Equivalent Beam-Column Method to Estimate In-Plane Critical Loads of Parabolic Fixed Steel Arches

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of critical loads for parabolic fixed steel tubular arches. An advanced nonlinearity finite-element program, taking into account the geometric and material dual nonlinearity, is employed. The influence of nonlinearity and initial crookedness on arch critical load is discussed. It is found that the effect of rise-to-span ratio on the critical load of arch is significant. Therefore, a new equivalent beam-column method is proposed for estimating the corresponding in-plane critical loads of arch, in which a buckling factor