Buckling phenomenon is highly dangerous to structural components. It often happens that structural and building collapses are caused by buckling or loss of stability of individual components, i.e. columns, rods, levers, girders, containers/tanks, etc., rather than structural failure. In the history of engineering, there have been many cases of major emergencies and disasters, in which building collapses resulted from buckling of individual structural components.

     Illustrative examples of the phenomenon are shown below: