Buckling Analysis of Planar Frameworks Using the Quadrature Element Method

The recently proposed weak form quadrature element method (QEM) is applied to the buckling analysis of planar frameworks. This method starts with approximation of the integrands in the weak form description (variational formulation) of a problem. Neither the nodes nor the number of nodes in a quadrature element is fixed, being adjustable according to convergence need. Examples are presented and comparison with the results of the finite element method is made to demonstrate the effectiveness and computational efficiency of the QEM. It is shown that the QEM is suitable for buckling analysis of planar frameworks with either varying or constant cross sections.