Euler's Paper on Statically Indeterminate Analysis

Abstract

It is well known that Leonhard Euler contributed a great deal to structural analysis; an example is the column formula that goes by his name. However, his seminal contribution to statically indeterminate analysis has generally been overlooked. Euler published the first paper on statically indeterminate analysis in 1773, and an edited version of this paper was published in 1795. A translation of the edited version of this paper is presented here since it illustrates the concepts developed by Euler but is without the large number of examples of the longer paper. The problem analyzed by Euler is a rigid table resting on an elastic foundation. Forces are related to displacements in the foundation by a linear constitutive law. Euler recognizes that a statically in‐determinate problem such as this can be solved uniquely by considering deformations in addition to forces. Although Euler's paper is rarely cited in text‐books or in historical studies, it was the first to contain the fundamentals of today's method of compatible deformations.