EXAMPLE 4.

Axial-Torsional Buckling of a Simply Supported

Cruciform Column
4.1 Description of the Test
A simply supported cruciform column is subjected to axial-torsional buckling load P
applied at the centroids of its end sections. Column geometric and material properties are shown
in Fig. 4a.
From theory of elastic stability (Timoshenko and Gere [1]), the analytical solution for the
axial-torsional buckling load
cr
P of a cruciform column is defined by the following expression:

T
cr
Y Z
GJ A
P
I I
=
+
(1)
where
A = area of cross section
G = shear modulus
Y
I = moment of inertia about local Y-axis
Z
I = moment of inertia about local Z-axis
T
J = torsional moment of inertia
4.2 Comparison of the Results
Substituting the material and section properties, illustrated in Fig. 4a, into Eq. (1) gives the
following result for the axial-torsional buckling load:
29000 16 48
2 (1.0 0.3) (1152 1152)
cr
P

= =
+ +
3,718 kips
Finite element solution of
cr
P is computed for a regular meshes, illustrated in Fig. 4b and is
presented in Table 4. The obtained solution is compared with target solution reported in
Timoshenko & Gere [1]. As can be seen from Table 4 the obtained results are in excellent
agreement with benchmark solution.

Geometric properties: Material properties:
L =240 in E =29,000 ksi
b =24 in =0.3
t =1.0 in
a) General View

b) Finite Element Model
Figure 4 Simply Supported Cruciform Column under axial-torsional buckling load
Table 4 Comparison of the Critical Axial-Torsional Load
cr
P for a Cruciform Column
FE Type Timoshenko & Gere [1] SAP 2000 MIDAS/Civil
Beam n/a 3,718.974
Shell
3,718
3,380.940 3,373.936

4.3 References
1. Timoshenko, S.P., and Gere, J .M., (1961). Theory of Elastic Stability, 2
nd
Edition,
McGraw-Hill, New York.