Buckling
![A column under a concentric axial load exhibiting the characteristic deformation of buckling](/Images/godic/202501/05/Buckled_column.svg5214.png")
![The eccentricity of the axial force results in a bending moment acting on the beam element.](/Images/godic/202501/05/Buckling_beam_element.svg5214.png")
![A demonstration model illustrating the different](/Images/godic/202501/05/Buckledmodel5214.JPG")
![Fig. 3: A one-degree-of-freedom structure exhibiting a tensile (compressive) buckling load as related to the fact that the right end has to move along the circular profile labeled 'Ct' (labelled 'Cc').](/Images/godic/202501/05/Sketch_curvature_15214.jpg")
In science, buckling is a mathematical instability, leading to a failure mode.
Theoretically, buckling is caused by a bifurcation in the solution to the equations of static equilibrium. At a certain stage under an increasing load, further load is able to be sustained in one of two states of equilibrium: a purely compressed state (with no lateral deviation) or a laterally-deformed state.