Impact Buckling of a Thin Bar

Abstract

Experiments are presented which demonstrate the statistical nature of the buckling of thin strips under very high axial compression. Probability distributions of wavelengths determined theoretically from assumed “white-noise” perturbations in initial shape are compared favorably with the experimental distributions. In other experiments, a new optical-lever method of recording lateral motions is used to observe bending waves and buckling in an impacted strip. From these and experiments on large-strain buckling of rubber strips it is concluded that effects of axial-wave propagation do not significantly influence the wavelengths at which the buckles form.