Structural stability and failure analysis using peridynamic theory

The peridynamic theory has been successfully utilized for damage prediction in many problems. However, the elastic stability of structures has not been studied using the peridynamic theory. Therefore, this paper investigates the elastic stability of simple structures to determine buckling characteristics of the peridynamic theory by considering two sets of problems. The first set of problems involves rectangular columns under compression to rind the effects of the cross-sectional area and boundary conditions on buckling load. The second set involves rectangular plates under a uniform temperature load to establish the effects of plate dimensions and material properties on the critical buckling temperature. The predictions of the peridynamic theory agree with those published in the literature. The solution method is based on reducing the peridynamic equations of motion to discrete forms by using collocation points. These discrete equations are then solved using adaptive dynamic relaxation. Furthermore, perturbation method using geometrical imperfections is utilized to trigger lateral displacements in the numerical solutions. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.