Elastic Stability of Curved Members

Abstract

A general solution method of a system of coupled differential equations governing the elastic buckling of thin‐walled curved members is presented. The finite element displacement method is formulated based on a variational principle. The stiffness and stability properties of the finite elements are consistent and are obtained within the bounds of linearized displacement theories. Included are the warping contributions to the buckling loads and the effects of antisymmetry of the cross section which were found to be significant. Examination of a convergence test indicated an extremely fast converging upper bound solutions as expected due to the utilization of the variational procedure. Critical loads were obtained using a computer program (CVSTB) developed for a few combinations of loading and boundary conditions and design charts were prepared. Comparative studies were made with a few existing solutions and possible sources of discrepancies were traced.