Distortional buckling of I-steel concrete composite beams in negative moment area

The predominant type of buckling that I-steel concrete composite beams experience in the negative moment area is distortional buckling. The key factors that affect distortional buckling are the torsional and lateral restraints by the bottom flange. This study thoroughly investigates the equivalent lateral and torsional restraint stiffnesses of the bottom flange of an I-steel concrete composite beam under negative moments. The results show a coupling effect between the applied forces and the lateral and torsional restraint stiffnesses of the bottom flange. A formula is proposed to calculate the critical buckling stress of the I-steel concrete composite beams under negative moments by considering the lateral and torsional restraint stiffnesses of the bottom flange. The proposed method is shown to better predict the critical bending moment of the I-steel composite beams. This article introduces an improved method to calculate the elastic foundation beams, which takes into account the lateral and torsional restraint stiffnesses of the bottom flange and considers the coupling effect between them. The results show a close match in results from the calculation method proposed in this paper and the ANSYS finite element method, which validates the proposed calculation method. The proposed calculation method provides a theoretical basis for further research on distortional buckling and the ultimate resistance of I-steel concrete composite beams under a variable axial force.