Behavior of slender columns

• A short column is defined as one in which the ultimate load

is not reduced by the bending deformations because the
additional eccentricities  are either negligible or occur
away from the critical section. A slender column is defined
as one in which the ultimate load is reduced by the
amplified bending moment caused by additional
eccentricity.
 Behavior of slender columns
Eccentrically loaded pin-ended column: member P-delta.

Lateral deflection -
increases moment

M = P*( e + )
 Behavior of slender columns
Eccentrically loaded pin-ended column.

OA - curve for end moment

OB - curve for maximum
column moment @ mid-height)

Axial capacity is reduced from A

to B due to increase in maximum
moment due to ’s (slenderness
effects)
 Behavior of slender columns
• Two types of slender column behavior may occur.
• First, a column may be stable at lateral deflection 1 but having
reached the interaction line a material failure of the section occurs.
This type of failure generally occurs in practical columns of buildings
that are braced against sway.
• Second, if the column is very slender it may become unstable before
reaching the interaction line. This instability failure may occur in
unbraced columns.
 Behavior of slender columns
• Slender column behavior for particular loading and end conditions
can be illustrated further by the use of slender column interaction
diagrams. Such diagrams are useful in indicating the reduction in
strength due to slenderness for various loading cases.
 Behavior of slender columns
Less than 10 % of columns in “braced” or “non-sway”
frames and less than half of columns in “unbraced” or
“sway” frames would be classified as “slender”
 Behavior of slender columns
• Hinged end columns braced against sidesway with loading causing single
and double curvature are illustrated in Fig. For both cases of loading, the
bending deformations cause additional moments, but the additional
moments do not amplify the maximum primary moments that occur at the
ends of the columns. However, if the additional moments are large, the
maximum moments may move from the ends to within the height of the
columns.
• It is evident that there is more likelihood of the maximum bending moment
being increased by additional moment in the single curvature case than in
the double curvature case, because in the former the lateral deflections will
be greater and the primary moments are near maximum over a larger part of
the column.
Behavior of slender columns
Behavior of slender columns
 Example 1
• Ec=20GPa, cross section 20cm square.
• M=100kN.m, Mmax=213kN.m, Pcr=1053kN,
MF=1.9
 Behavior of slender columns
• If columns are not braced against sidesway, the maximum additional
moments will he induced at the ends of the columns, and the increase
in the maximum bending moment may be very significant. The
increase in moment for a fixed end column with sidesway is
illustrated in Fig. It is evident that if the ends of the column are not
fully restrained against rotation, but are elastically restrained at the
ends, some end rotation will occur; then because of the increased
flexibility, the sidesway displacement-hence the additional moments-
will be increased.
 Behavior of slender columns
• The end moments in columns of frames depend on the relative stiffnesses of
the columns and the beams. During loading the stiffness of beams and
columns is reduced by cracking of concrete and later by inelastic
deformations. The stiffness of columns is also reduced by the additional
moments caused by lateral deflection of the columns. Thus changes in
column moments will occur during loading due to the additional moments
caused by deflection and due to the changes, in relative stiffness. The column
moments may increase or decrease. For example, for a short column in a
braced frame the reduction in column end moments due to the reduction in
stiffness may be greater than the increase in moment due to deflections, and
the maximum moment will decrease, resulting in an increase in the load
capacity.
 Example 2
• Ec=20GPa, cross section 20cm square.
(no cracks) Mcol=0kN.m, Mdelta=73.5kN.m,
Pcr=156kN
(reduce beam stiffness 50%)
Mdelta=155kN.m,
Pcr=104kN
 Behavior of slender columns
• For a slender column in a braced frame, however, the moments due to deflection tend
to increase more rapidly than the restraint moments, and the maximum moment will
increase resulting in a decrease in the load capacity. Figure a shows a braced frame
tested by Furlong and Ferguson. The columns had an (lulh=20) and were loaded in
single curvature with elh = 0.106.
• Failure occurred at section A at the midheight of a column. Figure b is the interaction
diagram for the column section with the P-M paths measured during the loading at
sections A and B. Although the loads P and P were proportionally applied, the
variation of moment at B with increasing load is nonlinear, the moment eventually
decreasing with increasing load because the column stiffness decreased more quickly
than the beam stiffness. It is evident that increasing the degree of rotational restraint
at the ends of columns in braced frames by increasing the beam stiffness increases
the strength of the columns.
Behavior of slender columns
 Behavior of slender columns
• In a frame in which sidesway can occur, if the beams are quite
flexible the column tends to act as a rigid body, and the frame deflects
laterally due primarily to bending in the beams. If the beams are stiff
the amount of sway will depend more on the bending of the columns.
In frames free to sway, increasing the degree of rotational restraint at
the ends of columns by increasing the beam stiffness will increase the
strength of the columns. However, if the beams yield. hence cannot
restrain the columns against sway, an unstable mechanism results.
 Behavior of slender columns
The foregoing brief review of column behavior indicates that the major variables
affecting the strength of slender columns are as follows:
1. The ratio of unsupported height to section depth lu/h, the end eccentricity ratio elh,
and the ratio and signs of the end eccentricities.
2. The degree of rotational end restraint. The stiffer the connecting beam system, the
greater the column strength.
3. The degree of lateral restraint. A column unbraced against end displacement is
significantly weaker than a braced column.
4. The content of steel reinforcement and the strength of the materials. These affect the
strength and flexural rigidity of the column section.
5. The duration of loading. Creep of concrete during sustained loading increases the
column deflections, hence will normally decrease the strength of slender columns.
" Exact" Design Approach for Slender Columns
• The design of compression members can be based on the moments and forces found
from a second-order analysis of the structure, taking into account the actual
stiffness's of members, the effects of deflections on moments and forces, and the
effects of duration of loading. The sections may be proportioned to resist these
actions without modification because the effect of column slenderness has been
taken into account in the determination of the actions.
• The main factor to be included in this second-order analysis is the P moment due to
lateral deflections of the columns of the structure. The structure may be idealized as
a plane frame with linear elements (to be done in class). Realistic moment-curvature
relationships must be used to provide accurate values for deflections and additional
moments, and the effect of axial load on the rotational stiffness of compression
members should be considered. The maximum moments determined will include the
effect of frame deflections and rotations.
 Approximate Design Approach for Slender
Columns: The Moment Magnifier Method

