Column

CE 1201: Mechanics of Materials

Md. Sazedul Islam
Department of Civil Engineering
Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology
 Introduction to Column
• Structural component that carries compressive force only and can be positioned in any orientation. Columns
are usually considered as vertical structural elements, but they can be positioned in any orientation (e.g.
diagonal and horizontal compression elements in a truss).
• Columns support compressive loads from roofs, floors, or bridge decks.
• Columns transmit the vertical forces to the foundations and into the subsoil.
• The loads applied to a column are only axial loads.

Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 2
 Introduction to Column
Virtually every common construction The selection of a particular material may be made based on the
material is used for column construction. following:
▪ Steel ▪ Strength (material) properties (e.g. steel vs. wood).
▪ Timber ▪ Appearance (circular, square, or I-beam).
▪ Concrete (reinforced and pre-stressed)
▪ Accommodate the connection of other members.
▪ Masonry (brick, block, and stone).
▪ Local production capabilities (i.e. the shape of the cross section).

Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 3
 Safety Factor for Column
Columns are major structural components that significantly affect the building’s overall performance and stability.
❑ Columns are designed with larger safety factors than other structural components.
❑ Failure of beam may be localized and may not severely affect the building’s integrity.
❑ Failure of a strategic column may be catastrophic for a large area of the structure.
❑ Failure may be due to overstress, loss of section (deterioration), accident/sabotage (terrorism).

Safety factors for columns are used to account for the following.
1. Material irregularities (e.g. out of straightness).
2. Support fixity at the column ends. e
3. Construction inaccuracies.
4. Workmanship.
5. Unavoidable eccentric (off-axis) loading.

Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 4
 Classification of Column
Columns are defined by the length between support ends.
❑ Short columns
❑ Long columns
❑ Intermediate columns

Will be discussed briefly in the upcoming slides.

Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 5
 Modes of Failure
Short Column
• Very short, stout columns fail by crushing due to material failure. a
• Failure occurs once the stress exceeds the elastic (yield point) limit
of the material.
Long Column
• Long, slender columns fail by buckling.
• Failure occurs at a lower stress level than the column’s material
strength due to buckling.
Intermediate columns
• The mode of failure is a combination of crushing (yielding) and
buckling.

Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 6
 Short Column
Compressive stress for short columns is based on the basic stress equation.
If the load and column size (i.e., cross-sectional area) are known, the compressive stress may be computed as
𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍
𝒇𝒂 = ≤ 𝑭𝒂
𝑨
Where,
fa = actual compressive stress (psi or ksi)
A = cross-sectional area of the column (in2)
Pactual = actual load on the column (pounds or kips)
Fa = allowable compressive stress per code (psi or ksi)

This stress equation can be rewritten into a design form to determine the required short column size when the load and
allowable material strength are known.
𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍
𝑨𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 =
𝑭𝒂
Where,
Arequired = minimum cross-sectional area of the column
Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 7
 Long Columns – Euler Buckling
❑ Long columns fail by buckling at stress levels that are below the elastic limit of the column material.
❑ Buckling in long, slender columns is due to the following:
▪ Eccentricities in loading.
▪ Irregularities in the column material.
❑ Buckling can be avoided (theoretically) if the loads were applied absolutely axially, the column material was
totally homogeneous with no imperfections, and construction was true and plumb.

Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 8
 Long Columns – Euler Buckling
The critical buckling load can be determined by the following equation:
𝝅𝟐 𝑬𝑰𝒎𝒊𝒏
𝑷𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 =
𝑳𝟐
Where,
Pcritical = critical axial load that causes buckling in the column (pounds or kips)
E = modulus of elasticity of the column material (psi or ksi)
Imin = smallest moment of inertia of the column cross-section (in4)
L = column length between pinned ends (inches)
The critical load at buckling is referred to as Euler’s critical buckling load.

▪ Euler’s equation is valid only for long, slender columns that fail due to buckling.
▪ Euler’s equation contains no safety factors.
▪ Euler’s equation results in compressive stresses developed in columns that are well below the elastic limit of
the material.

Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 9
 Slenderness Ratios
The radius of gyration is a geometric property of a cross section
I = Ar2 and r = (I/A) 1/2
Where,
r = radius of gyration of the column cross section (in)
I = least (minimum) moment of inertia (in4)
A = cross-sectional area of the column (in2)
Using the radius of gyration, the critical stress developed in a long column at buckling can be expressed by the
following equation.

𝑷𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝝅𝟐 𝑬𝑰𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝝅𝟐 𝑬𝑨𝒓𝟐 𝝅𝟐 𝑬

𝒇𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 = = = =
𝑨 𝑨𝑳𝟐 𝑨𝑳𝟐 𝑳 𝟐
𝒓
The term “L/r” is known as the Slenderness Ratio.
▪ A higher slenderness ratio means a lower critical stress that will cause buckling.
▪ Conversely, a lower slenderness ratio results in a higher critical stress.

Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 10
 Slenderness Ratios

▪ Column sections with large r-values are

more resistant to buckling.
▪ Compare the difference in rmin values and
slenderness ratios for the three column
cross sections shown below.
▪ All three cross sections have relatively
equal cross-sectional areas but very
different radii of gyration about the
critical buckling axis.
▪ All three columns are assumed to be 15’
in length and pin-connected at both ends.

Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 11
 End Support Conditions
K values for various support conditions
▪ Column design formulas generally assume a condition
in which both ends are pinned.
▪ When other conditions exist, the load-carrying capacity
is increased or decreased and the allowable compressive
stress is increased or decreased.
▪ A factor K is used as a multiplier for converting the
actual column length to an effective buckling length
based on end conditions.
𝑲𝑳
▪ ≤ 𝟒𝟎 → 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒏
𝒓
𝑲𝑳
▪ 𝟒𝟎 < < 𝟏𝟐𝟎 → 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒏
𝒓
𝑲𝑳
▪ 𝟏𝟐𝟎 ≤ ≤ 𝟐𝟎𝟎 → 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒏
𝒓

Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 12
 Analysis of Steel Columns
Column analysis means finding the allowable compressive stress Fa on a given column or its allowable load
capacity P.
Given: Column length, support conditions, grade of steel (Fy), applied load, and column size.
Required: Check the load capacity of the column.
(In other words, is Pactual < Pallowable ?)
or,
Given: Support conditions, grade of steel (Fy), applied load, and column size.
Required: Maximum allowable height of column.

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18 December 2022 14
 Example-01
Given: Two C12 x 20.7 channel sections welded together to form a closed box section. Fy = 36 ksi, L=20’. Top
and bottom are pinned. Geometric properties for the channel section (C12 x 20.7) are:
A = 6.09 in2, bf = 2.942”, Ix = 129 in4, rx = 4.61”, Iy = 3.88 in4, ry = 0.799”, x = 0.698”
Find: Allowable axial load Pallow.

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 Example-01 (Cont.)
Calculate the moment of inertia and radius of gyration for each axis:
A = 2(6.09) = 12.18 in2
Ix = 2(129) = 258 in4
rx = (Ix/A)1/2 = (258/12.18)1/2 = 4.61”
Iy = 2 [3.88 + (6.09)(2.942 – 0.698)2] = 69.10 in4,
ry = (Iy/A)1/2 = (69.10/12.18)1/2 = 2.38”

Calculate the slenderness ratios (K = 1.0):

KL 1 × 20 × 12
= = 52.1
rx 4.61
KL 1 × 20 × 12
= = 100.8 (𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬)
ry 2.38

Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 16
 Example-01 (Cont.)
Find Fa (i.e. the allowable compressive stress):
KL
From Table C-36, for = 100.8, 𝐹𝑎 = 12.88 ksi (By interpolation)
ry

Calculate the allowable axial load:

Pallow = Fa (A) = 12.88 (12.18) = 156.9 kips (Ans.)

Compare Pallow with Pcritical calculated using the Euler equation:

Recall that Pcritical has no factor of safety.

𝜋 2 𝐸𝐼𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝑃𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 =
𝐿2
Iy = Imin = 69.10 in4
E = 29000 ksi
𝜋 2 × 29000 × 69.10
𝑃𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 2
= 343.2 𝑘𝑖𝑝𝑠
(20 × 12)

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 Example-02
5” dia standard steel pipe column (A36 steel) with an applied load of 60 kips. Top is pinned and the base is fixed. Find
the maximum allowable height of column.
Geometric properties for the 5” dia standard steel pipe section: A = 4.30 in2, r = 1.88”.
Solution:
Calculate the compressive stress in the column:
𝑃𝑎 60
𝐹𝑎 = = = 13.95 𝑘𝑠𝑖
𝐴 4.30
Determine the slenderness ratio from Table C-36:
𝐾𝐿
= 92.15 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐹𝑎 = 13.95 𝑘𝑠𝑖 (𝑏𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔)
𝑟
Select the recommended design value K:
K = 0.80 Case: Pinned-fixed
𝐾𝐿 0.8 × 𝐿
= = 92.15 ⟹ 𝐿 = 216.6" = 18.0′
𝑟 1.88
Thus, maximum allowable height is L = 18 ft (Ans.)
Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 18
 Example-03
An 8” diameter timber pole fixed in a large concrete footing at grade and pinned at the top. Find the maximum height
of the pole to support a 25 kip load. E = 1.0 x 106 psi.
Solution:
Select the value K:
K = 0.7 (Case: Pinned-fixed)
Le = KL = 0.7L
Calculate the moment of inertia:
𝜋𝑑 4 𝜋(8)4
𝐼= = = 201.1 𝑖𝑛4
64 64
Determine the maximum height of the pole:
𝜋 2 𝐸𝐼𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝑃𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 =
𝐿2𝑒
𝜋 2 × 1 × 106 × 201.1
25000 = 2
⟹ 𝐿 = 402.5" = 33.5′
(.7𝐿)
Thus, maximum height is L = 33.5 ft (Ans.)
Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 19
Md. Sazedul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, AUST 18 December 2022 20