Unified Element and Section Approach to Design

of Cold-Formed Steel Structures

M. R. Bambach1
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Abstract: Slender open-section cold-formed steel members that contain flanges with edge stiffeners may buckle in different modes and
with mode interactions. The element design approach 共effective width method兲 has been shown to produce unconservative capacity
predictions for a particular class of such members. This paper presents a modification to the effective width method derived from an
investigation of the fundamental behavior of edge stiffened flange elements and sections that contain them. The modified element design
approach is validated against the results of 913 compression and bending members collected from the literature, where all section and
member buckling modes and interactions were evident. A section design approach is also presented which is directly in line with the
element approach. The unified element and section approach is shown to provide accurate and reliable design solutions for cold-formed
steel compression and flexural members. Proposals for the North American specification for cold-formed steel structures are presented.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲ST.1943-541X.0000120
CE Database subject headings: Cold-formed steel; Design; Buckling; Steel structures.
Author keywords: Cold-formed steel; Design; Elements; Effective width method; Buckling; Strength.

Introduction member is long, the two fundamental buckling modes of section

The effective width design approach has been successfully em-
ployed for more than 60 years for the design of thin-walled steel
structures, since the concepts’ inception in 1932 共Winter 1947;
von Karmen et al. 1932兲. The method has withstood the test of
time due to the fact that it is based on the fundamental behavior of
the component plates of a section. That is as a plate buckles, the
resulting transverse displacements render those portions ineffec-
tive in carrying load. The resulting stress distribution is well mod-
eled, but simplified to create a true representation of the behavior
while providing a rigorous design tool. The behavior of a section
may be determined from the fundamental behavior of the compo-
nent plates, thus the design approach is applicable to any arrange-
ment of plates. According to the classifications of the effective
width method, there exists three classes of element: stiffened el-
ements, unstiffened elements and partially stiffened elements. The
partially stiffened element was introduced by Desmond et al.
共1981兲. The fundamental behavior of unstiffened, partially stiff-
ened and stiffened elements is discussed in the following section.
In the context of the effective width method when a section is
subjected to compression and buckles 共assuming the elements are
slender兲, this is referred to as local buckling. Local buckling is
synonymous with section buckling, that is, deformations of the
component plates of the section occur and the buckling occurs at
the section level. If the section forms a member that is sufficiently
long the member will be susceptible to flexural-torsional buckling
or buckling at the member level. If the section is slender and the
1
Dept. of Civil Engineering, Monash Univ., VIC 3800, Australia.
E-mail: mike.bambach@eng.monash.edu.au
Note. This manuscript was submitted on October 8, 2008; approved
on July 22, 2009; published online on October 8, 2009. Discussion period
open until September 1, 2010; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Structural Engi-
neering, Vol. 136, No. 4, April 1, 2010. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445/2010/
4-343–353/$25.00.
and member buckling will interact. This interaction is in the form
of a superposition of the section buckling mode and the member
buckling mode, and is accounted for in the effective width
method by simply replacing the yield stress with the member
buckling stress in the element slenderness calculations.
In recent years a particular class of section that contains
flanges with edge stiffeners has been shown to be unconserva-
tively predicted with the effective width method. In a recent paper
by the writer 共Bambach 2009a兲 detailing a fundamental study of
elements simply supported on three sides with the remaining lon-
gitudinal edge containing an edge stiffener, it was shown that the
strength of a particular subset of these elements is overpredicted.
This subset is the partially stiffened element or an element where
the edge stiffener is inadequate in size to create a stiffened ele-
ment. That is, the effective width method accurately predicts the
strength of unstiffened and stiffened elements, however partially
stiffened elements are overpredicted. A simple, single design
equation was proposed in the form of a reduced Winter equation,
and was shown to fix this inadequacy in the effective width
method compared with a number of section tests by different
writers where this type of element was employed. In a further
paper 共Bambach 2009b兲, the fundamental behavior of such ele-
ments in sections was investigated experimentally using a photo-
grammetry technique to accurately describe the fundamental
buckling modes and their interactions. The reduced Winter equa-
tion approach was further validated with these tests. In this paper
the approach is formalized into a modified effective width method
for implementation with the North American specification 共NAS兲
for cold-formed steel structures 共NAS 2007兲, and compared with
a database of 913 compression and bending members 共from the
literature兲. The database includes members where all conceivable
failure modes occurred, including section buckling 共and interac-
tions兲, member buckling, and section and member buckling inter-
action. All available edge stiffener types were investigated for
channels and zees including simple lips, inclined lips, and com-
plex lips 共Fig. 1兲. It is further shown that the current section

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J. Struct. Eng., 2010, 136(4): 343-353


