Buckling of a clamped strip-like beam with a linear pre-stress distribution

Abstract

A thin linear elastic strip is clamped at both ends and subjected to a linear stress distribution across its width. We use Kirchhoff beam theory to study this problem. If displacements out of the strips own plane are prohibited, the straight configuration remains stable as long as the compression is not too high. With the three-dimensional spatial description of the rod theory, we find possible buckling modes even in the case of average tensile stresses in the beam. Comparison with shell and beam finite elements shows excellent agreement with the analytical investigation, also with respect to the supercritical behavior.