12 BucklingAnalysis

12.1 Introduction
Therearetwomajorcategoriesleadingtothesuddenfailureofamechanicalcomponent:materialfailureand
structuralinstability,whichisoftencalledbuckling.Formaterialfailuresyouneedtoconsidertheyieldstress
forductilematerialsandtheultimatestressforbrittlematerials.
Thosematerialpropertiesaredeterminedbyaxialtensiontestsandaxialcompressiontestsofshortcolumns
ofthematerial(seeFigure121).Thegeometryofsuchtestspecimenshasbeenstandardized.Thus,
geometryisnotspecificallyaddressedindefiningmaterialproperties,suchasyieldstress.Geometryenters
theproblemofdeterminingmaterialfailureonlyindirectlyasthestressesarecalculatedbyanalyticor
numericalmethods.

Figure121Shortcolumnsfailduetomaterialfailure
Predictingmaterialfailuremaybeaccomplishedusinglinearfiniteelementanalysis.Thatis,bysolvingalinear
algebraicsystemfortheunknowndisplacements,K=F.Thestrainsandcorrespondingstressesobtained
fromthisanalysisarecomparedtodesignstress(orstrain)allowableseverywherewithinthecomponent.If
thefiniteelementsolutionindicatesregionswheretheseallowablesareexceeded,itisassumedthatmaterial
failurehasoccurred.
Theloadatwhichbucklingoccursdependsonthestiffnessofacomponent,notuponthestrengthofits
materials.Bucklingreferstothelossofstabilityofacomponentandisusuallyindependentofmaterial
strength.Thislossofstabilityusuallyoccurswithintheelasticrangeofthematerial.Thetwophenomenonare
governedbydifferentdifferentialequations[18].Bucklingfailureisprimarilycharacterizedbyalossof
structuralstiffnessandisnotmodeledbytheusuallinearfiniteelementanalysis,butbyafiniteelement
eigenvalueeigenvectorsolution,|K+mKF|m=0,wheremisthebucklingloadfactor(BLF)forthemth
mode,KFistheadditionalgeometricstiffnessduetothestressescausedbytheloading,F,andmisthe
associatedbucklingdisplacementshapeforthemthmode.Thespatialdistributionoftheloadisimportant,
butitsrelativemagnitudeisnot.Thebucklingcalculationgivesamultiplierthatscalesthemagnitudeofthe
load(upordown)tothatrequiredtocausebuckling.
Slenderorthinwalledcomponentsundercompressivestressaresusceptibletobuckling.Mostpeoplehave
observedwhatiscalledEulerbucklingwherealongslendermembersubjecttoacompressiveforcemoves
lateraltothedirectionofthatforce,asillustratedinFigure122.Theforce,F,necessarytocausesucha
bucklingmotionwillvarybyafactoroffourdependingonlyonhowthetwoendsarerestrained.Therefore,
bucklingstudiesaremuchmoresensitivetothecomponentrestraintsthatinanormalstressanalysis.The

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theoreticalEulersolutionwillleadtoinfiniteforcesinveryshortcolumns,andthatclearlyexceedstheallowed
materialstress.Thusinpractice,Eulercolumnbucklingcanonlybeappliedincertainregionsandempirical
transitionequationsarerequiredforintermediatelengthcolumns.Forverylongcolumnsthelossofstiffness
occursatstressesfarbelowthematerialfailure.

Figure122Longcolumnsfailduetoinstability
Therearemanyanalyticsolutionsforidealizedcomponentshavingelasticinstability.About75ofthemost
commoncasesaretabulatedintheclassicreferenceRoarksFormulasforStressandStrain[1517],andin
thehandbookbyPilkey[11].

12.2 Bucklingterminology
Thetopicofbucklingisstillunclearbecausethekeywordsofstiffness,longandslenderhavenotbeen
quantified.Mostofthoseconceptsweredevelopedhistoricallyfrom1Dstudies.Youneedtounderstand
thosetermseventhoughfiniteelementanalysisletsyouconductbucklingstudiesin1D,2D,and3D.Fora
material,stiffnessreferstoeitheritselasticmodulus,E,ortoitsshearmodulus,G=E/(2+2v)wherevis
Poissonsratio.
Slenderisageometricconceptofatwodimensionalareathatisquantifiedbytheradiusofgyration.The
radiusofgyration,r,hastheunitsoflengthanddescribesthewayinwhichtheareaofacrosssectionis
distributedarounditscentroidalaxis.Iftheareaisconcentratedfarfromthecentroidalaxisitwillhavea
greatervalueofrandagreaterresistancetobuckling.Anoncircularcrosssectionwillhavetwovaluesforits
radiusofgyration.Thesectiontendstobucklearoundtheaxiswiththesmallestvalue.Theradiusofgyration,
r,isdefinedas:
r=(I/A)1/2,
whereIandAaretheareamomentofinertia,andareaofthecrosssection.ForacircleofradiusR,youobtain
r=R/2.ForarectangleoflargelengthRandsmalllengthbyouobtainrmax=R/23=0.29Randrmin=0.29
b.Solidscanhaveregionsthatareslender,andiftheycarrycompressivestressesabucklingstudyisjustified.
LongisalsoageometricconceptthatisquantifiedbythenondimensionalslendernessratioL/r,whereL
denotesthelengthofthecomponent.Theslendernessratioisdefinedtobelongwhenitobeystheinequality
L/r>(/k)(2E/y)1/2
wherekisaconstantthatdependsontherestraintsofthetwoendsofthecolumn.Alongslendernessratiois
typicallyintherangeof>120.Theaboveequationisthedividingpointbetweenlong(Euler)columnsand

