Lateral-torsional buckling of simply supported anisotropic steel-FRP rectangular beams under pure bending condition

In this paper, a generalized analytical approach for lateral-torsional buckling of simply supported anisotropic hybrid (steel-FRP), thin-walled, rectangular cross-section beams under pure bending condition was developed using the classical laminated plate theory as a basis for the constitutive equations. Buckling of such type of hybrid members has not been addressed in the literature. The hybrid beam, in this study, consists of a number of layers of anisotropic fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) and a layer of isotropic steel sheet. The isotropic steel sheet is used in two configurations, (i) in the mid-depth of the beam sandwiched between the different FRP layers and (ii) on the side face of the beam. A closed form buckling expression is derived in terms of the lateral, torsional and coupling stiffness coefficients of the overall composite. These coefficients are obtained through dimensional reduction by static condensation of the 6 × 6 constitutive matrix mapped into a 2 × 2 coupled weak axis bending-twisting relationship. The stability of the beam under different geometric and material parameters, like length/height ratio, ply orientation, and layer thickness, was investigated. The analytical formula is verified against finite element buckling solutions using ABAQUS for different lamination orientations showing excellent accuracy.