Lateral, local and distortional buckling of I-beams

Abstract A theoretical study of the elastic buckling modes of I-section beams under various loading conditions is presented. The analysis is based on energy considerations and the energy equations governing instability are derived using plate theory to allow for distortion of the cross-section. The resulting analysis is able to predict lateral, local and distortional buckling modes. The results are compared with classical lateral buckling solutions based on beam theory.