TECHNICAL
ASYMMETRIC
AND SINGLY
SYMMETRIC
SECTIONS IN
COMPRESSION
PART TWO
By David Blitenthall,
development engineer, SAISC
The second article is the series looks at
how to assess the compression
resistance of singly symmetric sections
to SANS10162-1:2005. This will be done
by considering an example of a
concentrically loaded column made up
from double back-to-back unequal leg
angles. This will also afford the
opportunity to consider how one deals
with the fact that the angles must be
connected together.
Diagram 1
38 Steel Construction Vol. 32 No. 2 April 2008
Diagram 1 shows a pin-ended, double angle strut made from 100 x 65 x 10
angles separated by a 10mm space. The steel grade is S355JR, the length of the
member is 2.7m and there are two intermediate connectors at one third points.
Since this is one of the double angle sections listed in the compressive resistance
tables of the Southern African Steel Construction Handbook (SASCH), there is
generally no need to calculate section properties from first principals. However, the
torsional properties are not listed but the calculations are elementary and are based
on information contained in the Handbook for single angles. The St. Venant torsion
constant (J) for a double angle can be taken to be equal to twice the value for a
single angle. The warping torsional constant (Cw) for a double angle is negligable
and, for practical purposes, is frequently taken to be zero. The location of the shear
centre (s in diagram 1) is taken to be at the intersection of the axis of symmetry and
centre line of the horizontal legs. The section properties required are:
Area = A = 3.12 x 103mm2
Radius of gyration about the x-x axis = rx = 31.4mm [Table 4.22 – SASCH]
Radius of gyration about the y-y axis = ry = 28.0 mm [Table 4.22 – SASCH]
J = 2 (56.2 x 103) = 112.4 x 103mm4 [Table 2.14 – SASCH]
Cw ≈ 0mm 6
xo = 0mm
yo = ax – t/2 = 33.6 – 5 = 28.6 mm [ax from Table 2.14 – SASCH]
Two additional properties, as given in SANS10162-1:2005, are also required:
Polar radius of gyration about the shear centre1 =
Ω = 1 – [(xo2 + yo2)/ro2] = 0.684
One final section property that is also required (as will be shown later) is the
radius of gyration corresponding to the maximum slenderness ratio of a
single angle between interconnectors. This is: rv = 13.9 mm
As for all member design, the class of section must first be checked. A quick
check will show that the angle is not a class 4 section.
The next step is to investigate the elastic buckling strength of the member.
For buckling about the x-axis (viz. buckling in the direction of the axis of
symmetry), the elastic buckling stress is:
For buckling in the direction of the x-axis, which is not an axis of symmetry,
there is an interaction between flexural buckling about the y-axis and torsional
buckling. When assessing the flexural buckling strength, one needs to calculate
an equivalent (or modified) slenderness ratio according to Clause 19.1.4 b) of
SANS10162-1. The purpose of this equivalent slenderness ratio is to account for
the shear deformation of the connectors due to the relative deformation
between the two component members associated with buckling about the y-
axis. The equivalent slenderness ratio is calculated as follows:
 TECHNICAL

where Ly and ry refer to the double angle Having calculated the equivalent slenderness ratio, the critical elastic buckling
stress is easily assessed using the equations given in Clause 13.3.2.

and
where Lv and rv refer to the single angle
Therefore,

Before continuing with the number-crunching, it

is prudent to highlight a couple of important
points. When determining ρi (the maximum slen-
Since feyz < fex, torsional-flexural buckling is the critical failure mode. An equiva-
derness ratio of the component part of a built-up
lent non-dimensional slenderness ratio, λ, can then be calculated as the square root
member between the interconnectors), the effec-
of fy/fe which enables one to determine the compression resistance according to
tive length factor that has been used for this
Clause 13.3.1
particular example is based on the use of snug-
tight bolts. It is also interesting to note that
slenderness ratio for buckling about the y-axis and
the equivalent slenderness ratio differ by about
20%. An increase in the number of interconnec-
tors would obviously result in a reduction in the
equivalent slenderness ratio and a concomitant
1
For reasons unknown to anyone – including myself – I incorrectly referred to this
increase in the elastic buckling strength. It is also as the polar moment of inertia of the centroid about the shear centre in the
previous article in this series. Apologies for any confusion this caused.
a requirement of the code that “…the slenderness
ratio of any component, based on its least radius
of gyration and the distance between the inter-
connections, shall not exceed that of the built-up
member”. This requirement can be used to get an
initial guess as to the appropriate number of inter-
connectors to use. Simply ensure that the
effective length between interconnectors is less
than the slenderness ratio of the built-up member
multiplied by the least radius of gyration (rv) of a
single angle.

Those of you who are still reading (and haven’t

dozed off during the load shedding), may ask the
question: “What about flexural buckling about the
x-axis?”. When buckling takes place about the x-axis
for the double angles shown in diagram 1, the
purpose of the interconnectors is to make the angles
deflect about the same amount in the direction of
the y-axis, to maintain the back-to-back separation
between angles from changing and to help restrain
any rotation of the individual angles that might
occur if no connectors were present. There is no
relative deformation between the component parts
that produce shear forces in the interconnectors.
The compression resistance of the member about
the x-axis is therefore based on the actual slender-
ness ratio of the built-up member about this axis.
The only criterion affecting the number of connec-
tors for buckling about the x-axis is that the
slenderness of any component must not exceed the
overall slenderness.

Steel Construction Vol. 32 No. 2 April 2008 39