BUCKLING OF STEEL FRAMES
To find the buckling factor of safety of a frame under given loads, use pfbkelin.exe in conjunction with brun45.exe. The "brun45.exe" file is necessary because "pfbkelin.exe" is not a stand-alone executable file.

Documentation is in pfbk.txt.

  • USE WORKING LOADS. BUCKLING ANALYSIS WILL GIVE BUCKLING FACTOR OF SAFETY.
  • The program takes into account inelastic action when the axial compressive stress exceeds one-half the yield point. An interaction equation describes the variation in the tangent modulus of elasticity.
  • A purely elastic analysis (actually two analyzes) is/are run first. The effects of axial load are included in the second analysis and are used to form the geometric stiffness matrix for the buckling analysis.
  • The results of the elastic analysis are given.
  • Members with reduced modulus of elasticity (if any) are tabulated.
  • Shear deformations are included. Hinges are allowed at member ends.
  • The member yield points can vary.
  • Semi-rigid connections (non-varying) are a user option.