Delayed bifurcation in elastic snap-through instabilities

We study elastic snap-through induced by a control parameter that evolves dynamically. In particular, we study an elastic arch subject to an end-shortening that evolves linearly with time, i.e. at a constant rate. For large end-shortening the arch is bistable but, below a critical end-shortening, the arch becomes monostable. We study when and how the arch transitions between states and show that the end-shortening at which the fast 'snap'...