Mechanics of Solids (VDB1063)

Column Stability
Lecturer: Dr. Montasir O. Ahmed
LEARNING OUTCOMES
To determine the critical load on a column with various types of supports
LECTURE OUTLINES
Critical Load
Ideal Column with Pin Supports
Columns Having Various End-Conditions
Long slender members subjected to an axial compressive force are called columns,
and the lateral deflection that occurs is called buckling.
The maximum axial load that a column can support when it is on the verge of buckling
is called the critical load.
Additional loading will cause the column to buckle .
CRITICAL LOAD
1. Stable equilibrium: Restoring force is greater than the applied load (F > 2P tan) OR (k > 2P tan)
OR (k L/2 > 2P tan) OR (P < k L/4).
2. Unstable equilibrium: Restoring force is less than the applied load (P > k L/4).
3. Neutral equilibrium: Restoring force is equal to the applied load (P = k L/4)
Three different states for the column members:
CRITICAL LOAD
IDEAL COLUMN WITH PIN SUPPORTS
Ideal column characteristics:
It is perfectly straight before loading
Both ends are pin-supported
Loads are applied throughout the centroid of the cross section
Euler load

=

2

2
where
P
cr
= Critical or max. axial load on the column just before it begins to buckle. This load must not cause the
stress in the column to exceed the proportional limit.
E = Modulus of elasticity
I = least moment of inertia for columns cross sectional area
L = Unsupported length of the column, whose ends are pinned.
Note: The column will buckle about the principal axis of the cross section having the least I
For purpose of design, Euler formula can be written in a more useful form by
expressing I = Ar
2
, where A is the cross sectional area and r is the radius of gyration
of the cross sectional area. Thus

=

2

=

2
(
2
)

=

2

/
2

=

2

/
2
where

= critical stress, which is the average normal stress in the column just before the
column buckles. This stress is an elastic stress and therefore

E = Modulus of elasticity
L = Unsupported length of the column, whose ends are pinned.
r = smallest radius of gyration of the column, determined from r = /, where I is
the least moment of inertia of the columns cross sectional area A.
(L/r) = slenderness ratio.
IDEAL COLUMN WITH PIN SUPPORTS
The critical-stress curves are hyperbolic, valid only for
cr
is below yield stress
IDEAL COLUMN WITH PIN SUPPORTS
EXAMPLE 1
Copyright 2011 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd
The A-36 steel W200 46 member shown in Fig. 138 is to be used as
a pin-connected column. Determine the largest axial load it can
support before it either begins to buckle or the steel yields.
EXAMPLE 1 (cont)
Copyright 2011 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd
From Appendix B,
By inspection, buckling will occur about the yy axis.
When fully loaded, the average compressive stress in the column is
Since this stress exceeds the yield stress,
Solutions
2
N/mm 5 . 320
5890
1000 6 . 1887
=

= =
A
P
cr
cr
o
4 6 4 6 2
mm 10 3 . 15 , mm 10 5 . 45 , mm 5890 = = =
y x
I I A
( )( )( )
kN 6 . 1887
4
1000 / 1 10 3 . 15 10 200
2
4
4 6 2
2
2
=

= =
t t
L
EI
P
cr
(Ans) MN 47 . 1 kN 5 . 1472
5890
250 = = = P
P
COLUMNS HAVING VARIOUS END-CONDITIONS
L
e
= KL. where L
e
is the effective length, K is the effective length factor, L is the column length
The Euler formula for column's with various end conditions is
(KL/r) is called the columns effective slenderness ratio
( ) ( )
2
2
2
2
/
,
r KL
E
KL
EI
P
cr cr
t
o
t
= =
EXAMPLE 2
Copyright 2011 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd
A W150 24 steel column is 8 m long and is fixed at its ends as shown
in Fig. 1311a. Its load-carrying capacity is increased by bracing it
about the yy (weak) axis using struts that are assumed to be pin
connected to its mid-height. Determine the load it can support so that
the column does not buckle nor the material exceed the yield stress.
Take E
st
= 200 GPa and
Y
= 410 MPa.
EXAMPLE 2 (cont)
Copyright 2011 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd
Effective length for buckling about the xx and yy axis is
From the table in Appendix B,
Applying Eq. 1311,
Solutions
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) mm 2800 m 8 . 2 2 / 8 7 . 0
mm 4000 m 4 8 5 . 0
= = =
= = =
y
x
KL
KL
( )
( )
4 6
4 6
mm 10 83 . 1
mm 10 4 . 13
=
=
y
x
I
I
( )
( )
( ) ( ) | |
( )
( )
( ) ( ) | |
(2) kN 8 . 460
2800
10 83 . 1 200
(1) kN 2 . 1653
4000
10 4 . 13 200
2
6 2
2
2
2
6 2
2
2
= = =
= = =
t t
t t
y
x
cr
x
x
cr
KL
EI
P
KL
EI
P
EXAMPLE 2 (cont)
Copyright 2011 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd
By comparison, buckling will occur about the yy axis.
The average compressive stress in the column is
Since this stress is less than the yield stress,
buckling will occur before the material yields.
Thus,
From Eq. 1312 it can be seen that buckling will always
occur about the column axis having the largest
slenderness ratio, since it will give a small critical stress
Solutions
( )
MPa 6 . 150 N/mm 6 . 150
3060
10 8 . 460
2
3
= = = =
A
P
er
cr
o
(Ans) kN 461 =
cr
P
Important Points in this Lecture
The three states for the column member are:
1. Stable equilibrium: P < k L/4
2. Unstable equilibrium: P k L/4
3. Neutral equilibrium: P = k L/4
The Euler formula for column's with various end conditions is

cr

Y
( ) ( )
2
2
2
2
/
,
r KL
E
KL
EI
P
cr cr
t
o
t
= =
Next Class
FINAL EXAM