Flexural-torsional buckling loads for spatially coupled stability analysis of thin-walled composite columns (Q945924)

The aim is to present the so-called exact element stiffness matrix which can be used in analysing the stability problems of thin-walled composite I-beams made from fiber-reinforced laminates with non-symmetric lamination, considering the restrained warping effect. A significant difference of the present approach from other methods is in the solution of spatially coupled ordinary differential equations that arise in the solution process. Rather than using a discrete integration scheme or a method based on energy principles, the present approach applies direct evaluation schemes using symbolic manipulation. The important achievements of the present study are the following: {\parindent=5mm \begin{itemize}\item[1.] A general theory is developed for the spatially coupled stability analysis of thin-walled composite beam with non-symmetric lamination, including the restrained warping effect. \item[2.] A numerical method to exactly evaluate the element stiffness matrix of thin-walled composite beam with non-symmetric lamination is presented based on the power series expansions of displacement components. \item[3.] Closed-form analytical solutions for buckling loads of composite beams with orthotropic lamination and with various boundary conditions are derived. \item[4.] A finite element procedure based on Hermitian interpolation polynomials is presented. \item[5.] To demonstrate the accuracy and validity of the study, the buckling loads for doubly symmetric and mono-symmetric I-beams with symmetric and non-symmetric laminations subjected to an axial force are evaluated and compared with other analytical and finite element solutions. \end{itemize}}