EXACT ELASTIC STABILITY ANALYSIS BASED ON DYNAMIC STIFFNESS METHOD

The article is dedicated to the discussion on the exact dynamic stiffness matrix method applied to the problems of elastic stability of engineering structures. The detailed formulation of the member dynamic stiffness matrix for beams is presented along with the general guidelines on automatisation of the assembly of member dynamic stiffness matrices into the global matrix that corresponds to the whole structure. The advantage of the dynamic stiffness matrix in case of parametric studies is explained. The problem of computing the eigenvalues of transcendental matrix is addressed. The straightforward approach as well as a powerful Witrick-Williams algorithm are discussed in details. The general guidelines on programming the DS matrix method are given as well.