Lateral torsional buckling of doubly-symmetric steel cellular I-Beams

The absence of an important portion of the web plate in steel beams with multiple circular perforations, cellular beams, causes the web plate to undergo distortions prior to and during lateral torsional buckling (LTB). The conventional LTB equations in the codes and literature underestimate the buckling moments of cellular beams due to web distortions. The present study is an attempt to develop analytical methods for estimating the elastic buckling moments of cellular beams. The proposed methods rely on the reductions in the torsional and warping rigidities of the beams due to web distortions and the reductions in the weak-axis bending and torsional rigidities due to the presence of web openings. To test the accuracy of the analytical estimates from proposed solutions, a total of 114 finite element analyses were conducted for six different standard IPEO sections and varying unbraced lengths within the elastic limits. These analyses clearly indicated that the LTB solutions in the AISC 360- 16 and AS4100:2020 codes overestimate the buckling loads of cellular beams within elastic limits, particularly at shorter span lengths. The LDB solutions in the literature and the Eurocode 3 LTB solution, on the other hand, provided conservative buckling moment estimates along the entire range of elastic buckling.