BUCKLING

VERIFICATION OF THE EULER’S THEORY OF BUCKLING

In engineering mechanics, loss of stability is known as buckling. The bar axis
laterally deflects under the effect of compressive forces and with increasing
load until it suddenly and violently fails, just before the fracture strength is
reached.
Buckling occurs suddenly and without warning when a certain limit
load is attained. It is therefore an extremely dangerous type of failure,
which must be avoided by all means.
 EULER’S BUCKLING LOAD

 Euler is well known in structural engineering for his formula giving the
critical buckling load of an ideal strut, which depends only on its length and
flexural stiffness
 WHERE,

E = MODULUS OF
ELASTICITY IN N-M2

PE = π2
I = SECOND MOMENT OF
EI/ KL2 INERTIA OF THE COLUMN
SECTION IN M4
KL = EFFECTIVE LENGTH OF
THE COLUMN IN M
 MODULUS OF ELASTICITY (E)

 This is the ratio of stress divided by the strain on the material. An English physicist –
Thomas young discovered it. It is the stiffness of a material. A stiffer material has a higher
value of young’s modulus. It is found by the equation:
𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠
E=
𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛

 Material Young’s Modulus (Nominal)

Steel (207 GPa)
Aluminium (69 GPa)
Brass (105 GPa)
 SECOND MOMENT OF AREA (I)

 Second moment of area for rectangular cross-section is,

𝑏 𝑑3
I = 12
EFFECTIVE LENGTH OF THE COLUMN

End Both ends One end Both ends One end

condition pinned fixed and fixed fixed and
other free other pinned

Effective L 2L L/2 0.699L

length
LIMITATIONS OF EULER’S FORMULA

 There is always crookedness in the column and the load may not be exactly axial.
 This formula does not consider the axial stress and the buckling load is given by this
formula may be much more than the actual buckling load.
 EXPERIMENTAL BUCKLING LOAD

 Experimental buckling load may be estimated by following methods,

1. The load at which a large increase in deflection (δ) follows from a small increase in load.
2. Plot a graph δ vs (δ/Load ) . Determine the gradient ‘m’ for the straight line. The crippling
load is the reciprocal of ‘m’.
Calculate the theoretical buckling load from the Euler's formula and compare the
experimental and theoretical results.
 HOW TO PLOT GRAPH

Specimen Type of Length of Specimen Load in kg Deflection

Material support the beam cross- in mm
(mm) section
SS circular Both sides 800 ϕ8 25 0.3
column pinned 35 3.17
37 9.86

1. Calculate the values of δ/Load from experimental observation as shown above.

2. Plot these values on Y-axis.
3. Plot the values of deflection δ on X- axis.
4. Calculate gradient ‘m’ from the straight line.

Deflection (δ) δ/load

0.3 0.012
3.17 0.09
9.86 0.266
GRAPH: δ vs (δ/Load) for pinned- pinned
column

δ vs (δ/Load) for pinned- pinned column

0.3
0.266

0.25

0.2
𝑌2 −𝑌1
Gradient, m =
δ/Load

0.15 𝑋2 −𝑋1

0.09 0.266 −0.012

0.1
=
9.86 −0.3
0.05
0.012 m = 0.02656
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
δ

Experimental crippling load is the reciprocal of ‘m’ = 369.22 N

 THEORETICAL BUCKLING LOAD

 PE = π2 E I / KL2

 E = 207 Gpa = 2.07 x 10^11 N/m^2

π 𝑟 4
 I= = 2.01 x 10^-10 m^4
4
Where, r = radius of the column = 4 mm= 0.004 m
 KL = Effective length of the column = 800 mm = 0.8 m –(Pinned-pinned
column)
Theoretical buckling load = 641.63 N
 CONCLUSION

 There is difference in experimental and theoretical buckling load.

This is because of,
- Improper mounting of specimen
- Column may not be perfectly straight.
- The load applied may not be perfectly axial.
- Poor calibrated instruments.
Load sustaining capacity of pinned- pinned column is
lowest. This is four times lower than the both side fixed
column.
THANKS