Design of Laterally Restrained Beams

Theoretical Background

Beams are structural members that support transverse loads and are therefore subjected
primarily to flexure, or bending. Beams may be cantilevered, simply supported, fixed ended
or continuous. If a substantial amount of axial load is also present, the member is referred
to as a beam–column. Although some degree of axial load will be present in any structural
member, in many practical situations this effect is negligible and the member can be treated
as a beam. The resistance of a steel beam in bending depends on the cross section
resistance or the occurrence of lateral instability.

As with a compression member, instability can be in an overall form or it can be local.

Overall buckling occurs 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.

Unlike a column, however, the compression portion of the cross section is restrained by the
tension portion, and the outward deflection (flexural buckling) is accompanied by twisting
(torsion). This form of instability is called lateral-torsional buckling (LTB). Lateral-
torsional buckling 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:
lateral bracing and torsional bracing.

Another type of instability occurs when one of the compression elements of the cross section
buckles. This type of buckling can be either compression flange buckling, called flange
local buckling (FLB), or buckling of the compression part of the web, called web local
buckling (WLB).
Whenever one of the following situations occurs in a beam, lateral-torsional buckling
cannot develop and assessment of the beam can be based just on the cross section resistance:

1- The cross section of the beam is bent about its minor z axis;
2- The beam is laterally restrained by means of secondary steel members, by a concrete
slab or any other method that prevents lateral displacement of the compressed parts
of the cross section;
3- The cross section of the beam has high torsional stiffness and similar flexural stiffness
about both principal axes of bending as, for example closed hollow cross sections.

The bending resistance of a cross section can be obtained from its plastic resistance, if the
section is compact (class 1 or 2 section), and made from material with a ductile behaviour,
as in the case of mild steel. On the other hand, in a slender cross sections (class 3 or 4
section) the bending resistance must be based on its elastic resistance.

The web provides most of the shear resistance, as one can see from Figure 3.18. A common
and conservative treatment assumes that the shear stress is uniformly distributed over the
depth of the web, and any shear resistance of the flanges can be ignored, unless dealing with
very thick flanges.

In a section subject to bending and shear force, the bending moment resistance may have to
be reduced to account for the presence of shear. I or H sections and rectangular hollow
sections are usually chosen for beams because they possess high major axis bending
resistance and bending stiffness.

Elastic and plastic bending moment resistance

The elastic bending resistance of a cross section is attained when the normal stress in the
point furthest away from the elastic neutral axis (e. n. a.) reaches the yield strength fy; the
corresponding bending moment is denoted the elastic bending moment Mel. The bending
moment that is able to totally plastify a section is denoted as the plastic bending moment
Mpl .
For symmetrical (I and H sections) and non-symmetrical (Tee section) cross sections, the
elastic bending moment and the plastic bending moment around the horizontal axis are given
by:

where,
I - second moment of area about the elastic neutral axis (coincident with the centroid of
the cross section);
v - the maximum distance from an extreme fibre to the same axis;
Wel = I/ v is the elastic bending modulus;
Ac and At - areas of the section in compression and in tension, respectively (of equal
value);
fy - the yield strength of the material;
 dc and dt - the distances from the centroid of the areas of the section in compression and
in tension, respectively, to the plastic neutral axis;
Wpl is the plastic bending modulus, given by the sum of first moment of areas Ac and At,
in relation to the plastic neutral axis (Wpl = Sc + St).
For symmetric sections, the previous calculations are simple because the plastic neutral axis
coincides with the elastic neutral axis and, consequently, dc = dt . When a cross section is
subjected to bi-axial bending, an interaction formula between the two bending moments
must be obtained.

2.2 Uniaxial bending

In the absence of shear forces, the design value of the bending moment MEd at each cross
section should satisfy (clause 6.2.5(1)):

where Mc.Rd is the design resistance for bending. The design resistance for bending about
one principal axis of a cross section is determined as follows (clause 6.2.5(2)):
2.3 Bi-axial bending

Design for bi-axial bending can be verified by plastic (class 1 or 2 cross sections) or elastic
(class 3 and 4 cross sections) interaction formulae, according to clause 6.2.9, as described
next:

where α and  are parameters that are dependent of the cross section’s shape and Mpl,y,Rd
and Mpl,z,Rd are the plastic moments of resistance about y and z, respectively. Parameters α
and  can conservatively take the value 1.0; in alternative, they can take the values defined
in clause 6.2.9(6), that is,
1- α = 2 and  = 1 for I or H sections,

2- α =  = 2 for circular hollow sections.

3- α =  = 1.66 for rectangular hollow sections.

