Thermal post-buckling of an elastic beams subjected to a transversely non-uniform temperature rising

Based on the nonlinear geometric theory of axially extensible beams and by using the shooting method, the thermal post-buckling responses of an elastic beams,with immovably simply supported ends and subjected to a transversely non-uniformly distributed temperature rising, were investigated. Especially, the influences of the transverse temperature change on the thermal post-buckling deformations were examined and the corresponding characteristic curves were plotted. The numerical results show that the equilibrium paths of the beam are similar to what of an initially deformed beam because of the thermal bending moment produced in the beam by the transverse temperature change.