Prediction of Maximum Moment of Rectangular Tubes Subjected to Pure Bending

Abstract

In the present paper, the collapse behaviors of rectangular tubes subjected to pure bending are investigated using the finite element method. Such bending collapse has been investigated extensively. These studies have revealed the existence of two types of collapse. The first type is a collapse due to buckling at the compression flange, and the second type is a collapse due to plastic yielding at the flanges. However, another type of collapse may exist. For a rectangular tube in which the web is wider than the flange, collapse due to buckling may occur at the compression web. Furthermore, an approximate prediction method is proposed for estimating the maximum bending moment of rectangular tubes in which web buckling is also taken into account. The validity of this method is verified through comparison with the numerical results obtained by FEM under various conditions.