• If conventional first-order structural analysis, based on approximate

relative stiffnesses and on ignoring the effect of lateral deflections of
members, is used to determine the moments and forces in a frame, the
actions so found must be modified to allow for second-order effects.
The sections are then proportioned to resist the modified actions. The
design procedure adopted in both steel and RC for this purpose is the
moment magnifier method
 “Long” Column
lu = Unsupported height of column from top of
floor to bottom of beams or slab in floor

I
r = Radius of gyration 
A
= 0.3* overall depth of rectangular columns
= 0.25* overall depth of circular columns
 “Long” Column
M1/M2 = Ratio of moments at two column ends, where
M2 > M1 (-1 to 1  range)

M1 M1
0 0
M2 M2

singular curvature double curvature

 Finite element analysis
• Use SAP to compare between second order
analysis and moment magnifier method
 The Flexural Rigidity EI
• The value of EI should allow for the effects of cracking, creep, and nonlinearity of
the concrete stress-strain curve. The values of EI given by moment magnifier
method may be used when more accurate values are not available. These equations
were obtained from theoretical considerations and test results by MacGregor et al;
they represent lower limits to EI for practical cross sections. Hence these EI values
are conservative for calculation of additional moments. In Fig. EI values are
compared with EI values derived theoretically from moment-curvature diagrams for
the case of short-term loading. The simpler Eq. is reasonable for lightly reinforced
columns, but it greatly underestimates the effect of the reinforcement in heavily
reinforced columns. The other equation is more accurate but requires prior
knowledge of the steel content. Creep due to sustained load reduces the EI value
and is accounted for approximately by the term (I + d) in both equations.
 Effective Length
The effective length - klu
lu - It measures the clear distance between floors.
k - a factor, which represents the ratio of the distance
between points of zero moments in the columns
Examples: pin-pin, pin-fixed, fixed-fixed, cantilever,
…
“Long” Column - Slenderness Ratio
Slenderness Ratio for
columns

(a) Pinned-Pinned
Connection
(b) Fixed-Fixed
Connection
“Long” Column - Slenderness Ratio
Slenderness Ratio for
columns

(c) Fixed-Pinned
Connection
(d) Partial restrained
Connection
“Long” Column - Slenderness Ratio
Slenderness Ratio for columns in frames
“Long” Column - Slenderness Ratio
Slenderness Ratio for columns in frames
• buckling modes for frames braced and unbraced against sidesway.
• Fully braced or unbruccd frames seldom occur in practice. The ACI
recommends that columns be regarded as being braced against
sidesway if that story contains shear walls or other types of lateral
bracing having a total stiffness resisting lateral movement in the story
of at least six times the sum of the stiffness of all the columns
resisting lateral movements in the story. Thus the designer must
exercise his judgment.
 k Factor

  EI / l u of columns
 EI / l n of beams

A andB are the top and bottom factors of the

column. For a hinged end  is infinite or 10 and
for a fixed end  is zero or 1
 k Factor
The general assumptions are
1. The girders are rigidly connected to the columns at all
joints.
2. All columns of a story buckle simultaneously.
3. All members are prismatic and the behavior is elastic.
4. At the onset of buckling, the rotations of the ends of
girders within a story are equal in magnitude and
direction for unbraced frames (double curvature) and the
rotations are equal and opposite for braced frames
(single curvature).
 k Factor
Use the  values to
obtain the K factors
for the columns.
 k Factor
• It was concluded that to obtain an accuracy compatible with the
overall accuracy of the moment magnifier method, calculations for 
should be based on a column EI computed from 0.2EcIg + EsIs and a
beam EI computed for the cracked transformed section. For
preliminary design, EcIg for the columns and 0.5EcIg for the beams
may be used, where Ig is the moment of inertia of the gross concrete
section about the centroidal axis, ignoring the reinforcement.
• Columns in braced frames can be designed safely for values of k taken
as unity. In unbraced frames, the value of k should always be
calculated and should exceed 1.2.