Buckling Analysis

It is anticipated that before starting this tutorial that you have completed
the tutorial Introduction to Finite Element Analysis. You should therefore
be familiar with the process of defining constraints, loads, materials and
running analyses. If you are familiar with these techniques then the
transition to performing buckling analyses should be easy.

So as an example lets analyse a 500mm long, 5mm diameter steel bar

(E=200GPa) built in at one end and under a 500N compressive load.
The compressive stress under these circumstances would be calculated
2
by load/area and would give a value of around 25 MN/m well below the
yield stress of steel and so not a failure.
4

The Theory of Buckling

Although this tutorial is not intended to teach the theory of buckling failure
it is worth a review.
Buckling is the type of failure that occurs in long, thin, slender structures
under compression loading. You can easily demonstrate this by taking a
long ruler and squeezing it, long its length, between your hands. As you
squeeze the ruler will suddenly bend (buckle) well before the ruler reaches
its compressive stress and fractures. The critical load at which the buckling
occurs can be calculated using a formula developed by Euler
2

Pcr = n EI/L

Where E=Youngs Modulus, I=Second moment of Area, L=length of the

beam and n is a factor dependent on the end conditions.

-12

The value of I for a circular bar can be found with d /64 (30.68e m )
critical buckling load for his case (n=0.25) would be 60.56N so the bar
would already be loaded above its critical buckling load and would have
failed.

Setting up a Static Analysis

Buckling in ANSYS is a 2-stage analysis. The first stage is to set up the
analysis as a static structural analysis and then afterwards add the
buckling analysis.
As you are familiar with ANSYS you should be able to define the statics
structural analysis but in case you have forgotten here are some
reminders.
Create a new Static structural analysis
and rename it BAR DIRECT STRESS.

In GEOMETRY create a new

sketch on the ZX plane and
draw a circle of diameter
5mm.

By D Cheshire

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Buckling Analysis
EXTRUDE this circle 500mm long and GENERATE
the model.

Performing a Buckling Analysis

All of the above should have been familiar to you so very little explanation
has been given. The next part starts to get a little more interesting as it will
be new to you.
Go back to the project in ANSYS and drag LINEAR BUCKLING from the
analysis systems list and drop it onto the SOLUTION step of the BAR
DIRECT STRESS analysis.

In MODEL add a FIXED SUPPORT to one end face

of the bar.

Add a FORCE of 1N compressive to the other end

of the bar acting along the Y axis. Decide whether
the force needs to be positive or negative to be
compressive. This assumes we dont know the
critical buckling load and are trying to find it so 1N is
used as a first guess.

Add a TOTAL DEFORMATION result and an

EQUIVALENT (VON MISES) stress result.

As you drag over SOLUTION several steps in the analysis should highlight
in RED and when you drop a new buckling analysis will be created but
with links to the highlighted parts of the previous analysis. Rename the
new analysis BAR LINEAR BUCKLING.
The links enable you to reuse the previous analysis settings. Double-click
on SETUP in the new analysis to enter the MECHANICAL analysis. Note
that the model tree on the left has the additional LINEAR BUCKLING
analysis. Add a TOTAL DEFORMATION result to the SOLUTION for this
analysis and SOLVE.

SOLVE the problem. Check you get a

maximum deflection of 0.000127mm. The
2
maximum stress should be about 0.055MN/m
but the stress throughout most of the body
2
should be 0.051MN/m . Does this agree with
what you would expect?

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Buckling Analysis
If you look at the result of the deformation you will see the range is
between 0 and 1 (approx.). This will always be the case as the
deformations calculated are not true values and so are normalised. This
allows you to animate the model and see the shape of the deformation to
check it is what you expect. The most important value is the LOAD
MULTIPLIER 60.483 in this case. What this tells you is that if you
multiply the current load applied by this value the critical buckling load will
be achieved. Since we deliberately chose a load of 1N this means that the
critical buckling load is 60.483N which closely collates with the Euler
calculation. If you went back and changed the FORCE to 60.483N and
SOLVED the LOAD MULTIPLIER should be calculated as 1 but the
deflections would still range from 0-1.

Calculating Buckling Modes

By default ANSYS calculates the first buckling mode the one at the
lowest critical force. But there are theoretically any number of buckling
modes and ANSYS can be setup to calculate these.
Under ANALYSIS SETTINGS you will see the option MAX MODES TO
FIND. Increasing this value will allow ANSYS to calculate more buckling
modes.

Defining End Conditions

Now we know how to calculate the buckling loads for the fixed/free end
condition (n=0.25) you might be interested in checking the other end
conditions in the theory diagram.
Different end conditions can be simulated using the joint definitions in
Workbench. Lets assume we want to simulate the fixed/fixed end
conditions (n=4). One end is already fixed but the free end (where the load
is applied) needs further constraints. We can correct this by adding a joint
to the free end.
Highlight the MODEL object in the tree, right click and choose INSERT >
CONNECTIONS. Highlight the new CONNECTIONS object right click and
add a JOINT. Change the CONNECTION TYPE for this joint to BODYGROUND and change the TYPE to GENERAL.
The GENERAL joint gives you free control over the way the model is
allowed to move. Each joint connects two objects in this case one of the
objects is the fixed ground. The other object, known as the MOBILE
object, is the top face of the beam. Select the top face of the beam and
APPLY this in the SCOPE field.

After changing this value and SOLVING you can see each mode by
looking at a solution such as TOTAL DEFORMATION and changing the
MODE value. If you look at the load multipier for each mode that these
often come in pairs with the deflected shape the same but at right angles
for each pair. The next diagram shows the 1,3 and 5 mode shape for the
bar analysis.

