TAPERED THIN OPEN SECTION BEAMS ON ELASTIC-FOUNDATION .1. BUCKLING ANALYSIS

This work presents exact solutions for the coupled flexural-torsional axial buckling loads of tapered beams with a thin-walled open section resting on an elastic foundation. Vlasov's coupled differential equati ons are employed and an exact series solution is obtained for the case in which the cross-sectional dimensions are a polynomial function of the axial coordinate. A solution is also obtained by the finite elemen t method using tapered elements with cubic shape functions. The result s of axial buckling load are presented for different cross-sections fo r various boundary conditions at the ends. The effect of the parameter s of the elastic foundation is investigated. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevi er Science Ltd.