EFFECT OF RANDOM AXIAL CURVATURE OF A THIN-WALLED BEAM ON ITS LOAD-CARRYING CAPACITY

Abstract The paper deals with the analysis of load-carrying capacity (LCC) of a thin-walled steel beam under compression the axis of which is randomly spatially curved. Open and close thin-walled crosssections are considered for the beam, respectively. The initial curvature is modelled by a random field. The Latin Hypercube Sampling Method was applied. The load carrying capacity is calculated by geometrically nonlinear solution using ANSYS software. The results are presented both in histograms and in a table. The LCC statistical characteristics of beams with open and closed crosssections have been compared. A comparison with the LCC according to the standards is carried out as well.