Preferential buckling

• Main Author: How, Wai Lum
• Other Authors: Marcos
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/68313
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This project tackles the challenge of designing an elastic structure such that a desired deflection shape is achieved when the structure is buckled through axial loading. The buckling phenomenon, though often regarded as a structural failure mode, has a large number of applications in engineering and the natural world. The project is a follow up on the previous project in seeking to find answers from fundamentals. As such, it focuses on understanding and inverting the existing methods of buckling analysis, mainly on nonlinear analysis. The method identified was derived from Euler Bernoulli beam theory. The method was then further developed to incorporate boundary conditions and create solution codes using MATLAB. Through MATLAB codes, the correctness of the theory was ascertained, followed by further tests to determine the possible limitations. It was found that the nonlinear theory was correct; on the condition that the applied load was small. The theory fell short with the increase in applied load. Some reasons were discussed, including the possibility of additional constraint being required. These reasons provide useful starting points for further investigations into the topic.