AE727 Aircraft Structures Lab Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT

Bombay Lab Manual Spring 2016-18 (Rahul 163010030)

Experiment-6
Buckling Test
Aim:
To Study the buckling of beams/columns and to determine the critical/buckling load.

Apparatus and Materials:

Strain Bridge Indicator, Universal Testing Machine, Channel Selector, Vernier
callipers, Dial gauges

Theory:
When a compressive axial load acts on a beam, ideally it would get compressed;
however real life systems have eccentricities which can make the beam buckle and it
can become unstable. Buckling can be due to the following reasons:
a) If the line of action of force doesn't coincide with the theoretical axial load
line then a moment is created which tries to bend the beam (loading eccentricity).
b) The theoretical load line may not be a straight line hence any axial loading
will create moments (mass eccentricities).
c) There may be some initial deflection in the beam which lets the assumed axial
loading to become eccentric and produce moments (manufacturing defects).
As the loading increases, so does the bending moments due to eccentricity till
the critical load after which the bending becomes unstable i.e., large deflections are
obtained with small change in the load. Bifurcation point is the point on the load
deflection curve for an ideal beam with no initial deflection defined as the point where
the curve takes a 90 degree turn. Equilibrium is stable if the load applied is below critical
load and any small perturbation in lateral direction is resisted i.e., the restoring moment
is greater than the disturbing moment. If the load applied is greater than the critical load,
then slightest perturbation in lateral direction will result in augmentation of this
perturbation and the beam deflection goes unstable. This is unstable equilibrium. If load
is equal to critical load then no effect will be observed after giving perturbation, the
beam attains a new equilibrium state. This is neutral stability.
 South Well Plot is plotted between deflection and d/P. using this South Well plot
shown in the figure 2, the critical load can be determined.

Fig 1: Typical Load deflection curve for a beam under axial loading showing buckling

Fig 2: South Well Plot to find critical load

Procedure:

column: Thin and short i.e. L/d < 12

Boundary conditions: fixed-fixed
Setup: A short column placed on a universal testing machine giving compression
load by means of displacement. Strain gauges attached on both sides of the column,
dial gauges on both the sides, strain indicator reading the signals
from strain gauges.
The specimen is placed on the Universal Testing Machine
with strain gauges attached to the specimen. Dial gauges, used
for measuring lateral deflection, are then properly placed, such
that their tip touches the surface of the beam with some initial
compression in the probe. The compression process starts with
the crosshead speed of 2 mm per minute. The value of strains,
deflection shown by the dial gauges and the load-deflection
displayed by the UTM instrumentation are noted down for
different load. Initially the incremental lateral deflection is
small with increasing load so for an increase of 0.02 mm axial
displacement the corresponding lateral deflection value is
noted down. But as the load approaches the critical value a
small change in load produces large deflection so to ease the
process of acquiring data, load value is noted down for
incremental lateral deflection. Corresponding strain values are
also noted

Observation:

Following plots are then made

a) P Vs. : From this plot Pcr be found approximately by finding the y-intercept of
the asymptote of the curve.
b) ( /P) Vs : This is South Well Plot, through which the critical load can be
found more accurately and is equal to the inverse of the slope of the straight line
obtained.

in mm/N
in mm p
.35 0.001
0.45 0.0009
0.56 0.0009
0.77 0.0011
1.06 0.0013
1.62 0.0019
2.18 0.0025
2.81 0.0032
3.37 0.0038
3.96 0.0044
4.42 0.0049
4.8 0.0053
5.27 0.0058

/P vs

0.007
/P (in mm/N)

0.006
0.005
0.004
0.003
0.002
0.001
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

in mm
 in mm Load(P) in N
0.25 217
0.35 363
0.47 533
0.57 623
0.76 723
1.03 783
1.63 845
2.17 870
2.79 885
3.39 895
3.96 900
4.41 902
4.83 905
5.27 907

Load vs Deflection curve

1000

900

800

700

600
Load (N)

500

400

300

200

100

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
in mm
Results:

From the graph, following results for Pcr have been obtained
a) From P Vs. graph Pcr = 915 N (approx.)
b) From ( /P) Vs graph Pcr = 938.58 N

Exercise:
1. Write the formula for critical buckling load
2 EI
Pcr = L2
e
Where, Pcr Critical buckling load
E Youngs Modulus of the material
I moment of Inertia (min value is taken)
Le Equivalent length of the column

Rankine formula
PC PE c A
PR = = A
PC +PE 1+ 2c 2
EI/Le
Where, C Ultimate crushing stress
A cross-sectional area
PE Euler buckling load

2. What is the physical significance of equivalent length? What are the equivalent
lengths for simply supported, fixed-fixed, cantilever beams etc.

Ans. - The length of a pin-ended column that would have the same critical load as
that of a column of length L but with different end conditions is called Equivalent
length

For simply supported, Le=L

For fixed-fixed, Le= L/2
For cantilever, Le= 2L
One end pinned and other fixed, Le= L/2

1. What are the precautions to be taken in this experiment?

Ans- It should be properly observed that the dial gauges be mounted along the
same line and care must be taken to prevent slippage of specimen while loading

2. What bridge circuit is used in the setup?

Ans- No strain gauges were mounted on the specimen as there was not any need
for measurement of strain. Only deflection was measured from the dial gauges.
Generally, Wheat stone bridge is used for the measurement of strain, but we didnt
use it.

3. Record typical observations in the different graphs and figure out possible
reason

Ans- In Load vs Deflection graph, curve tends toward an asymptote, which is the
critical load for the column. It is due to some imperfections in the material and due
to the initial curvature, that there is some error in the values obtained from South
Well plot and Load deflection curve.