Advanced Structural Design

Advanced Structural Design
Structural stability
Dr Finian McCann
Senior Lecturer
School of the Built Environment and Architecture
mccannf@lsbu.ac.uk
Dr Finian McCann
Introduction
When designing static building structures, there are two primary
types of failure modes:
Material instability yielding, plasticity, plastic hinges,
fracture, fatigue
Geometric instability buckling phenomena
Previous courses on structural design will have covered failure
via material instability (material yielding due to compression /
tension / bending / shear) and member buckling (column
buckling, lateral torsional buckling)
This course shall look at structural stability as a concept in
some more detail
Dr Finian McCann
Definitions
When examining a structural systems stability, we assume static

equilibrium (no kinetic energy) and conservative loads (do not change
magnitude or direction as the structure deforms)
A system is in equilibrium if its total potential energy does not change with
respect to the generalised coordinates / degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) of the
system i.e. if dV / dQ = 0 (important!)
Can examine equilibrium paths on loaddeformation diagrams
Energy V
Equilibrium points:
dV / dQ = 0
Equilibrium path
Coordinate Q
Degree-of-freedom:
Displacement
component e.g. end
shortening, lateral
deflection at midspan,
end rotation, etc
Load P
Dr Finian McCann
Coordinate Q
3
Examples of failures due to loss of stability
Lateral torsional buckling
Flexural buckling
Local buckling
Thermal kinking
Dr Finian McCann
Equilibrium and stability
A system can be described as being in one of a number of equilibrium states

can visualise using the rolling ball analogy
Stable
Neutral
Unstable
Stable equilibrium if perturbed (moved) from the equilibrium position,

the system will return to original state
Unstable equilibrium if perturbed from the equilibrium position, the
system will deflect considerably from original state
Neutral equilibrium will also deflect considerably from original state
Dr Finian McCann
Strut in compression
Pin-ended strut (compression member) loaded with axial load P
Lateral deflection u(z) along the strut due to buckling
Compose differential equation based on bending moment equilibrium

u(0) = 0
Engineers bending theory (linear curvature):
u(L) = 0
u(z)
By applying the pin-ended boundary conditions, can show that the critical load at which
buckling will occur is:
and that the (first) mode shape is a half sine wave:
Dr Finian McCann
Critical loads
Considering the example of a perfect, axially-loaded strut (column):
As the load increases, the column will remain straight stable equilibrium
At a certain load the bifurcation point or critical load the stability of the system
changes and the column buckles unstable equilibrium
P
Load
Critical load Pcr
Pcr
Postbuckling response is flat for a linear

analysis
If material or geometric nonlinearities are
included, information about the postbuckling
response is available
Buckling
when P = Pcr
Lateral deflection
Dr Finian McCann
Nonlinearities
Real material behaviour and geometries contain nonlinearities these are often
linearised to facilitate model formulation and to reduce analytical complexity
Geometric linearisations:
assume small deflections i.e. sin =
assume linear curvature i.e. = d2y/dx2
Material models (taking example of spring stiffnesses):

Linear elastic stiffness model
Nonlinear stiffness model e.g. cubic
F
F = Kx cx3
K
Slope is spring
stiffness K
force F = Kx
spring extension x
A linear model can only predict bifurcation points

require nonlinearities to examine postbuckling behaviour
Dr Finian McCann
Energy approach to stability
Previous example of axially-loaded strut solved for the critical load and mode shape via
direct equilibrium mechanics
Becomes cumbersome for larger systems

can also analyse stability via energy methods
The total potential energy V of a system is given by:

V = U - P
Work done
by loads
Gained potential
energy
i.e. strain energy
The strain energy U is the energy stored in the system due to deformations
e.g. an elastic spring
Force F
extension x
Hookes law
(elasticity): F = Kx
Strain energy =
area under curve:
U = K x2
force F
stiffness K
extension x
Dr Finian McCann
Energy approach to stability
In the work done term P, the displacement is in the direction of the load
Formulating the potential energy functional simply requires adding up all the
contributions to the strain energy and the work done in the system convenient
Stability states can be determined and analysed by applying the rigorous approach below
Determine the total potential energy V, then take derivatives:
Equilibrium:
dV / dQ = 0
(V / Qn = 0 n for multi-DOF systems)
Classify stability: d2V / dQ2 > 0 stable equilibrium
d2V / dQ2 < 0 unstable equilibrium
d2V / dQ2 = 0 critical equilibrium
(For MDOF systems, the Hessian matrix of second partial derivatives is analysed)
If d2V / dQ2 = 0 then the equilibrium state is classified by examining higher non-zero
derivatives, e.g. check if d3V / dQ3 > 0, and so on
Dr Finian McCann
10
Dr Finian McCann
11
Solving for critical loads
Example: axially-loaded rigid cantilever

