NONLINEAR INELASTIC ANALYSIS OF STEEL BEAM-COLUMNS .2. APPLICATIONS

In a companion paper, a nonlinear inelastic analysis of the biaxial be nding and torsion of beam-columns was presented. Approximations were n ot made in the early stage of the development, and thus some significa nt terms were retained. The present paper uses a finite-element proced ure of the companion paper to investigate numerically the elastic-plas tic behavior of I-beams. The problems include the large-deflection in- plane elastic and inelastic behavior of columns and beam-columns; tors ion of beams and beam-columns; eccentric and inclined loading of beams , the effects of initial crookedness and twist on the lateral buckling strength of beams; and the postbuckling flexural-torsional behavior o f beams. The flexural-torsional design strength of steel 1-beams is al so studied. The results indicate that the procedure is capable of carr ying out an accurate nonlinear analysis including postbuckling analysi s. It is demonstrated that ignoring some significant terms may lead to an overestimation of buckling loads, poor prediction of postbuckling behavior, and failure to find the correct maximum load capacity.