This book contains an introduction to the fundamental principles of the theory of stability of elastic bodies and structures. Beginning with very basic explanations of stability problems, this book starts with the treatment of systems of rigid beams, before beams under normal force and bending as well as the classical field of beam buckling are treated. For the case of beam buckling, an energetic consideration then follows, which forms the basis for a series of approximation methods. In addition to beam buckling, the stability cases of lateral-torsional buckling and lateral buckling are also of fundamental importance, to each of which a separate chapter is dedicated. This is followed by a discussion of plate buckling, and the book concludes with an introduction to shell buckling. This book is aimed at students at technical colleges and universities, as well as engineers in practice and researchers in the engineering sciences.

Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Christian Mittelstedt studied civil engineering at the University of Wuppertal, where he graduated in 1999. He received his doctorate in 2005 from the University of Siegen with a dissertation thesis on stress concentration problems in composite laminates. From 2006 he worked in the German aerospace industry as a research engineer and from 2011 as a technical leader and expert in the field of structural analysis. He defended his habilitation thesis in 2012 with a thesis on the stability of thin-walled stiffened composite panels and is the author and co-author of more than 200 scientific papers published in international journals, conference proceedings, but also officially recognized structural analysis manuals. Since August 2016, he has been the head of the institute for Lightweight Engineering and Structural Mechanics at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany.