Unlike conventional studies that consider only three components of stress, this study considers all the six components of stress in derivation of the buckling equations for tapered beams. By invoking the conditions of equilibrium for the tapered beam and by Green's theorem, all the terms associated with the nonconventional stresses can either cancel those terms conventionally referred to as higher-order terms or combine with them to yield some new but meaningful terms. As the present theory can pass the rigid body test in the nonlinear sense, it serves as a rational basis for the formulation of finite elements.
展开▼
