Can anyone help with thoughts on this problem?
What would be the shape of curvature, (approximate will do though precise would be nice if it's simple), of a thin flexible rod compressed at its ends via contact points of a non-constraining type and within elastic deformation limits? (Think Star Wars IV, Hans Solo and team in the trash compactor, trying to use the metal rod to stop the walls moving inwards, or a bow (as in "and arrow") created by bending a straight uniform stick and restraining the ends with a string.)
I want to ignore effects of gravity, it's neither too long nor ultra flexible.
By the contacts at each end I mean holding and compressing the rod with just a plain contact point like putting it internally across the jaws of a vice and closing it rather than clamping each end in a vice so they cannot change angle. Effectively I'm looking for a simple plain curve with no turning points.
The elastic limits restriction means simply for relatively small deformations which allow full returning to its original straight condition. No area of weakness is allowed to create a tighter bend locally.
Is this going to be pretty close to deformation to an arc of a circle?
What would be the shape of curvature, (approximate will do though precise would be nice if it's simple), of a thin flexible rod compressed at its ends via contact points of a non-constraining type and within elastic deformation limits? (Think Star Wars IV, Hans Solo and team in the trash compactor, trying to use the metal rod to stop the walls moving inwards, or a bow (as in "and arrow") created by bending a straight uniform stick and restraining the ends with a string.)
I want to ignore effects of gravity, it's neither too long nor ultra flexible.
By the contacts at each end I mean holding and compressing the rod with just a plain contact point like putting it internally across the jaws of a vice and closing it rather than clamping each end in a vice so they cannot change angle. Effectively I'm looking for a simple plain curve with no turning points.
The elastic limits restriction means simply for relatively small deformations which allow full returning to its original straight condition. No area of weakness is allowed to create a tighter bend locally.
Is this going to be pretty close to deformation to an arc of a circle?