Post-Buckling Solutions for the Gao Beam

Summary This article analyses static buckling of the so-called Gao beam nonlinear model. It considers pure buckling problems in which the vertical loads are omitted. The analysis, using minimisation of energy and the concept of a modified Rayleigh quotient, leads to new results regarding the critical load necessary for buckling, and the existence and number of post-buckling solutions. Computational results are provided for cases with fixed axial loading. Furthermore, the authors explore the impact of the system parameters on the solutions, which are summarised in a table. The new findings in this research are unique and help to better understand the behaviour of the static and dynamic Gao beam.