5/25/23, 10:07 AM Expert Tip: Column Elastic Buckling Analysis NMiDAS Engineering Software < 80 back to main page By Qi Zhang PhD, PE, PEng. February 14, 2023 f inv G EXPERT TIP: COLUMN ELASTIC BUCKLING ANALYSIS ® cantilever beam midas Civil Buckling Analysis So you have learned about column buckling under a point load applied at the end of the column, do you know if columns can buckle under their self-weight? Let's explore it and run some analyses using midas Civil. Before we do a self-weight buckling analysis, let’s review the Euler buckling e 1 when a point load is applied to a cantilever column. Assume a column with a hi xa under a point load P at its free end, as shown in Figure 1. The dif! Got any questions? Im happy toe relation of the column deflection and forces is shown in Equation hele. e lowest value as the solution of P would give Equation 2. Request a quote Try for hitps lawn midasoftconvbridge-lbraryicolumn-slastic-buckling-analysis ano5125/23, 10.07 AM Expert Tip: Column Elastic Bucking Analysis Engineering Software Figure 1, Cantilever column under a point load 0 Equation 1 Equation 2 Where Per is the critical buckling load, E is Young's modulus of the material, I is the moment of inertia, L is the length of the column, and k is the column effective length factor. In the case of the cantilever column, k is 2. Let’s assume we are designing a concrete column with a diameter of 1m and a height of 16 m. The properties needed to perform the buckling analysis are shown in Table 1 {Column Diameter ID fh [m [Column Length IL he Im Elastic Modulus |E 210000 |MPa Effective length factor kp - [Moment of inertia lt fe.o49 [ma Table 1. Column section and material properties What is the critical buckling load for this column? Plugging all the numbers into Equation 2, we get: Pep = Tx26423MPax0089m4 _ 19 50g pV 2 x16) Now let’s run the analysis in midas Civil and compare the results. Setting up this analysis in midas Request a quote Try for Free hitps lawn midasoftconvbridge-lbraryicolumn-slastic-buckling-analysis 21105125/23, 10.07 AM Exper Tp: Column Elastic Bucking Analysis buckling Combination, select the Load Case where we would have defined the point load and click Add. That's everything, just run the model now. Once the model is run, click Results - Mode Shapes - Legend. We should see a factor on the right- hand side of the screen like the one in Figure 2. In this example, the factor is shown as 1.248E+4. To get the critical buckling load, we have to multiply this factor by the magnitude of the point load we applied, which is 1kN. Thus, the critical buckling load is 12,480 KN. In finite element analysis, the results can be sensitive to the number of elements we use to simulate this column. In this example, there are 16 elements, and the difference between the numerical result and the Euler buckling equation result is about 0.1%. XIE: 02/10/2025, at Figure 2. Column critical load factor under point load Now that we know how the software solves buckling load let’s look at if a column ean buck under self- weight, as shown in Figure 3. Under gravity load, the column is under a uniform line load q caused by self-weight; it has a unit of KN per meter. It is a constant value of q because the column has a constant section throughout the height. ‘The equation describing the relation between load q and deflection becomes a bit more complicated, as shown in Equation 3. In this equation, we solve the length L instead of the loading q because q is a property determined by the material and the cross-section. Once we solve Equation 3 for the length Request a quote Try for Free hitps lawn midasoftconvbridge-lbraryicolumn-slastic-buckling-analysis sito5125/23, 10.07 AM Exper Tp: Column Elastic Bucking Analysis Engineering Software Figure 3. Cantilever column under a self-weight Equation 3 Equation 4 For the same concrete section and material we studied in Table 1, once we plug in the parameters to Equation 4, we get a column height of 83.1 m. This means that if the 1 m diameter concrete column is taller than 83.1m, it buckles under its self-weight. It is too tall to stand just because of its weight. Let’s check this calculation using midas Civil. Define a column with a height of 83 m, and define a static load for Self Weight. In the Load Case of the self-weight, we should set the factor in the Z direction as -1. This tells the software that the gravity load is in the negative Z direction, All other steps for defining buckling analysis are the same as before. Hit F5 on the keyboard to run the analysis, and have a look at the results. We should see a factor very close to 1.0, as shown in Figure 4, which means that this is the maximum column height we can build on earth! So how on earth do engineers build highrises taller than 83 m? By using multiple columns and other structural systems supporting each other! This way, the moment of inertia I of the entire system can be significantly increased. Columns and human beings are alike, “if you want to go fast, go alone if you want to go far, go together.” Request a quote Try for Free hitps lawn midasoftconvbridge-lbraryicolumn-slastic-buckling-analysis ano5/25/23, 10:07 AM Engineering Software ar Figure 4. Column critical load factor under self-weight Download MIDAS Files Comments KAI 11/04/2023, 21:39:37 Very detailed verification demo! Thanks Dr. Zhang! 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