About Buckling of X-Type Bracing

Abstract

In X-type bracing structures generally it does not take into account the structural contribution of the compressed member, since it is assumed to have a negligible compressive strength; it considered that the stretched member takes the total stress. In the following we analyse as the stretched diagonal, joined in the middle to the compressed one, improves the structural behaviour of this both with respect to the buckling in-plane or out-of -plane of the structure. First we recall the link between the Euler buckling load of a rod free and braced depending on the stiffness k of the brace. Then we analyse the in-plane and out-of-plane buckling of the rod and, for the two situations, we value the increase of the buckling load due to the elastic brace. In the end for both cases we show in what condition the stretched rod causes that the compressed one buckles in the second mode.