Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

6.1 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 behaviour 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. They represent the general load case of
an element in a structural frame.

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:

a. Axial tension and bending: failure usually by yielding.

b. Axial compression and bending about one axis: failure by instability in
the plane of bending, without twisting.
c. Axial compression and bending about the strong axis: failure by lateral-
torsional buckling.
d. Axial compression and biaxial bending-torsionally stiff sections: failure
by instability in one of the principal directions. (W shapes are usually in
this category.)
e. Axial compression and biaxial bending thin-walled open sections:
failure by combined twisting and bending on these torsionally weak
sections.
f. Axial compression, biaxial bending, and torsion: failure by combined
twisting and bending when plane of bending does not contain the
shear centre.

It may be apparent from this summary that no single design procedure is likely
to properly account for such varied behaviour. Current design procedures
generally follow empirical interaction procedures to design structural
members under combined stresses. Through such interaction equations the
true behaviour 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.

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

In this later context, and with special reference to beam-columns, the

behaviour 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.

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).

Case 5: A lender 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).

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

Column deflects in zx plane, then Column deflects in zx and yx planes

Column deflects in zx plane only buckles by deflecting and twists about x-axis
in yx plane and twisting about x-axis
Fig. 6.1a In-plane behavior Fig. 6.1c Bi-axial bending
Fig. 6.1b Flexural-torsional behavior

6.2 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.

(a) Equal and opposite moment case (b) Non-uniform moment case

Fig. 6.2 Primary and secondary moments

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

The moment at any point within the length may conveniently be regarded as
being composed of two parts:

• primary moment M
• secondary moment Nv

Effect of Pattern of Primary Moment

Figure 6.2a showed how, for the particular case of equal and opposite end
moments, the primary moments are amplified due to the effect of the axial
load N acting through the lateral displacements v. When the pattern of
primary moment is different the two effects will not be so directly additive
since maximum primary and secondary moments will not necessarily occur at
the same location. Figure 6.2b illustrates the situation for end moments M and
ψM, where ψ can adopt values between +1 (uniform single curvature) and -1
(double curvature). The particular case shown corresponds to a ψ value ≅ -
0,5.

For the case illustrated the maximum moment still occurs within the member
length but the situation is clearly less severe than that of Figure 6.2a assuming
all conditions to be identical apart from the value of ψ. It is customary to
recognize this in design by reducing the contribution of the moment term to
the interaction relationship.

Since the case of uniform single curvature moment is the most severe, it
follows that a safe simplification is always to use the procedure for ψ= 1.0.

Returning to Figure 6.2b, it is possible for the point of maximum moment to be

at the end at which the larger primary moment is applied. This would usually
occur if the axial load was small and/or slenderness was low so that
secondary bending effects were relatively slight. In such cases design will be
controlled by the need to ensure adequate cross-sectional resistance at this
end.

6.3 Limit State Design, EBCS 3 1995

Resistance of Cross Section

According to the EBCS 3 Specification, members designed to resist factored

bending moments My.sd and Mz.sd, calculated using appropriate load
combinations, must satisfy the following condition:

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

a. When Vsd ≤ 0.50Vbs , rd

% Sd M y .Sd + % Sd e %y M z .Sd + % Sd e %z (6.1)

+ + ≤ 1 .0
% Rd M c. y .Rd M c. z . Rd
Where:
NSd, My.Sd, Mz.Sd are the design forces acting at the cross-section
NRd is the resistance to axial force as discussed earlier
Mc.y.Rd,Mc.z.Rd are the resistances to uniaxial moment respectively
eNy, eNz are the shifts in the neutral axis when the cross-section is subjected to
uniform compression. Note that for class 1, 2 and 3 cross-sections and for
doubly symmetric Class 4 cross-section, both eNy and eNz are both zero. For
single-symmetric Class 4 sections, either eNy or eNz is zero.

Note that for angles, the y and z axes in the above should be taken as the u
and v axes respectively.