a b c d e f g h i NAS this is conservatively taken as the same as that of stiffened
Fig. 1. Types of sections with edge stiffened flanges included in
member database
approach in NAS is not in line with this modified effective width
method, and a new section approach is developed that is directly
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in line with the element approach. The unified element and sec-
tion approach is shown to provide accurate and reliable design
solutions for cold-formed steel compression and flexural members
and proposals for NAS are presented.
Behavior of Edge Stiffened Flanges and Sections
That Contain Them
General
In this section the behavior of edge stiffened flanges and sections
that contain them are summarized from the investigations in Bam-
bach 共2009a,b兲. In Bambach 共2009a兲 an extensive geometric and
material nonlinear finite element investigation of some 200 plates
simply supported on three sides with the remaining 共longitudinal兲
edge stiffened with simple and complex edge stiffeners was per-
formed using ABAQUS 共2007兲. The numerical analyses were ini-
tially developed on and validated against an extensive
experimental investigation of plates simply supported on three
sides with the remaining 共longitudinal兲 edge free 共Bambach and
Rasmussen 2004a,b,c兲, then extended to edge stiffened plates by
simply adding edge stiffeners to the models in increasing size
共from 0兲. Seven different plate slenderness values were investi-
gated, and the results for the buckling modes, postbuckled de-
formed shapes, longitudinal stress distributions and redistribution
behavior, and ultimate loads were used to describe the behavior of
such elements and derive design rules to predict their strength. In
Bambach 共2009b兲 a selected number of channel sections with
edge stiffened flanges were tested in compression to illustrate the
fundamental behaviors of edge stiffened flanges determined in
Bambach 共2009a兲. A three-dimensional 共3D兲 photogrammetry
system was employed to provide detailed full-surface deformation
profiles of the flanges and webs, and the fundamental behavior
of the edge stiffened plates in Bambach 共2009a兲 were shown to
accurately describe the behavior of edge stiffened flanges in sec-
tions. Some interesting findings with respect to element interac-
tions were also determined in the investigation.
Edge Stiffened Plates
It was shown in Bambach 共2009a兲 that a three sided simply sup-
ported plate with zero edge stiffener will behave as an unstiffened
element, with an adequate sized edge stiffener the plate will be-
have as a stiffened element, and with an intermediate size stiff-
ener the plate will behave as a partially stiffened element. An
unstiffened element deforms in the well documented mode 共Bam-
bach and Rasmussen 2004a,b,c兲 of a single half-wavelength of
buckle, which involves rotation of the plate about the supported
longitudinal edge and transverse displacements of the free edge.
In the postbuckling regime the nature of the single half-
wavelength buckling mode is large transverse deformations and
consequently extensive redistribution of stress 共Bambach and
Rasmussen 2004d; Bambach 2006兲, which provides a post-
344 / JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / APRIL 2010
J. Struct. Eng., 2010, 136(4): 343-353
buckling strength reserve greater than that of stiffened elements
共Bambach and Rasmussen 2004b; Kalyanaraman et al. 1977兲. In
elements. Plates with adequate sized stiffeners 共or adjacent ele-
ments兲 along their longitudinal edges are stiffened elements and
deform in the well known mode of multiple half-wavelengths of
buckle approximately equal to the plate width, which involves no
rotation of the plate about a longitudinal edge. In the postbuckling
regime stress redistribution will occur as transverse buckling dis-
placements develop 共Bambach and Rasmussen 2004d; Bambach
2006兲, and the postbuckling strength is well know to be accu-
rately predicted using the Winter Eq. 共1兲 共Winter 1947兲. The ad-
equate size of a stiffener to create a stiffened element was
determined by Desmond et al. 共1981兲 and is used in NAS. In Eq.
共1兲 ␳ is the effective width factor and ␭ is the plate slenderness. In
Eq. 共2兲 f y is the yield stress of the plate and f cr is the critical
elastic buckling stress. In Eq. 共3兲 k is the elastic buckling coeffi-
cient, E is the Youngs modulus, ␷ is Poissons ratio, t is the plate
thickness, and b is the plate width.
Plates with intermediate sized edge stiffeners deform in a com-
bination of the unstiffened and stiffened element modes, whereby
the flange deforms with buckles in multiple half-wavelengths
共stiffened mode兲, superimposed upon a half-wave of transverse
deformation of the edge supported edge of the flange 共unstiffened
mode兲. This mixed mode is termed 共Bambach 2009a兲 the partially
stiffened element mode, and due to the interaction of the unstiff-
ened and stiffened element modes present the postbuckling stress
redistribution is not as extensive as for the individual modes sepa-
rately, and consequently a reduced postbuckling strength Eq. 共4兲
was proposed and validated in Bambach 共2009a兲. With regards to
the buckling stress, the buckling coefficient k in Eq. 共3兲 was
shown to be the well known values of 0.43 and 4.0 for unstiffened
and stiffened elements, respectively, and between 0.43 and 4.0 for
partially stiffened elements. The buckling coefficient Eq. 共5兲 for
uniformly compressed elements with an edge stiffener in NAS
was shown to accurately and conservatively predict those deter-
mined in the numerical investigation 共Bambach 2009a兲. In Eq.
共5兲, Is and Ia are the moment of inertia of the stiffener and the
adequate sized stiffener, respectively. As one would expect, for
edge stiffener sizes approaching 0 the behavior tends toward the
unstiffened element mode with little stiffened element mode
present, and the buckling coefficient tends toward 0.43. For edge
stiffener sizes approaching the adequate size, the behavior tends
toward the stiffened mode and the buckling coefficient tends to-
ward 4.0. These fundamental element behaviors are summarized
in Fig. 2共a兲 from Bambach 共2009a,b兲 where the deformed shapes
at ultimate are shown for the three element classes. It is important
to note that these distinctions are made at the ultimate condition,
since as discussed in Bambach 共2009a兲 in the postultimate condi-
tion all edge stiffened elements will develop the unstiffened mode
of deformation 共transverse displacements of the edge stiffened
edge兲, as the element collapses in a plastic mechanism. The non-
dimensional strengths of unstiffened, partially stiffened and stiff-
ened elements compared with Eqs. 共1兲 and 共4兲 are summarized in
Fig. 3, where it is shown that the Winter Eq. 共1兲 adequately pre-
dicts the strength of unstiffened and stiffened elements, and the
reduced Winter Eq. 共4兲 provides a lower bound to the strength of
partially stiffened elements. Eq. 共4兲 provides a lower bound due to
the fact that as the edge stiffener size approaches 0 or the ad-
equate size, the element behavior approaches that of unstiffened
or stiffened elements, respectively, and consequently the strength
approaches the Winter Eq. 共1兲. Full details of the buckling modes,
postbuckled deformed shapes, longitudinal stress distributions
 冢 冣
Unstiffened elements Partially stiffened elements Stiffened elements 4/3
0.22
1−
␭
␳= when 0.43 ⬍ k ⬍ 4.0 共4兲
␭

k = 0.43 + 3.57 冉冊Is

Ia
n
ⱕ 4.0 共5兲
b
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Edge Stiffened Flanges in Sections

c
No edge stiffener Inadequate edge stiffener
Fig. 2. Fundamental behavior of elements in compression at ultimate
condition; 共a兲 plate elements simply supported with longitudinal edge
stiffened with edge stiffener of increasing size from nonlinear FEM
共Bambach 2009a兲; 共b兲 flange element section with increasing edge
stiffener size from nonlinear FEM of tests in Bambach 共2009b兲; and
共c兲 isoplots of transverse flange displacement from photogrammetry
of flange with increasing edge stiffener size in tests in Bambach
共2009b兲
and redistribution behavior, and ultimate loads for the three ele-
ment classes are given in Bambach 共2009a兲. These fundamental
element behaviors are shown to exist in the same manner when
the edge stiffened plate forms the flange of a section in Bambach
共2009a兲, where numerical models of section tests of channels with
edge stiffened flanges in Lim 共1985兲, Polyzois and Charnvarnich-
borikarn 共1993兲, Kwon and Hancock 共1992兲, and Seah et al.
共1993兲 are developed
0.22
1−
␭
␳= when k = 0.43 and k = 4.0
␭ section.
Adequate edge stiffener In Bambach 共2009b兲, a select number of channel sections with
edge stiffened flanges were tested in compression to illustrate the
fundamental behaviors of edge stiffened flanges determined in
Bambach 共2009a兲. A 3D photogrammetry system was employed
to provide detailed full-surface deformation profiles of the flanges
and webs. The three fundamental modes of unstiffened, partially
stiffened, and stiffened element behaviors were documented in
the tests, and the behaviors of such modes were shown to be in
agreement with the findings of the study of edge stiffened plates
in Bambach 共2009a兲. The complicated buckling mode interactions
of the unstiffened and stiffened modes in partially stiffened ele-
ments were fully documented with the precise measurements of
the photogrammetry technique. Examples of the behaviors of
edge stiffened flanges in sections are shown in Fig. 2共c兲 from the
tests and Fig. 2共b兲 from nonlinear FEM models of the tests, and
are fully described in Bambach 共2009b兲. It was shown in Bam-
bach 共2009b兲 that the design of edge stiffened flanges may be
accurately and reliably achieved based on the design solution de-
veloped based on the edge stiffened plate behavior in Bambach
共2009a兲 and given by Eqs. 共1兲–共5兲. The section design may be
slightly conservative due to the assumption based on the funda-
mental plate behavior that the longitudinal edges are simply sup-
ported, whereas in a section some rotational restraint may exist
共1兲 along these junctions between elements as discussed in the next

␭ 冑 fy
f cr
共2兲
Interaction between Elements in a Section
When considering the interaction of adjacent elements in sections,
one must differentiate between element interaction and rotational

f cr =
k␲2E t
12共1 − ␷ 兲 b
2 冉冊 2
共3兲
restraint between elements. If full rotational restraint is applied to
the longitudinal edge共s兲 of uniformly compressed unstiffened and
stiffened elements, the buckling coefficients increase from 0.43 to
1.28, and from 4.0 to 6.97, respectively 共Bulson 1970兲. The rota-
tional restraint that exists between elements in a section depends
1.0
Winter curve for stiffened and unstiffened elements (Eqn 1)
on the relative slenderness of the elements. If both elements are
0.9 Modified Winter curve for partially stiffened elements (Eqn 4) equally slender the edge is approximately simply supported,
Stiffened and unstiffened elements (k=0.43, k=4.0)
0.8 Partially stiffened elements (0.43<k<4.0) whereas if one element is fully effective the adjacent element
edge will be approximately fully rotationally restrained 共Bambach
Capacity/Yield capacity

0.7

0.6 2009c兲. If one considers an element with a slenderness of 1.0, the

0.5 difference in the strength of simply supported and rotationally
0.4 restrained unstiffened and stiffened elements is 22 and 17%, re-
0.3
spectively 关using the increased buckling coefficients in Eqs.
0.2
共1兲–共3兲兴. It should be noted that in reality thin-walled elements
0.1
suffer from imperfections which will decrease the buckling stress
of the element, thus the conservative prediction for the buckling
0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 stress of a perfect plate may be quite close or even over-predict
Slenderness the buckling stress of the real plate 共Bambach 2009b,c兲.
With regards to element interaction, while it may certainly be
Fig. 3. Nondimensionalized compression strength of three element more convenient to use a single value for the buckling stress of a
classes 共unstiffened, partially stiffened, and stiffened兲 共Bambach section, this is only accurate when the buckling stresses of the
2009a兲, compared with Winter Eq. 共1兲 and reduced Winter Eq. 共4兲 component elements are similar. The more dissimilar the buckling

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J. Struct. Eng., 2010, 136(4): 343-353

 Table 1. Summary of Compression Member Database Compared with Various Design Approaches; Letter after Author Reference Indicates Section Type
from Fig. 1; EWM= Effective Width Method; D Check= Distortional Check Given by Clauses C4.2 and C3.1.4; DSM= Direct Strength Method; Nt / Nd Is
Test/Predicted Compression Strength Ratio
Proposed
rational
NAS 共2004兲 NAS 共2007兲 NAS 共2007兲 Proposed analysis
Number EWM Nt / Nd EWM+ D check Nt / Nd DSM Nt / Nd EWM+ Eq. 4 Nt / Nd Nt / Nd
Researcher members 共COV兲 共COV兲 共COV兲 共COV兲 共COV兲
Mulligan 共1983兲—a 24 1.06共0.06兲 1.13共0.11兲 1.14共0.11兲 1.11共0.07兲 1.41共0.21兲
Mulligan 共1983兲—a 13 0.97共0.04兲 0.97共0.04兲 1.10共0.07兲 1.01共0.07兲 1.28共0.07兲
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Thomasson 共1978兲—a 13 0.88共0.07兲 0.91共0.09兲 1.04共0.08兲 0.91共0.11兲 1.39共0.07兲

Loughlan 共1979兲—a 33 0.89共0.17兲 0.89共0.17兲 0.97共0.16兲 0.89共0.17兲 0.97共0.17兲
Young and Hancock 共2003兲—g, h 42 1.08共0.15兲 1.13共0.12兲 1.08共0.09兲 1.16共0.11兲 1.16共0.16兲
Young and Yan 共2002兲—a 66 1.10共0.08兲 1.12共0.07兲 1.11共0.06兲 1.14共0.09兲 1.25共0.10兲
Chilver 共1953兲—a 16 0.99共0.12兲 1.02共0.12兲 1.03共1.11兲 1.00共0.12兲 1.09共0.12兲
Zaras and Rhodes 共1987兲—a, e 4 0.99共0.07兲 0.99共0.07兲 1.07共0.14兲 0.99共0.07兲 1.29共0.07兲
Weng and Pekoz 共1988兲—a 13 1.01共0.02兲 1.02共0.02兲 1.02共0.02兲 1.01共0.02兲 1.01共0.02兲
Lau and Hancock 共1988兲—a, e 33 1.11共0.07兲 1.23共0.10兲 1.22共0.11兲 1.16共0.07兲 1.17共0.07兲
Lim 共1985兲—e 18 1.02共0.09兲 1.15共0.24兲 1.08共0.30兲 1.06共0.08兲 1.11共0.12兲
Polyzois and Charnvarnichborikarn 共1993兲—i 65 0.87共0.08兲 0.93共0.13兲 0.94共0.14兲 0.89共0.08兲 0.94共0.18兲
Kwon and Hancock 共1992兲—a 5 0.92共0.03兲 1.23共0.07兲 1.23共0.07兲 1.13共0.03兲 1.27共0.03兲
Seah et al. 共1993兲—b 24 0.94共0.12兲 0.94共0.12兲 0.92共0.10兲 0.99共0.17兲 1.04共0.07兲
Seah et al. 共1993兲—f 26 0.99共0.16兲 0.99共0.16兲 0.99共0.11兲 1.02共0.19兲 1.10共0.10兲
Young and Yan 共2004兲—b 86 0.98共0.08兲 1.00共0.08兲 1.20共0.14兲 0.98共0.08兲 1.37共0.12兲
Lau and Hancock 共1988兲—c, d 35 1.02共0.09兲 1.05共0.07兲 1.02共0.06兲 1.02共0.09兲 1.01共0.06兲
All 516 0.997(0.129) 1.038(0.147) 1.075(0.152) 1.025(0.130) 1.162(0.184)
All Reliability: 2.44 2.51 2.61 2.50 2.71

