Structural Stability

SOLUTION

Problem 1.1a
Find the critical load Pcr of the bar – spring systems, using the bifurcation approach.
Assume that all the bars are rigid
L
k s1 P
ks2

Solution
 Assume that the rotation  at node A is small

L B P
 k s2 L L sin   L
k s1
A
L cos  L

 Using Bifurcation approach

Equilibrium condition
M A  0
 PL sin   k s1  k s 2 ( L sin  )( L cos )  0
With small deflection assumption
sin    , cos  1
 PL  k s1  k s 2 L2  0

  PL  k s1  k s 2 L2  0 
(1)   0 P  0 ~  (trivial solution)
(2) PL  k s1  k s 2 L2 =0
Hence,
k s1
Pcr   ks2 L    ~ 
L

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Structural Stability

Problem 1.1c
Find the critical load Pcr of the bar – spring systems, using the bifurcation approach.
Assume that all the bars are rigid

0.5L 0.5L L 0.5L

A
E P
B C D
k s1 ks2

Solution
 Assume that the rotation  at node A is small

P A  B C D E E P
B D
C  
RA RE
k s 2 D
k s1 B

 Using Bifurcation approach

We have
C L 2
   C  L sin   L   E    
1.5 L 1.5 L 3
1 1 1 1
  B   C  L ;  D   C  L
2 2 3 3
Equilibrium condition
M A  0
 k s1 B (0.5L)  k s 2 D (2 L)  RE (2.5L)  0
1 1
 k s1 L (0.5L)  k s 2 L (2 L)  RE (2.5L)  0
2 3
1 4 
 R E   k s1  k s 2  L (1)
 10 15 

2
Structural Stability

Consider member CE
C
D P

P RE
C’ ks 2 D
RC
L 0.5L

Equilibrium condition
 M C'  0
 k s 2 D ( L)  RE (1.5 L)  P  0
1
 k s 2 L ( L)  RE (1.5L)  PL  0 (2)
3

From (1) and (2) we have

1 1 4 
k s 2 L2   k s1  k s 2  L (1.5 L)  PL  0
3  10 15 
 3 1 
  P  k s1 L  k s 2 L   0
 20 15 
(a)   0 P  0 ~  (trivial solution)
3 1
(b) P  k s1 L  k s 2 L =0
20 15
Hence,
3 1
P k s1 L  k s 2 L    ~ 
20 15

3
Structural Stability

Problem 1.4
Investigate the stability behavior of the snap through spring – bar model shown

ks


Solution
P
B RB

B
L
B’


L sin 
L sin(   )
  
ks  A A’ A
 A RA L cos 
L cos(   )

 Using energy approach

Assume that the bar rotates angle of 
 A  L cos(   )  L cos

 B  L sin   L sin(   )
 The strain energy
U  k s 2A  k s L cos(   )  L cos 
1 1 2
2 2
1

U  k s L2 cos2 (   )  cos2   2 cos(   ) cos
2

 The potential energy
V   P B   PLsin   sin(    )
The total potential energy

4
Structural Stability

 
  U  V  k s L2 cos2 (   )  cos2   2 cos(   ) cos  PLsin   sin(   )
1
2

 For equilibrium
d
0
d
 k s L2 2 cos(   ) sin(   ) 1  2 cos  sin(   ) 1  PL cos(   ) 1  0
1
2
 k s L2 cos(   )  cos sin(   )  PL cos(   )  0

Hence,
P  k s Lcos(   )  cos  tan(   )

 Stability condition
d 2 2 1 
 k L  cos 2(   ) 2  cos cos(   ) 1  PL sin(   ) 1
d
s
2
2 
d 2
 k s L2  cos 2(   )  cos cos(   )  PL sin(   )
d 2

When
d 2
0
d 2
 k s L2  cos 2(   )  cos cos(   )  k s Lcos(   )  cos  tan(   ) L sin(   )  0
 sin 2 (   )  cos2 (   )  cos cos(   )  sin 2 (   )  cos tan(   ) sin(   )  0
 cos2 (   )  cos cos(   )  cos tan(   ) sin(   )  0

