Past exam of the elasticity and plasticity course of the University of Oxford 2011 3 b Solution 2026-10-31
Put . With , the Euler elastica equation is . Linearization about the straight configuration gives . Under the boundary conditions explicitly stated, , a nonzero solution requiresThus with only the stated boundary conditions, the first critical compressive force is . The corresponding linear transverse displacement field, with , isand to first order. These are the successive small-amplitude buckling modes. The nonlinear branches retain the simple pendulum equation; if the angular amplitude is and , fitting half-periods into the rod gives , which tends to as . Here is the complete elliptic integral of the first kind, with its modulus, not its squared parameter.
Endpoint position compatibility for the Euler elastica adds a condition when fully fixed clamps have equal transverse height. If the word “clamped” also imposes , then . With , this retains only even , yieldingThe same exclusion is exact on the nonlinear branches: integrating the elastica equation gives , and an odd number of half-periods reverses the nonzero endpoint slope. Hence odd changes the endpoint height. The conventional fixed-clamp first Euler buckling load is the second boxed value, whereas the source's explicitly listed boundary conditions alone give the first. Additional clamped modes with a nonzero transverse reaction require releasing the imposed . Load-controlled buckling also permits axial shortening; an exactly inextensible rod whose endpoint separation is fixed equal to its full length has no room to buckle.