SIN 323

STRUCTURAL STEEL DESIGN

THEME 6-4
LATERAL TORSIONAL BUCKLING
10. LATERAL TORSIONAL BUCKLING

Restraint to the compression flange of a flexural member may

be required to prevent excessive lateral deflection (buckling).
This lateral movement of the compression flange will cause
torsion in the beam due to the eccentricity of the applied load.
This is called lateral torsional buckling and may cause failure
of the beam.

Compression flange

Effect of buckling
reduced
10. LATERAL TORSIONAL BUCKLING

Beams where Iy < Ix, can become unstable during bending

by buckling in a combined horizontal displacement and
twisting (rotating) action (i.e. failure due to torsional
instability – lateral torsional buckling):

• Unstable compression zone

• Stable tension zone

• Buckling – stable tension zone resists the lateral

movement of the unstable compression zone

• Compatibility of the two zones is achieved by twisting

11. LATERAL RESTRAINTS
Reference: SANS 10162:1 SAISC Handbook: p. 5.19

Lateral restraint is offered by members connected to the compression

flange capable of resisting 0.02 times (2%) the force in the compression
flange at the point of lateral restraint.

SANS 10162:1 9.2.6 Simplified analysis

Bracing systems shall be proportioned to have a strength perpendicular

to the longitudinal axis of the braced member in the plane of buckling, at
least equal to 0,02 times the factored compressive force, at each brace
point, in the member or element being braced, unless a detailed analysis
is carried out in accordance with 9.2.7 to determine the appropriate
strength and stiffness of the bracing system.
11. LATERAL RESTRAINTS

Transverse ties

No triangulation – the beams

buckle sympathetically.
The buckling length is the full
span - L
Buckling mode

Beams

L
11. LATERAL RESTRAINTS

Transverse ties

Triangulation provides
Diagonal
effective lateral support to
bracing
midspan.
The buckling length is
Buckling mode
reduced to half the span L/2

Beams

L/2 L/2
11. LATERAL RESTRAINTS

As the compression flange initiates the lateral instability, the best

attachment point of lateral bracing is directly to the compression
flange.

Bracing attached to compression flange. Fully effective.

11. LATERAL RESTRAINTS

Bracing attached to shear centre. Partially effective but difficult to

quantify.

Bracing attached to Tension flange. Virtually ineffective

No lateral bracing
Lateral torsional buckling
Lateral restraints
12. EFFECTIVE LENGTH

Unrestrained simply supported beam (free to rotate in plan)

Fixed beam (not free to rotated in plan)

12. EFFECTIVE LENGTH

Effective length = k x unrestrained length

Restraint against lateral bending Effective length factor (k)
at support Loading condition
Normal Destabilizing
Unrestrained (free to rotate in plan) 1.0 1.2
Partially restrained 0.85 1.0
Fixed (not free to rotated in plan) 0.7 0.85

Destabilizing load: The load is applied to

the compression flange and would be free
to move laterally with the compression
flange if it was to buckle
Normal load: The load is applied to the
shear centre of the section
12. EFFECTIVE LENGTH

Beam ends are not restrained against torsion – effective length

factors to be increased by 20%

The compression flange will extend to a theoretical position

beyond the support.