Postbuckling Behavior of Thin-Walled Open Cross-Section Compression Members

ABSTRACT The postbuckling behavior of simply supported columns with thin-walled open cross section is investigated by means of the general nonlinear theory of elastic stability. Fourth-order terms in the series expansion of the total potential energy are disregarded. It is shown that interaction between linearly independent simultaneous buckling modes is responsible for neutral equilibrium at bifurcation if the column cross section has two axes of symmetry, and unstable if it has only one. If the buckling modes are not simultaneous, the equilibrium is neutral in both cases. Finally, the equilibrium at bifurcation is usually unstable if the cross section has no axis of symmetry.