The elastic lateral postbuckling response of geometrically perfect bea
ms, under simultaneously uniform bending and axial compression, is exa
mined in the vicinity of the critical bifurcational state. The field e
quations, which include the warping effect of the cross section, are h
ighly nonlinear due to the nonlinear bending-moment-curvature relation
ship. The stability of the critical state associated with a stable bif
urcation point is analytically established using a comprehensive appro
ach. Therefore, these beam columns are not sensitive to initial imperf
ections. exhibiting postbuckling strength. However, the postbuckling e
quilibrium path is quite shallow (becoming more shallow with the incre
ase of the axial force), so the load-carrying capacity of such beam co
lumns above the critical state is rather limited. The analysis is supp
lemented by illustrative examples for I-beam columns for which the eff
ect of various parameters on the initial postbuckling path is also dis
cussed.