INELASTIC BUCKLING OF COLUMNS for a column with intermediate length. The ultimate compression strength of the column material is not geometry-related and is valid only for short columns. buckling occurs after the stress in the column exceeds the proportional limit of the column material and before the stress reaches the ultimate strength. . The Euler formula describes the critical load for elastic buckling and is valid only for long columns.INTRODUCTION The strength of a compression member (column) depends on its geometry (slenderness ratio Leff / r) and its material properties (stiffness and strength). In between. This kind of situation is called inelastic buckling. . . Tangent-Modulus Theory. Reduced-Modulus Theory.THEORIES OF INELASTIC BUCKLING Some commonly used inelastic buckling theories that fill the gap between short and long columns are: I. II. . the Young's modulus decreases to the local tangent value. The Young's modulus at that particular stressstrain point is no longer E. Et. Replacing the Young's modulus E in the Euler's formula with the tangent modulus Et. Instead.Tangent-Modulus Theory Suppose that the critical stress σt in an intermediate column exceeds the proportional limit of the material σpl. the critical load becomes. The tangent-modulus theory tends to underestimate the strength of the column. The corresponding critical stress is. The tangent-modulus theory oversimplifies the inelastic buckling by using only one tangent modulus. The proportional limit σpl. Although these two are often arbitrarily interchangeable. the yield stress is about equal to or slightly larger than the proportional limit for common engineering materials. . the tangent modulus depends on the stress. In reality. rather than the yield stress σy. is used in the formula. which is a function of the bending moment that varies with the displacement w . 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. . The corresponding critical stress is. For a column with rectangular cross section. where E is the value of Young's modulus below the proportional limit. the critical load becomes. Replacing E in Euler's formula with the reduced modulus Er. the reduced modulus is defined by. The critical load of inelastic buckling is in fact a function of the transverse displacement w. According to Shanley's theory. Shanley published his logically correct paper in 1946. the critical load is located between the critical load predicted by the tangentmodulus theory (the lower bound) and the reduced-modulus theory (the upper bound / asymptotic limit).SHANLEY'S THEORY Both tangent-modulus theory and reducedmodulus theory were accepted theories of inelastic buckling until F. especially when manufacturing defects in mass production and geometric inaccuracies in assembly are taken into account . 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. R. 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.CONCLUSION Conclusively. if one must make and error in the design. THANK YOU .