Tracing the equilibrium path beyond simple critical points

A unified presentation of some popular continuation procedures used in the non‐linear finite element analysis of structural mechanics is introduced. An extension of the elliptical constraint equation proposed by Crisfield is given. It is shown that in the proposed procedure real roots can always be obtained in solving the iterative change of the load parameter. Updated weighting factors are introduced in the constraint equation in order to get better convergence characteristics in the case when localized deformations occur. For bifurcation points a modification of Rheinboldt's branching procedure is presented. Post critical response after limit and bifurcation points is determined in some numerical examples.