Analysis of large deformation of a nonprismatic beam

This paper studies the mathematical model that describes the deformation of a nonprismatic beam by its own weight. The nonprismatic beam is considered to be with circular or rectangular cross-section, We fix the density and h old an angle alpha at one end but free at the other end. The shape of the b eam depends on the angle alpha at the density and the length to that of fle xural rigidity. We analyze the bifurcation phenomena for the vertical case, alpha = pi. Several numerical results are presented.