CE3100: STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING LAB

Experiment No. 10
Lateral Buckling of Steel I Beams
(Date of Experiment: 6th Feb 2013)

Group No. J2

CE10B010: Arjun Saini CE10B067: Dhaval Bhati

(Date of submission: 18th Feb 2013)

CE10B038: Morla Meenakshi CE10B098: Yagnam Lokesh CE10B086: Vasavi Prasanna

AIM:
To study the lateral buckling behavior of steel I-beams and to determine the critical moment.

APPARATUS:
2 IBeams 2 loading pans Weights

Strain gauges to measure the strain at various points on the beam,

Dial gauge to measure the horizontal and vertical deflection.

INTRODUCTION:
Beams such as gantry girders are usually laterally unsupported and are liable to fail by flexural torsional buckling. The critical buckling moment depends on the type of section, support conditions and the level of application of the load. The code IS 800 gives a simple equation to calculate the lateral buckling strength Mcr.

Where, E = Youngs Modulus = 200 GPa. G = Shear Modulus = 76.9 GPa Iy = Moment of Inertia about the weak axis (mm4). hy = Center to center distance between the flanges (mm). KL = Effective laterally unsupported length of the member (mm). ry = Radius of gyration of the section about the weak axis (mm). It = St. Venants torsion constant = Iw = Warping constant = (mm4) (for open cross section). (f = 0.5 for Isection, hy = d tf)

Using Mcr , the nominal bending strength of laterally unsupported beam as governed by lateral torsional buckling can be calculated as follows .

= Imperfection factor = 0.21 for rolled steel sections

For top flange loading the code recommends an increase in the effective length by 20%.

PROCEDURE:
Circular disc is attached to the center of beam and beam is simply supported at its ends allowing it to bend about its major axis. Beam is laterally unsupported. Load is applied through circular disc acting as a pulley. By this way, the direction of the load could be maintained vertical even as the beam deforms and twists during loading. The point of application of load with respect to shear center of the cross section can be varied by moving the center of the disc with respect to shear center of the beam. Load is applied on the pan suspended from the disc through a wire rope in increments of 40 kg. Dial gauges are fixed at the middle of the beam to check the deflections in horizontal and vertical directions. Two strain gauges are fixed at both sides of the top flange and similarly two at the bottom flange.

Two different tests are

Top flange loading: center of the disc coincides with the level of top flange. Center of Gravity loading: center of the disc coincides with the centroid of the beam cross section

OBSERVATIONS:

Case 1: Loading on Top Flange

LOAD 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 VERTICAL DEFLECTION 0 1.8 3.7 5.5 7.4 9.2 11 13.1 HORIZONTAL DEFLECTION 0 0.1 0.1 0.7 1.3 3.2 5.7 4.7

Load vs. Deflection Graph when loading is on Top Flange

Southwells Plot

Case 2: Loading is through C.G.

LOAD 0 40 80 120 160

VERTICAL DEFLECTION 0 1.5 4.6 8.1 10.9

HORIZONTAL DEFLECTION 0 0.5 0.7 0.8 0.9

200 240 280 320 360

14.7 17.5 20.8 22.3 23.9

1.0 1.1 2.2 3.9 3.4

Load vs. Deflection Graph when loading is on Flange

Southwells Plot:
southwell's plot (for last six values)
0.016 0.014 Defection/load (mm/kg) 0.012 0.01 y = 0.0031x + 0.0007 0.008 0.006 0.004 0.002 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 deflection (mm) 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

RESULTS:
For loading on top flange: o Mcr value from Southwells plot= 2.4kNm For loading on C.G o Mcr value from Southwells plot= 5.2kNm

OBSERVATIONS:
There is difference between the theoretical and experimental values. This discrepancy is due to the poor apparatus, manual errors in taking readings and imperfections in specimen. Mcr Value for Loading on C.G is higher than loading on Top flange. Hence Structure can take more load if we apply load on C.G.