Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-elasticity-and-plasticity-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2011/3/a/solution

Let be arc length, so inextensibility makes a unit tangent vector. The curvature is , hence for uniform bending stiffness. Balance of linear momentum in static equilibrium gives a constant resultant .
Taking the cross product directly,
The scalar component of conservation of angular momentum therefore becomes
Together with and , this Euler elastica equation determines the centerline once the appropriate boundary conditions are supplied.

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