This book deals with the elastic stability of solids and structures. It begins with fundamental aspects of stability, relating the basic notions of dynamic stability to more traditional quasi-static approaches. The book is concerned not only with buckling, or linear instability, but most importantly with nonlinear post-buckling behavior and imperfection-sensitivity. After laying out the general theory, Koiter applies the theory to a number of applications, with a chapter devoted to each. These include a variety of beam, plate, and shell structural problems and some basic continuum elasticity problems. Koiter's classic results on the nonlinear buckling and imperfection-sensitivity of cylindrical and spherical shells are included. The treatments of both the fundamental aspects and the applications are completely self contained. This book was recorded as a detailed set of notes by Arnold van der Heijden from W. T. Koiter's last set of lectures on stability theory, at TU Delft.

There have been stability theories developed for beams, plates and shells — the most significant elements in mechanical, aerospace, ocean and marine engineering. For beams and plates, the theoretical and experimental values of buckling loads are in close vicinity. However for thin shells, the experimental predictions do not conform with the theory, due to presence of small geometric imperfections that are deviations from the ideal shape.This fact has been referred to in the literature as ‘embarrassing’, ‘paradoxical’ and ‘perplexing’. Indeed, the popular adage, “In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is”, very much applies to thin shells whose experimental buckling loads may constitute a small fraction of the theoretical prediction based on classical linear theory; because in practice, engineers use knockdown factors that are not theoretically substantiated.This book presents a uniform approach that tames this prima-donna-like and capricious behavior of structures that has been dubbed the ‘imperfection sensitivity’ — thus resolving the conundrum that has occupied the best minds of elastic stability throughout the twentieth century.

When a structure is put under an increasing compressive load, it becomes unstable and buckling occurs. Buckling is a particularly significant concern in designing shell structures such as aircraft, automobiles, ships, or bridges. This book discusses stability analysis and buckling problems and offers practical tools for dealing with uncertainties that exist in real systems. The techniques are based on two complementary theories which are developed in the text. First, the probabilistic theory of stability is presented, with particular emphasis on reliability. Both theoretical and computational issues are discussed. Secondly, the authors present the alternative to probability based on the notion of 'anti-optimization', a theory that is valid when the necessary information for probabilistic analysis is absent, that is, when only scant data are available. Design engineers, researchers, and graduate students in aerospace, mechanical, marine, and civil engineering who are concerned with issues of structural integrity will find this book a useful reference source.

This book gives a unified presentation of the field of stability. Buckling and post-buckling states are studied on the basis of total potential energy of structural systems. Emphasis is placed throughout the text on post-buckling analysis and behaviour. The sensitivity of buckling and post-buckling states to changes in design parameters is also discussed as well as changes due to imperfections and damage.

This book overcomes the separation existing in literature between the static and the dynamic bifurcation worlds. It brings together buckling and post-buckling problems with nonlinear dynamics, the bridge being represented by the perturbation method, i.e., a mathematical tool that allows for solving static and dynamic problems virtually in the same way. The book is organized as follows: Chapter one gives an overview; Chapter two illustrates phenomenological aspect of static and dynamic bifurcations; Chapter three deals with linear stability analysis of dynamical systems; Chapter four and five discuss the general theory and present examples of buckling and post-buckling of elastic structures; Chapter six describes a linearized approach to buckling, usually adopted in the technical literature, in which pre-critical deformations are neglected; Chapters seven to ten, analyze elastic and elasto-plastic buckling of planar systems of beams, thin-walled beams and plate assemblies, respectively; Chapters eleven to thirteen, illustrate dynamic instability phenomena, such as flutter induced by follower forces, aeroelastic bifurcations caused by wind flow, and parametric excitation triggered by pulsating loads. Finally, Chapter fourteen discusses a large gallery of solved problems, concerning topics covered in the book. An Appendix presents the Vlasov theory of open thin-walled beams. The book is devoted to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as engineers and practitioners. The methods illustrated here are immediately applicable to model real problems. The Book Introduces, in a simple way, complex concepts of bifurcation theory, by making use of elementary mathematics Gives a comprehensive overview of bifurcation of linear and nonlinear structures, in static and dynamic fields Contains a chapter in which many problems are solved, either analytically or numerically, and results commented

Theory of Stability of Continuous Elastic Structures presents an applied mathematical treatment of the stability of civil engineering structures. The book's modern and rigorous approach makes it especially useful as a text in advanced engineering courses and an invaluable reference for engineers.