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Buckling Analysis of a Square Safety Ladder

Undergraduate #101
Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Civil/Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineering

Corey McCollum - Savannah State University
Co-Author(s): Cordel Gordon, Savannah State University, Savannah, GA



In this study, a buckling analysis of a square safety ladder has been conducted by SolidWorks simulation software. In a previous study, a similar buckling analysis was conducted for circular safety ladder. To analyze the effect of cross section, the load, fixtures, and materials were kept the same in both studies, but the cross section types were different, the previous one was circular and the current one is square. The cross sectional area was also the same in both studies. The ladder was created with four steps. The frames on the two sides of the ladder were connected with the steps by pins. After creating the step, frame, and pin as SolidWorks part files, they were assembled to create the 3D square safety ladder model. The material assigned for the two side frames and sixteen pins was Aluminum Alloy and that for the four steps was Balsa Wood. For a 200-lbs load on the top step of the ladder, a Buckling Factor of Safety (BFS) of 23 was obtained, which indicates that the square safety ladder is likely to withstand a load that is up to 23 times as large as what is already applied. A comparison of the BFS for the circular and square columns shows that the buckling of the square column is supposed to take place at much lower load than that for the circular safety ladder.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): Mir Hayder and Cordel Gordon

Faculty Advisor: Mir Hayder, hayderm@savannahstate.edu

Role: Created part files, apply material, and conducted study for the square safety ladder.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. DUE-1930047. Any opinions, findings, interpretations, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of its authors and do not represent the views of the AAAS Board of Directors, the Council of AAAS, AAAS’ membership or the National Science Foundation.

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