Chapter Six: Combined Bending

and Axial Load Members

Y.BOOPATHI
LECTURER/CIVIL
• Introduction
Nearly all members in a structure are
subjected to both bending moment and axial
force-either tension or compression. When
the magnitude of one or the other is relatively
small, its effect is usually neglected and the
member is designed either as a beam, or as an
axially loaded column.
• For many situations neither effect can
properly be neglected and the behavior under
combined loading must be considered in
design. A special class of such members that
are subjected to both axial compression force
and bending moment are called beam-
columns.
 Mode of failure in beam -columns
• There are a number of factors that affect the
performance of a member under combined
axial force and bending moment. A number of
categories of combined bending and axial load
along with the likely mode of failure may be
summarized as follows:
• Axial tension and bending: failure usually by
yielding.
• Axial compression and bending about one axis:
failure by instability in the plane of bending,
without twisting.
• Axial compression and bending about the strong
axis: failure by lateral-torsional buckling.
• Axial compression and biaxial bending-torsionally
stiff sections: failure by instability in one of the
principal directions. (W shapes are usually in this
category.)
• Axial compression and biaxial bending thin-
walled open sections: failure by combined
twisting and bending on these torsionally
weak sections.
• Axial compression, biaxial bending, and
torsion: failure by combined twisting and
bending when plane of bending does not
contain the shear center.
• Current design procedures generally follow
empirical interaction procedures to design
structural members under combined stresses.
Through such interaction equations the true
behavior is accounted for more accurately for
most of the stability situations.
• In addition to mode of moment application as
noted above, the behaviour of a beam-column
also depends on its length on its lateral
support conditions. In this later context, and
with special reference to beam-columns, the
behavior can be classified into the following
five cases:
• Case 1: A short column subjected to axial
load and uniaxial bending about either axis or
biaxial bending.
• Failure generally occurs when the plastic
capacity of the section is reached. Note
limitations set in Case (2) below
• Case 2: A slender column subjected to axial
load and uniaxial bending about the major axis y-
y.
• If the column is supported laterally against
buckling about the minor axis z-z out of the plane
of bending, the column fails by buckling about
the x-x axis. This is not a common case (see fig.
6.1a) at low axial loads or if the column is not
very slender a plastic hinge forms at the end or
point of maximum moment.
Column deflects in zx plane only
Fig. 6.1a In-plane behavior
• Case 3: A slender column subjected to axial
load and uniaxial bending about the minor
axis z-z.
• The column does not require lateral
support and there is no buckling out of the
plane of bending. The column fails by buckling
about the z-z axis. At very low axial loads it
will reach the bending capacity for z-z axis .
• Case 4: A slender column subjected to axial
load and uniaxial bending about the major axis y-
y.
• This time the column has no lateral support.
The column fails due to a combination of column
buckling about the z-z axis and lateral torsional
buckling where the column section twists about
x-axis as well as deflecting in the yx and yz planes
(see fig. 6.1b).
 Column deflects in zx plane, then
buckles by deflecting
in yx plane and twisting about x-axis
Fig. 6.1b Flexural-torsional behavior
• Case 5: A slender column subjected to axial
load and biaxial bending.
• The column has no lateral support. The
failure is the same as in Case 4 above but
minor axis buckling will have the greatest
effect. This is the general loading case (see fig.
6.1c).
Column deflects in zx and yx planes
and twists about x-axis
Fig. 6.1c Bi-axial bending
Overall Stability
• In a beam column the treatment of cross-
sectional behavior take account of the way in
which the moment M at the particular cross-
section under consideration was generated.
Figure 6.2 shows a beam-column undergoing
lateral deflection as a result of the
combination of compression and equal and
opposite moments applied at the ends.
Equal and opposite moment case ) Non-uniform moment case

Primary and secondary moments

• The moment at any point within the length
may conveniently be regarded as being
composed of two parts:
• primary moment M
• secondary moment Nv
• Limit State Design, EBCS 3 2013 P.N 49
• Resistance of Cross Section
• According to the EBCS 3 Specification,
members designed to resist factored bending
moments MEd and MN,Rd calculated using
appropriate load combinations, must satisfy
the following condition:
Class 1 and 2 cross-sections
• For class 1 and 2 cross sections, the following
criterion shall be satisfied:
• MEd ≤ MN,Rd
• MN,Rd is the design plastic moment resistance
reduced due to the axial force NEd.
• For a rectangular solid section without
fastener holes MN,Rd should be taken as:
• MN,Rd = Mpl,Rd[1- (NEd / Npl,Rd)2]
N Ed


• For doubly symmetrical I- and H-sections or

other flanges sections, allowance need not be
made for the effect of the axial force on the
plastic resistance moment about the y-y axis
when both the following criteria are satisfied:
• NEd ≤ 0.25 Npl,Rd and

0.5hw t w f y
• NEd ≤  M0
• For doubly symmetrical I- and H-sections,
allowance need not be made for the effect of
the axial force on the plastic resistance
moment about the z-z axis when:
hw tw fy
• NEd 
 M0
• For cross-sections where fastener holes are
not to be accounted for, the following
approximations may be used for standard
rolled I or H sections and for welded I or H
sections with equal flanges:
• MN,y,Rd = Mpl,y,Rd (1-n)/(1-0.5a) but MN,y,Rd 
Mpl,y,Rd
• for n ≤ a: MN,z,Rd = Mpl,z,Rd
• for n > a: MN,z,Rd = Mpl,z,Rd 1   n1 aa  
2

