Civil Engineering Practice • Structural Engineering
Deflection & Column Buckling
6 min read
| Case | Maximum deflection |
|---|---|
| Simple span, uniform load w | 5wL⁴ / (384EI) |
| Simple span, point load P at midspan | PL³ / (48EI) |
| Cantilever, point load P at the tip | PL³ / (3EI) |
| Cantilever, uniform load w | wL⁴ / (8EI) |
Worked: end conditions
A column with E = 29,000 ksi and I = 100 in⁴, 12 ft long and pinned at both ends: P_cr = π² × 29,000 × 100 / 144² = 1,380 kips. Fix the base and free the top (K = 2.0) and it drops to a quarter, 345 kips.
Check it stuck: a set from Structural Engineering, the knowledge area this unit teaches.
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