A simple method for determining large deflection states of arbitrarily curved planar elastica (Q2511605)

The authors present a method for determining large deflections of arbitrary curved planar elastica. The elastica is modeled by Bernoulli-Euler theory. The basic idea of the method is to divide beams into series of segments where each of them can be deformed into large deflection state. The problem is solved using Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg integration. Several examples are presented that may be used to compare the method presented here with other (more complicated) methods.