FStr

The applications of the Finite Strip Method (FSM) in the analysis of various structural designs, such as bridges or tall buildings have numerous advantages, especially through their computational power capability, when compared to the Finite Element Method. Having dedicated software that provides such functionality is ideal, and this is exactly what FStr aims to provide.

Designed as a specialized tool that will provide users with the means to perform an analysis of the elastic buckling occurring in thin-walled structural elements, FStr comes equipped with a series of purpose-fit tools and features, which in integration with MATLAB’s working environment, can provide a way for analyzing and producing buckling mode representations.

The application supports the generation of both 2D and 3D buckling models, allowing users access to generating the critical buckling load, as well as its corresponding member length. The application relies on trigonometric functions in a longitudinal direction in series, which will yield an interpolation of the strip solution, therefore providing a suitable shape to any kind of end boundary condition.

Last but not least, the analysis process will produce signature curves, through a set of longitudinal lengths, offering users the choice of selecting whichever dataset they prefer for further analysis.