Optimal design of tapered beams for maximum buckling strength

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the determination of the optimal linear taper of a narrow rectangular beam that will maximize the critical buckling load subject to a volume constraint. The beam considered is either cantilevered or simply supported and is under a uniformly distributed load or a point load. The solution to the problem is obtained by two independent approaches. Whilst one of the approaches is based on the Timoshenko energy technique, the other is based on a Lagrange multiplier and the gradient expression of problem. © 1986.