Rapid evaluation of lateral-torsional buckling of European standard I-section cantilevers

Abstract

Lateral-torsional buckling (LTB) is the primary failure mode for thin-walled steel members where the cantilever beams experience nonuniform twisting and buckling about their weak axes. Much research exists in the literature, and modern codes have presented simple formulations for calculating of elastic LTB load of simply-supported beams. However, there are limited numbers of treatments for predicting of elastic LTB load of cantilevers, most of which are numerical, because as different from the simply supported beams, the LTB failure mode of the thin-walled cantilevers is much more complicated. The present study aims to develop a simplified equation for calculating the elastic LTB of the cantilevers with the European standard I-section. First, an analytical model considering first-order bending distribution, load height level, and monosymmetry property of the section has been introduced. Then, a simplified formula for cantilevers has been introduced utilizing the analytical model and two dimensionless coefficients called the slenderness and the load case parameters. The presented analytical solutions were verified with the finite element analysis (FEA), and the effects of slenderness and loading positions on the LTB behavior of cantilevers with European standard I-section have been investigated. It is found analytical solutions are quite compatible with FEA, and the proposed equation could be safely used for calculating the elastic LTB of the cantilevers.