Buckling of Stayed Columns

Abstract

The elastic buckling load of a metal column may be increased many times by reinforcing the column with rigidly connected crossarm members and prestressed stays. Such columns are referred to as stayed columns. A procedure based on the finite element method is presented for determining the buckling load of multiple-crossarm stayed columns. This method is compared to an exact solution using stability functions. The buckling loads from the two methods and, where applicable, from previously published results are compared and found to be in excellent agreement. Numerical examples are included which illustrate the increased load carrying capacity of stayed columns, the advantage of using stays with a high modulus of elasticity, and the importance of configuration on the buckling load.