On the mechanics of thin-walled angle column instability

This paper reports the results of a numerical investigation aimed at providing fresh insight on the mechanics underlying the buckling and (mostly) post-buckling behaviour of short-to-intermediate equal-leg thin-walled angle steel columns exhibiting fixed and pinned (but with the secondary warping prevented) end supports. Although most of the numerical results presented and discussed were obtained through ABAQUS shell finite element analyses, the paper also includes some GBT-based critical stresses and buckling mode shapes, whose interpretation help clarifying the distinction between local and global buckling. The shell finite element results displayed consist of (i) elastic post-buckling equilibrium paths and (ii) curves and diagrams providing the evolution, along a given path, of the column deformed configurations and normal stress distributions. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.