On configuration-dependent loading

Summary A general investigation of the mathematical properties of configuration-dependent loading is described. This is loading which acts on the surface of an arbitrary body and which changes in a known way depending on the displacement of the neighbourhood of its point of application. Exact definitions of many possible kinds of such loading are given. Criteria for conservative loading are derived and applied. A virtual work principle for a sequence of perturbation problems is given. Suggestions are made for further research.