Out-of plane Behaviour of I-Section Beam-columns with Slender Web

Abstract

This article, being a companion paper of Gu and Chen (1997), concerns the out-of-plane behavior (lateral-torsional buckling) of welded I-section beam-columns with slender web. Theoretical and experimental studies show that relaxing the strict limit of web slenderness in traditional I-section beam-column design is possible and efficient. Web buckling/deflection does not seriously reduce the out-of-plane bearing capacity of such beam-columns. Design formulas are proposed for practical application to members with web slenderness 60 to 120.