stresses of the elements the more inaccurate becomes the assump-
tion of a single buckling stress for the collection of elements. As
an extreme example, consider a channel with a very slender
flange which buckles at 10 MPa, and with a web that is fully
effective 关which is heavily stiffened with discrete longitudinal
stiffeners or thickened with bonded/screwed plates for example,
as in the tests in Desmond et al. 共1981兲兴. When tested, the web
will not buckle but the flange will buckle at 10 MPa. If one
assumes that the whole section buckles at 10 MPa, the strength of
the web will be conservative by 78% 关using Eqs. 共1兲–共3兲 and
assuming a yield stress of 400 MPa兴. As the buckling stress of the
flange approaches 0, the conservatism of the strength prediction
of the web approaches 100%. Thus the conservatism of assuming
a single buckling stress for a section may far exceed the conser-
vatism of ignoring rotational restraint.
In the study of channel sections with edge stiffened flanges in
Bambach 共2009b兲, for a number of sections the web width was
doubled while the flange and lip dimensions remained the same to
illustrate the above discussion on element interaction. Using the
detailed full-surface deformed profiles from the photogrammetry
technique, it was shown that the flanges and webs may buckle at
different stresses and in different half-wavelengths. For example,
in Bambach 共2009b兲, two sections had nominal flange and lips of
60⫻ 15 mm that buckled close to the yield stress, whereas the
60-mm web buckled at 498 MPa and the 120-mm web buckled at
166 MPa. Similarly, further two sections had nominal flanges and
lips of 120⫻ 15 mm that buckled between 43 and 56 MPa,
whereas the 120-mm web buckled at 161 MPa and the 240-mm
web buckled at 37 MPa. These comparisons are detailed in Table
3 of 共Bambach 2009b兲 where it is also shown that Eq. 共3兲 共assum-
ing simple support along the element longitudinal edges兲 slightly
underpredicts the buckling stress of the webs and slightly over-
predicts the buckling stress of the flanges. The section buckling
stresses calculated with either finite element or finite strip soft-
ware were reasonable for the sections where the elements buckled
at similar stresses however had little relevance to the sections
where the elements buckled at very different stresses 共Bambach
2009b兲.
Element Design Approach
General
In this section the current effective width approach used in NAS
is briefly described, and relevant recent changes are discussed to
provide a brief history of the method and its recent developments
共since 1996兲. The current effective width method and its recent
developments are compared with a database from the literature of
516 compression members and 397 flexural members consisting
of unperforated sections that contain edge stiffened flanges. The
database is predominantly experimental, however a number of
finite element studies have been included where the results have
specifically been validated against experimental data then ex-
tended with a parametric study. The types of sections in the da-
tabase are summarized in Fig. 1. Both the compression and
flexural databases consist of both stub and long members, such
that all types of section and member buckling modes and their
interactions are represented. The full database results and speci-
men details of all 913 members and the comparisons of the results
with all the design methodologies are presented in Bambach
共2008兲. Summaries of the comparisons are presented in Tables 1
and 2.

346 / JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / APRIL 2010

J. Struct. Eng., 2010, 136(4): 343-353

 Table 2. Summary of Flexure Member Database Compared with Various Design Approaches; Letter after Author Reference Indicates Section Type from
Fig. 1; EWM= Effective Width Method; D Check= Distortional Check Given by Clauses C4.2 and C3.1.4; DSM= Direct Strength Method; M t / M d Is
Test/Predicted Flexural Strength Ratio
American
Iron and Steel
Institute Proposed
共AISI兲 NAS 共2007兲 Proposed rational
共1996兲 NAS 共2001兲 EWM+ h / b + D check NAS 共2007兲 EWM+ h / b + Eq. 4 analysis
Number EWM M t / M d EWM+ h / b M t / M d Mt / Md DSM M t / M d Mt / Md Mt / Md
Researcher members 共COV兲 共COV兲 共COV兲 共COV兲 共COV兲 共COV兲
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Cohen 共1987兲––a 14 1.15共0.06兲 1.15共0.06兲 1.16共0.06兲 1.15共0.06兲 1.19共0.07兲 1.26共0.10兲

Desmond et al. 共1978兲––a 4 1.14共0.07兲 1.14共0.07兲 1.14共0.08兲 1.12共0.11兲 1.18共0.11兲 1.20共0.11兲
LaBoube and Yu 共1978兲––a 104 1.03共0.08兲 1.04共0.07兲 1.13共0.05兲 1.14共0.05兲 1.08共0.08兲 1.25共0.08兲
Moreya and Pekoz 共1993兲––a 6 0.87共0.09兲 0.87共0.09兲 0.95共0.09兲 0.95共0.09兲 0.88共0.10兲 1.07共0.09兲
Rogers 共1995兲––a 118 1.00共0.13兲 1.03共0.11兲 1.15共0.10兲 1.14共0.10兲 1.04共0.11兲 1.19共0.12兲
Schardt and Schrade 共1982兲––i 25 1.03共0.11兲 1.03共0.11兲 1.10共0.11兲 1.11共0.10兲 1.10共0.12兲 1.26共0.06兲
Schuster 共1992兲––a 10 0.79共0.05兲 0.88共0.06兲 0.96共0.05兲 0.96共0.05兲 0.88共0.06兲 1.11共0.04兲
Shan et al. 共1994兲––a 58 0.98共0.13兲 1.00共0.11兲 1.07共0.07兲 1.08共0.07兲 1.02共0.11兲 1.16共0.10兲
Willis and Wallace 共1990兲––a 4 0.94共0.07兲 0.94共0.07兲 1.03共0.09兲 1.04共0.08兲 0.95共0.08兲 1.16共0.09兲
Winter 共1947兲––a 15 1.07共0.05兲 1.07共0.05兲 1.08共0.4兲 1.05共0.04兲 1.10共0.07兲 1.05共0.07兲
Put et al. 共1999兲––a 12 1.04共0.26兲 1.04共0.26兲 1.05共0.25兲 0.95共0.25兲 1.06共0.24兲 1.02共0.18兲
Lindner 共1994兲––a 27 1.20共0.17兲 1.20共0.17兲 1.20共0.17兲 1.09共0.14兲 1.21共0.16兲 1.18共0.16兲
All 397 1.022(0.139) 1.039(0.124) 1.115(0.122) 1.094(0.114) 1.066(0.128) 1.183(0.121)
All Reliability: 2.25 2.39 2.68 2.64 2.49 2.92

