Samenvatting
As opposed to slender columns, tubular members used in the automobile industry are quite "stocky" so that the shear rigidity is comparable to the bending rigidity. It has been conjunctured that appreciable shear forces developed in the process of progressive crushing might be responsible for a loss of stability and a global collapse of compressive members. This problem is studied here using a simple model of the tube undergoing finite rotations and local crushing.