Effects of end-plate on the critical moment of I-section cantilever beam with free end restrained laterally

Abstract

Effects of end-plate on the lateral buckling of doubly symmetrical I-section cantilever beam with free end restrained laterally are analyzed using the software COMSOL and linear shell finite elements. The torsional stiffness of the end-plate prevents the free warping of flanges and decreases the warping effective length of the cantilever beam. A parametric study is conducted on 3231 cantilever beams under uniform bending to propose an approximative formula to determine the warping effective length factor which depends on the ratio between the torsional constant of the end-plate and the warping stiffness of the beam. The small standard deviation and high coefficient of determination show a very good correlation between analytical formulas and numerical results. Numerical applications are applied to analyze some cantilever beams subjected to uniform bending to demonstrate the reliability of the proposed formula and the effects of the end-plate on the enhancement of the global stability of cantilever beams with free end restrained laterally.
 Keywords:
 cantilever lateral buckling; end-plate; edge stiffener; flexural-torsional buckling; warping effective length; warping effective length factor.