Current Effective Width Method
The strength of the effective width method lies in the fact that it
treats the elements of the section independently, which is a true
representation of the section behavior as discussed in the previous
section, and the behavior of elements is very well understood due
to the vast body of literature on the fundamental behavior of
plates. The effective width method is based upon classical explicit
elastic buckling solutions which are used in conjunction with an
empirical approximation of the postbuckled stress state at the ul-
timate condition. The postbuckled stress state is a rational ap-
proximation of the real, highly nonlinear stress state, the equation
for which was developed by von Karmen et al. 共1932兲 and Winter
共1947兲 关Eq. 共1兲兴. The approach assumes that the buckled regions
of the plate element are ineffective in carrying axial stress, which
is a true representation of the stress state since when the element
buckles the stress redistributes around the buckled regions, in
much the same way stress redistributes around a hole. While the
Winter equation is empirical, it was calibrated and validated
against accurate plate test data, and provides a realistic and ratio-
nal representation of the stress state in a plate at its ultimate
共postbuckled兲 condition. More recently the Winter equation for
pure compression was modified for unstiffened elements sub-
jected to nonuniform compression and flexure based on plate tests
共Bambach and Rasmussen 2004a,b,c兲, which was included in the
2004 supplement to NAS. While the nonlinear axial stress state in
a buckled plate at ultimate has not been validated experimentally
as yet, extensive validation of uniformly and nonuniformly com-
pressed elements and sections that contain them have been per-
formed with finite element studies validated against plate and
section experimental data 共Bambach and Rasmussen 2004d; Bam-
bach 2006兲.
Other recent modifications included in NAS pertain to flexural
members, where in the 2001 edition of NAS the provisions for
sections in flexure with a web depth to flange width ratio 共h / b兲
greater than 4 from the Canadian specification 共Canadian Stan-
dards Association 1994兲 were adopted. While this approach is not
rational, it did provide a partial solution to the noted 共Rogers
1995兲 unconservatism in the provisions for flexural members, par-
ticularly for sections with high h / b ratios. Such sections are prone
to so-called flange-web distortional buckling 共Rogers 1995兲,
where the web distorts and the flange-web junction does not ro-
tate 共the section “rolls over”兲. This is distinct from lip-flange dis-
tortional buckling where the flange rotates about the flange-web
junction, although this distinction between distortional buckling
modes has been somewhat overlooked since its original definition
in Rogers 共1995兲. Fundamentally, the flange-web distortional
buckling of the section is in fact the web behaving as a partially
stiffened element in flexure, that is the size of the flange 共or flange
and lip兲 is not sufficient to prevent lateral displacement of the
edge of the web in compression 共Bambach 2009c兲. The adopted
rule for such elements 共referred to in Tables 1 and 2 as “h / b”兲,
reduced some of the unreliability associated with such sections.
The comparison of the American Iron and Steel Institute 共AISI兲
共1996兲 effective width method and the NAS 共2007兲 effective
width method with the flexural database is shown in Table 2,
where the mean test/predicted ratio increases from 1.022 to 1.039,
the coefficient of variation 共COV兲 decreases from 0.139 to 0.124,
and the reliability index for a capacity factor of 0.9 for flexural
members increases from 2.25 to 2.39 but remains less than the
accepted value of 2.5. Thus the h / b rule improved the effective
width method, however did not sufficiently to provide an accept-
able reliability. A further modification is required in order for the
effective width method to be suitably reliable. When the current
effective width method is compared against the database for com-
pression members in Table 1, it is clear that for compression the
effective width method also requires modification. The mean test/
predicted ratio, COV, and reliability index for a capacity factor of
0.85 are 0.997, 0.129, and 2.44, respectively, such that the method
is not sufficiently reliable.
In response to the lack of sufficient reliability of the effective
width method, the latest version of NAS 共2007兲 provides addi-
tional Clauses C4.2 and C3.1.4 for compression and flexural

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J. Struct. Eng., 2010, 136(4): 343-353

 Table 3. Summary of Proposed Element 共Modified Effective Width Method兲 and Section 共Design by Rational Buckling Analysis of Section兲 Design
Procedures for Compression Members 共for Flexure the Lateral-Torsional Buckling Equations for Flexural Members in C3.1.2 Should Be Used in Place of
Those in Row C兲; Either Element Approach or Section Approach May Be Used for Member Design, according to Designer’s Preference
Strength 共␳兲 Element design Section design
A Unstiffened and stiffened elements Section buckling
␳1 = 1 ␭s ⱕ 0.673 k = 0.43 and 4.0 Indicated by only stiffened or unstiffened buckling
Is = 0 and ⱖIa modes in the elements of the section
0.22
1− fⴱ= fy fⴱ= fy
␭s ␳1 ␳1
␳1 =
␭s
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␭s ⬎ 0.673
B Partially stiffened elements Section interaction buckling
␳2 = 1 ␭s ⱕ 0.673 0.43⬍ k ⬍ 4.0 Indicated by a combination of stiffened and unstiffened
0 ⬍ Is ⬍ Ia buckling modes in one or more of the elements of the section

冤 冥
4/3
0.22
1− fⴱ= fy fⴱ= fy
␭s ␳2 ␳2
␳2 =
␭s
␭s ⬎ 0.673
C Member buckling Member buckling
2
␳3 = 0.658␭m ␭m ⱕ 1.5 fⴱ= fn fⴱ= fn
␳ = minimum共␳1 , ␳2 , ␳3兲 ␳ = minimum共␳1 , ␳2 , ␳3兲
0.877
␳3 =
␭m
2

␭m ⱕ 1.5
Calculation of f cr: f cr is calculated for each element f cr is calculated for the entire cross section: for length
independently using; independent buckling analyses; 共Thinwall, CUFSM, FSM,

冉冊 2 GBT etc.兲
k␲2E t
f cr = n
12共1 − ␷2兲 b
兺f
1
cri

f cr =
n
where f cri are the elastic buckling stresses of n different
section buckling modes for length dependent buckling
analyses; 共FEM, SFSM, etc.兲
f cr = f cr

冑 冑
Pn = ␳Af ⴱ
fⴱ fy
Section buckling: ␭s = Member buckling: ␭m =
f cr fⴱ

members, respectively, based on a design check for distortional
buckling of sections that contain flanges with edge stiffeners. Dis-
tortional buckling in the context of NAS refers to when a section
buckles such that the edge stiffened edge of the flange displaces
laterally 关lip-flange distortional buckling in sections in flexure;
Rogers 共1995兲兴. Such an approach is based on the section method
of design 关direct strength method 共DSM兲兴, which is included in
the Appendix of NAS and is based on a section approach whereby
the whole section is assumed to buckle at one value of stress. The
section approach 共DSM兲 and the element approach 共effective
width method兲 are fundamentally different approaches as dis-
cussed in detail in the next section, such that Clauses C4.2 and
C3.1.4 are not modifications to the element approach of design.
Rather than modifications to the effective width method, they are
a design fix in lieu of a more rational element approach. The
mean test/predicted ratio, COV, and reliability index for compres-
sion and flexural members becomes 1.038, 0.147, and 2.51 and
1.115, 0.122, and 2.68, respectively 共Tables 1 and 2兲, such that
NAS becomes sufficiently reliable for the general design of cold-
formed steel members.
Modified Effective Width Method
In response to the lack of sufficient reliability of the effective
width method for sections that contain edge stiffeners, a funda-
mental study of edge stiffened elements and sections that contain
them was undertaken by the writer 共Bambach 2009a,b兲 as dis-
cussed in a previous section. The results of these investigations
provided a modified Winter strength equation for such elements,
which was validated against the element investigation 共Bambach
2009a兲 and a selected number of section tests by the author 共Bam-
bach 2009b兲 and others 共Lim 1985; Polyzois and Charnvarnich-
borikarn 1993; Kwon and Hancock 1992; Seah et al. 1993兲. The
modified effective width approach is summarized in Table 3 共for
compression兲. It is noted that subject to Eq. 共5兲, a partially stiff-
ened element may be defined as when the moment of inertia of
the edge stiffener is less than the adequate value 共0 ⬍ Is ⬍ Ia兲,
which is the same as the definition with respect to the buckling
coefficient 共0.43⬍ k ⬍ 4.0兲. Since in NAS RI = Is / Ia, a partially
stiffened element could also be defined as when 0 ⬍ RI ⬍ 1. The
compression strength curves for section buckling of stiffened and

348 / JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / APRIL 2010

J. Struct. Eng., 2010, 136(4): 343-353

 1.2 method becomes slightly unconservative 共this result for partially
Section buckling -
Table 3a stiffened webs is actually related to the h / b ratio rather than the
1
Section interaction
h / t ratio, as discussed previously兲.

