Eurocode 3 Technical Report on Elastic Critical Buckling of Members

Abstract Recently, the content of the technical report on elastic critical buckling of members [1] was established by the Eurocode 3 committee CEN/TC250/SC3. This report contains elastic critical buckling solutions of members to be used in conjunction with the design rules of EN 1993, Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures. In this code, limited information is given on elastic critical buckling solutions for members, though the design rules presented in this code rely on these solutions. Users of the code therefore, in many cases, use elastic critical buckling solutions from literature. However, using literature information may cause discussion between parties involved in the design of steel structures. Therefore, it was felt that a compilation of generally accepted, simple and correct elastic critical buckling solutions of members would be useful. This report pays attention to the determination of elastic critical buckling forces and moments and the associated buckling lengths where relevant. Also, special attention is paid to boundary conditions and the stiffness of springs and beddings. The elastic critical buckling solutions may be used also for structures made of other materials than steel. The purpose and the content of the technical report are described in this paper.