INTRODUCTION

Compressive members have been more and more common with the development of the
steel structure in the field of engineering. In view of this, the stableness of compressive
members has also been paid more attention by engineers because of the damages caused
by the buckling collapse. In general, short wide compressive members are called columns
and long thin compressive members are called struts. In this experiment, students have
learnt how to use common lab equipment and understood more about the buckling of
struts. This report will explore the experiment related to the buckling of struts and
compare the experimental and determined data.

PRINCIPLES
The bending moment at any section , M=-Pv, when inserted into te equation for the
elastic behavior of a beam ,Elv=M ,yield
2
EL + = 0
2

The solution of this of this differential equation is

= 1 sin x + c2 cos x

Where the constant of integration, c1 and c2 are determine from the end condition:
v(0)=v(L)=0.From v(0)=0, we find tatc2=0.Sustituting the second condition into equation
above, we obtain;

C1 sin L = 0

It must be concluded that either c1 =0, in which case v=0 for all x and the column remains
straight regardless of load, or sin =0.The case c1=0 corresponding to the condition of no
buckling and yields as a trivial solution. It is satisfied if

L = n n=1,2

The value of P ascertained from the equation above, that is, the load for which the
column may be maintained in a deflected shape, is the critical load
2 2
(P cr)n = 2
Where, L represents the original length of the column. Assume that column deflection is
in no way restricted to a particular plane, the deflection may be expected to occur about
an axis through the centroid for which the second moment of area is minimum. The
lowest critical load or Euler buckling load of the pin-ended column is of greatest interest;
for n=1
2
Pcr = 2

Pe= Euler buckling load (N)

E = Youngs Modulus (Nm-2)
I = Second moment of area ( m4)
L = length of strut ( m )

OBJECTIVE
To determine the critical load for a strut before it ails due to lateral deflection
To examine how shear force varies with an increasing point load
To examine how shear force varies at the cut position of the beam for various
loading condition

APPARATUS
1) Strut buckling apparatus
-test frame
-5 aluminum alloy struts with different length
-digital force display
2) Measuring tape
3) Vernier caliper.
PROCEDURES

The digital indicator is switched on and warmed up for at least 10 minutes .

For pinned to pinned ends condition, the bottom chuck is fit to the machine
and the top chuck is removed.

The shortest strut is selected and the cross section is measured and the
second moment area, I for the strut

The position of the sliding crosshead is adjusted to accept the strut using the
thumbnuts to lock off the slider and the locking screws are tightened.

The hand wheel is carefully backed off so that the strut is resting in the notch
but not transmitting any load, the force meter is re-zeroed using the front panel
control.

The strut is started carefully to load. If the strut begins to buckle to the left,
the strut is flicked to the right and vice versa.

The hand wheel is turned until there is no further increase in load.

The final load is recorded in Table 1 under buckling load. The experiment is
repeated with strut numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5adjsuting the crosshead as required
to fit the strut.

For pinned-fixed end condition, the bottom chuck is removed and the
specimen is clamped using the cap head screw and plate.

Procedure (3) to (8) are repeated to measure the data

For both fixed end condition, the top chuck is fitted with two cap head
screws and both ends of specimen are clamped.

Procedure (3) to (8) are repeated to measure the data.

RESULTS

Width of strut : 19.7 mm

Thickness of strut : 2.0 mm
Moment of inertia of strut : 1.313310-11 mm4
I = 1/12 bh3
= 1/12 1.0197m (0.002m)3
=1.3133 10-11 m4

TABLE 1 Pinned to pinned ends condition

Strut number Length(mm) Buckling Load(N) 1/L2(m2) Euler Buckling Load(N)
1 320 -69 9.7656 87.340
2 370 -67 7.3046 65.329
3 420 -62 5.6689 50.701
4 470 -33 4.5269 40.487
5 520 -23 3.6982 33.075

TABLE 2 Fixed to pinned ends condition

Strut number Length(mm) Buckling Load(N) 1/L2(m2) Euler Buckling Load(N)
1 300 -160 11.111 198.747
2 350 -120 8.1632 146.018
3 400 -106 6.2500 111.795
4 450 -80 4.9383 88.332
5 500 -58 4.0000 71.549

