GBT-Based Buckling Analysis of Thin-walled Members: Recent Formulations and Applications — Design Formulae and Optimization

This paper provides an overview of recent advances concerning the development, implementation and application of Generalized Beam Theory (GBT) formulations to analyze and design thin-walled steel members, obtained in the context of a collaboration between researchers from the University of Lisbon (UL — Portugal) and the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP — Brazil). These recent advances include (i) the performance of buckling analyses of beams and columns connected to (restrained by) panels, (ii) the derivation of analytical formulae to calculate lateral-distortional buckling moments of steel–concrete composite beams, (iii) a methodology to perform multi-objective optimization of cold-formed steel cross-sections and (iv) the proposal of design equations, based on the Direct Strength Method (DSM), for circular cylindrical steel shells. Several numerical examples are presented and discussed to show the capabilities/potential and practical interest of the developed GBT formulations and their applications. It is also shown that GBT provides very accurate solutions with a small computational cost and that its unique modal features provide the means to acquire in-depth insight about the mechanics involved in the problems under consideration.