Failure Criteria for Stayed Columns

Abstract

The experimental failure load of a stayed column has previously been defined, rather arbitrarily, as the load at which the tension in the stays on the concave side goes to zero. Experimental results obtained have necessitated a reevaluation of this definition. It has been found that experimental failure loads for stayed columns with initial pretension less than the optimum pretension have experimental failure loads which are much greater than the predicted loads. It has been shown theoretically and verified experimentally that the failure load can be much greater than the load at which the tension in the stays on the concave side goes to zero. The theoretical load was predicted using a finite element method in conjunction with an iterative‐incremental procedure. Good agreement between experimental and theoretical results was obtained when the initial pretension was less than the optimum pretension.