Reinvestigation on Assessing the Stability of Mullagulov Tested Steel Rods under Follower Forces

Dynamic instability is an interesting topic in the mechanics of elastic structures. Though the subject has been formed by many analytical, numerical, and experimental investigations, it has many issues, as evidenced from the critical overview of Elishakoff. Furthermore, the controversial articles of Koiter and Sugiyama on unrealistic and realistic follower forces demand experimental verification. Mullagulov has proposed a device for creating the follower forces and tested steel rods under compression. This paper highlights the experimentation of Mullagulov and his observations briefly to examine the influence of material properties on the stability load estimations and to confirm the practical realization of follower forces.