A procedure is developed for the analysis of plane stress problems when yielding occurs locally. The region is divided into triangular elements and the deformation is analysed on a step-by-step basis, using the matrix notation developed by Argyris. The simple expressions which are derived for the element properties are applicable with any stress-strain relations which are stable and time-independent. Simple numerical examples are given.

A theoretical treatment is considered for the flow past slender wings in sudden plunging motion when leading-edge vortices are present. A form of slender-wing theory is used and, although the basis of the theory involves no restriction on compressibility, it has proved possible to make calculations only for an incompressible fluid.

Use is made of an analogy between the unsteady flow and related steady flows. In the incompressible case, an extension of the theory of Brown and Michael is given to determine the strength of the vortex and its path from the leading edge to the final steady-state position. A qualitative comparison with experiment is made of the instantaneous position of the vortex. In a typical case the lift is calculated to remain within one per cent of its final value after the vortex strength has reached 55 per cent of its final value.

When correcting the measured unsteady aerodynamic forces experienced by an oscillating body for wind-tunnel interference, it is customary to assume that the free-stream conditions ahead of the model are invariant with time. For small, streamlined models oscillating with small amplitudes this assumption is substantially correct. However, for large variations in the drag force on the oscillating body this assumption is imprecise, particularly at low frequency parameters. In the present paper the flow at stations a long way removed from the body section is examined on the basis of the unsteady form of the Bernoulli equation. The predicted free-stream fluctuations are found to be in agreement with experiment.

A scheme that uses an implicit system of finite-difference equations to obtain solutions of the equations governing the two-dimensional supersonic motion of an inviscid gas is described. The method relies on pseudo-viscosity in order to calculate shock waves. Compared with characteristics methods, pseudo-viscosity methods have certain advantages. For example, shock waves are calculated automatically without special procedures and pseudo-viscosity methods are easily generalised so that problems with three or more independent variables may be considered. Pseudo-viscosity methods have not been used extensively in the field of aerodynamics, partly because of the difficulty in obtaining sufficiently accurate solutions in the neighbourhood of a boundary. The main purpose of this paper is to show how this difficulty can be overcome. The problem of integrating the equations of motion when a boundary condition has to be satisfied on an arbitrary curve is considered. Streamlines are used as one of the independent variables so that the boundary curve is a coordinate curve, and the equations of motion are used in a form which leads to a simple procedure at the wall. For a given system of partial differential equations it is possible to introduce pseudo-viscous terms in many ways, not all of which are satisfactory. The results presented show that the method proposed in this paper is adequate. The calculated results are accurate and vary smoothly in the neighbourhood of the boundary.

A theoretical solution to the initial buckling under shear stress of a long clamped plate with parallel edges reinforced by a stiffener mesh is obtained. The mesh is formed by two families of stiffeners each evenly spaced. One family consists of longitudinal stiffeners parallel to the edges of the plate and the other consists of diagonal stiffeners inclined to the parallel edges. The flexural and torsional rigidity of the stiffeners are included in the analysis. Numerical results are given for the special case in which the longitudinal stiffeners are absent and the diagonal stiffeners have flexural rigidity only.