   
• where n = NEd / Npl.Rd
• a = (A-2btf )/A but a = 0.5
• For cross-sections where fastener holes are
not to be accounted for, the following
approximations may be used for rectangular
structural hollow sections of uniform
thickness and for welded box sections with
equal flanges and equal webs:
• MN,y,Rd = Mpl,y,Rd (1 - n)/(1 – 0.5aw) but MN,y,Rd
 Mpl,y,Rd
• MN,z,Rd = Mpl,z,Rd (1 - n)/(1 – 0.5af ) but
MN,z,Rd  Mpl,z,Rd
• where aw = (A - 2bt)/A but aw ≤ 0.5 for
hollow sections
• aw =(A-2btf)/A but aw ≤ 0.5 for welded
box sections
• af = (A - 2ht)/A but af ≤ 0.5 for hollow
sections
• af = (A-2htw )/A but af ≤ 0.5 for welded
box sections
• For bi-axial bending the following criterion
may be used:
 
 M y ,Ed   M z,Ed 
    1

 MN ,y ,Rd 
 
 MN ,z,Rd 


• in which α and β are constants, which may

conservatively be taken as unity, otherwise as
follows:
• I and H sections:
•  = 2 ; β = 5 n but β ≥ 1
α=β=

• Circular hollow sections:

• =2;β=2
• MN,y,Rd = MN,Z,Rd = Mpl,Rd (1 - n1.7)
• rectangular hollow sections:
• α = β = 1 11..66
13n
≤ 62

• where n = NEd / Npl,Rd .

• Class 3 cross-sections
• the maximum longitudinal stress shall satisfy
the criterion:
f
  y

• x ,Ed
Mo

• Class 4 cross-sections
• In the absence of shear force, for Class 4
cross-sections the maximum longitudinal
stress σx,Ed calculated using the effective cross
sections (see 5.5.2(2)) should satisfy the
criterion
 fy
 x,Ed 
 Mo

σx,Ed is the design value of the local longitudinal

stress due to moment and axial force taking
account of fastener holes where relevant, see
6.2.3, 6.2.4 and 6.2.5.
• As an alternative to the criterion in (1) the
following simplified criterion may be used:
NEd M y ,Ed  NEd eNy M  NEd eNz
  z,Ed
Aeff fy Weff ,minfy Weff ,minfy
 Mo  Mo  Mo

• eN is the shift of the relevant centroidal axis

when the cross-section is subjected to
compression only, see 6.2.2.5(4)
• Bending, shear and axial force
• When Vsd exceeds 50% of Vpl,rd the design
resistance moment of the cross section should
be reduced to Mv,rd the reduced plastic
resistance moment allowing for the shear
force obtained as follows:
 EBCS-3 P.N 49
• For cross section with equal flanges, bending
about the major axis: 2
 Aw  f y
M v ,rd  W pl   but Mv,rd  Mc,rd
 4t w   Mo

• Where  = (2VEd/Vpl,rd – 1)2 0 for VEd ≤ 0.5 Vpl,T,Rd.

• Aw = hw tw
 Uniform members in bending and
axial compression
• Members which are subjected to combined
bending and axial compression should satisfy:
ebcs-3 p.N 62 :
NEd M y ,Ed  M y ,Ed Mz,Ed  Mz,Ed
 k yy  k yz 1
 y NRk My ,Rk Mz,Rk
LT
 M1  M1  M1

 My ,ED  Mz,Ed

• NEd M M
 zNRk
 k zy y ,Ed
My ,Rk
 k zz z,Ed
Mz,Rk ≤1
LT
 M1  M1  M1
• NEd, My,Ed and Mz,Ed are the design values of
the compression force and the maximum
moments about the y-y and z-z axis along
the member, respectively
• ∆My,Ed, ∆Mz,Ed are the moments due to
the shift of the centroidal axis according to
6.2.9.3 for class 4 sections, see Table 6.7,
• χy and χz are the reduction factors due to
flexural buckling from 6.3.1
• χLT is the reduction factor due to lateral
torsional buckling from 6.3.2
• kyy, kyz, kzy, kzz are the interaction factors
,annex A or Annex B. EBCS -3 .
 problem
• 1.A 4.0meter pin ended column supports a
beam with a reaction of 300KN permanent
load 350KN imposed load. The moment at tob
& bottom of column is 10.6kN.m & - 24.8kN.m
.Check the adequacy of a 203*203*46 UC
grade fy=355Mpa steel profile.
2. Check the adequacy of a hot finished SHS
150*150*6.3 in S355 steel to resist the
compression & bending About both axes
shown in figure.
Given data:

fy =355N/mm2 t ≤40mm table 3.1 EBCS -3

Length of column = 3500mm
pinned ended assume KL= 1L = 3500mm
SHS =150*150*6.3
3.A non-sway column in a building frame with
flexible joints is 4-m high and subjected to
the following load and moment:
• Factored axial load = 418 kN
• Factored moment My;
• At bottom of column = 20.0 kNm
• At top of column = 5.0 kNm
• Design a suitable beam-column assuming fy =
275 N/mm2.