By D Cheshire

The correct term for movements is degrees of freedom (DOF). Every

point in space has 6 DOF. They are translation in X, translation in Y,
translation in Z, Rotation about X, Rotation about Y and rotation about Z.
Each joint has its own coordinate system which defines the direction if X, Y
and Z. You should see the coordinate system for this joint drawn on the
top face of the beam. As the load is applied to the beam the only
movement will be along the Z axis. So the Zaxis needs to be free and all

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Buckling Analysis
other DOF need to be fixed. The default is that all DOF are fixed so
change TRANSLATION Z to FREE.

Calculating True Deflections

For most cases calculation of the critical load is all you need. But what if
you are interested in the true deformed shape as the load is applied?
ANSYS can help you with this too but the solution is a little convoluted! A
little history might help explain why.
ANSYS is a company that has been a leader in Finite Element Analysis for
many years. In the early days that created software that ran on big
mainframes and workstations. This version, known as ANSYS classic, is
still available today. In recent years as PCs became more powerful
ANSYS decided to create new software called ANSYS Workbench to run
under Windows and to take advantage of the new user interface to make it
easier to use. Workbench can do most things that ANSYS classic can but
not (yet) all. So occasionally you have to use elements of ANSYS classic
alongside ANSYS Workbench deformation due to buckling is a case in
point. So here is how to get ANSYS Workbench to interact with ANSYS
Classic...

When working with joints Reference and Mobile bodies are shown in
separate windows with appropriate transparencies applied. In this case,
since the reference is the ground, that window will be greyed out.

We first have to create a text file to create the link. From windows open the
NOTEPAD program (or any other text editor will do). Type the following
EXACTLY into a new file...
/prep7
upgeom,,,,file,rst
cdwrite,db,file,cdb
You could just cut and paste the text above into the file to avoid any mistyping! Save As this file calling it BUCKLINGBAR.inp in a location where
you can find it! Note the extension .inp is very important.

Try resolving with this new constraint and see the effect it has on the
buckling loads.
Try analysing all the different end conditions (Hint : think carefully which
movements should be allowed)

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Buckling Analysis
Now we are ready to setup the link. From the PROJECT window right click
on the SOLUTION of the buckling analysis and choose TRANSFER DATA
TO NEW > MECHANICAL APDL. This will create another new analysis
which you should rename as BAR APDL.
In this new analysis right click on ANALYSIS and choose ADD INPUT
FILE then BROWSE and locate the .inp input file you just saved. Also in
this new analysis right click on ANALYSIS and choose TRANSFER DATA
TO NEW > FINITE ELEMENT MODELER. A new finite element modeler
analysis will be created. In this right click and choose UPDATE to ensure
all the connections are created.

The final link in the chain is to take the output from the new finite element
modeller into a new static structural analysis. Right click on MODEL and
choose TRANSFER DATA TO NEW > STATIC STRUCTURAL.Rename
this new analysis to BAR - NON LINEAR BUCKLING.

As this bar buckles it will exhibit non-linear material properties. The

standard ANSYS steel material isotropic and is not setup to exhibit this
non-linearity so we need to add some new properties. Right click and EDIT
on the engineering data of the BAR NON LINEAR BUCKLING analysis
you have just created. Locate the STRUCTURAL STEEL material in
Engineering Data then in the Toolbox locate BILINEAR ISOTROPIC
HARDNENING (under PLASTICITY). Double click on this to add it to
Structural steel and enter values of 250MPa for Yield Strength and
10000MPa for Tangent Modulus (this value is typically about 5% the value
of Youngs Modulus for the steel). In the graph of this property you should
see a distinct change in the stress/strain graph above yield. The material
will now behave isotropicaly below yield but the material is no longer
isotropic after it yields and experiences kinematic hardening.

Notice the link between the Finite Element Modeller and the Non-linear
Buckling analysis only links the Engineering Data. We also need to link the
geometry so drag and drop the MODEL of the finite element modeller onto
the MODEL of the new static structural.
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Buckling Analysis
under the direct compressive loading and then as the load appraoches the
buckling load the bar should suddenly collapse.

Note Sudden
deformation due to
buckling

For this new static structural analysis to be complete we need to add a

FIXED SUPPORT to the same end of the bar we did before and also a
FORCE to the other end like we did before. Use a value of greater than
the buckling load calculated earlier (60.483N). Also add a TOTAL
DEFORMATION solution. Since this is a non-linear analysis the solution
will use and iterative process to find the solution. The settings for this can
be found under ANALYSIS SETTINGS change the values for AUTO TIME
STEPPING, INITIAL SUBSTEPS, MINIMUM SUBSTEPS, MAXIMUM
SUBSTEPS and LARGE DEFLECTION to the values shown below.

Review
So what should you have learnt?

How to link different analysis types.

How to run a buckling analysis.
How to show results of a buckling analysis.
How to use interpret results and determine the critical buckling
load.
How to use joints to simulate different end conditions.
How to calculate an animated true deflected shape over a whole
load cycle.

Any problems with these? Then you should go back through the tutorial
perhaps several times until you can complete it without any help.
You make like to make some tests of your own to answer the following
questions.
SOLVE the analysis. You will notice that the solution takes MUCH longer
to complete this time as it is doing a lot more work to calculate the nonlinear deflection over the period of load application. To see the progress of
the solution you can click on SOLUTION INFORMATION and change the
SOLUTION OUTPUT option to FORCE CONVERGENCE.
When the solution completes look at the TOTAL DEFORMATION and
animate the results. You should see the beam gradualy compressing

By D Cheshire

Does buckling work with beam models?

Hint : Try repeating the bar analysis in this tutorial but using a
beam model instead of a solid model
Does buckling work with surface models?
Hint : Try repeating the bar analysis in this tutorial but using a
hollow square tube. Try it with the tube made as both a surface
model as well as a solid model

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