Date:_______________

Buckling of a Strut
Senior Freshman Engineering Laboratories
Lab: 2E4B
Coordinator: Asst. Prof. Bidisha Ghosh
Demonstrator:

Concept
Buckling is a large deformation produced under compressive load in a direction
or plane normal to the direction of application of the load. Buckling is a form of
instability, it occurs suddenly with large changes in deformation but little change
in loading. For this reason it is a dangerous phenomenon that must be avoided in
structural design.

Theory
Please refer to the column buckling lecture notes as provided by Dr B. Ghosh in
2E4 class.
Members in compression can fail either by crushing (excessive compressive
stress) or by buckling: short members fail by crushing while long slender
members fail by buckling.
Critical Buckling Load

Pcr : For a given column the minimum load causing

buckling depends on the geometrical and mechanical characteristics (length,

2

section, Youngs modulus, end support condition) of the column: Pcr =C EI / L

The column effective length

Le

Le =L/ C

takes into account

the effect of the end condition on

the critical load:

Le

Pcr = EI / Le .

is the distance between successive inflection points of the buckled mode

shape.

Figure 1: Buckling Loads

and Shapes

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The end condition factor

has the following values:

Pcr = 2 EI / L2

C=1;

Column pinned at each end:

C=2.045 ;

Column pinned at one end, fixed at the other end:

Pcr =2.045 2 EI /L2

C=1/4 ;

Column with a roller at one end, fixed at the other end:

2

Pcr = EI /4 L

Slenderness ratio

Pcr =4 EI / L

: The susceptibility of a member to fail by buckling

depends on its slenderness ratio

and

C=4 ;

Column fixed at each end:

=L/r

being

the length of the member

its radius of gyration.

The radius of gyration is determined from the second moment of area:

I =A r
width

divided by the cross-section area

and depth

A . For a rectangular bar, having

h , the second moment of area is

Euler buckling curve

Pcr =f ()

I =b h3 /12 .

shows the relationship between the

slenderness ratio and the critical buckling load.

For column pinned at each end it is:

Pcr = 2 EA / 2 .

Buckling Direction: As the critical buckling load is proportional to I, a column

will buckle in the direction corresponding to the minimum value of I.

Date:_______________

Figure 2: Buckling Direction

Note that the smallest radius of gyration of the column, i.e. the least second
moment of area I should be taken in order to find the critical buckling load.

Method
Apply compressive load to steel bars with different geometrical properties
(length, section) and end conditions in the loading frames and observe the
different buckling shapes and critical load:
1) Effect of end condition:

Draw the shapes of the buckled columns (first mode shape) for the four
different end conditions in the small loading frame.
Measure the effective length for each end condition.
Measure the original length of the bars in the small loading frame.

1) Effect of length

Measure the critical buckling load for two bars having different lengths in
the big loading frame.
Measure the width and depth of the cross-section of the bars.

Report
1) Effect of end conditions:

Calculate the theoretical effective length for each bar in the small loading
frame based on end conditions and the original lengths (See Fig.1).
Compare the theoretical effective lengths with the measured values.
Comment on the results.

1) Effect of length:

Calculate the critical buckling loads for the bars with different length in the
big loading frame and check the match with the measured values. Note
that columns always buckle in the direction corresponding to minimum
second moment of area.

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Plot Euler buckling curve (critical buckling stress vs. slenderness ratio) for
E=200 GPa. It is a theoretical curve and should be plotted using the

cr
equation

Pcr 2 E
2
A

Figure 3: Euler Buckling Curve

( cr , )

Plot the points from the measurements of the two bars

curve.
In which part of the curve are the two points located? How would you
describe the two bars? How do you think they would fail?

on the