Buckling Analysis of Thin-Walled Members with Variable Thickness

Abstract

An analytical procedure for the elastic buckling problems of thin-walled members with variable-thickness cross sections is presented in this paper, using the transfer-matrix method. The transfer matrix is derived from nonlinear differential equations for plate panels with variable thickness, by using the Fourier series expansions in the longitudinal direction and then applying a numerical integration in the lateral direction. In this method the end boundary conditions are restricted, and the effects of yielding and initial imperfection are not considered; however, closed-form results can be obtained with much smaller computational efforts, when compared with both the finite-element and finite-strip methods. The buckling loads and mode shapes of