Date of Award

Summer 1981

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Civil Engineering

First Advisor

Yoo, Chai Hong

Abstract

This study will investigate the stability of curved beams in the elastic range. Presented are derivations of the differential equations governing the stability of curved beams by the development of the total energy functional. Closed form solutions are derived for special cases of stability where the coefficients remain constant in the differential equations. Element stiffness and stability matrices are derived for the utilization in the solutions for the static and stability problems. Computer programs are presented for the analysis of curved beams. The program determines forces and displacements for the static problem and eigenvalues and eigenvectors for the stability problem. Other programs are presented to solve some of the more complex closed form solutions. A series of examples are presented to demonstrate the application of the formulation derived in this study. Comparisons are made with a few existing solutions of limiting cases for stability of curved beams. This study also contains design charts which may be used to aid in the determination of the critical loads. These charts account for variation in a number of different parameters such as the beam length, relative stiffness of flexure and torsion, subtended angle, boundary conditions and loading applications.

Download

Share

COinS

Restricted Access Item

Having trouble?