ME 323 – Mechanics of Materials

Lecture 42: Failure analysis

– Buckling of columns
Joshua Pribe
Fall 2019
Lecture Book: Ch. 18
Stability and equilibrium
What happens if we are in a state of unstable equilibrium?

Stable Neutral Unstable

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Buckling experiment
There is a critical stress at which buckling occurs depending on the material
and the geometry
How do the material properties and geometric parameters influence the
buckling stress?

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Euler buckling equation
Consider static equilibrium of the buckled pinned-pinned column

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Euler buckling equation
We have a differential equation for the deflection with BCs at the pins:
d 2v
EI 2 + Pv( x) = 0 v(0) = 0 and v( L) = 0
d x

The solution is:

 P   P  A=0
v( x) = A cos  x  + B sin  x  with  P  P
 EI   EI  B sin  L  = 0  L = n , n = 1, 2, 3, ...
 EI  EI

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Effect of boundary conditions
Critical load and critical
stress for buckling:
EI EA
Pcr =  2 = 
2 2

(L r )
2
Le
e g

E
 cr =  2

(L rg )
2
e

I Pinned- Pinned-
where rg = Fixed-
Fixed-
A pinned fixed fixed
is the “radius of gyration” free
Le = L Le = 0.7 L Le = 0.5L
Le = 2 L

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 Modifications to Euler buckling theory
Euler buckling equation: works well for slender rods

Needs to be modified for smaller “slenderness ratios”

(where the critical stress for Euler buckling is at least
half the yield strength)

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 Summary
 Le   2E
Critical slenderness ratio:   =
r  0.5 Y
 g c

Euler buckling (high slenderness ratio):

 Le   Le   2E EI
If      :  cr = or Pcr =  2
2
r  r 
( )
2
 g   g c Le rg Le

Johnson buckling (low slenderness ratio):

 ( Le rg ) 
2
 Le   Le 
If      :  cr = 1 − 
r  r   2 ( Le rg ) 
2 Y
 g   g c
 c 

I
with radius of gyration rg =
A 8
Summary
Effective length from the boundary conditions:

Pinned- Pinned- Fixed-

pinned fixed Fixed-
fixed
free
Le = L Le = 0.7 L Le = 0.5L
Le = 2 L
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 Example 18.1
Determine the critical buckling load Pcr of a steel pipe column
that has a length of L with a tubular cross section of inner
radius ri and thickness t. The material has Young’s modulus E
and yield strength σY. Use pinned-fixed boundary conditions.

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Example 18.2
The steel compression strut BC of the frame ABC
is a tube with an outer diameter of d = 48 mm
and a wall thickness of t = 5 mm. Determine the
factor of safety against elastic buckling if a
distributed load of 10 kN/m is applied to AB. Let
E = 210 GPa and σY = 340 MPa.

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 Example 18.8 (additional examples)
Members (1), (2), and (3) have Young’s modulus E = 107 psi
and σY = 60 × 103 psi. Each member has a solid circular cross
section with diameter d = 1 in. A force P = 10 kips is applied
to joint C. Determine the maximum length L that can be used
without buckling based on Euler’s theory of buckling.

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Real-world example: Railroad track buckling

What would cause the railroad track

to buckle as shown in the picture?

G. Yang and M.A. Bradford, Engineering Failure Analysis 92 (2018), pp. 107-120.

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