Interaction between Local Plate Buckling and Overall Buckling in Thin-Walled Compression Members — Theories and Experiments

One of the imperatives of modern steel construction is the use of thin plates and the development of more efficient shapes in order to better compete with reinforced and prestressed concrete. For hot rolled shapes, the thinness b/t of their constituting walls is such that local buckling is excluded; on the contrary, an economical use of cold rolled light-gage steel requires that local buckling of the walls be tolerated in service and thus, that design be based on effective width of these buckled elements. These work in service in the postcritical range.