Indian Institute of Space Science

and Technology,
Thiruvananthapuram

AE 341 - Aerospace Structures Lab

Department of Aerospace Engineering

Buckling of Struts Under Various

Boundary Conditions.

Group 4 - REPORT 2

October 24, 2022

Author: Student ID:

Ritik Chaudhary SC19B030
R Roshan SC19B031
Sanas V. Ravindra SC19B032
Srikant Venkatraman SC19B034
Sukran SC19B035
Raadhakrishnan R. A. SC19B026
Rashmi Singh SC19B029
V Raghav SC19B027
Pratyaksh Maru SC19B025
Ramana Bharathi SC19B028
 Buckling is a structural instability failure mode which occurs in long slender structural
bodies on compressive loads. In this experiment, slender aluminium columns of various
lengths were subjected to axial loads for 3 different end constraints namely : pinned-
pinned, fixed-pinned and fixed-fixed to study buckling of columns. The critical load that
cause buckling of the columns,i.e, the maximum load that will not cause lateral deflection
is determined. The main aim is to determine the critical loading values of the struts under
different constraints, like fixed-fixed, fixed-pinned and pinned-pinned ends. The results
obtained from the experiment are compared with theoretical calculations.

Nomenclature
E Young’s Modulus, GPa
b Width of the beam, mm
h Thickness of the beam, mm
L Length of the beam, mm
I Second Moment of Area, mm4
Pcr Critical Buckling Load, N
K Effective Length Factor

I. Introduction
When a structure is subjected to compressive axial stress, buckling may occur. Buckling is characterized by
a sudden sideways deflection of a structural member. Due to compression, materials can fail by breaking
across section or buckling. Metal skin on aircraft fuselage or wings, with excessive torsion or compressive
loading, a thin walled tube or flange of an I-beam subjected to excessive compressive bending effects are
some of the examples. Overall,torsion or shear may cause a localised compressive action that could lead to
buckling. Short wide compressive members that tend to fail by the material crushing are called columns.
Long thin compressive members that tend to fail by buckling are called struts. In engineering practice, design
for buckling is important, especially for slender columns. Buckling is an instability that leads to structural
failure. If a structure is subjected to a gradually increasing load, when the load reaches a critical level, a
member may suddenly change shape and the structure and component is said to have buckled.

II. Objective
Objective of this experiment is to study the bucking of struts and find the critical buckling load in three
boundary conditions:
1. Pinned-Pinned ends
2. Pinned-Fixed ends
3. Fixed-Fixed ends

III. Theory
Long, slender columns are generally termed as struts, which fail by buckling some time before their yield
stress in compression is reached. The buckling may happen if the struts are not perfectly straight initially
or if the load may not be applied exactly along the axis of the Strut or if one part of the material may yield
in compression more readily than others owing to some lack of uniformity in the material properties through
out the strut. The slenderness ration defined by 1/k with l being effective length while k is least radius of
gyration (k 2 =1/A) indicates whether the member falls into the class of columns or struts. Here for given
struts, slendernesss ratio is such that it falls into the Euler formula.
The formula, that gives the maximum axial load that a long, slender, ideal column can carry without buckling
was derived by Leonard Euler. An ideal column is one that is perfectly straight, made of a homogeneous
material, and free from initial stress. When the applied load reaches the critical load, the column comes to
be in a state of an unstable equilibrium. At that load, the introduction of the slightest lateral force will cause
the column to fail by suddenly ”jumping” to a new configuration, and the column is said to have buckled.

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Aerospace Structures Lab, IIST

The maximum axial load that a column can support when it is on a verge of buckling is termed as ”Critical
Buckling Load”. The Critical Buckling load is calculated using Euler Buckling Formula. This is also known
as Euler Buckling load.

EIπ 2
Pcr =
(KL)2
Where,
K is the effective length factor and it changes with boundary conditions
1. for Pinned-Pinned, K = L
2. for Pinned-fixed, K = 0.7L
3. for Fixed-fixed, K = 0.5L

Figure 1. Experimental setup

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Aerospace Structures Lab, IIST

 IV. Procedure
1. Initially, the analysis is done for pinned-pinned joint.
2. One of the structure is taken and its cross-section is measured using a Vernier Calipers to calculate
the second moment of area.
3. Then, adjust the position of the sliding crosshead and place the strut between them. Then the locking
screw is tightened.
4. Start applying the load slowly. Increase the load using the handwheel until there is no further increase
in the load or the force value changes very slowly with increasing deflection. Repeat the steps 2-3 by
taking other available struts of different dimensions.
5. Now change the boundary condition to pinned-fixed. For this, the bottom chuck is removed and the
strut is fixed using a two cap head screw and plate. Note the data.
6. Now the top chuck is removed and the strut is clamped using a two cap head screw and a plate. Load
is given to the strut in similar fashion and data’s are recorded.

V. Results and Discussions

Critical loads for different end conditions are shown in tables 1,3 and 5. The theoretical values of critical
load are obtained from the Euler buckling formula. The critical loads are obtained for beams of different
lengths. These buckling loads were then plotted against 1/L2 for all the three conditions. From these one
can infer that as the length of the beam increases , critical buckling load decreases.
Buckling analysis is very important for assessing stability characteristics of the structure. Buckling is the
most critical mode of failure, so that the prediction of buckling loads of columns, thin plates, and stiffened
panels is extremely important in aircraft design.
The critical load is also influenced by the end conditions. In the experiment three different conditions applied
were : (1) Pin pin condition, (2) pinned -fixed condition (3) fixed- fixed condition. From the result it can
bee seen that critical buckling is maximum when both the ends of the beam were fixed. On the other hand
it was minimum for the pinned pinned condition. This can explained by decrease in the effective length of
the beam. For the fixed- fixed condition the buckling condition effective length is smallest. Hence, critical
buckling load is maximum.
Euler buckling formula also states the effect of material properties and cross section of beam on the critical
load of buckling. While selecting the material one should select material with high Young’s modulus to
prevent from the failure.

Sr. No Length(mm) Load (N) 1/L2 (m)

1 320 -151 9.77
2 370 -119 7.30
3 420 -96 5.67
4 470 -41 4.53
5 520 -65 3.70

Table 1. Experimental results for pin- pin condition

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Aerospace Structures Lab, IIST

 Sr. No. Length(mm) Load (N) 1/L2
1 320 -88.67 9.77
2 370 -66.33 7.30
3 420 -51.47 5.67
4 470 -41.10 4.53
5 520 -33.58 3.70

Table 2. Theoretical results for pin-pin condition

Figure 2. Pin- Pin condition

Sr. No. Length(mm) Load(N) 1/L2

1 300 -147 11.11
2 350 -106 8.16
3 400 -90 6.25
4 450 -72 4.94
5 500 -46 4.00

Table 3. Experimental results for pin- fixed condition

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Aerospace Structures Lab, IIST

 Sr. No. Length(mm) Load(N) 1/L2
1 300 -201.78 11.11
2 350 -148.25 8.16
3 400 -113.50 6.25
4 450 -89.68 4.94
5 500 -72.64 4.00

Table 4. Theoretical results for pin- fixed condition

Figure 3. Pin- fix condition

Sr. No. Length(mm) Load(N) 1/L2

1 280 -447 12.76
2 330 -302 9.18
3 380 -225 6.93
4 430 -181 5.41
5 480 -128 4.34

Table 5. Experimental results for fix- fix condition

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Aerospace Structures Lab, IIST

 Sr. No. Length(mm) Load(N) 1/L2
1 280 -447 12.76
2 330 -302 9.18
3 380 -225 6.93
4 430 -181 5.41
5 480 -128 4.34

Table 6. Theoretical results for fix-fix condition

Figure 4. Fix- fix condition

Pinned-pinned Pinned -fixed Fixed-fixed

Experimental gradient -14.65 -13.22 -36.97
Experimental ratio 1 0.90 2.52
Theoretical ratio 1 2 4

Table 7. Comparison of experimental and theoretical ratios by end condition

VI. Sample calculation

The data given is:

Young’s modulus (E) = 69 GPa

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Breadth of cross section (b) = 20 mm

Thickness (h) = 2mm

Length of the beam (L) = 370 mm

The end condition is pinned -pinned.

Second moment of area (I) is given by:

bh3
I= = 1.33 × 10−11 m4
12

π 2 EI
Pcr =
L2
Pcr = 66.33 N

VII. Conclusion
This experiment gave an deeper insight into the structural failure ways due to instabilities in the structure,
we learned to compute and plot data. Also, why Buckling should be considered as an important design
parameter while designing any structural component to avoid later failure, also we need to know that Critical
Buckling Loads are much lower than the Elastic Yield Limits of a material i.e. a material will fail very early
with respect to yield stress and hence we need to be more cautious about it while designing.

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Aerospace Structures Lab, IIST