Forty-First Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture: Buckling and Stability

Abstract

Although columns built almost 5,000 years ago still stand in Egypt, the first theoretical calculation of the load-carrying capacity of columns was published by Euler only 209 years ago. The classical theory established in this publication is still the foundation of all stability analyses and is likely to remain so in the future. It was derived for perfectly elastic columns and for specific end conditions. These end conditions are not realised in the ordinary column test nor do they correspond exactly to the conditions prevailing in an aeroplane wing when it is subjected to a gust or to the shock of landing. They are not the same as the end conditions of a column in a building when it collapses during a tornado or an earthquake.