CONTENTS:

COMPOSITE
BEAMS.

BUCKLING OF
COLUMNS.

1. COMPOSITE BEAM:

WHAT IS COMPOSITE
CONSTRUCTION?
Composite construction is a generic term to describe
any building construction involving multiple
dissimilar materials. Composite construction is often
used in building aircraft ,watercraft, and building
construction. There are several reasons to use
composite materials including increased strength,
aesthetics, and environmental sustainability. It is not
to be confused with the Composite order which is a
specific order of classical architecture that combines
elements of the Ionic and Corinthian orders.

COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTIONS

WHAT IS COMPOSITE ACTION ?

In structural engineering, composite construction

exists when two different materials are bound
together so strongly that they act together as a single
unit from a structural point of view. When this occurs,
it is called composite action.

EXAMPLE OF COMPOSITE ACTION

One common example involves steel beams
supporting concrete floor slabs. If the beam is not
connected firmly to the slab, then the slab transfers all
of its weight to the beam and the slab contributes
nothing to the load carrying capability of the beam.

EXAMPLE (CONT)
However, if the slab is connected positively to the
beam with studs, then a portion of the slab can be
assumed to act compositely with the beam. In effect,
this composite creates a larger and stronger beam
than would be provided by the steel beam alone.

COMPOSITE BEAM:
A structural member composed of two or more
dissimilar materials joined together to act as a unit in
which the resulting system is stronger than the sum of
its parts. An example in civil structures is the steelconcrete composite beam in which a steel wide-flange
shape (I or W shape) is attached to a concrete floor
slab.

COMPOSITE BEAM:

COMPOSITE MATERIALS USED IN

CONSTRUCTION:

STEEL-CONCRETE COMPOSITE
MATERIAL:
Combining aggregate, sharp sand and a cement binder
produces concrete which is used in the construction of
roads, bridges and buildings. Though concrete is
weak when under tension, it is a very strong material.
Addition of wires, metal rods and cables makes it able
to withstand tension. Casting cement around these
rods produces reinforced concrete.

COMPOSITE MATERIALS USED IN

CONSTRUCTION:
PLASTIC COMPOSITE MATERIAL:

Plastic is an engineered composite material

composed of a reinforcement fiber and a
polymer binder. Plastic is durable and can resist
corrosion. It is light-weight and maintenance
costs are low. Plastic composites are designed
to produce desired characteristics more than the
individual ingredient components.

COMPOSITE MATERIALS USED IN

CONSTRUCTION:
WOOD-PLASTIC COMPOSITE MATERIAL:
Wood is one of the common materials used in the
construction industry. Wood contains cellulose fibers
which are strengthened by lignin.
Wood-plastic composite can last for a long time due
to its resistance to rotting and decay. Because it
provides a lower thermal expansion, it is able to
withstand harsh climatic conditions.

COMPOSITE MATERIALS USED IN

CONSTRUCTION:
MUD BRICKS
A normal mud brick is sturdy and resistant to
compression, but can break if bent. Straw is a
material that has excellent tensile strength, meaning
that it resists stretching. By combining both, early
humans were able to create composite mud bricks
that could resist weight and compression as well as
stretching.

COMPOSITE MATERIALS USED IN

CONSTRUCTION:
CONCRETE
Concrete is a composite material made of cement,
sand, stones and water. Combined, concrete is
stronger than any one of these materials. Concrete is
used heavily in building and road construction

COMPOSITE MATERIALS USED IN

CONSTRUCTION:
FIBERGLASS
Fiberglass is a material made of tiny glass shards held
together by resin and other components. Fiberglass
can also be a less expensive alternative to other
materials.

THE ADVANTAGES OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS

COST
Tooling, labor and manufacturing costs are
considerably lower for composite materials. Higher
performance than steel and aluminum can also mean
lower service costs and longer-lasting products or
components.

THE ADVANTAGES OF COMPOSITE

MATERIALS
STRENGTH AND WEIGHT
Composites have a much lower density than metals
such as steel and aluminum, and are therefore
considerably lighter. While metals tend to be equally
strong in all directions, composites can be designed to
have much higher strength for any single application,
thus providing a much better strength-to-weight ratio.

THE ADVANTAGES OF COMPOSITE

MATERIALS
STIFFNESS
Composites often contain strong, stiff fibers running
through them which provide much added stiffness.
Glass and carbon fibers are commonly used as
reinforcement.

