COMSOL Verification and Validation Models

For slender structures, buckling is a catastrophic instability if the service load is above the critical limit. For such structures, it can be important to study the behavior of the structure beyond the critical buckling load, which is known as postbuckling analysis. Tracing the equilibrium path in postbuckling analysis is not easy as it leads to numerical difficulties such as limit points. Using an arc length method is a well-known strategy to trace equilibrium paths in such situations.

In this example, an incremental arc-length method combined with cubic extrapolation is used for postbuckling analysis of a hinged cylindrical panel subjected to a point load at its center. The results of this example are compared with a similar example in which a global equation approach based on a monotonically increasing average displacement is used.