Work done by load
P = PL(1 cos )
Rotation angle is the

DOF (generalized
coordinate)
Elastic rotational spring,
stiffness c
U = c 2
Critical load: d2V / dQ2 = 0:

d2V / d2 = c PL cos = 0
Pcr = c / L cos = c / L
Total potential energy:

V = U P
V = c 2 PL(1 cos )
Equilibrium: dV/d = 0
dV/d = c PL sin = 0
Equilibrium path: solve for P
P = c / L sin
(small deflections: cos = 1)
Dr Finian McCann
12
Loaddeformation diagram
1.4
1.2
Equilibrium paths
1.0
Bifurcation point /
critical load
0.8
0.6
PL/c
0.4
Trivial fundamental
path (no deformation)
0.2
0.0
-1.2
-0.7
-0.2
0.3
0.8
Can see with increasing deformation, there is increasing load-carrying capacity Stable equilibrium
Mathematically speaking, along the equilibrium paths:
P = c / L sin
2
2
d V / d = c PL cos c (1 / tan ) > 0
Stable equilibrium
Dr Finian McCann
13
Stability phenomena
Stable-symmetric
Practical examples: columns, flat plates in compression
Similar to rigid cantilever

example, load-carrying
capacity after bifurcation
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14
Stability phenomena
Unstable-symmetric
Loss of load-carrying
capacity after bifurcation
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15
Stability phenomena
Unstable-symmetric
Practical example: cylindrical shells in axial compression
Dr Finian McCann
16
Stability phenomena
Asymmetric
Practical example: asymmetric frames
Stability of postbuckling
response is dependent
on sense of deflection
Dr Finian McCann
17
Stability phenomena
Limit point
Example: elliptical hollow section tube in bending
The load is represented by the applied end moment, and the
displacement is the curvature of the tube
Increasing
loaddisplacement
5000
curve
4500
indicates stable equilibrium
Limit point stability changes,

represents moment capacity of tube
4000
3500
3000
M (kN m)
Load
2500
2000
Decreasing loaddisplacement curve

indicates unstable equilibrium
Loss of load-carrying capacity
1500
1000
500
-0.00010
0
0.00000
0.00010
0.00020
0.00030
0.00040
Displacement
Dr Finian McCann
18
0.00050
Imperfections
Real structural systems contain imperfections that prevent them from achieving their
theoretical maximum load capacity
Example: axially-loaded rigid cantilever (stable-symmetric behaviour)

Total potential energy:
V = c ()2 PL(cos cos )
Equilibrium: dV / d = 0
dV/d = c ( ) PL sin = 0
When =
P = 0 and spring
is unstressed
Imperfect equilibrium paths:

P = (c / L) ( ) / sin
Dr Finian McCann
19
Imperfect equilibrium paths

Stable-symmetric
2.0
1.8
1.6
Perfect case
1.4
= 0.2
1.2
= 0.3
PL/c1.0
0.8
Imperfect load paths

are asymptotic to
the perfect case
= 0.1
0.6
Load-carrying capacity
reducing with
increasing imperfection
magnitude
0.4
0.2
0.0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
Dr Finian McCann
20
2.0

Stable-symmetric with complementary paths
2.0
1.8
Complementary
paths
Complementary
paths
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
PL/c
0.8
= -0.3
= 0.3
0.6
= -0.2
= 0.2
0.4
= -0.1
-1.5
-1.0
= 0.1
0.2
-0.5
0.0
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
Dr Finian McCann
21

Unstable-symmetric
Dr Finian McCann
22

Asymmetric
Dr Finian McCann
23
Imperfection sensitivity
Assess how imperfection magnitude affects load capacity

track locus of limit point loads with increasing imperfection
Stable systems: imperfection insensitive
Unstable systems: imperfection sensitive
Plot limit point loads

against imperfection
amplitude
Limit point loads (i.e. capacity of system) dropping

considerably with increasing amplitude
imperfection sensitive
Dr Finian McCann
24
Stability in structural design

Treatments of global member stability in structural design codes:
Column bucking (flexural buckling)
Beam buckling (lateral torsional buckling)
Treatments of local plate buckling in design codes:
Cross-section classification (plate buckling)
Web buckling
Structural codes tend to use rules based initially on perfect
structures but then modify the curves to allow for various classes
of imperfections
Dr Finian McCann
25
Applying energy methods to strut

x
u(z)
Potential energy of an axially-loaded strut is (after linearisation):
Apply calculus of variations

to determine first
work variation
done by load = load end shortening
bending
energy
For equilibrium the first variation must equal zero after applying appropriate
boundary conditions
Must vanish for
Set equal to zero
differential
Pin: u = u = 0 Fixed: u = u = 0
Free: u = 0, EIu
+ u = equation
0
zero deflection
and moment
zero deflection
and slope
Dr Finian McCann
zero moment
and shear force
26
Column critical loads and effective lengths
Now solve differential equilibrium equation to find critical loads and mode shapes
For a pin-ended column
(equal to direct equilibrium)

