Skip to main content

Principle of Virtual Work

  • Chapter
Mechanics of Solids and Fluids
  • 344 Accesses

Abstract

A structure loaded by external forces, like surface tractions and body forces, is considered to be in a state of equilibrium. The free-body diagram for such a set of conditions is given in Fig. 5.1. Necessarily, the resulting density of the force in every material point must vanish, f = 0. A material point with position vector r is given a virtual displacement δr where |δr| « l char (characteristic length of the body), and the (elementary) virtual work per unit of volume vanishes consequently

$$ \mathbf{f}.\mathbf{\delta r}=0 $$

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 74.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Bibliography

  • Langhaar, H. L., Energy Methods in Applied Mechanics. Wiley, New York, 1962

    Google Scholar 

  • Washizu, K., Variational Methods in Elasticity and Plasticity. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1974

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1991 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ziegler, F. (1991). Principle of Virtual Work. In: Mechanics of Solids and Fluids. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0512-5_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0512-5_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-97544-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-0512-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics