Euler collapse load
Column bucking was first investigated by Euler who established that
the buckling strength is inversely proportional to the square of the
slenderness ratio.
In 1757 Leonard Euler propounded a theory for calculating the
strength of an axially loaded column pinned at both ends. The
relationship he established was as follows:
P.= pie*EVL? (1)
where, P, = Euler collapse load
E = Modulus of elasticity of the material of construction of the
column
Moment of inertia of the column section
L= Length of the pin-ended column
The corresponding buckling stress is obtained simply by dividing the
collapse load by the cross-sectional area of the column, A. Thus
p= P./A= pie*EVAL?
Since the moment of inertia (|) and the cross-sectional area (A) are
both dependent solely on the geometry of the cross-section they can
be combined into a single variable. This is defined as the radius of
gyration r of the column section and is related to | and Aas follows:
=Ar (2)
‘Substituting equation (2) in (1)
be = pie*E./(Lir? (3)
This relationship can be represented graphically as a graph of
buckling stress against (L/r). Clearly the value of (L/r) is of
considerable importance in determining the abilty of a column to
carry load without buckling,
ever
STRESS
SLENDERNESS RATIO
Euler stress as a function of slendemess ratioThe relationship between buckling stength and slendemess ratio
depends on the support conditions at the column ends.
The above expressions describing the theoretical buckling behaviour
of columns are valid for pinned ends only. Similar expressions can be
obtained for other end conditions. For instance the buckling siress of
afixed ended column is given by:
P.
pie7E / (Ur?
which can be wntten as
P.
pie?E 0.5 Ur)?
The influence of different end conditions can most conveniently be
accounted for by using the concept of an effective length.
Itcan be seen that the buckling stength of a fixed ended column is
the same as for a pin ended column of half the lenath. This
introduces the concept of effective length which can be defined as
the lenath of an equivalent pin ended column with the same buckling
strength
Thus to extend the relationship (3) fo include columns with end
conditions other than pinned ends the value for length L should be
substituted by effective length Le
Thus:
P,= pie*EA (Lut) (4)
The ratio Le/ris called the siendemess ratio of the section and the
larger the value of this slenderness ratio, the smalleris the value of
the collapse load P, of the column
Itis also worth noting that, because the slenderness ratio is squared,
arelatively small increase in its value can cause a large reduction in
P,. Thus, in theory, the buckling load of a column with a slenderness
ratio of 180, is just one quarter that of a column with a slendemess
ratio of 80.
Because the slendemess ratio is dependent on effective length and
radius of gyration, these two items both influence the Euler critical
load. A column of 5m height with both ends pinned, will carry four
times as much load as a similar sized column with fixed base and
free top.
For stocky columns the buckling stress can exceed the material
strength and the dominant failure mode is therefore ‘squashing’
In spite of the elegance of Euler's formula in explaining the
Parameters contributing to the strength of a compression member, it
is only effective in predicting the collapse load of columns with large
values of slenderness ratio. For stocky columns, Euler's collapse
load F, exceeds the yield stress of steel, and the column fails by
crushing or ‘squashing’
For example, for a value of L/f=20, and taking the modulus of
elasticity for steel E as 205000N/mm®, the compressive stress
obtained from Euler's formula would be as follows:
p, =PJA= pie*E/(LE/1)?For example. for a value of L_/r=20, and taking the modulus of
elasticity for steel E as 205000Nimm2, the compressive stress
obtained from Euler's formula would be as follows:
pe = PYA= pieZEKLE/Ne
pe = pie? x 20500 / 400 = 5120 Nimm?
This value of Euler collapse stress is much larger than the yield
stress of steel (210 - 450N'mm*) specified in BS 5950. The failure of
stocky columns is therefore determined by material yield stress,
whilst for slender columns failure corresponds to the Euler stress.
For colurnns with intermediate slenderness ratios both buckling and
yielding contribute to collapse. Clearly both these conditions must be
accounted for in any design rule for columns.
rawr \
cae | suuer sess
Column curve showing a typical relationship between failure
stress and slenderness ratio as incorporated in BS 5950,
comparad with the Euler stress curve