Mode shape is single half sine wave
Le = L
For a fixed-fixed column
Le = L/2
Mode shape is (modified) full sine wave
For a cantilever (free-fixed)
Le = 2L
Mode shape is quarter sine wave
Dr Finian McCann
27
Column bracing
If column has bracing along its length i.e. intermediate bracing, then the buckling
length will be between bracing nodes:
brace
buckling length
This however assumes that the bracing member is stiff enough to force buckling
between the nodes
brace displacement
brace not stiff enough to
resist displacement
elastic reaction force

from brace
Design codes typically do not specify required stiffness; rather it is assumed that
bracing members are stiffDr
enough
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28
Column buckling in design
Members in compression can fail via either buckling or material yielding

(squashing), depending on their slenderness
Nc,Rd
Material squash load

(failure by yielding)
Axial load N
SQUASHING
BUCKLING
Elastic buckling load Ncr
Stocky columns
Slender columns
Slenderness
Dr Finian McCann
29
Column buckling in design
Real columns contain imperfections that lower the resistance away from
these theoretical upper bounds
Eurocode 3 (for steel structures) uses buckling curves that provide lower
bounds for different classes of cross-sections, loading scenarios, etc. based
on experiments:
1.2
1
Squashing
Elastic
buckling
Curve ao
Curve a
Curve b
Curve c
Curve d
0.8
Axial load N
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0
0.5
1.5
2.5
Slenderness
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30
Critical column buckling loads
In EC3 column buckling slenderness is defined as:

Squash load
Critical buckling load
The actual column failure loads given by Perry-Robertson curves

Include a half sine wave initial imperfection
Use equilibrium to work out midspan deflection
Work out critical failure stress that takes imperfection into account
Phi function
Buckling reduction factor
Buckling resistance:
Dr Finian McCann
31
Buckling in beams
A beam under a bending moment may undergo an instability phenomenon known as

lateral torsional buckling
Involves two degrees-of-freedom:

Lateral deflection of the cross-section us
Twisting of the cross-section
Consider simply-supported beam with constant moment M about major axis
Assume major axis bending rigidity is much greater than minor axis:
Iy << Ix
Only consider lateral deflection, not downwards deflection
Dr Finian McCann
32
Buckling in doubly-symmetric I-beams
Potential energy contributions:
Bending and warping:

minor axis curvature
Iw: warping constant Iy
warping
Flange rotates out-of-plane warping
Plan view:
Rotation of entire crosssection torsion
G: shear stiffness
J: St. Venants torsional constant
Torsion:
(for flanges and web)
Work done by moment:
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33
Buckling in doubly-symmetric I-beams
Potential energy:
Could use calculus of variations to arrive at coupled partial differential equations

solve directly for us, and hence derive the critical moment Mcr
Can also use Rayleigh-Ritz approximations i.e. assume a shape for the DOFs
Insert into potential energy, and minimise V with respect to Q1 and Q2 i.e.
Solve these simulataneous equations for M critical moment:
Dr Finian McCann
34
Beam buckling in design codes
Same approach is used as for columns, but slenderness is modified:

W: section modulus
Critical moment
Critical moment on previous page is for constant bending moment
Different bending moment distributions are taken into account using factors:
Dr Finian McCann
35
Buckling of restrained beams
Typically, beams are restrained at their compression flange as it enhances the

stability the greatest
Like for columns, design codes assume if the brace is strong enough, it is stiff
enough so that the beam buckles in between the restraints
No displacement of
brace
If we assume the restraints are elastic with a finite stiffness, it can be shown that,
depending on the brace stiffness, the buckling modes can involve displacement of
the bracing nodes
Dr Finian McCann
36
By appling variational energy methods in a 2DOF model, can derive implicit

expressions relating the critical moment of the system to the stiffness of the
restraints
If a Rayleigh-Ritz approach is used, full Fourier series must be substituted instead

of just a single sine function to capture the proper behaviour
This creates an infinite set of simultaneous equations; it is found that two types of
buckling mode exist:
An infinite number of modes where the nodes do not displace (buckling between
nodes)
A finite number equal to the number of restraints that involve node
displacement
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37
Can plot graphs of critical moment for each type of buckling mode with increasing
restraint stiffness:
Here is the mode progression for three braces attached the compression flange
Dr Finian McCann
38
Can plot graphs of critical moment for each type of buckling mode with increasing
restraint stiffness:
Here is the mode progression for three braces attached the compression flange
At K = KT the beam begins to buckle inbetween the restraints full bracing
Dr Finian McCann
39
If the restraint is lowered away from the compression flange along the web, the
mode progression behaviour changes, and also more stiffness is required to fully
brace the beam
Dr Finian
McCann side of the beam which
40is the limit where
There is a bracing height on
the tension
At this limit height, the buckling modes begin to become asymptotic to the full
bracing condition
Dr Finian McCann
41
Below this height, no matter how stiff the restraints are, the critical moment of the
system will always be below the full bracing moment
Dr Finian McCann
42

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