Section 5: Real Columns

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Real Columns
Euler buckling load is only part of the story. Also, must consider interaction with yielding and plasticity.

Plastic squashing

Elastic buckling

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Real Columns
We introduce a nondimensional parameter : the slenderness ratio, where:

I = Ar2 , = Le /r, 2 EI 2E E = = 2 . 2 ALe

(64) (65) (66)

E is the mean axial stress in the section during Euler buckling.

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Real Columns
Slenderness parameter () incorporates section properties and Le : High elastic buckling, Low yielding/squashing.

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Column Formulae: Preliminaries

Plot E vs : the so-called Euler hyperbola. Euler curve is clearly an upper bound on strength. Normalizing and wrt y (where r = E/y ):

Stress : /y

Slenderness : /r

(67)

Stocky columns: likely to squash (yield) Small limiting = y So: /y = 1.0 for all /r .
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Imperfect elastic strut: Equilibrium

Consider an unloaded uniform simply-supported column of: length L exural rigidity EI initial midspan deection of Then apply an axial load P . If the deection at midspan T becomes Q and using Rayleighs method assuming a sinusoidal prole for both unloaded and loaded column we can determine the equilibrium response.
Structural Stability p.133/406

Imperfect elastic strut: Equilibrium

No Load

Load P

Structural Stability p.134/406

Energy formulation
Consider the sinusoidal deection: x y = Q sin , L and the imperfection prole:

(68)

x y = sin , L

(69)

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Energy formulation
formulating the total potential energy is relatively straightforward:

1 V = EI 2

L 0

d (y y ) 2 dx
L 0

dx dy dx
2

P 2

dy dx

(70)

dx.

Substituting y and y into V , we get:

2 P 4 EI 2 2 2 ( Q ) V = ( Q ) 3 4L 4L

(71)
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Equilibrium path
Differentiating wrt Q to nd equilibrium and rearranging to nd P , we get:

P = PE

Q Q

(72)

Dividing through by area A and rearranging, we obtain: E Q= (73) E where the term in parentheses is known as the magnication factor.
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Equilibrium path: Sketch

Response of any buckling problem assuming small deections:

PE Q Q Q
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P = PE

PerryRobertson Formula
Object: to determine the value of P that causes the largest stress in the column to reach y

No Load Load P
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PerryRobertson Formula
At any section we have a combination of: mean axial stress ( = P/A) bending stresses corresponding to a moment (M = P y ) compressive inside, tensile outside.

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PerryRobertson Formula
Maximum compression is at T where rst yield will occur as P increases. At T , stress (T ) is given by

Md P T = + I A
where d is the distance from extreme bre to the neutral axis.

(74)

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PerryRobertson Formula
Let M = P Q and = P/A, after a bit of manipulation we get: d E T = 2 +1 . (75) r E Note the presence of the magnication factor. Putting = d/r2 nally gives:

E T = +1 E
where is a non-dimensional imperfection parameter.

(76)

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PerryRobertson Formula
If we put T = y and solve for the value of we obtain:

y + (1 + )E = 2

y + (1 + )E 2

y E

(77) This is the PerryRobertson Formula for the mean axial stress to cause failure in a column assuming failure occurs at rst yield.

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Design of Steel Columns

Leads to graph that rounds the corners of the ideal curve BS 449 used the PerryRobertson curvefactoring it downwards using an allowable stress a criterion:

a = 0.6failure .

(78)

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PerryRobertson Formula
PerryRobertson curve compared to the ideal column failure curve:

Plastic squashing

Experimental points Elastic buckling

Perry-Robertson

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Design of Steel Columns

BS 5950 improved on 449 by combining experimental data with the PerryRobertson curve with factors accounting for: section shape; residual stresses; the stocky column effect: failure real support conditions. It has been plotted for specic values of which reect the inuence of geometric imperfections and residual stresses.
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y A;

Design of Steel Columns

Values of from BS 5950:

= 0.001d ( 0 ) 0
where = L/r and the limiting slenderness 0 = 0.2 E/y . Curve a: d = 2.0 Values of d : Curve b: d = 3.5 Curve c: d = 5.5 Curve a represents rolled hollow sections with relative strengths decreasing as we go from curves a to c.
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Design to BS 5950 and EC3

Section 4.7 in BS 5950 Part 1 (2000 revision) is the relevant section: Table 22 denes the effective length; Table 23 denes which of the curves a, b or c to usedepending on section shape, manufacture and so on; Table 24 has curves a, b and c tabulated against . Eurocode 3 procedure is almost identical: imperfection factor has material strength dependence based on /r changes curves a, b and c slightly.
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