Design for Shear

According to clause 6.2.6, the design value of the shear force, VEd, must satisfy the
following condition:

where Vc,Rd is the design shear resistance. Considering plastic design, in the absence of
torsion the design shear resistance, Vc,Rd, is given by the design plastic shear resistance,
Vpl,Rd, , given by the following equation:

where Av is the shear area, defined in a qualitative manner for an I section subjected to shear
in Figure 3.20.
The shear area corresponds approximately to the area of the parts of the cross section that
are parallel to the direction of the shear force. Clause 6.2.6(3) provides expressions for the
calculation of the shear area for standard steel sections.
Example (1): Design a simply supported beam carrying a concrete floor slab over a span
of 5.0 m in S275 steel. The permanent (dead) load, which includes an allowance for self
weight, is 14 kN/m, and the variable (imposed) load is 19 kN/m.

The partial factors for actions to be used for

ultimate limit state design are taken from the
National Annex to BS EN 1990 [4], Clause
NA 2.2.3.2.

Table NA.A1.2(b) gives the following

values:
Partial factor for permanent actions γG = 1.35
Partial factor for variable actions γQ =
1.50
Reduction factor ζ =
0.925

Choice of section
As the beam is fully restrained (due to the presence of the floor slab) the required bending
resistance is:

1- Assuming that the section is at least Class 2

2- Assuming that the maximum thickness is 16mm, fy = 275 N/mm2.

Therefore,
The lightest rolled section to satisfy this criterion is a 356 x 127 x 33 UB with a plastic
modulus,
Wpl,y = 543 cm3
From section tables:

For tf = 8.5 mm, fy = 275 N/mm2;

Determine section classification

From Table 2.1, the Class 1 limit for an outstand flange in compression is:
c/t = 9.0ε = 9.0 x 0.92 = 8.28 , 5.82 < 8.28, therefore the flange is Class 1
The Class 1 limit for an internal compression element subject to bending is:

c/t = 72 ε = 72 x 0.92 = 66.24

51.9 < 66.24, therefore the web is Class 1, Therefore the whole section is Class 1.

Shear Resistance
Bending Resistance

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Study Example 3.4 and 3.5 in the Text Book

Example 3.6:
The beam represented in Figure 3.32 is subjected to a vertical concentrated load of 20.0 kN
and a horizontal concentrated load of 6.0 kN, both already factored. Both loads are applied
at the free end of the cantilever. Assuming that the deformation is not critical, design the
cantilever beam using a rectangular hollow section in grade S 275 steel, considering:
a) plastic design;
b) elastic design.

As a rectangular hollow section has high resistance and bending stiffness about both axis (y
and z) and high torsional stiffness, it is assumed that the beam is not susceptible to lateral-
torsional buckling. Being a cantilever beam, with a considerable length, it is also assumed
that resistance to shear force is not critical. As deformations are also not critical in this
example, the design of the beam is based only on resistance to bi-axial bending of the most
critical cross section (section A at the support).

The design bending moments are My,Ed = 60.0 kNm and Mz,Ed = 18.0 kNm.

(a) Plastic Design

As the design is based on the plastic bending resistance, the section should be class 1 or 2.
Because the cross section is subject to bi-axial bending, a preliminary design for bending
about each axis separately is performed first:
Based on these results and bearing in mind that both bending moments My,Ed and Mz,Ed act
simultaneously, a RHS 200x100x8 mm is proposed with Wpl,y = 286.0 cm3, Wpl,z = 174.0
cm3 and A = 45.10 cm2.

For this cross section, the plastic verification of the bi-axial bending resistance is given by
clause 6.2.9.1(6). With

And α= = 1.66 (rectangular hollow section), the following condition must be satisfied:

The classification of the section in bi-axial bending can be done considering the most
unfavourable situation, where the longest side is totally compressed:

The cross section is class 1, therefore the design can be made considering the plastic
resistance and a RHS 200x100x8 cross section is acceptable.
 (b) Elastic Design
An elastic design is based on the elastic bending resistance, therefore the cross section need
not be higher than class 3. If the cross section is class 4, the resistance should be obtained
from a reduced effective cross section. As the section is under bi-axial bending, a
preliminary design about each axis separately is performed first:

Based on the previous conditions and as My,Ed and Mz,Ed act simultaneously, a RHS
250x150x6.3 mm is adopted with Wel,y = 334.0 cm3, Wel,z = 252.0 cm3 and A = 48.60 cm2.
The elastic resistance to bi-axial bending, according to clause 6.2.9.2, requires the
verification of the following condition:

where σx,Ed is the design value of the local longitudinal stress, given by:

As σx,Ed = 251.1MPa < 275MPa , the safety of the cross section is verified. The classification
of the cross section is made under a conservative assumption, which considers that the
longest side is totally under uniform compression (as would happen in plane bending around
z), hence:

Thus, cross section RHS 250x150x6.3 mm is class not higher than 3, and elastic design is
appropriate for this application.