Restraints and design of

restraints against
flexural torsional
buckling
Asst. Prof. Hang Thu Vu
hang@civil.uwa.edu.au
What is lateral or flexural-
torsional buckling of beams?

Slender beams buckle sideways even under

perfectly vertical loads.

In this context, slenderness is defined by

ratio

For example, if the beam bends about major

axis xx. Slender means ratio is more
than the nominal limit
y
r l /
axis minor about gyration of radius :
length segment beam :
where
r
l
r
l
Member behaviours

Look at movement of a cross section

The beam curves in the horizontal plane

(lateral displacement) and the vertical plane.

The beam rotates about the minor axis yy

(lateral rotation) and twists about its
longitudinal axis zz.
Simply supported beam
Cantilever beam
Effect on member moment
capacity

If the beam segment is full lateral restraint,

the moment capacity is the section capacity
that we derived in last lecture

If the beam segment is partially restrained or

not restrained, the moment capacity reduces
to
y e s
f Z M
factor reduction s slendernes a :
factor on modificati moment a : where
s
m
s s s m b
M M M

What do we focus in this
lecture?

Restraints:

Restraint overview

Beam segments and sub-segments

consideration

Definitions and usages for different types of

restraints

Full restraint

Partial restraint

Continuous lateral restraint

Lateral restraint
What do we focus in this
lecture?

Lateral rotation restraint

Examples: practise to distinguish restraint types

Design of restraints

Examples: practise to compute design loads acting on

different restraints

Member subjects to full lateral restraints

Study ways to generate full lateral restraint condition for

beam segments

Examples: practise to compute different length limits for

different cross section shape. Use the derived length
limit to restrain segment and sub-segment length.
Restraints
Overview

Restraint: An element or connection detail used to prevent

a beam cross-section from being affected by flexural
torsional buckling

Restraints at beam supports are often supplemented by

additional restraints along the span
Segment and sub-segments

Segmenta portion of a beam between fully

(F) or partially (P) or nil (U) restrained cross-
sections. Restraint combinations (left and
right) can be FF, PP or FP, FU, PU

Segment length, llength of the segment

Subsegmenta segment can be further

subdivided into portions by intermediate
lateral (L) restraints to the critical flange.
Restraint combinations can be FL, PL or LL.
Critical flange AS4100
Clause 5.5

Flange which displaces laterally and rotates

further than other flange(s)

It is compression flange of a simple beam

and tension flange of a cantilever (refer to
figures in slides 4, 5)

Critical section: the cross section that

governs the design, i.e. where M = M*
Full restraint (F)

Strongest configuration: no lateral

displacement of critical flange, no section
twisting (1)

Soften criteria: no lateral displacement of

critical flange, partially prevent section
twisting (2)

Soften criteria: no lateral displacement of a

point within cross section, no section twisting
(3)
Example

Is it F? Type (1), (2) or (3)?

Answer:

Left section: no lateral displacement for C, partially

prevent section twisting. Type (2)

Right: no lateral displacement of a point within cross

section. Full twisting. Hence not F
Partial restraint (P)

P: No lateral displacement of some point within cross

section, partially prevent section twisting

Example: Is it P?

Answer:

Left: bottom flange cannot displace. It partly prevents

whole section from twisting. P

Right: part of web can not displace. It partly prevents

whole section from twisting. P
Continuous lateral restraint

C: continuous restraint applied to the critical

flange by concrete slab, chequer plate, timber
floor. Segment ends must be fully or partly
restrained.

Example:
Lateral restraint (LR)

LR: no lateral displacement of the critical

flange. But twisting and rotation of the cross
section is allowable

Example:
Lateral rotation restraint

LR: significant restraint against lateral

rotation of the critical flange

Configuration:
Design restraints

Capacity of restraint element for

preventing lateral deflection for F, P, LR

When restraints are spaced more closely

than necessary, the design action for the
restraint element is reduced. Refer 5.4.3.1
supports element at the segment th the of action design the :
restraint the of action design the : where
025 . 0
*
*
* *
f
r
f r
N
N
N N
Example: Design force in lateral restraint
element

The restraint element is connected to 2 adjacent

segments. Segment 1: L1,UDL design load w. Segment
2: L2, design load P.

Solution:

Design action for the lateral restraint element is

'

4
025 . 0
8
025 . 0
max
2
2
1
*
PL
wL
N
r
Design of restraints (cont.)

Lateral restraints for parallel beams

Where a restraining element continues over

several parallel beams into a reaction point, it
is necessary to use factor 0.025 only for the
most critical beam segment and 0.0125 for
each of the remaining beams.
*
_ _
*
_ _
*
0125 . 0 025 . 0
seg other f crit most f r
N N N +
Example: Design force for lateral
restraint element for parallel
beams

Design loads on the 3

parallel beams are
uniform distributed load
w/2, w and w/2. Hence
the design load for the
restraint element is:
( )

,
_

+
8
2 /
0125 . 0 2
8
025 . 0
2 2
*
L w wL
N
r
Design restraints

Capacity of restraint element for preventing

section twisting for F, P

Similar as for lateral restraint. Clause 5.4.3.2

supports element at the segment th the of action design the :
restraint the of action design the : where
025 . 0
*
*
* *
f
r
f r
N
N
N N
Member subjects to full lateral
restraints
Moment capacity

If the beam segment is considered full

lateral restraint, flexural-torsional buckling
is effectively prevented and

The moment capacity is the section

capacity

There are three different cases for a

segment to be considered full lateral
restrained
y e s
f Z M

Segment with Continuous lateral restraint (C)

is considered to be fully lateral restraint. No
further requirement. Clause 5.3.2.2.

Segment with intermediate lateral restraints

(LR). Clause 5.3.2.3. (*)

Segment with full (F) or partial (P) restraint at

segment ends. Clause 5.3.2.4. (**)

Sub-segment length in (*) and segment

length in (**) must satisfy the length limit
stated in Clause 5.3.2.4. Different limit
formulas for different cross section shapes.
Example: Compute length limit
for universal beam

The beam is OneSteel 300Plus 310 UB 20.4.

It is restrained laterally by intermediate lateral
restraints (LR). Compute maximum spacing
for restraints so that no flexural-torsional
buckling occurs
Example (cont.)

Having:
f
y
= 320 MPa, r
y
= 38.3 OneSteel 300Plus 5
th
ed.

For the universal beam, the length limit is

Clause 5.3.2.4

The sub-segments subject to load Q, hence

Clause 5.3.2.4

Hence maximum sub-segment length is

( )
y
m y
f
r l
250
50 80 +
8 . 0
m

( ) mm 1354
320
250
8 . 0 50 80 3 . 38
max
+ l
Next lecture

We will study how to compute M

b
for member
with segment/sub-segment without full lateral
restraint

Reading:

AS 4100 - 1998.

Section 5 Member subject to bending. Clause

5.6 to 5.8

AS 4100 Suppl 1999. Section C5

Steel designers handbook, Chapter 5