubverformung werden untersucht. Es werden Näherungsformeln für die Abschätzung der Knicklasten vorgeschlagen.

     

弹性拱静力屈曲的突变行为

应用数学突变理论研究弹性两铰拱的静力屈曲，分析中考虑了拱的挠度变化、轴向压缩变形的影响，得到拱面内失稳的尖点突变模型和临界条件。     

Shear deformable finite beam elements for composite box beams

The shear deformable thin-walled composite beams with closed cross-sections have been developed for coupled flexural, torsional, and buckling analyses. A theoretical model applicable to the thin-walled laminated composite box beams is presented by taking into account all the structural couplings coming from the material anisotropy and the shear deformation effects. The current composite beam includes the transverse shear and the restrained warping induced shear deformation by using the first-order shear deformation beam theory. Seven governing equations are derived for the coupled axial-flexural-torsional-shearing buckling based on the principle of minimum total potential energy. Based on the present analytical model, three different types of finite composite beam elements, namely, linear, quadratic and cubic elements are developed to analyze the flexural, torsional, and buckling problems. In order to demonstrate the accuracy and superiority of the beam theory and the finite beam elements developed by this study,numerical solutions are presented and compared with the results obtained by other researchers and the detailed threedimensional analysis results using the shell elements of ABAQUS. Especially, the influences of the modulus ratio and the simplified assumptions in stress–strain relations on the deflection, twisting angle, and critical buckling loads of composite box beams are investigated.     

轴向应力波作用下圆柱壳塑性轴对称动力屈曲

运用有限元特征值分析方法对应力波作用下圆柱壳塑性轴对称动力失稳问题进行了研究。基于应力波理论和相邻平衡准则导出了圆柱壳轴对称动力失稳时的特征方程,在分析中同时考虑了应力波效应及横向惯性效应,把圆柱壳塑性动力失稳问题归结为特征值问题。通过引入圆柱壳动力失稳时的波前约束条件实现了此类问题的有限元特征值解法。计算结果揭示了圆柱壳塑性轴对称动力屈曲变形发展的机理,以及轴向应力波和屈曲变形的相互作用规律。