Understanding Buckling: The Impact of Moments vs Applied Forces

[roanoar]

Can a moment about the end of something cause buckling or does it need to be an applied force?

For instance the uploaded image

Thanks!

 

[jrw66]

Although I do not know your end conditions from your drawing, a end applied moment cannot cause buckling. Buckling arise from the deflection equation E I y'' = M where M is proportional to the lateral deflection, y. In your problem, M, shown above, is just your end applied load and is never a function of the deflection.

 

[roanoar]

thank you!

 

[jrw66]

No problem,

I thought I would reply with some additions. My colleague informed me that you can get localized buckling after the beam has deformed. Localized buckling means that it can kink at the edges.

 

[roanoar]

I see. That does make sense. Would that lead to structural failure though?

 

[jrw66]

I honestly don't know. I would suspect, however, that the failure criterion that you need to worry about is the bending stresses due to the deflection.