When Nsd is tensile, both eNy and eNz are to be taken as zero and Nsd is to be
taken as positive.

b. When Vsd > 0.50Vbs , rd

The design resistance of the cross-section to the combination of moment and

axial force should be calculated using a reduced yield strength (1-ρ) fy for the
shear area where ρ = (2VSd/VRd – 1)2

Buckling Resistance

a. Axial tension and bending

Members subject to combined axial tension and bending should be checked

to the requirements of flexural members presented in Chapter Four, but
advantage may be taken of the stabilizing effect of the tension when
considering lateral-torsional buckling as follows:

When the axial tension and bending moment can vary independently, the
design value of the axial tension should be multiplied by a reduction factor,
for vectorial effects, of 0.8.

The check should be carried out using an effective design internal moment
MSd obtained from:

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

MSd = Wc σc (6.2)
Where
σc = the net stress in the extreme fiber due to the vectorial effects of
factored loads.
Wc = the elastic section modulus for the extreme fiber.

b. Axial Compression and Bending

In addition to satisfying the requirements of cross-sectional resistance

presented above, at every point along the length of the member and the
general requirements for flexural as presented in Chapter Four, interaction
effects should be considered between compressive loads and bending
moments. The following interaction criteria are suitable:

1. Axial compression and uni-axial major axis moment:

i. To avoid buckling about the major axis:

%sd k y M y Sd + % Sd e% y
+ ≤1 (6.3a)
% b. y .Rd β wyW pl . y f y γ Ml

µ y % sd
In which k y = 1 − but k y ≤ 1.5
X y Af y

W pl . y − Wel . y 
µ y = λ y − (2 β my − 4) +   but µ y ≤ 0.9
 W el . y 

Conservatively:
%sd 1.5M y Sd + % Sd e% y
+ ≤1
% b. y .Rd β wyW pl . y f y γ Ml
(6.3b)

ii. To avoid buckling about the minor axis (for members subject to
lateral-torsional buckling):

% Sd klT M y .Sd + % Sd e%y

+ ≤ 1 .0
% b. z . Rd M b. Rd
(6.3c)

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

µ LT % sd
In which k LT = 1 − but kLT ≤ 1
X z Af y

µ LT = 0.15λz − β M . LT − 0.15 but µLT ≤ 0.9

Conservatively:

% Sd M y .Sd + % Sd e %y
+ ≤ 1 .0 (6.3d)
% b. z . Rd M b. Rd

2. Axial compression and uni-axial minor axis moment:

To avoid buckling about the minor axis:

% Sd k M + % Sd e%z
+ z z .Sd ≤ 1 .0 (6.4a)
% b. z . Rd β w. yWpl . z f y γ Ml

Conservatively:

% Sd 1.5M z .Sd + % Sd e%z

+ ≤ 1 .0 (6.4b)
% b. z . Rd β w. yW pl . z f y γ Ml

3. Axial compression and biaxial moments:

i. All members should satisfy:

% Sd k y M y .Sd + % Sd e%y k z M z .Sd + % Sd e%z

+ + ≤ 1 .0 (6.5a)
(%b.z.Rd )min β w. yW pl . z f y γ Ml β w. zW pl . z f y γ Ml

µ z % sd
In which k z = 1 − but kz ≤ 1.5
X z Af y

− Wpl . z − Wel . z 
µ z = λz (2 β mz − 4) +   but µ z ≤ 0.9
 W el . z 

Conservatively:

% Sd 1.5M y.Sd + % Sd e %y 1.5M z .Sd + % Sd e %z

+ + ≤ 1 .0 (6.5b)
(% b. z.Rd )min β w. yW pl . z f y γ Ml β w. zW pl . z f y γ Ml

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

ii. Members potentially subject to lateral-torsional buckling should

also satisfy:

% Sd k M + % Sd e%y k z M z .Sd + % Sd e%z

+ LT y .Sd + ≤ 1 .0 (6.5c)
% b. z . Rd M b.Rd β w. zW pl . z f y γ Ml

Conservatively:

% Sd M + % Sd e%y 1.5M z .Sd + % Sd e%z

+ y .Sd + ≤ 1 .0 (6.5d)
% b. z . Rd M b. Rd β w. zW pl . z f y γ Ml

In the above equations:

NSd,eNy and eNz are defined in above under “Resistance of Cross-section”

