Numerical and analytical investigation of collapse loads of laced built-up columns

Built-up columns are often used in steel buildings and bridges providing economical solutions in cases of large spans and/or heavy loads. Two main effects should be taken into account in their design that differentiate them from other structural members. One is the significant influence of shear deformations due to their reduced shear rigidity. The second is the interaction between global and local buckling. These effects are addressed here from both a numerical and an analytical point of view for laced built-up columns. It is concluded that the largest loss of capacity occurs when the local and global Euler critical stresses and the yield stress all coincide. This reduction in capacity becomes more prominent in the presence of imperfections, reaching magnitudes in the order of 50%. Despite the detrimental effects of mode interaction many major design codes do not provide sufficient pertinent guidance. In order to address this issue, a simple analytical method is proposed for calculating the collapse load of laced built-up members taking into account the above effects as well as global imperfections, local out-of straightness and plasticity, which is then verified by means of nonlinear finite element analysis, using either beam or shell elements. The proposed method is found to provide improved accuracy in comparison to EC3 specifications in cases of global elastic failure.