Circular arch with no instability

The compressed circular arch with no instability is reported. Both ends of the arch are guided and one end loaded by a normal concentrated force. The exact solution of the non-linear governing equations and stability analysis by the dynamic method show that the primary path remains stable as load tends to infinity. There is an infinite number of bifurcation points, not located on the primary path, and two branches of secondary path (one stable and one unstable) emanate from the first bifurcation point. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.