Stability of massless non-conservative elastic systems

The critical forces of massless conservative systems can be calculated using equilibrium conditions on the deformed systems. However, if non-trivial equilibrium conditions are absent (e.g., Beck's and Ziegler's column), then the equilibrium method is not applicable. Therefore, these systems were supplied with mass and calculations were performed dynamically. This manuscript demonstrates that the static stability of massless non-conservative systems can be calculated using the energetic stability criterion.