Lecture Notes #5

Lateral buckling effect

Professor Guowei Ma
Office: 160
Tel: 61-8-6488-3102
Email: ma@civil.uwa.edu.au

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 Laterally Unrestrained Beams

Buckled point at midspan Clamped at

root
Lateral
deflection

Buckled Unloaded
position position

Twist
Dead weight
load applied
vertically

Response of a slender
cantilever beam to vertical loading - LTB

Lateral torsional buckling of beam

• When designing a steel beam, it is usual to think first of the need to
provide adequate strength and stiffness against vertical bending.

• Thus, a typical cross section of a beam normally has a stiffness in

the vertical plane that is much greater than that in the horizontal
plane.

• When a slender structural element is loaded in its stiff plane (axially

in the case of the strut), there exists a tendency for it to fail by
buckling in a more flexible plane (by deflecting sideways in the case
of a beam).

• It is illustrate the response of a slender cantilever beam to a vertical

end load. The phenomenon is termed lateral-torsional buckling
(LTB).

• LTB involves both lateral deflection and twisting about a vertical

axis through the web.
 M
P
B B
y y
x u
x

z z
u M
P Section BB
B B 

Strut buckling Beam (lateral torsional)

buckling
Section BB
EIx > EIy
EIx > GJ

Figure 35 Similarity between strut buckling and beam buckling

Lateral Torsional Stability
• Lateral-torsional instability influences
the design of laterally unrestrained
beams in much the same way that Clamped at
flexural buckling influences the design root
of columns.

• Thus, the bending strength in the

presence of lateral torsional instability
(Buckling Resistance Moment) would Buckled Unloaded
be a function of: position position

• beam’s (lateral) slenderness,

Dead weight
• end/support conditions, load applied
• shape of cross section, vertically

• bending moment profile along the

span, etc.
Influencing Factors:

(1) Unbraced span length

It is the distance between points at which lateral deflection is prevented.

(2) Shape of cross-section

The web and the tension flange are more important for relatively shallow
sections (eg. UCs) than for deep slender sections (eg. UBs).

(3) Distribution (profile) of Moments along the span

When moment is nonuniform, the force in the compression flange will no longer
be constant. The members are expected to be more stable than similar members
under a more high uniform pattern of moment.

(4) End restraint

End Restraints influence the buckling shape of the beam (Figure 36).

(5) Presence of lateral Restraints

If a beam is laterally continuous as illustrated in Figure 37, buckling
involves the whole span with the more stable segments restraining the
critical segment. A safe result may be obtained by basing design on the
strength of the weakest segment.
 Effect of end restraint in plan or elevation on LTB

Free to rotate about Free to rotate about Free to rotate about

both axes normal to horizontal axis only vertical axis only
longitudinal axis

Bending moment diagrams

LE LE LE
Buckled shapes (plan view) and effective lengths
 D Beam loaded by crossing
C
beams which provide lateral
B support to points B & C
A

B C
A D Plan view of buckled shape

B C
A D Elevation view of buckled shape

Note: Laterally, beam AD is a continuous beams with

intermediate supports at B and C.
Vertically, beam AD is a simply supported beam with
point loads at B and C.
 Section Restraint
• Full restraint (F)— prevents the lateral displacement of the critical flange of 
the cross‐section and prevents twisting of the section.
• Partial restraint (P)— prevents the critical flange of the cross‐section from 
displacing laterally and partly prevents the section from twisting.
• Lateral restraint (L)— prevents lateral displacement of the critical flange 
without preventing the twist of the section.
• Continuous lateral restraint (C)—a critical flange restraint provided 
continuously by a concrete slab, chequer plate or timber floor with the 
requirement that the segment ends are fully or partly restrained . 
• Lateral rotation restraint (LR)— prevents rotation of the critical flange about 
the section’s minor axis.
• Full lateral restraint—a beam or beam segment with F, P or L restraints to the 
critical flange  9
• Critical flange—the flange that would displace laterally and rotate further if 

the restraints were removed. This is the compression flange of a simple beam 

and tension flange of a cantilever.

• Critical section—the cross‐section that governs the beam design with the 

largest ratio of M* to Ms.

• Segment—a portion of a beam between fully (F) or partially (P) restrained 

cross‐sections. Restraint combinations (left and right) can be FF, PP or FP.

• Segment length, l—length of the beam between restraints type F, P or L. For a 

beam having FF or PP end restraints and no mid‐span restraints, the segment 

length is equal to the beam span. 
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 Member capacity
• Segments fully or partially restrained at both ends

M b   m s M s  M s

αm = a moment modification factor
α s = a slenderness reduction factor
Ms = the nominal section moment capacity determined in 
accordance with Clause 5.2 for the gross section

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 Moment Amplification Factor αm
(i) 1.0 
(ii) a value obtained from Table 5.6.1
(iii) 1.7 M m*
m   2.5
      
 M*
 2
2 * 2
M3 * 2
M4


(iv) a value obtained from an elastic 
buckling analysis
Mm* = maximum design bending moment in the segment
M2* , M4* = design bending moments at the quarter points of the segment
M3* = design bending moment at the midpoint of the segment;

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 Slenderness Reduction Factor αs
  2   
  
 s  0.6  M s  M
 3   s 
 M oa    M oa 
    
 
(A) Moa = Mo, where Mo is the reference buckling moment; or
(B) the value determined from an elastic buckling analysis in 
accordance with Clause 5.6.4.

  2 EI   2
EI  
M o    GJ  
y w
 
 Le 
2 2
 L e 

E, G  = the elastic moduli (see Clause 1.4)

Iy, J, and Iw = section constants (see Clause 1.4)
le  = the effective length determined in accordance with Clause 5.6.3.

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 Member Capacity
• Segments unrestrained at one end

  2  

Mb  sM s  M s

 s  0.6  M s   3   M s 

  M    M ob 

  ob    20
 Effective Length Le
Le  k t k l k r L
kt = a twist restraint factor given in Table 5.6.3(1)
kl = a load height factor given in Table 5.6.3(2)
kr = a lateral rotation restraint factor given in Table 5.6.3(3)

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