Numerical-experimental analysis of the post-buckling state of a multi-segment and multi-member thin-walled structure subjected to torsion

A three-segment ten-member thin-shell structure with flat walls made of a material with an instantaneous characteristic approximated by means of an ideally elastic-plastic material model is considered. The structure material (polycarbonate) demonstrates the temporary double refraction effect in polarized light. The system is subject to twisting resulting in the state of local post-critical deformation of skin segments within the structure area. As a result of non-linear numerical analysis in the course of which conformance of equilibrium paths obtained numerically and by means of the experiment is assured, the stress field is determined taking into account the flexural and membrane state of the structure.