You are on page 1of 6

Kris C.

Ditan CE 518 June 21, 2011



RANKINE FORMULA
One of the oldest and simplest column design curves is the interaction formula of
Rankine:
E C cr
W W W
1 1 1
+ = (1)


Where:
W
cr
= Crippling load by Rankinec formula
W
C
= Ultimate crushing load for the column = , A
c
o
W
E
= Crippling load, obtained by Eulers formula =
2
2
L
EI t

A little consideration will show, that the value of W
C
will remain constant irrespective
of the fact whether the column is a long one or short one. Moreover, in the case of short
columns, the value of W
E
will be very high, therefore the value of
E
W
1
will be quite negligible
as compared to
C
W
1
.It is thus obvious, that the Rankines formula will give the value of its
crippling load (i.e. W
cr
) approximately equal to the ultimate crushing load (i.e. WC ). In case
of long columns, the value of W
E
will be very small, therefore the value of 1 / WE will be
quite considerable as compared to
C
W
1
. It is thus obvious, that the Rankines formula will
give the value of its crippling load (i.e. W
cr
) approximately equal to the crippling load by
Eulers formula (i.e. WE ). Thus, we see that Rankines formula gives a fairly correct result for
all cases of columns, ranging from short to long columns.
From equation (1), we know that

E
C
C
C E
E C
cr
E C
C E
E C cr
W
W
W
W W
W W
W
W W
W W
W W W
+
=
+

+
= + =
1
1 1 1


Now substituting the value of W
c
and W
E
in the above equation, we have
2 2
2
2
2 2
2
1 1
,
,
1 1
|
.
|

\
|
+
=
|
.
|

\
|
+

=
+

=

+

=
k
L
a
load Crushing
k
L
a
A
k A
L A
E
A
EI
L A
A
W
c
c
c
c
c
cr
o
t
o
o
t
o
o

Where
c
= Crushing stress or yield stress in compression,
A = Cross-section area of the column,
a = Rankines constant =
' 2
E
c
t
o

L = Equivalent length of the column, and
k = Least radius of gyration.
The following table gives the values of crushing stress and Rankines constant for
various materials.
Values of crushing stress (
c
) and Rankines constant (a) for various materials
S. No. Material
c
in MPa
E
a
c
2
t
o
=
1. Wrought iron 250
9000 .
1

2. Cast iron 550
1600 .
1

3. Mild steel 320
7500 .
1

4. Timber 50
750
1




) , ....(
2
k A I =
STRAIGHT LINE FORMULA
According to straight line formula proposed by Johnson, the critical or crippling load
is
(

|
.
|

\
|
=
(
(

|
.
|

\
|
=
k
L
C A
E C k
L
A W
y
y y
y cr 1
3 3
2
o
o
t
o
o

Where A= Cross-section area of column,

y
= Yield point stress,

E C
C
y y
. 3 3
2
1
o
t
o
=
= A constant, whose value depends upon the type of materials as well
as the type of ends, and

. sratio Slendernes
k
L
=
If the safe stress (
A
W
cr
) is plotted against slenderness ratio (
k
L
), it works out to be
a straight line, so it is known as straight line formula.

PARABOLIC FORMULA
Prof. Johnson after proposing the straight line formula found that the results
obtained by this formula are very approximate. He then proposed another formula,
according to which the critical or crippling load,
.
4
1
2
2
notations usaul with
k
L
E C
A W
y
y cr
(
(

|
.
|

\
|
=
t
o
o

If a curve of safe stress (
A
W
cr
) is plotted against (
k
L
), it works out to be a parabolic,
so it is known as parabolic formula.
Fig. 16.4 shows the relationship of safe stress (
A
W
cr
) and the slenderness ratio (
k
L
)
as given by Johnsons formula and Eulers formula for a column made of mild steel with both
ends hinged (i.e. C=1), having a yield strength,
y
= 210 MPa. We see from the figure that
point A (the point of tangency between the Johnsons straight line formula may be used
when 180 (
k
L
and the Eulers formula is used when 180 )
k
L
.
Similarly, the point B (the point of tangency between the Johnsons parabolic
formula and Eulers formula) describes the use of two formulae. In other words, Johnsons
parabolic formula is used when 140 )
k
L
.
Note: For short columns made of ductile materials, the Johnsons parabolic formula is used.











SECANT FORMULA
In practice, engineers are usually interested in the maximum stress rather than the
displacement curve alone. The secant formula discussed in this section derives the
maximum stress from the displacement formula obtained in the previous section.
The normal stress in the column results from both the direct axial load F and the bending
moment M resulting from the eccentricity e of the force application,

where A is the cross-section area, and I is the moment of inertia of the cross section.
The maximum stress is located at the extreme fiber on the concave side (y = c) of the middle
point (x = L/2) of the column,
where,
(obtained by applying basic trigonometric relations to the displacement formula in the
previous section). The parameter c is the distance from the centroidal axis to the extreme
fiber on the concave side of the column.
Expanding the formula for the maximum stress, we have,

The radius of gyration r is defined as . Working r into the above stress equation
results in the secant formula for maximum stress,

The secant formula indicates that in addition to the axial load F and cross-section area A, the
maximum stress also depends on the eccentricity ratio ec/r
2
and the slenderness ratio L/r.
Note: 1. The secant formula can be used to compute the allowable normal stress for a
given design,

where s
allow
is the maximum allowable stress (e.g. yield stress).
2. If the eccentricity e is zero, the secant formula no longer applies. In this case
Euler's formula must be used for slender beams.

You might also like