Overall Buckling and Ultimate Load of an H-Section Steel Member Under Combined Compression and Bending

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical method and FEM to study the overall buckling of an H-section steel member with narrow flanges. The theoretical study aims to elaborate the significant parameters involved. Based on the theoretical analysis, a parametric study is performed to identify the adequate coefficients for the design of an efficient and general evaluation technique to form the equation. As a result, the approximate closed-form equations are successfully proposed for the elastic critical moment of the H-section beam. Besides, the numerical analysis by FEM is performed to investigate the ultimate load, and the design equation for the ultimate load of an H-section column under combined compression and bending is recommended.