Buckling mode identification of thin-walled members by using cFSM base functions

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate an approximate method whereby eigen buckling modes from a shell finite element method (FEM) analysis of a thin-walled member can be quantified in terms of the fundamental buckling classes, namely, global, distortional, local, or other. The buckling classes are defined using the mechanical definitions employed in the constrained finite strip method (cFSM). The cFSM base vectors are used to approximate an arbitrary FEM buckling mode. The resulting identification and its associated error is investigated, including dependency on FEM discretization, the number of cFSM functions considered, boundary conditions, and loading. The long-term goal of the work is to provide a generalized method for identification of local, distortional, and global buckling modes for arbitrary thin-walled members modeled in general purpose finite element codes.