Local buckling of composite beams with edge-stiffened flanges subjected to axial load

Abstract

Local buckling analysis of thin walled composite beams is presented, where the flanges are stiffened at their free edges. The web and the flanges are modelled by rotationally restrained long orthotropic plates. Explicit expressions are developed for the calculation of the lowest buckling load. For the stability of the flange distortional buckling, plate buckling (or local buckling) and their interaction are considered, while the stabilizing effect of the web is taken into account by elastic constraint. Web buckling is modelled with a long plate, whose edges are constrained by stiffeners with warping stiffness. The accuracy of the method is demonstrated through numerical examples.