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intermediate(empirical)columns.Thecriticalcompressivestressthatwillcausebucklingalwaysdecreasesas
theslendernessratioincreases.
Eulerlongcolumnbucklingisquitesensitivetotheendrestraints.Figure123showsfiveofseveralcasesof
endrestraintsandtheassociatedkvalueusedinboththelimitingslendernessratioandthebucklingloador
stress.Thecriticalbucklingforceis
FEuler=k2EI/L2=k2EA/(L/r)2
SothecriticalEulerbucklingstressis
Euler=FEuler/A=k2E/(L/r)2.

Figure123Restraintshavealargeinfluenceonthecriticalbucklingload

12.3 BucklingLoadFactor
Thebucklingloadfactor(BLF)isanindicatorofthefactorofsafetyagainstbucklingortheratioofthebuckling
loadstothecurrentlyappliedloads.Table121InterpretationoftheBucklingLoadFactor(BLF)illustratesthe
interpretationofpossibleBLFvaluesreturnedbySWSimulation.Sincebucklingoftenleadstobadoreven
catastrophicresults,youshouldutilizeahighfactorofsafety(FOS)forbucklingloads.Thatis,thevalueof
unityinTable121InterpretationoftheBucklingLoadFactor(BLF)shouldbereplacedwiththeFOSvalue.

Table121InterpretationoftheBucklingLoadFactor(BLF)
BLFValue BucklingStatus Remarks
>1 Bucklingnotpredicted Theappliedloadsarelessthantheestimatedcriticalloads.
=1 Bucklingpredicted Theappliedloadsareexactlyequaltothecriticalloads.
Bucklingisexpected.
<1 Bucklingpredicted Theappliedloadsexceedtheestimatedcriticalloads.
Bucklingwilloccur.
1<BLF<0 Bucklinpossible Bucklingispredictedifyoureversetheloaddirections.
1 Bucklingpossible Bucklingisexpectedifyoureversetheloaddirections.
<1 Bucklingnotpredicted Theappliedloadsarelessthantheestimatedcriticalloads,
evenifyoureversetheirdirections.

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12.4 Generalbucklingconcepts
Other1Dconceptsthatrelatetostiffnessare:axialstiffness,EA/L,flexural(bending)stiffness,EI/L,and
torsionalstiffness,GJ/L,whereJisthepolarmomentofinertiaofthecrosssectionalarea(J=Iz=Ix+Iy).
Today,stiffnessusuallyreferstothefiniteelementstiffnessmatrix,whichcanincludealloftheabovestiffness
termsplusgeneralsolidorshellstiffnesscontributions.Analyticbucklingstudiesidentifyadditionalclassesof
instabilitybesidesEulerbuckling(seeFigure124).Theyincludelateralbuckling,torsionalbuckling,andother
bucklingmodes.Afiniteelementbucklingstudydeterminesthelowestbucklingfactorsandtheir
correspondingdisplacementmodes.Theamplitudeofabucklingdisplacementmode,|m|,isarbitraryand
notuseful,buttheshapeofthemodecansuggestwhetherlateral,torsional,orotherbehaviorisgoverning
thebucklingresponseofadesign

Figure124Somesamplebucklingshapes

12.5 LocalBucklingofaCantilever
12.5.1 Background
Youpreviouslywentthroughtheanalysisofahorizontaltaperedcantileversubjecttoatransverseload
distributedoveritsfreeendface.Thefixedsupportatthewallincludedasemicircularsectionofthe
supportingverticalsection.ThememberwasL=50inchlong,t=2inchthick,andthedepth,d,taperedfrom
3inchattheload,to9inchatthesupport.Acompleteplanestressanalysiswasconducted.Thecomputed
stresseswererelativelylow.Itwasdecidedtosavematerialcostsbyreducingthethicknessofthebeam.

