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Steel Design

Stability of Beams

Baraa J. Mahmood, Ph.D.

University of Mosul – College of Engineering

 Stability of Beams
If a beam can be counted on to remain stable up to the
fully plastic condition, the nominal moment strength can
be taken as the plastic moment capacity; that is,

=
Otherwise, will be less than .

As with a compression member, instability can be in an overall

sense or it can be local.

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Mina Seif and Benjamin Schafer (2014), “Design of Locally Slender Structural Steel Columns”,
Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 140, No. 4.

https://sdcverifier.com/articles/standards/eurocode3-member-checks/

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Overall buckling is illustrated in Figure 1. When a beam bends,

the compression region (above the neutral axis) is analogous to
a column, and in a manner similar to a column, it will buckle if
the member is slender enough.

M=0
Figure 1

But, the difference is the tension portion restrains the

compression portion of the cross-section, and the outward
deflection (flexural buckling) is accompanied by twisting
(torsion). This form of instability is called lateral-torsional
buckling (LTB).

Lateral-torsional buckling (LTB):

Lateral torsional buckling is a buckling behavior that occurs in
unrestrained beams. When a beam subjected to loads results
in both lateral displacement and twisting, then it is under
lateral-torsional buckling.
LTB can be prevented by bracing the beam against twisting at
sufficiently close intervals. This can be accomplished with
either of two types of stability bracing:
1. Lateral bracing: it prevents translation, should be applied as close
to the compression flange as possible.

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2. Torsional bracing: it prevents twist directly. It can be either nodal

or continuous, and of take the form of either:
a. Cross frame, or
b. Diaphragm.

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Local Buckling:
Whether the beam can sustain a moment large enough to bring it to
the fully plastic condition also depends on whether the cross-
sectional integrity is maintained.
This integrity will be lost if one of the compression elements of the
cross section buckles. This type of buckling can be either:
 Buckling of compression flange
buckling: this called Flange Local
Buckling (FLB).,
 Buckling of compression part of the
web: this called Web Local Buckling
(WLB).
The local buckling will depend on the
width-to-thickness ratios of the
compression elements of the cross
section.

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Classification of Shapes:
Depending on the values of width-to-thickness ratios, AISC classifies
cross-sectional shapes as:
 Compact cross-section,
 Non-compact cross-section, or
 Slender cross-section.
For I shapes, the width-to-thickness ratio ( ) calculated as:
1. Flange: ratio for the projecting Projecting flange
flange (an unstiffened element)
is:
= ⁄2
2. Web: ratio for the web ℎ
(a stiffened element) is:
= ℎ⁄

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It can be summarized as:

= width-to-thickness ratio, it is called cross section slenderness
ratio.
= upper limit of compact section.
= upper limit of non-compact section.
Then;
Condition Classification
≤ Compact
Worst

< ≤ Noncompact
> Slender

Note; The category is based on the worst width-to-thickness ratio

of the cross section. For example, if the web is compact and
the flange is noncompact, the shape is classified as
noncompact.
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Element

Flange 0.38 1.0

2

ℎ
Web 3.76 5.7

Note: This is applicable for channel except that for the flange is:

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