Abstract:
This thesis investigated the postbuckling behavior of the variable-arc-length elastica
(VAL elastica) connected with a rotational spring joint. All three models of the spring joints included linear elastic, bilinear elastic, and elastic-plastic. One end of the elastica was attached at the hinged joint; meanwhile, the remote end was placed on the sleeve support. The rotational spring joints were independently located at the determined distances apart from the hinged joint. The compression force exerted at the sleeve support to push the arc-length of the elastica into the system so that the postbuckling behavior could be observed.
In this study, the postbuckling behavior of the VAL elastica was studied symbolically for the
three cases of the spring joint positions. They were [alpha]=0.25, [alpha]=0.50 and [alpha] =0.75. At each position of [alpha] , the initial value of the stiffness of the spring joints ( K [Bar][subscript1] =10 and 100) was assigned; and the stiffness of the spring joints were varied after yielding. The set of governing differential equations could be obtained from equilibrium equations, moment-curvature relations, and geometric relations. Since this problem was a two-point boundary value, the shooting method was employed in this study. The numerical integration of the Runge-Kutta method and the equation system method, which covered this problem, in cooperation with the repetitive process of the Newton-Raphson method, were performed until the boundary conditions were satisfied.
From the computational results, it was found that the elastica became unstable after buckling. After yielding of the spring joints, the compression might rapidly drop depending on the ratio of the stiffness ( r = K [Bar][subscript2] / K [Bar][subscript1] ). The elastica could turn into a stable equilibrium for the interval of total arc-length. In addition to this problem, the rotation of the spring joint could be reversed. When the elastic-plastic spring joint was reversed, its load parameter was greater than that of the bilinear elastic spring joint due to the increase of the stiffness.