A historical perspective of menabrea's theorem in elasticity

Abstract

This paper presents the theorem proposed by Luigi Federico Menabrea to study linear elastic redundant systems. Some of Menabrea's papers on the subject are examined, as well as the criticism and the corrections brought to his first proof. We consider Menabrea's work in the frame of the studies of his contemporaries; we try to provide a historical and epistemological background forMenabrea's theorem and for its consequences in modern mechanics. Copyright © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.