If cos(   ) #0, we have

d 2
 0   cos3 (   )  cos cos2 (   )  cos sin 2 (   )  0
d 2

 cos  cos3 (   )  0

  cos1 cos 
1/ 3
          cos cos  
1 1/ 3

d 2
 If  0  cos  cos3 (   )  0
d 2

 
   cos1 cos       cos1 cos 
1/ 3 1/ 3
 
The system is unstable

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Structural Stability

d 2
 If  0  cos  cos3 (   )  0
d 2

  
     cos1 cos  or     cos1 cos 
1/ 3 1/ 3

The system is stable

6
Structural Stability

DISCUSSION
A. Snap through
We will investigate stability behavior with the given angle  of 300
P  k s Lcos(   )  cos  tan(   )
d 2
d 2

 L2 k s  cos2 (   )  cos cos(   )  cos tan(   ) sin(   ) 
P
B RB

B
L
B’


L sin 
L sin(   )
  
ks  A A’ A
 A RA L cos 
L cos(   )

  P d2/d2 State of

  (ksL) the structure
0 45 0.00000 0.50000 Stable
5 40 0.04945 0.33624 Stable
10 35 0.07845 0.19221 Stable
15 30 0.09175 0.06650 Stable
17.986 27.014 0.09370 0.00000 Critical
20 25 0.09289 -0.04119 Unstable
25 20 0.08465 -0.13053 Unstable
30 15 0.06935 -0.20096 Unstable
35 10 0.04897 -0.25183 Unstable
40 5 0.02529 -0.28260 Unstable
45 0 0.00000 -0.29289 Unstable
50 -5 -0.02529 -0.28260 Unstable
55 -10 -0.04897 -0.25183 Unstable
60 -15 -0.06935 -0.20096 Unstable
65 -20 -0.08465 -0.13053 Unstable
70 -25 -0.09289 -0.04119 Unstable
72.014 -27.014 -0.09370 0.00000 Critical
75 -30 -0.09175 0.06650 Stable
80 -35 -0.07845 0.19221 Stable
85 -40 -0.04945 0.33624 Stable
90 -45 0.00000 0.50000 Stable

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Structural Stability

Applied Load vs Rotation

0.15

0.10
Load P (k sL)

0.05

0.00
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
-0.05

-0.10

-0.15
Rotaion  (degree)

d2 /d 2 vs Rotation

0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
d2 /d 2

0.10
0.00
-0.10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
-0.20
-0.30
-0.40
Rotation (degree)

From the above graph, we can see that: For given angle  of 450, firstly, the system is
in stable state when the load P less than (0.0937k sL). After P reaches that critical value,
the system is changed into unstable (and the rotation is of 17.9860). In this stage, the
rotation of bar  increases very quickly so that the system comes to stable state. The
rotation  rises continuously until it reaches the value of 72.0140. At that time, the
system begins being stable again.
In conclusion, the system is stable for 17.9860 or 72.0140, but is unstable for
17.9860 < 72.0140

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Structural Stability

B. Snap through
We will investigate how do applied load P and rotation  change when snap through
occurs
P  k s Lcos(   )  cos  tan(   )

    cos1 cos 1/ 3 
P
B RB

B
L
B’


L sin 
L sin(   )
  
ks  A A’ A
 A RA L cos 
L cos(   )

 cos   P
  (ksL)
0 1.000 0.000 0.000 0.00000
5 0.996 2.112 2.888 0.00013
10 0.985 4.217 5.783 0.00102
15 0.966 6.306 8.694 0.00345
20 0.940 8.373 11.627 0.00819
25 0.906 10.407 14.593 0.01599
30 0.866 12.399 17.601 0.02765
35 0.819 14.336 20.664 0.04394
40 0.766 16.205 23.795 0.06568
45 0.707 17.986 27.014 0.09370
50 0.643 19.658 30.342 0.12891
55 0.574 21.188 33.812 0.17232
60 0.500 22.533 37.467 0.22510
65 0.423 23.629 41.371 0.28872
70 0.342 24.373 45.627 0.36521
75 0.259 24.589 50.411 0.45765
80 0.174 23.911 56.089 0.57160
85 0.087 21.319 63.681 0.72014
90 0.000 0.000 90.000 1.00000

9
Structural Stability

Angle  vs Rotation  When Snap Through Occurs

30
Rotation  (degree)

25
20

15
10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Angle  (degree)

Angle  vs Load P When Snap Through Occurs

1.2

1.0
Load P (k sL)

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Angle  (degree)

From the above graph, we can see that when snap through occurs, the load only
increases lightly with small angle  (0~400), but very dramatically with large angle 
(>400). On the contrary, the rotation goes up so quickly until it reaches the maximum
value of 24.5890 (at that time, the angle of bar And when the angle of bar
, the higher the angle of bar  is, the smaller the rotation  is.

10