MySd and MzSd are the maximum design moments, each considered
separately, occurring in the member.
Nb.yRd and Nb.zRd are the flexural buckling resistances for the y and z axes
respectively (see under “Flexural buckling”, Chapter two -
Compression Members).
(Nb.Rd)min is the lesser of Nb.yRd and Nb.zRd (all buckling modes
considered)
Xy and Xz are reduction factors (see chapter 3 or 4) for the y-y and z-z
axes respectively.
βmy and βmz are equivalent uniform moment factors for flexural
buckling (see Figure)
βM.LT is an equivalent uniform moment factor for lateral-torsional
buckling (see Figure 6.3)
βwy and βw.z are the values of βw determined for the y and z axes
respectively in which
βw = 1 for class 1 or 2 cross sections
= Wel/Wpl for class 3 cross-sections
= Wel/Wpl for class 4 cross-sections
Wpl.y and Wpl.z are the plastic moduli for the y and z axes respectively
Mb.Rd is the lateral-torsional buckling moment (see Chapter Four-
Flexural Members)

Note that for angles, the y and z axes in the above should be taken as the u
and v axes respectively.

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

c. Biaxial Bending

The cross-sectional resistance should be checked as provided earlier as well

as the general requirements for beam members (see Chapter Four-Flexural
Members).

The following interaction criteria are suggested for verification of buckling

resistance for biaxial bending in the absence of axial compression:

k y M y .Sd k z M z .Sd
+ ≤ 1 .0 (6.6a)
β w. yW pl . y f y γ Ml β w. zW pl . z f y γ Ml

And, where lateral-torsional buckling is a possible buckling mode:

k LT M y .Sd k z M z .Sd
+ ≤ 1.0 (6.6b)
M b.Rd β w. zW pl . z f y γ Ml

Where all quantities are defined under “axial compression and bending”
earlier.

Note: the equivalent uniform moment factors βm.y, βm.z and βm.LT shall be
obtained from the foolwing figure according to the shape of the bending
moment diagram between the relevant braced points as follows:

Factor Moment about axis Points braced in direction

βm.y y-y z-z
βm.z z-z y-y
βm.LT y-y y-y

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

Figure 6. 3 Equivalent uniform moment factors

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

6.4 Limit State Design, AISC-LRFD SPECIFICATION

According to the AISC-LRFD Specification, doubly or singly symmetric

structural members designed to resist a factored axial load NSd bending
moment Mu, calculated using the appropriate load combinations, must satisfy
the condition:

1. For Pu/φPn ≥ 0.2:

Pu 8  M ux M uy 
 ≤ 1 .0
+ + (6.7a)
φPn 9  φb M nx φb M ny 


2. For Pu/φPn ≥ 0.2:

Pu 8  M ux M uy 
+  +  ≤ 1 .0 (6.7b)
2φPn 9  φb M nx φb M ny 

Where:

a. If P is tensile,
Pu = factored tensile axial force
Pn = design tensile strength (see Chapter Two-Tension Members)
Mu = factored moment
Mn = design flexural strength (see Chapter Four-Flexural Members)
φ = φt = resistance factor for tension = 0.9
φ = resistance factor for flexure = 0.9

b. If P is compressive,
Pu = factored compressive axial force
Pn = design compressive strength (see Chapter Three-Compression
Members)
Mu = factored moment to be determined as per subsequent discussion
Mn = design flexural strength (see Chapter Four-Flexural Members)
φ = φc = resistance factor for compression = 0.85
φb = resistance factor for flexure = 0.90

The factored moment Mu should be determined from a second-order elastic

analysis. In lieu of such an analysis, the following equation may be used:

Mu = B1Mnt + B2Mlt (6.8)

Where

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

Mnt = factored moment in member, assuming the frame does not

undergo lateral
translation (provision of artificial restraint at the joints)
Mlt = factored moment in member as a result of lateral translation
(equal and opposite forces at the same joint)

