Elastic Lateral Torsional Buckling
D-1 Elastic Critical Moment
D-1.1 General
The elastic critical moment is affected by the following:
a) Moment gradient in the unsupported length,
b) Boundary conditions at the lateral support points,
c) Non-symmetric and non-prismatic nature of the member, and
d) Location of transverse load with respect to shear centre.
The boundary conditions at the lateral supports have two components:
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Torsional restraint — where the cross-section is prevented from rotation about the shear centre, and
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Warping restraint — where the flanges are prevented from rotating in their own plane about an axis perpendicular to the flange.
The elastic critical moment corresponding to lateral torsional buckling of a doubly symmetric prismatic beam subjected to uniform moment in the unsupported length and torsionally restraining lateral supports is given by:
where
moment of inertia about the minor axis, warping constant and St.Venant's torsion constant of the cross-section, respectively (see Annex G for properties of sections);
= modulus of rigidity; and
= effective length against lateral torsional buckling (see 14.3).
This equation in simplified form for I-section has been presented in 14.2.2.1.
While the simplified equation is generally on the safe side, there are many situations where this may be very conservative. More accurate calculation of the elastic critical moment for general case of unsymmetrical sections, loading away from shear centre and beams with moment gradient can be obtained from specialist literature, by using an appropriate computer program or equations given below.
D-1.2 Elastic Critical Moment of a Section Symmetrical About Minor Axis
In case of a beam which is symmetrical only about the minor axis, and bending about major axis, the elastic critical moment for lateral torsional buckling is given by the general equation below,
PART 6 STRUCTURAL DESIGN — SECTION 6 STEEL