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Tangent-Modulus Theory
Suppose that the critical stress t in an intermediate column exceeds the proportional limit
of the material pl. The Young's modulus at that particular stress-strain point is no longer E.
Instead, the Young's modulus decreases to the local tangent value, Et.
Replacing the Young's modulus E in the Euler's formula with the tangent modulus Et, the
critical load becomes,
Reduced-Modulus Theory
The Reduced Modulus theory defines a reduced Young's modulus Er to compensate for the
underestimation given by the tangent-modulus theory.
For a column with rectangular cross section, the reduced modulus is defined by,
where E is the value of Young's modulus below the proportional limit. Replacing E in Euler's
formula with the reduced modulus Er, the critical load becomes,
Note: 1. The reduced-modulus theory tends to overestimate the strength of the column,
since it is based on stiffness reversal on the convex side of the column.
2. The reduced-modulus theory oversimplifies the inelastic buckling by using only
one tangent modulus. In reality, the tangent modulus depends on the stress
which is a function of the bending moment that varies with the displacement w.
Intermediate Column Design
However, the difference between Shanley's theory and the tangent-modulus theory are not
significant enough to justify a much more complicated formula in practical applications,
especially when manufacturing defects in mass production and geometric inaccuracies in
assembly are taken into account.
Finally, if one must make and error in the design, engineers would much rather miss on the
safe side. This is the reason why many design formulas are based on the overly-
conservative tangent-modulus theory.