B1 = Cm/(1-Pu/Pc) ≥1.0
Pe = π2El/(KL)2, with K≤1.0 in the plane of bending
Cm = a coefficient to be determined from the following discussion
[ ] [
B2 = 1 1 − (∑ Pu ∆ oh ∑ HL ) or B2 = 1 1 − (∑ Pu ∑ Pe ) ]
∑p u = sum of all factored loads acting on and above the story under
consideration
∆oh = first-order inter-story translation
∑ H = sum of all lateral loads acting on and above the story under
consideration
L = story height

For end-restrained members that do not undergo relative joint translation and
are not subject to transverse loading between their supports in the plane of
bending, Cm is given by:

M 
C m = 0.6 − 0.4 1  (6.9a)
 M2 

Where: M1/M2 is the ratio of the smaller to larger member end moments. The
ratio is positive if the member bends in reverse curvature and negative if the
member bends in single curvature. For end restrained members that do not
undergo relative joint translation and are subject to transverse loading
between their supports in the plane of bending,

Cm = 0.85 (6.9b)

For unrestrained members that do not undergo relative joint translation and
are subject to transverse loading between their supports in the plane of
bending,

Cm = 1.00 (6.9c)

The selection of trial sections for use as beam-columns is facilitated by

rewriting the interaction equations, Eq.(6.7a) and Eq.(6.7b) into the so-called
equivalent axial load form.

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

For Pu/φcPn > 0.2:

Pu + mxMux + myUMuy ≤ φcPn

(6.10a)

For Pu/φcPn ≤ 0.2:

Pu 9 9
+ m x + m yUM uy ≤ φ c Pn (6.10b)
2 8 8
Where
8
mx = (φ c Pn φb M nx )
9
m yU = (φ c Pn φb M ny )
8
9

Numerical values for m and U are provided in the AISC Manual of Steel
Construction. The advantage of using Eqs. (6.10) for preliminary design is that
the terms on the left-hand side of the inequality can be regarded as an
equivalent axial load, (Pu)eff. The similarity in form between the two equations
and Eq.(3.7a), Chapter Three, allows the designer to take advantage of the
column tables provided in the manual for selecting trial sections.

Biaxial Bending

Members subjected to bending about both principal axes (e.g., purlins on an

inclined roof) should be designed for biaxial bending. Since both the moment
about the major axis, Mux and the moment about the minor axis, Muy, create
flexural stress over the cross section of the member, to avoid yielding at the
most severely stressed point the following equation for the yielding limit state
must be satisfied:

fun ≤φbfy
(6.11)
where
fun = Mux/Sx + Muy/Sy = the flexural stress under factored loads
Sx, Sy = elastic section moduli about the major and minor axes,
respectively
φb = 0.90
fy = specified minimum yield stress

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

In addition, the limit state for lateral torsional buckling about the major axis
should also be checked, i.e.,

φbMnx ≥ Mux (6.12)

Where φbMnx the design flexural strength about the major axis (see Chapter
Four-Flexural Members). Note that lateral torsional buckling will not occur
about the minor axis.

Equation (6.11) can be rearranged to give:

M ux M uy  Sx  M ux M  d 
Sx ≥ +  ≈ + ux  3.5  (6.13)
φb f y φb f y S  φ f φb f y  df 
 y  b y

The use of Eq. (6.13) greatly facilitates the selection of trial sections for use in
biaxial bending problems.

Combined Bending, Torsion, and Axial Force

Members subjected to the combined effect of bending, torsion, and axial

force should be designed to satisfy the following limit states:

Yielding Under Normal Stress

φfy ≥ fm
(6.14)
Where
φ = 0.90
fy = specified minimum yield stress
fun = maximum shear stress determined from an eleastic analysis under
factored loads

Yielding Under Shear Stress

φ(0.6fy) ≥ fun (6.15)

Where
φ = 0.90
fy = specified minimum yield stress
fvu = maximum shear stress determined from an elastic analysis under
factored
loads.

Buckling

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 Chapter Five: Combined Bending and Axial Load Members

φcfcr ≥ fun or fuv, which ever is applicable.

(6.16)
Where
φcfcr = φcPn/Ag, in which φcPn is the design compressive strength of the
member
(see Chapter Three-Compression Members)
fun,fvn = normal and shear stresses as defined in Eq. (6.14) and (6.15).

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