Buckling of structures with finite prebuckling deformations—a perturbation,finite element analysis

In some technically important structures, finite prebuckling displacements have a profound effect on the bifurcation load. To ignore these displacements, as is done in most instability analyses, is to invite major errors, usually on the unsafe side. A method is presented which approximates this effect without the necessity of solving nonlinear equations. The general theory is developed for any elastic body under conservative loads. The governing equations are subsequently discretized by a finite element approach and it is shown that for planar framed structures, the second order approximation to the buckling load can be found in terms of the standard linear and geometric stiffness matrices of structural analysis; the solution procedure does not require iterations. For illustrative purposes, a computer program was developed for planar structures and the results are compared to the exact solution for the buckling of shallow circular arches.