Branch switching from coincident bifurcation points

The definition of the solution set of a general non-linear structural probl em depending on one external parameter is considered. Path-following techni ques and singular point locating and identifying methods are reviewed, foll owed by so-called branch-switching methods used to detect secondary equilib rium paths associated with m-fold bifurcation points. Two methods introduce d by Keller [1] and Kearfott [2] are considered, and their performance when used together with the non-linear finite element method is verified.