ELASTIC FLEXURAL-TORSIONAL BUCKLING OF STRUCTURES BY COMPUTER

Flexural-torsional buckling considerations usually control the design of unbraced steel beams and beam-columns. Although there are many sour ces of information on elastic buckling, these are not comprehensive, a nd often difficult to access. This paper describes and exemplifies a s ingle comprehensive source of information, the computer program PRFELB for the elastic flexural-torsional buckling analysis of a wide range of beams, beam-columns, and plane frames. PRFELB is a user-friendly co mputer program, with menus and data and help screens that advise and a ssist in data input. Graphics can be used to check the geometry and to display the buckled shapes. The use of PRFELB will assist designers t o implement the method of design by buckling analysis which is permitt ed in modern structural steel design standards, either explicitly or i mplicitly. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd and Civil-Comp Ltd. All right s reserved.