FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF LATERAL BUCKLING FOR BEAM STRUCTURES

Abstract

The application of finite element analysis to lateral buckling problems, locating the critical points and tracing the postbifurcation path, is treated on the basis of a geometrically nonlinear formulation for a beam with small elastic strain but with possibly large rotations. The existing finite element formulations for thin beams are examined in the aspect of application to bifurcation problems, such as lateral buckling, and the choice of an appropriate rotation parameter for representing incremental or variational rotations in finite element formulations is discussed in relation to locating bifurcation points. This is illustrated through several numerical examples and followed by appropriate discussion.