Static statement of the stability problem under creep

In technological processes of rod bending, the critical time is determined [1] by the criterion of unbounded increase A → ∞ in the bent axis amplitude, which is equivalent to the requirement A ≫ A 0 , where A 0 is value of the amplitude at the initial time t = 0. In this case, the mathematical models of the process of buckling of rods and plates [2] are constructed in the framework of the theory of small displacements. This contradiction can be removed by the assumption that the critical state is realized for deflections A of the order of several A 0 , i.e., at the time instant corresponding to a sharp increase in displacements. Naturally, this assumption is of local character, because the instant of the transition to the accelerated increase in deflections depends on specific conditions such as, for example, the support conditions, the creep coefficient, the type of the system imperfectness, the value of A 0 , and the eccentricity of the load application. In what follows, we show that, in the case of longitudinal bending (buckling), the time instant directly preceding the beginning of the catastrophic increase in deflections can be determined by the variation in the phase volume of the system.