Substructure synthesis method for buckling analysis in frames

An everlasting objective of Structural Stability and Structural Dynamics is the development of approximate methods that yield highly accurate results (critical loads, and natural frequencies and modes) and that involve low numbers of degrees of freedom. The Rayleigh–Ritz–Meirovitch substructure synthesis method (RRMSSM) has proved to be more efficient than the finite element method (FEM) in dynamic analysis of structures that can be modeled as assemblages of simple substructures, and the question is if it would be also more efficient in stability analysis of these structures. The RRMSSM is the classical Rayleigh–Ritz method with Meirovitch’s introduction of quasicomparison functions [1] and extension to multibody systems [2]. This Rayleigh-Ritz methodology with both developments was presented by Meirovitch and Kwak [3]. Lately, it was extended to multiply supported or framed structures [4, 5]. In these investigations, the