Characterizing dynamic transitions associated with snap-through of clamped shallow arches

Slender curved structures can often be found as components of complex structures in civil, mechanical, and aerospace systems. Under extreme loadings, a curved structure might undergo snap-through buckling, i.e., the structure is forced to its inverted configuration, inducing fatigue. Therefore, it is important to identify the stability boundaries of structures and to obtain an accurate description of their performance if the response moves beyond those boundaries. In this paper, a combined experimental–computational framework is used to analyze the transient behavior of clamped–clamped shallow arches. We examine, both experimentally and using Finite Element Analysis (FEA), the response of shallow arches under harmonic distributed loading. Various types of responses are identified and regions in the forcing parameter space that lead to snap-through and chaotic responses are determined.