Stability of non-prismatic frames with flexible connections and elastic supports

Abstract

An accurate formulation is obtained to determine critical load, and corresponding equivalent effective length factor of a simple frame. The presented methodology is based on the exact solutions of the governing differential equations for buckling of a frame with tapered and/or prismatic columns. Accordingly, the influences of taper ratio, shape factor, flexibility of connections, and elastic supports on the critical load, and corresponding equivalent efficient length factor of the frame will be investigated. The authors' findings can be easily applied to the stability design of general non-prismatic frames. Moreover, comparing the results with the accessible outcomes demonstrate the accuracy, efficiency and capabilities of the proposed formulation.