A consistent approach for global buckling of steel structures

The “General Method” according to chapter 6.3.4 of EN1993-1-1 or 8.3.4 of prEN1993-1-1 deals with the verification of stability problems of frame and beam structures with loadings in-plane. The “General method” according to Eurocode is intended for the general case of a combined moment and normal force. For the choice of the reduction factor &khgr;op, there are two options for applying the reduction curve, either the minimum of lateral torsional buckling (LTB) and flexural buckling (FB) or a weighted combination of both. With the use of analytical derivations, it can be shown that this approach leads to inconsistencies which can possibly lead to incorrect results. In this paper an alternative approach is presented which leads to unification and fully mechanical justification in verification. The approach allows e.g. the verification of stability of an entire frame system directly and without interaction factors (as in the equivalent member method). In addition, the issue of a consistent equivalent imperfection is addressed. With the use of this method, geometrical non-linear analyses of structures showing out-of-plane instability can be omitted; only an in-plane calculation and a determination of a linear buckling analysis is necessary. Finally, examples are presented in this paper that demonstrate the application of the approach shown.