TABLE 3 Fixed to fixed ends condition

Strut number Length(mm) Buckling Load(N) 1/L2(m2) Euler Buckling Load(N)
1 280 -317 12.775 456.307
2 330 -229 9.1827 328.507
3 380 -196 6.9252 247.745
4 430 -165 5.4083 193.141
5 480 -126 4.3403 155.271
DISCUSSION
1. Theoretically, calculate the value of critical load of the specimen for pinned to pinned
ends, pinned to fixed ends and fixed to fixed ends. The value of Ealuminium is 69Gpa.
Use the equation below:
2
Per= ( 2
)

Formulas:
2
a.(Pinned/Pinned);P = 2

= (3.142)2(69109)(1.313310-11)9.7656
=87.340
2 2
b.(Fixed/Pinned);P= 2

=2(3.142)2(69109)(1.313310-11)11.1111
=198.747

4 2
c.(Fixed/Fixed);P= 2

=4(3.142)2(69109)(1.313310-11)12.7551
=456.307

0.252
d.(Fixed/Free);P= 2

2. Graph of buckling load versus 1/L2 and gradient of each line.

3. Standard values are values that are expected from whatever youre measuring.
Experimental values are the values you actually get when you do the procedure,
these are then compared to the standard values

4. Ideal column is meant, column which is perfectly straight of uniform cross

section and composed of ilomogeneous material. The experiment above satisfied
idea column condition.
5. Place 8N on strut and gently pus the middle of the strut sideway by 2mm or
3mm. If the strut does not suddenly buckle then the load is below critical value.
On removing ones finger on the strut becomes straight .Repeat the critical load.
Sketch the deflected shape of strut. The experiment is repeated with different load
such as 10N, 12N and 14N.

6. There precautions are

-The eyes of observer must on line perpendicular to the scale reading of

measuring instrument to avoid parallax error.
-The strut must be in straight condition without any bending
-The experiment should be repeated to obtain an accurate reading.
Discuss on experiment result
According above results, it can be easy to obtain that the experimental buckling load is
less than the theoretical one because that the theoretical gradient ratio is larger than the
experimental one. Another significant finding is that the shorter strut has the higher
buckling resistance, and fixed struts performance better in resisting buckling. In view of
this, it can be predicted that larger ration between the second moment of area and length
of the strut will result in the better performance in buckling resistance in real engineering.
The result obtained from the experiment is reasonable.

Comparison between theoretical and experimental

Another significant focus of the experiment is to compare the experimental and
theoretical gradient ratio in the different end condition. It shows in Graph 1 that
experimental gradients in the different end conditions and it can be found that there is the
linear relationship between the experimental buckling load and 1 2 in all end conditions.
The experimental gradient can be found clearly from the graph.Thus, it can be found that
experimental gradient ratio are all less than theoretical gradient ratio

Cause and error during experimental

As for errors, it can be concluded that most are human errors. The most human error is
that all strut specimens have been used for 5 years, and this has caused the big negative
effect to the accuracy of the experimental results. Another significant error is resulted that
each strut with different length in every end condition was tested only once merely, and
this leads the increase of the fortuity and the decrease of the accuracy of results. Apart
from this, a human operation error is that the same specimen was used in three sub-
experiments in a short period of time, and this maybe cause negative effect.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, this report has described the whole process of this experiment and analyzed
results and errors. According the analysis of results, it has got the prediction that strut
with the high ration of second moment of area and length can performance better when
its ends are both fixed under the compression. Apart from this, it also points out that the
theoretical gradient ratio is larger than the experimental one, and this results that the
theoretical buckling load is larger than the experimental one. To recommend, in order
improving the accuracy of results, more times for each specimen in one end condition
should be operated. In addition, if allowed, the strut specimens used in the experiment
should be avoided to be reused in the future.

Actual result from other resources

APPENDIX

University of Liverpool, Buckling of struts, coursework briefing sheet.

Qinghua University, the buckling experiment,
http://course.qqhru.edu.cn/eol/homepage/qqhru/courseware/081701/U/87/syxm/sy
04/syyl_02.htm
Civil engineering laboratory manual (3rd edition)

-The shape of struts in different end condition

-Strut buckling apparatus