• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.275-289
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• 2013

The cross sections of multi-span beams are sometimes suddenly increased at the interior support of continuous beams to resist high negative moment. An earlier study on elastic lateral torsional buckling of stepped beams was conducted to propose new design equations. This research aims to continue the earlier study by considering the effect of inelastic buckling of stepped beams subjected to pure bending and general loading condition. A three-dimensional finite element-program ABAQUS and a statistical program MINITAB were used in the development of new design equations. The inelastic lateral torsional buckling strengths of 36 and 27 models for singly and doubly stepped beams, respectively, were investigated. The general loading condition consists of 15 loading cases based on the number of inflection point within the unbraced length of the stepped beams. The combined effects of residual stresses and geometrical imperfection were also considered to evaluate the inelastic buckling strengths. The proposed equations in this study will definitely improve current design methods for the inelastic lateral-torsional buckling of stepped beams and will increase efficiency in building and bridge design.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.53-60
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• 2008

The cross-sections of continuous multi-span beams sometimes suddenly increase, or become stepped, at the interior supports of continuous beams to resist high negative moments. The three-dimensional finite-element program ABAQUS (2007) was used to analytically investigate the inelastic lateral-torsional buckling behavior of stepped beams subjected to linear moment gradient and resulted in the development of design equations. The ratios of the flange thickness, flange width, and stepped length of beam are considered for the analytical parameters. Two groups of 27 cases and 36 cases, respectively, were analyzed for doubly and singly stepped beams in the inelastic buckling range. The combined effects of residual stresses and geometrical imperfection on inelastic lateral-torsional buckling of beams are considered. First, the distributions of residual stress of the cross-section is same as shown in Pi and Trahair (1995), and the initial geometric imperfection of the beam is set by central displacement equal to 0.1% of the unbraced length of beam. The new proposed equations definitely improve current design methods for the inelastic lateral-torsional buckling problem and increase efficiency in building and bridge design.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.1-9
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• 2009

This paper investigates inelastic lateral-torsional buckling of stepped beams subjected to uniformly distributed load and end moments. A three-dimensional finite-element program ABAQUS (2007) and a regression program MINITAB(2006) were used to analytically develop new design equation for singly and doubly stepped beams with simple boundary condition. The flanges of the smaller cross-section in the stepped beams were fixed at 30.48 by 2.54 cm, whereas the width and thickness of the flanges of the larger cross-section varied. The web thickness and height of the beams were kept at 1.65 cm and 88.9 cm, respectively. The ratios of the flange thickness, flange width, and stepped length of beam are considered with analytical parameters. Two groups of 27 cases and 36 cases, respectively, were analyzed for doubly and singly stepped beams in the inelastic buckling range. The combined effects of residual stresses and geometrical imperfection on inelastic lateral-torsional buckling of beams are considered. The distributions of residual stress of the cross-section is same as shown in Pi and Trahair (1995) and the initial geometric imperfection of the beam is set by central displacement equal to 0.1% of the unbraced length of beam. The comparisons between results from proposed equations and the results from finite element analyses were presented in this paper. The maximum differences of two results are of 13% for the doubly stepped beam and 10% for the singly stepped beam. The proposed equations definitely improve current design methods for the inelastic lateral-torsional buckling problem and increase efficiency in building and bridge design.