Experimental study on the lateral buckling of cantilever high beam

Lateral buckling caused by normal impact of cylindrical projectile with a flat head onto a free end of aluminum alloy cantilever high beam is investigated by experiments. Lateral buckling critical load and the buckling mode of beams under static load and dynamic load are explored through experiments with a variety of beams in different sizes. It is found that the lateral buckling critical load is proportional to the ratio of lengthtoheight and is inversely proportional to the ratio of height to width, which indicates that the plastic buckling is different from elastic buckling. Finally, an empirical equation is presented to calculate the critical impact kinetic energy of lateral buckling for a cantilever high beam under an impact load.