Workshop 1

Eigenvalue Buckling
Interactive Version
Note: This workshop provides instructions in terms of the ABAQUS GUI
interface. If you wish to use the ABAQUS Keywords interface instead,
please see the Keywords version of these instructions.
Please complete either the Keywords or Interactive version of this
workshop.

Goals

Learn the basic eigenvalue buckling technique.

Capture results using a combination of symmetric and antisymmetric

boundary conditions.

Evaluate eigenvalue results using the Visualization module.

This workshop is based on example problem Buckling of a ring in a plane under external
pressure from the ABAQUS Benchmarks Manual.

Introduction
In this workshop we exercise a feature in ABAQUS that allows simple specification of
antisymmetric boundary conditions during the eigenvalue buckling load estimation.
The model is a two-dimensional, thin elastic ring subject to external pressure. Numerical
results can be compared to a theoretical solution, which has a critical buckling pressure of
P 3E

I
R

where E is Youngs modulus, I is the moment of inertia, and R is the mean radius of the
ring. For this problem this means a critical buckling pressure of 0.05171 MPa, or
7.5 lb/in2.

Copyright 2004 ABAQUS, Inc.

Buckling, Postbuckling, and Collapse Analysis with ABAQUS

W1.2

For ring geometries the prebuckled deformation is axisymmetric (assuming no

imperfections), while the buckling occurs as deformation in a periodic mode with respect
to angular position:
w A cos k ,
where w is the radial displacement at angular position , A is some arbitrary magnitude,
and k is the mode number (2, 3, ...).
Choosing the buckling deformation to be symmetric about 0, it will then be
antisymmetric about k. This implies that we can run the problem with a mesh
covering a 45 segment of the ring.
The model is shown below:

Copyright 2004 ABAQUS, Inc.

Buckling, Postbuckling, and Collapse Analysis with ABAQUS

W1.3

ABAQUS simulation
1.

Enter the working directory for this workshop:

../buckling/interactive/workshop1

2.

Run the script ws_eigenbuckle_ring.py using the following command:

abaqus cae startup=ws_eigenbuckle_ring.py

The above command creates the ring eigenvalue buckling model.

3.
Submit the job eigenbuckle to analyze the eigenbuckle model (in the Model
Tree, click MB3 on the job named eigenbuckle and select Submit in the menu
that appears). Once the analysis completes, study the results.
Question W1:

Whathappensifyouchangethemagnitudeoftheloadfrom1
to,say, 10? Do the results change? Why or why not?

Question W1:

What happens if you change the magnitude of the load from 1

to 1?
Why are the normals defined for the end nodes of the beam
model? Try running the problem without specifying the
normals. Does this affect the solution much?
Note: Currently alternative nodal normals cannot be defined
directly through the ABAQUS/CAE interface. Use the
keywords editor to remove the NORMAL option block (in
the Model Tree, click MB3 on the model named eigenbuckle
and select Edit Keywords in the menu that appears).
Try running the problem with six beam elements in a 45
segment. What happens?
In the original eigenbuckle model the ring is modeled with
three linear interpolation beams. Is this sufficient? Try running
the problem with beam types B22 (quadratic) and B23 (cubic).
Does the solution change much?

Question W1:

Question W1:
Question W1:

Copyright 2004 ABAQUS, Inc.

Buckling, Postbuckling, and Collapse Analysis with ABAQUS