Abstract
Two new theories of evolutionary instability are outlined. When applied to highly optimised engineering structures, they predict that buckling strengths can be dramatically eroded by small unavoidable manufacturing imperfections: this is confirmed by tests on stiffened panels of box-girder bridges. A related analysis yields a spectacular picture of the hyperbolic-umbilic catastrophe.
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Thompson, J. Experiments in catastrophe. Nature 254, 392–395 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/254392a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/254392a0
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