Non-linear buckling of elliptical curved beams

In this paper, a study on non-linear buckling and postbuclding behavior of elliptical curved beams is presented. An isogeometric analysis framework with the use of an arc-length iteration technique is developed based on the shear deformable theory and accounts for the geometric non-linearity in von Karman sense. The proposed method is capable of exactly modeling the geometry of elliptical curved beams by means of NURBS (non-uniform rational B-splines) basis functions. The solutions of the present model are validated by comparing with experimental and numerical results of the literature. Numerical examples are carried out to investigate the effects of different geometric parameters on the buckling and postbuckling of elliptical curved beams with hinged-hinged, clamped-clamped and clamped-hinged boundary conditions. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.