Out-Plane Elastic-Plastic Buckling Strength of High-Strength Steel Arches

Abstract

Little research has been reported for the out-plane elastic-plastic buckling strength of high-strength steel (HSS) arches and no adequate code provisions are available for their strength design, despite HSS structures being increasingly used in engineering construction. This paper presents a study of out-plane elastic-plastic buckling strengths of HSS arches using a validated finite-element model. The out-plane elastic-plastic behavior of HSS arches is determined by considering the influences of pertinent characteristics of the steel, material inelasticity, large deformations, initial lateral bow and twist imperfections, and residual stresses. The high yield strength of the HSS is found to reduce the difference between the inelastic and elastic out-plane buckling loads of HSS arches. Design rules for the strength of HSS arches under uniform compression and under uniform bending are developed based on the results of the finite-element analysis. The influences of initial lateral bow and twist imperfections and residual stresses are also elucidated.