Analytical Approximate Prediction of Thermal Post-Buckling Behavior of the Spring-Hinged Beam

Abstract

This paper is concerned with thermal post-buckling of uniform isotropic beams with axially immovable spring-hinged ends. The ends of the beam with elastic rotational restraints represent the actual practical support conditions and the classical hinged and clamped conditions can be achieved as the limiting cases of the rotational spring stiffness. The governing differential–integral equation is solved by assuming suitable admissible function for lateral displacement and by employing the Galerkin method. A brief and explicit analytical approximate formulation is established to predict the thermal post-buckling behavior of the beam. The present analytical approximate expressions show excellent agreement with the corresponding numerical solutions based on the shooting method. This confirms the effectiveness and verifies the accuracy of the formulas established.