LAUSR

Abstract A new theory for the buckling and nonlinear analysis of circular arches with shear deformation is developed, the theory is based on the variational principle in which the nonlinear strain energy of all stress components are included. For arches subjected to a uniform constant-directed radial load, internal forces and deformations including shear deformation are determined, then the buckling of arches only considering uniform axial forces and incorporating the effect of pre-buckling deformations and all internal forces are respectively carried out, with the results of the latter are fully validated by FE predictions, thus the proposed theory is verified. The buckling of arches with shear deformation is then viewed as an interactive buckling between flexural and shear buckling, Simplified formulas for the critical loads and the critical axial forces of arches for 4 types of loads are presented, the comparison shows excellent agreement between the proposed formulas and FE analysis.