Technical Notes
Jul 1, 2014

Analytical and Numerical Observations on the Hetényi Solution for Buckling of Beams on Elastic Foundations

Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 141, Issue 1

Abstract

This paper considers the minimum buckling load and mode shape of a simply supported beam on an elastic foundation. Solutions are obtained by solving the eigenvalue problem delivered by a finite-element formulation and by using the analytical solutions involving (1) trials and (2) rounding of real numbers to integers as described by Hetényi [Hetényi, M. (1946). Beams on Elastic Foundations, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI]. The comparison shows that the solution by rounding can lead to overestimation of the buckling load close to the transition zone between mode shapes. The paper explains the reason for the overestimation and offers a simple direct algorithm that always leads to the correct mode shape and minimum buckling load.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the support of National Science Foundation grant CMMI-0970122 on GOALI: Probabilistic Geomechanical Analysis in the Exploitation of Unconventional Resources.

References

Bee, G. (2013). “Beam buckling on random elastic foundations.” M.S. thesis, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO.
Brush, D. O., and Almroth, B. O. (1975). Buckling of bars, plates and shells, McGraw Hill, New York.
de Angelis, F., and Cancellara, D. (2012). “On the influence of the elastic medium stiffness in the buckling behavior of compressed beams on elastic foundation.” Appl. Mech. Mater., 166–169, 776–783.
Griffiths, D. V., and Smith, I. M. (2006). Numerical methods for engineers, 2nd Ed., Chapman & Hall/CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Hetényi, M. (1946). Beams on elastic foundations, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI.
Li, S.-R., and Batra, R. C. (2007). “Thermal buckling and postbuckling of Euler-Bernoulli beams supported on nonlinear elastic foundations.” AIAA J., 45(3), 712–720.
Simitses, G. J., and Hodges, D. H. (2006). Fundamentals of structural stability, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, U.K.
Smith, I. M., and Griffiths, D. V. (2004). Programming the finite element method, 4th Ed., Wiley, Chichester, U.K.

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Go to Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 141Issue 1January 2015

History

Received: May 5, 2013
Accepted: May 22, 2014
Published online: Jul 1, 2014
Published in print: Jan 1, 2015

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Authors

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D. V. Griffiths, F.ASCE [email protected]
Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401; and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Science and Engineering, Univ. of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia (corresponding author). E-mail: [email protected]
G. Bee, S.M.ASCE
Graduate Student, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401.

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