12.5.2 FactorofSafety
Fortheductilematerialusedherethematerialfactorofsafety(FOS)isdefinedasthematerialyieldstress
dividedbythevonMiseseffectivestress.Toviewitsdistributionthedefaultresultsplotisopenedwith
ResultsDefineFactorofSafetyPlotMaxvonMisesstress,whichisshowninFigure125.

Figure125Originalmaterialfactorofsafetyinbending

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ThematerialFOSisalsoquitehigh,rangingfromalowvalueofabout10toahighvalueofabout100.This
probablysuggests(incorrectly)thatasimpleredesignwillsavematerial,andthusmoney.Theloadcarrying
capacityofabeamisdirectlyproportionaltoitsgeometricmomentofinertia,Iz=td3/12.Thus,italsois
proportionaltoitsthickness,t.Therefore,itappearsthatyoucouldsimplyreducethethicknessfromt=2to
0.2inchesandyourmaterialFOSwouldstillbeaboveunity.Ifyoudidthatthenthethicknesstodepthratio
wouldvaryfrom0.2/3=0.067attheloadto0.2/9=0.022atthewall,arangeofabout1/15to1/45.

12.5.3 Localbuckling
Ifcomponenthasaregionwheretherelativethicknesstodepthratiooflessthan1/10youshouldconsiderthe
possibilityoflocalbuckling.Itusuallyisarareoccurrence,butwhenitdoesoccurtheresultscanbesudden
andcatastrophic.Todoublecheckthesafetyofreducingthethicknessyoushouldaddasecondstudythat
utilizestheSWSimulationbucklingfeaturetodeterminethelowestbucklingload.Todothat:
1. RightclickonthePartnameStudytoopentheStudypanel.
2. AssignanewStudyname,selectBucklingastheTypeofanalysis,andusethethinshellastheModel
type,clickOK.
3. TousethesameloadsandrestraintsdragtheExternalLoadsfromthefirststudyanddroptheminto
thesecondone.
4. Likewise,draganddropthefirstshellMaterialsintothesecondstudy.
5. Createanewfinermesh,ordraganddropthefirstmesh.
6. RightclickonthePartnameRun.

12.5.4 Bucklingmode
Abuckling,orstability,analysisisaneigenproblem.Themagnitudeofthescalareigenvalueiscalledthe
bucklingloadfactor,BLF.Thecomputeddisplacementeigenvectorisreferredtoasthebucklingmodeor
modeshape.Theyareonlyrelativedisplacements.Usuallytheyarepresentedinanondimensionalfashion
wherethedisplacementsrangefromzeroto1.Inotherwords,theactualvalueorunitsofabucklingmode
shapearenotimportant.Still,itiswisetocarryoutavisualcheckofthefirstbucklingmode:
1. Whenthesolutioncompletes,pickDisplacementsPlot1andexaminetheresultantdisplacement
URES.NotethatthedisplacementcontourcurvesinFigure126areinclinedtothelongaxisofthe
beaminsteadofbeingverticalasbefore.
2. UseEditDefinitionVectorLinetogetaplotofthedisplacementvectors,androtatetoanoutof
planeview,asshowninFigure127.
FromFigure127youseethatundertheverticalloadthe(verythin)beamdeflectedmainlysideways
(perpendiculartotheload)ratherthandownward.Thisisanexampleoflateralbuckling.Thatistypicalof
whatcanhappentoverythinregions.Next,thequestionis:howlargemusttheendloadbetocausesuch
motion,andfailure?

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Figure126Relativebucklingmodedisplacementvalues(normaltosurface)

Figure127Relativelateralbucklingmodedisplacementvectors

12.5.5 BucklingLoadFactor
ToseethemagnitudeoftheBLF(eigenvalue):
1. RightclickonDeformationListModeShape.
2. IntheModeShapepanel,Figure128,readtheBLFvalueofabout0.03.

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Figure128Firstbucklingmodeloadfactor
YouwanttheBLFtobequiteabithigherthanunity.Instead,thestudyshowsthatonlyabout3%ofthe
plannedloadwillcausethismembertofailbylateralbucklingduetolossofstiffnessintheoutofplane
direction.Thus,youmustreconsiderthethicknessreduction.Rememberthatthegeometricmomentof
inertiaaboutthevertical(y)axisisIy=dt3/12.Itisameasureofthelateralbendingresistance.Byreducing
thethickness,t,byafactorof10theoriginalIz(andtheinplanebendingresistance)wentdownbythesame
factorof10,butIy(andtheoutofplanebendingresistance)wentdownbyafactorof1,000.
Thebucklingloadfactorisanindicatorofthefactorofsafetyagainstbucklingortheratioofthebucklingloads
tothecurrentlyappliedloads.Sincebucklingoftenleadstobadorevencatastrophicresults,youshouldutilize
ahighfactorofsafety(atleast>3)forbucklingloads.

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