Capacity/Yield capacity
buckling - Table 3b
0.8 Member buckling -
Table 3c
Element Approach Compared with the Current
0.6 Section Approach

0.4
General
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0.2 In this section the element approach 共modified effective width

0 been adopted in NAS 共DSM兲. Modern section approaches are
0 0.5
Fig. 4. Nondimensionalized compression strength curves for three
fundamental buckling modes of buckling at section level, buckling at
section level with mode interactions, and buckling at member level
unstiffened elements, section buckling of partially stiffened ele-
ments 共interaction buckling兲 and member buckling are presented
in Fig. 4, where it is clear that the postbuckling strength of the
three fundamental buckling behaviors becomes progressively less.
Modified Effective Width Method Compared with the
Member Database
The modified effective width method is compared with the com-
pression and flexure member database in Tables 1 and 2. The
mean test/predicted ratio, COV, and reliability index for compres-
sion and flexural members are 1.025, 0.130, and 2.50 and 1.066,
0.128, and 2.49, respectively, such that the element approach be-
comes sufficiently reliable for the general design of cold-formed
steel members. It is noted that the method is reliable and overall
2.5 and 6.6% conservative for compression and flexure, respec-
tively, while the NAS 共2007兲 approach with the distortional buck-
ling checks of Clauses C4.2 and C3.1.4 is reliable and 3.8 and
11.5% conservative, respectively. That is while both approaches
are sufficiently reliable the NAS 共2007兲 approach is more conser-
vative than the modified effective width approach. The test/
predicted capacity ratios for the 913 members are plotted in Figs.
method兲 is compared with the current section approach that has
1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 based upon a numerical or analytical buckling analysis of the
entire cross section of the member. Numerical approaches will no
Slenderness
doubt continue to develop and advance in the future and design
specifications will likely incorporate the computational efficien-
cies such solutions may provide. However, to promote the devel-
opment and incorporation of such approaches into specifications,
they must be unified with the current specification. That is, they
must be based on the same fundamental principles of existing
methods with regards to the basic behavior of thin-walled steel
members. Clearly they must also be accurate and reliable in com-
parison with test data of members. To evaluate if the current
element approach is unified with the current section approach, a
comparison of the fundamental behavior of three different classes
of open sections are presented using the experimental results of
Lim 共1985兲, where channels were tested with incrementally in-
creasing flange edge stiffeners. The A1, A2, and A4 sections are
discussed here, comprising nominal flange and web sizes of 78
mm, thickness of 0.62 mm, yield stress of 270 MPa, and lip sizes,
respectively, of 0, 7.6, and 20.5 mm. Full details of the Lim tests,
comparisons with the various design approaches, and numerical
models are presented and discussed in Bambach 共2009a兲 and
Bambach 共2008兲. The direct strength equations for local and dis-
tortional buckling of short compression members 共f n ⬎ f y兲 are
given by Eqs. 共6a兲 and 共6b兲, respectively, and for comparison the
Winter equation is presented in the same format by Eq. 共7兲. Eq.
共6a兲 provides strength greater than Eq. 共7兲, which is in turn
greater than Eq. 共6b兲. It is shown with the following comparison
that the current element and section approaches are not unified,
and it is concluded that an alternative section approach is required
for incorporation into the main body of NAS.

冋 冉 冊 册冉 冊
5共a and b兲 for compression and flexure, respectively, against the
0.4 0.4
slenderness of the web of the section. It is shown in Fig. 5 that the f cr f cr
␳ = 1 − 0.15 共6a兲
majority of test/predicted ratios lie between 0.8 and 1.2, and as fy fy
the web slenderness 共h / t兲 exceeds 200 for flexural members the

1.4 1.4
冋
␳ = 1 − 0.25 冉 冊 册冉 冊
f cr
fy
0.6
f cr
fy
0.6
共6b兲
Flexural capacity Test/Predicted ratio
Axial capacity Test/Predicted ratio

冋 冉 冊 册冉 冊
1.2 1.2
0.5 0.5
1.0 1.0 f cr f cr
␳ = 1 − 0.22 共7兲
0.8 0.8 fy fy
0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4
Open Sections with Flanges with Zero Edge Stiffeners
0.2 0.2
„Plain Sections…
0.0 0.0
0 1 2 3 4 0 100 200 300 According to the effective width method the Plain Channel A1
Web slenderness (λ) Web slenderness (h/t )
a b consists of a web which is a stiffened element and a flange which
is an unstiffened element. The strength of both elements is deter-
Fig. 5. Summary of the test/predicted capacity ratios for modified mined from the Winter Eqs. 共1兲 and 共7兲, which is known to accu-
effective width method compared with member database for 共a兲 com- rately predict the strength of stiffened elements and slightly
pression; 共b兲 flexure members conservatively predict the strength of unstiffened elements, result-

JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / APRIL 2010 / 349

J. Struct. Eng., 2010, 136(4): 343-353

 300
A2
(L) (D)
250
A4
(L)
Buckling stress (MPa)
200
150
100
50
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0 distortional buckling mode will not occur in partially stiffened
10 100
Buckle Half-Wavelength (mm)
Fig. 6. Section buckling solution for Lim 共1985兲 specimens using
finite strip software Thinwall; L = local buckling; D = distortional
buckling
ing in a slightly conservative test/predicted ratio of 1.11 共Bam-
bach 2009a; Bambach 2008兲. The section buckling behavior
according to the finite strip software Thinwall 共Papangelis and
Hancock 1995兲 is presented in Fig. 6. According to the DSM the
A1 channel buckles in the distortional mode since the web is
distorting while the flange is rotating as a rigid element, and the
half-wavelength is nearly three times the largest element dimen-
sion. Accordingly, the plain channel is assumed to have a much
reduced strength 关Eq. 共6b兲兴, even though this behavior is well
understood and known to be predicted well by the Winter Eqs. 共1兲
and 共7兲. As a result the strength prediction of plain sections is
grossly conservative, with a test/predicted ratio of 1.84 共Bambach
2009a; Bambach 2008兲. This problem is circumvented in the cur-
rent DSM by not prequalifying such sections which discourages
the use of the DSM for plain open sections. However, if a de-
signer is using the DSM and applies it to open plain sections, the
design becomes even further conservative since it is not prequali-
fied and is therefore subjected to a reduced capacity factor. If the
DSM is rewritten to enforce the treatment of open plain sections
as local buckling rather than distortional buckling, the design then
becomes unconservative 关test/predicted ratio of 0.96; Bambach
共2009a兲 and Bambach 共2008兲兴 since the strength Eq. 共6a兲 for local
buckling is higher than the Winter Eqs. 共1兲 and 共7兲. In this case
the DSM then becomes discontinuous, since as the edge stiffener
size approaches 0 the buckling mode changes from distortional to
local with a large step change in strength due to the use of Eq.
共6a兲 rather than Eq. 共6b兲.
Open Sections with Flanges with Inadequate Edge
Stiffeners
According to the effective width method the Edge Stiffened
Channel A2 consists of a web which is a stiffened element and a
flange which is a partially stiffened element, since the edge stiff-
ener is not sufficient in size to stabilize the flange and create a
stiffened element. The flange will buckle and deform with the
fundamental stiffened and unstiffened element modes superim-
posing and interacting 关Fig. 2共b兲兴, causing a reduction in the post-
buckling capacity of the flange. The strength of the flange is thus
determined from the reduced Winter Eq. 共4兲, and the strength of
the web from the usual Winter Eqs. 共1兲 and 共7兲. Since the method
accurately captures the fundamental behavior of the flange, the
strength prediction is very accurate, with a test/predicted ratio of
1.01 共Bambach 2009a; Bambach 2008兲. The section buckling be-
havior is shown in Fig. 6, where both the local and distortional
350 / JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / APRIL 2010
A1 (Lim)
buckling modes may occur at different half-wavelengths and at
A2 (Lim) similar stresses. The DSM for such sections assumes that the local
A1 A4 (Lim) and distortional buckling modes will occur independently of each
(D)
other and do not interact, and the strength for each mode is cal-
culated separately and the minimum taken. This approach is en-
tirely theoretical since the modes will interact in the section 共Fig.
2兲 and the DSM provides unconservative predictions of the
strength with a test/predicted ratio of 0.91 共Bambach 2009a;
Bambach 2008兲. It is also noted that according to the analyses of
partially stiffened elements and flanges in Bambach 共2009a,b兲, the
1000 10000
flanges without the presence of the local mode also, unless the
edge stiffener size is 0. That is, open sections that contain inad-
equate sized edge stiffened flanges will always incur interaction
of local and distortional buckling modes, however if the proposed
DSM local and distortional interaction equations 共Schafer 2002兲
are applied to the test database in Schafer 共2002兲, the DSM be-
comes overall 35% conservative 共Schafer 2002兲. The DSM rou-
tinely overpredicts the strength of sections where local and
distortional buckling interaction occurs as also discussed in Yap
and Hancock 共2008兲, where the DSM was shown to become un-
conservative by up to 29% 共Yap and Hancock 2008兲, 24% 共Yap
and Hancock 2006兲 and 18% 共Yang and Hancock 2004兲 with tests
of channels with flange edge stiffeners where local and distor-
tional buckling interact 共and flexural-torsional buckling was pre-
cluded兲.
Open Sections with Flanges with Adequate Edge
Stiffeners
According to the effective width method the Edge Stiffened
Channel A4 consists of a web which is a stiffened element and a
flange which is also a stiffened element, since the edge stiffener is
sufficient in size to stabilize the flange against the unstiffened
element mode of buckling. The strength of stiffened elements is
well predicted by the Winter Eqs. 共1兲 and 共7兲 and the test/
predicted ratio is 1.00 共Bambach 2009a; Bambach 2008兲. The
section buckling behavior is shown in Fig. 6, where only the local
buckling mode appears since the edge stiffener is an adequate size
to stabilize the flange against the distortional buckling mode.
However, the DSM local strength Eq. 共6a兲 is greater than the
Winter Eqs. 共1兲 and 共7兲, and the design is thus significantly un-
conservative with a test/predicted ratio of 0.86 共Bambach 2009a;
Bambach 2008兲. The unconservatism of the DSM for sections
when only local buckling occurs was also discussed in Yap and
Hancock 共2008兲.
Unified Element and Section Approach
General
It is clear from the discussion in the previous section that the
current element approach 共effective width method兲 and the cur-
rent section approach 共DSM兲 are fundamentally different ap-
proaches to design that cannot be unified. This is one of the
reasons why the DSM is presented as an entirely separate proce-
dure in the Appendix of NAS. In order that a section approach
may be directly implemented into the body of NAS an alternative
section approach is developed here that is directly in line with the
effective width approach. The new section approach is hereafter
J. Struct. Eng., 2010, 136(4): 343-353
 termed “design by rational buckling analysis of the section,” and
the unified element and section approaches may be implemented
together in NAS.
Design by Rational Buckling Analysis of the Section
Design by rational buckling analysis of the section allows a de-
signer to use a numerical buckling solution of the whole section
that is a single buckling stress value for the whole section. It is
important to note that the use of a single buckling stress for the
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whole section is an overly simplified representation of the buck-
ling behavior of sections that will become progressively more
conservative as the buckling stresses of the individual elements
become progressively different, as discussed extensively in a pre-
vious section. This is due to the fact that the individual elements
in a section are free to buckle independently of each other, and
buckling in one element does not enforce buckling in an adjacent
element as the approach assumes. However, for computational
simplicity and to provide a platform for future advancements in
computational design, section approaches are warranted, so long
as designers are aware of the inaccuracies and can deal with them
in a rational way.
The designer is permitted to use any type of numerical or
analytical scheme to calculate the section buckling stress, how-
ever, some care must be taken with the interpretation of the dif-
ferent modes. There are two basic types of software for numerical
computation of section buckling modes; length dependent and
length independent. In length dependent approaches the cross sec-
tion and the member length is modeled, for example, using the
finite element method and the spline finite strip method 共Lau and
Hancock 1986兲. Such approaches allow members to buckle with
different modes interacting and where interaction occurs a single
buckling stress is provided. In length independent approaches the
cross section only is modeled, for example, the finite strip meth-
ods Thinwall 共Papangelis and Hancock 1995兲 and Cufsm 共Schafer
and Ádány 2006兲. Such approaches do not allow interaction of
different buckling modes but provide the buckling stress for vari-
ous modes assuming they occur independently and at different
member lengths. Clearly the former approach is more accurate
since the buckling stress is for when the buckling modes interact
and at the real member length. However the cross section only
approaches provide computationally simpler solutions, which
may also be used for design.
In order that the section approach is unified with the element
approach, a different interpretation of these section buckling so-
lutions is developed to that which is currently used in the DSM in
NAS. The design by rational buckling analysis of the section
approach determines that if the section buckling solution indicates
that only stiffened or unstiffened buckling modes occur in the
elements of the section, the Winter strength Eq. 共1兲 may be used
to determine the strength of the section. The section slenderness is
calculated using the section buckling stress. Alternatively, if the
section buckling solution indicates that a combination of stiffened
and unstiffened buckling modes occurs in one or more of the
elements of the section, buckling mode interaction occurs and the
