Mode jumping in the buckling of struts and plates: a comparative study

A detailed investigation of the phenomenon of mode jumping in compressed struts on stiffening foundations and elastic plates of varying lengths is performed, with emphasis on the effects of altering boundary conditions. The variety of possible modal interactions is presented in a concise form using the parameter space of Arnol'd tongues, borrowed from non-linear dynamical systems theory. For the strut system, a full range of end conditions from simply supported to clamped is examined. For the plate, simply supported and clamped flexural conditions along both long (unloaded) and short (loaded) edges are considered, together with in-plane conditions ranging from free to pull in, to fully restrained. For each system, simply supported end conditions are found to provide protection against early mode jumping in a so-called "safety envelope", but this is eroded as the end conditions are systematically altered from simply supported to clamped. For the plate system, mode jumping is induced at an earlier stage in the loading process by restricting the long (unloaded) edges against in-plane movement, but is delayed by clamping the same edges against rotation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.