BAD THINGS ABOUT COMPOSITE

MATERIALS
FADING AND STAINS
Composite decks generally hold up better than wood
decks, but they are still prone to weathering over
time. In particular, composite decks are prone to
fading because they are exposed to sunlight yearround.

BAD THINGS ABOUT COMPOSITE

MATERIALS
PLASTIC-LIKE APPEARANCE
Composite decking materials are usually designed to
simulate the look of real wood grain. However, in
many cases, composite decking has a shiny, plasticlike appearance that belies the natural look that
homeowners are usually trying to achieve.

BAD THINGS ABOUT COMPOSITE

MATERIALS
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT REQUIRED
Composite decking materials are weaker than natural
wood, so they cannot support their own weight and
may begin to sag if they are not properly supported.

FAILURE
Shock, impact, or repeated cyclic stresses can
cause the laminate to separate at the interface
between two layers, a condition known as
delamination. Individual fibres can separate
from the matrix e.g. fibre pull-out

BUCKLING OF COLUMNS.

WHAT IS A COLUMN ?

A compression member is generally considered to be

a column when its unsupported length is more than
10 times its least lateral dimension. A column is a
compression member that is so slender compared to
its length

TYPES OF COLUMNS
Long Column:
Long columns fail by buckling or excessive lateral bending.
(Slenderness ratio Above 150)
Intermediate Column:
Intermediate columns fail by a combination of crushing and
buckling.
Short Column:
Short columns fail by crushing. (Slenderness Ratio Below 30)


RATIO:
SLENDERNESS

L/r is called slenderness ratio.

Where,
L= length of column.
r= least radius of gyration.( )

WHAT IS BUCKLING ?
Buckling is characterized by a sudden failure of a
structural member subjected to high compressive
stress where the actual compressive stress at the point
of failure is less than the ultimate compressive
stresses that the material is capable of withstanding.
For example, during earthquakes, reinforced concrete
members may experience lateral deformation of the
longitudinal reinforcing bars.
Buckling is the sudden instability that occurs in
columns or members that support an axial load.

WHAT IS BUCKLING ?
Where,

P= Applied load
= critical load
The maximum axial load
to which a column can be
subjected and it still
remain straight (buckling
does not occur) is called
critical load.

TYPES OF BUCKLING

Flexural-torsional buckling
Lateral-torsional buckling
Plastic buckling
Dynamic buckling

FLEXURAL-TORSIONAL BUCKLING
Occurs
in
compression
members only and it can be
described as a combination
of bending and twisting of a
member. And it must be
considered
for
design
purposes, since the shape
and cross sections are very
critical. This mostly occurs
in channels, structural tees,
double-angle shapes, and
equal-leg single angles.

LATERAL-TORSIONAL BUCKLING
When a simple beam is loaded in flexure, the top side is in
compression, and the bottom side is in tension. When a
slender member is subjected to an axial force, failure takes
place due to bending or torsion rather than direct compression
of the material. If the beam is not supported in the lateral
direction (i.e., perpendicular to the plane of bending), and the
flexural load increases to a critical limit, the beam will fail
due to lateral buckling of the compression flange. In wideflange sections, if the compression flange buckles laterally,
the cross section will also twist in torsion, resulting in a
failure mode known as lateral-torsional buckling.

LATERAL-TORSIONAL BUCKLING

PLASTIC BUCKLING
Buckling will generally occur slightly before the
theoretical buckling strength of a structure, due to
plasticity of the material. When the compressive load
is near buckling, the structure will bow significantly
and approach yield. The stress-strain behavior of
materials is not strictly linear even below yield, and
the modulus of elasticity decreases as stress increases,
with more rapid change near yield. This lower
rigidity reduces the buckling strength of the structure
and causes premature buckling.

DYNAMIC BUCKLING
If the load on the column is applied suddenly and
then released, the column can sustain a load much
higher than its static (slowly applied) buckling load.
This can happen in a long, unsupported column (rod)
used as a drop hammer. The duration of compression
at the impact end is the time required for a stress
wave to travel up the rod to the other (free) end and
back down as a relief wave. Maximum buckling
occurs near the impact end at a wavelength much
shorter than the length of the rod, at a stress many
times the buckling stress if the rod were a staticallyloaded column.

DYNAMIC BUCKLING