Lecture #4

Buckling in aircraft structures

PLATES IN UNI-AXIAL COMPRESSION
Object Buckling factor k
0.9  kE
 cr 
b  2

2
PLATES IN SHEAR
Object Buckling factor k

kE
 cr 
b  2

3
CYLINDRICAL RODS IN COMPRESSION
Object Buckling factor k
0.3
k kEh
 cr 
0.25 R
0.2

0.15

0.1
analytically k=0.6!
0.05
R/h
0
0 500 1000 1500 4
SHPERICAL SHELL UNDER EXTERNAL PRESSURE
Object Buckling factor k
0.2
k
kEh
0.15  cr 
R
0.1

0.05
R/h
0
0 500 1000 1500
analytically k=0.6!
5
FACTORS WHICH AFFECT THE ACCURACY OF
BUCKLING ANALYSIS

• Initial imperfections (the effect is especially large for

cylindrical and spherical shells);
• Curved geometry (very actual for aircraft panels);
• Uncertain supporting conditions;
• Inelastic behavior of material (the effect is crucial for
lightweight and high-loaded aircraft structures).

Ways to increase the accuracy of calculations:

• Use empirical methods and formulas (much testing

required);
• Use numerical methods.
6
COMPARISON BETWEEN CIRCULAR AND SQUARE
CROSS SECTIONS

7
WAYS TO FIND THE CRITICAL STRESS WHICH IS
BEYOND THE YEILD LIMIT

• Empirical determination of critical stress (Southwell

method).

• Usage of plasticity correction factors calculated by

empirical formulas.

• Finite element analysis (FEA).

8
SOUTHWELL METHOD FOR PLATES

The deformed shape of panel is

 
m x n y
w  x , y     Amn  sin  sin
m 1 n  1 a b
C mn  N x
The view of coefficients is Amn 
f  m, n  N x
Near the buckling mode corresponding C mn  N x
to m and n, the displacement is wmax 
N x cr  N x
Thus, the graph of wmax against wmax will form
a Nx
N x cr
9
PLASTICITY CORRECTION – EMPIRICAL FORMULAS

Kan and Sverdlov proposed the following formula to

take into account the plastic behavior of material:
1 
 cr   u  ,
1   2

u
where  ;
 cr , el
 cr , el - elastic critical stress (calculated using linear
physical law);
 u - material ultimate stress.

10
PLASTICITY CORRECTION – EMPIRICAL FORMULAS

According to Gerard, the nonlinear material behavior

could be taken into account using the plasticity
correction factor :
0.9    k  E
 cr 
b  2

1   E s  1 1 1 3 Et 
2
 el
      
1 2
pl E  2 2 4 4 Es 
Et , E s - tangent and secant moduli;
 el , pl - elastic and inelastic Poisson’s ratios.
11
BUCKLING MODES OF AIRCRAFT PANEL

12
POST-BUCKLING BEHAVIOR

The post-buckling
behavior of aircraft
panels is usually
studied using the
concept of “attached
skin” having the
2c
width of 2c:  str

 cr , skin  cr , skin
2c  t
 str
t
13
FLOWCHART OF NONLINEAR BUCKLING FEA
Linear
compression Linear physical law is used

Linear buckling Probable modes of buckling are

found, dangerous one is chosen
depending on the area of interest
Transfer of initial
imperfections The model is slightly modified
according to buckling mode,
Nonlinear analysis nonlinearities are specified
The critical force corresponds to
the loss of convergence
Results
14
FLOWCHART OF NONLINEAR BUCKLING FEA

Dimensions of the panel:

a = 60 mm, h = 22 mm, 1 = 4 mm, 2 = 6 mm.
Length is 300 mm.

Supporting conditions: clamped at all sides.

Problem is to find a critical stress for this panel.
15
FLOWCHART OF NONLINEAR BUCKLING FEA
Linear
compression

16
FLOWCHART OF NONLINEAR BUCKLING FEA

Linear buckling

1st mode
884 MPa

17
FLOWCHART OF NONLINEAR BUCKLING FEA

Linear buckling

2nd mode
996 MPa

18
FLOWCHART OF NONLINEAR BUCKLING FEA

Linear buckling

3rd mode
1210 MPa

19
FLOWCHART OF NONLINEAR BUCKLING FEA
Transfer of initial 1) Rename *.rst file to
imperfections "buckling.rst“, move it from
buckling to structural analysis directory.

2) Insert a command object in the environment:

/prep7
upgeom,0.1,1,1,buckling,rst
/solu

3) Set nonlinearities:
large deflection -> on
nonlinear effects -> yes

20
FLOWCHART OF NONLINEAR BUCKLING FEA

Nonlinear analysis

485 MPa –
last substep
converged

21
FLOWCHART OF NONLINEAR BUCKLING FEA
Results
35
30 Shortening, mm
25
20 Nonlinear FEA
predicted 509 MPa
15 which is 1.73 times
10 smaller than elastic
solution.
5
Stress, MPa
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600

22
EFFECT OF BUCKLING ON A STRUCTURAL LAYOUT

Structural layout
Determinative factor
dimension

Distance between ribs and

Primary buckling of panels
fuselage frames

Local buckling of skin

Distance between stringers
between stringers

Distance between spar web Buckling of spar web under

stiffeners shear loads

Distance between rivets in Local buckling of skin

longitudinal joints between rivets
23
EFFECT OF BUCKLING ON A STRUCTURAL LAYOUT

The stringer cross section is dramatically affected by

buckling, showing the compromise between buckling
resistance and technological simplicity:

24
WHERE TO FIND MORE INFORMATION?

Megson. An Introduction to Aircraft Structural Analysis. 2010

Chapter 9

… Internet is boundless …
25
TOPIC OF THE NEXT LECTURE

The concept of thin-walled beam.

Normal stresses

All materials of our course are available

at department website k102.khai.edu
1. Go to the page “Библиотека”
2. Press “Structural Mechanics (lecturer Vakulenko S.V.)”
26