reduced Winter Eq. 共4兲 is used to determine the section strength.
The section slenderness is calculated using the section buckling
stress. For length dependant approaches the designer must under-
stand the stiffened and unstiffened buckling modes 关Fig. 2共a兲兴,
and recognize when these modes are interacting or not 关Fig. 2共b兲兴.
For length independent approaches the designer must understand
the stiffened and unstiffened modes 关Fig. 2共a兲兴, and the propensity
for a section to undergo interaction buckling is indicated by more
JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / APRIL 2010 / 351
J. Struct. Eng., 2010, 136(4): 343-353
than one minima appearing in the section bucking analysis. That
is if multiple minima occur in the buckling analysis such as that
for Section A2 共Fig. 6兲, it is assumed that both buckling modes
will occur and interact, and consequently the reduced Winter Eq.
共4兲 for buckling mode interaction must be employed. When mul-
tiple minima occur, a single value for the section buckling stress
is required to be determined from the buckling stresses of the
individual modes. While some relatively complicated interaction
formulae have been proposed in Yap and Hancock 共2008兲, a
simple average of the buckling stresses of the individual modes is
proposed and shown to produce conservative strengths in the fol-
lowing section. A more rigorous interaction formula is not war-
ranted due to the simplified nature in which the section length is
treated in length independent approaches. For example, Channel
A2 in Fig. 6 will buckle in the local mode if the channel length
was 80 mm or in the distortional mode if the channel length was
600 mm. The extent of interaction of the local and distortional
modes in reality will depend on the actual channel length, where
lengths closer to 80 mm would behave closer to the pure local
mode and lengths closer to 600 mm would behave closer to the
pure distortional mode. However since the actual length is not
considered in length independent approaches, the exact nature of
the interaction will not be known and a simple average of the
local and distortional stresses 共which assumes the length is mid-
way between 80 and 600 mm兲 is appropriate. In all cases these
buckling phenomena are occurring at the section level—section
bucking. Only the two fundamental types of buckling are consid-
ered, section buckling and member buckling; section buckling is
interacted with member buckling in the usual manner 共the mem-
ber buckling stress is used in place of the yield stress in the
calculation of the section slenderness兲. The section design ap-
proach is summarized in Table 3. Since the approach is based on
the same fundamental understanding of buckling modes and the
effects of mode interactions as the element approach, the section
approach is directly in line with the element approach and thus a
section is not required to be prequalified in order that the ap-
proach is applicable.
Comparison of Design by Rational Buckling Analysis
of the Section with the Member Database
The design by rational buckling analysis of the section approach
is compared against the compression and flexure member data-
bases in Tables 1 and 2. The section buckling stress was calcu-
lated using Thinwall, and subject to Table 3 where two minima
occur 共local and distortional buckling兲, the section buckling stress
was taken as an average of the two values. The mean test/
predicted ratio, COV, and reliability index for compression and
flexural members are 1.162, 0.184, and 2.71 and 1.183, 0.121, and
2.92, respectively. The approach is thus 16.2 and 18.3% conser-
vative, and the reliability indexes are high due to this conserva-
tism. When a section is identified as incurring interactions of
buckling modes, for typical sections this occurs in the edge stiff-
ened flange. For such sections the reduced Winter strength equa-
tion is implemented 共Table 3兲, and thus the web is also subjected
to a reduced strength equation. However, the web will behave as
a stiffened element and its strength should be determined from the
unreduced Winter Eq. 共1兲. This leads to the large conservatism of
the method and may be reduced by using the same section buck-
ling stress value to back calculate the individual buckling coeffi-
cients 共k兲 of the elements 关Eq. 共3兲兴. The relevant strength equation
is then applied to each element individually, and the effective
width of each element is determined individually. This approach
 is termed allowing the element buckling coefficients to be deter-
mined from a rational buckling analysis of the section 共Bambach
2009c兲. This significantly reduces the conservatism of the
method, resulting in the mean test/predicted ratio for compression
members of 1.162 reducing to 1.063 while maintaining sufficient
reliability 共Bambach 2009c兲.
Proposed Amendments to NAS
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Unified Element and Section Approach Proposal
The unified element and section approach is summarized in Table
3. The modifications to the element approach 共effective width
method兲 may be achieved simply with the inclusion of Eq. 共4兲 in
Clause B4 for elements with a simple lip edge stiffener. It is noted
that the term “partially stiffened element” is not required in the
design specification, although explanatory text could be provided
in the commentary. According to the validation of the method
against the database in this paper, the method may also be ex-
tended to include any geometry of edge stiffener, including those
in Fig. 1. The design by rational buckling analysis of the section
proposal may be implemented simply with the inclusion of the
text in Table 3 explaining the application of the procedure in the
body text of NAS.
It is noted that with such amendments implemented, the dis-
tortional buckling checks provided in Clauses C4.2 and C3.1.4
would become obsolete. That is, the deficiencies of the effective
width method have thus been accounted for and these additional
strength reductions are not required. They are also unnecessarily
conservative 共3.8 and 11.5% conservative compared with 2.5 and
6.6%兲. Additionally, the DSM 共from which Clauses C4.2 and
C3.1.4 are derived兲 is not unified with the element approach, and
the notion of distortional buckling has no relevance to the element
approach. It is therefore recommended that Clauses C4.2 and
C3.1.4 be removed with the introduction of Eq. 共4兲, but also noted
that if they remain the specification is reliable but more conser-
vative.
Industry Implementation
It is shown in Tables 1 and 2 that the 2004 edition of NAS was
not sufficiently reliable for compression and flexural member de-
sign. The current 2007 edition of NAS is sufficiently reliable and
3.8 and 11.5% conservative for compression and flexural member
design. If the proposed Eq. 共4兲 is implemented and Clauses C4.2
and C3.1.4 removed the specification is sufficiently reliable and
the conservatism is reduced to 2.5 and 6.6%. The effect of Eq. 共4兲
on any given section may be simply determined by evaluating the
values Is and Ia. If Is ⬍ Ia, the reduced Eq. 共4兲 must be imple-
mented and the element strength will be less than that determined
previously using the Winter Eq. 共1兲.
Section Optimization
If one is interested in optimizing a section by discretely reducing
the slenderness of a particular element, such that results in the
elements of the section having significantly different slenderness,
one should use an element rather than section approach. For ex-
ample recent innovations in element strengthening such as the
inclusion of discrete longitudinal stiffeners, bonding/screwing
plates, external stiffening devices, or bonding of fiber composites
共Bambach et al. 2009兲. A proportion of the benefit to capacity that
352 / JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / APRIL 2010
J. Struct. Eng., 2010, 136(4): 343-353
such optimization provides may be lost due to the conservatism of
the section approach compared with the element approach. Ac-
cording to the element design approach, section optimization is
performed in a simple and rational manner. Each element should
be considered in turn, and initially the requisite of achieving stiff-
ened rather than partially stiffened elements should be enforced.
If edge stiffeners are employed the optimum size is just adequate
共Is = Ia兲. The elements should then be stiffened by the designer’s
choice 共for example discrete longitudinal stiffeners, bonding/
screwing plates, external stiffening devices, or bonding of fiber
composites兲. The optimum section contains fully effective stiff-
ened elements, and the full section may thus reach the yield stress
of the material. An example of the optimization of a plain channel
section with flange edge stiffeners is presented in the Appendix of
共Bambach 2009a兲.
Conclusions
A modified effective width method has been developed and vali-
dated against a database of 913 compression and flexure mem-
bers. It has been shown that the modified effective width method
provides sufficient reliability, whereas previously the NAS ele-
ment approach did not. Recent modifications to NAS in 2007 are
shown to also provide sufficient reliability, however overall are
more conservative than the modified effective width method. It
has been shown that the current section approach in NAS is not in
line with the effective width method, and an alternative section
approach has been developed and validated against the database
of members. This approach is based upon a different interpreta-
tion of section buckling solutions than that which is currently
used in NAS. The unified element and section approach has been
shown to provide accurate and reliable capacities for the general
design of cold-formed steel structures and proposals for NAS
have been presented.
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