Engineering Structures 24 (2002) 115124 www.elsevier.

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Stability analysis and parametric study of pre-stressed stayed columns

Siu-Lai Chan
a

a,*

, Gan-ping Shu a, Zhi-tao Lu

Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China b Institute of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China Received 9 March 2000; received in revised form 9 December 2000; accepted 23 February 2001

Abstract The second-order stability analysis of pre-stressed cable-stayed columns with initial imperfection is presented in this paper. The robust pointwise equilibrium polynomial element satisfying equilibrium in moment and shear at mid-span of an element is used in association with the cable element. Numerical examples demonstrating the application and versatility of the proposed numerical procedure are given. A parametric study on the inuence of initial imperfection, rigidity and length of strut and size of cable is presented. The ndings are useful for the reference of the designer in using the efcient and elegant structural form of cable-stayed pre-stressed columns. 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Keywords: Nonlinear analysis; Advanced design method; Stayed column; Stability; Pretension

1. Introduction Pre-stressed cable-stayed columns are generally used in high towers [1], masts [2], columns [3], trusses for supporting glass panels [4] and occasionally as space frames and special structures [4]. These columns are usually of relatively high slenderness and their load carrying capacities are mainly controlled by buckling. The buckling strength of these columns can be increased tremendously by pre-tensioned cables and short struts transferring cable forces to restrain the main column against buckling. Hafez et al. [5] derived the linear relationship between initial pretension and the buckling load of an ideally straight stayed column. However, this linearized buckling analysis introduces an error of 20% against experiment. Temple et al. [6,7] used the nite element method for determination of elastic buckling load of cable-stayed columns. He further pointed out the inaccuracy of dening the buckling load as the load causing concave side to slack because this ignores the preserved strength of a column after cable slacks. Wong

and Temple [8] investigated the sensitivity of initial imperfection of the buckling load of a single-cross arm stayed column. However, the initial imperfection for other members is not included in their study. So far, the sensitivity or parametric study on the relationship between pretension force, initial imperfection and the strength and stability of a pre-tensioned column is not reported. A versatile numerical method for analysis of this structural form is not fully developed. The aim of this paper is to formulate a feasible method for the analysis and present the ndings from the sensitivity study.

2. Background Instability is the main cause of failure of a slender column in compression. To increase the buckling strength of a prismatic column, either the secondmoment of area is increased or more restraints are added to the column. The former requires considerably more material in building up the column and it is uneconomical. However, restraints connected to the columns being analyzed may provide an alternative to the second option. In this arrangement, pre-tensioned stays or ties and struts are utilized to maintain the column in a more

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +852-2334-6389; fax: +852-27666047. E-mail address: ceslchang@hkpucc.polyu.edu.hk (S.-L. Chan).
0141-0296/02/$ - see front matter 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. PII: S 0 1 4 1 - 0 2 9 6 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 2 6 - 8

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stable equilibrium condition (see Fig. 1). After pre-tensioning, a stabilizing force is applied to the central column against buckling. Although it will impose an additional axial compression to the column, the advantage gained by the provision of a central restraint far outweighs this disadvantage. In the design of a cable-stayed column, two loading stages must be considered. They are the pre-tensioning stage and the actual load stage. In the pre-tensioning stage, the vertical force induced by the cable is determined and the equilibrium condition is checked. In the second stage, the external load acting on the end of the column will increase the axial force in the column further until it buckles. Also, member initial imperfection plays a vital role in affecting the buckling strength of the system and it appears that previous research work in this aspect is inadequate [9,10]. This paper utilizes a cable element under high tension and a procient element, the pointwise equilibrium polynomial (PEP) element developed by Chan and Zhou [11], and an efcient numerical scheme for stability analysis and design of cable-stayed columns. This research on development of a prociency element has been conducted by a number of researchers including So and Chan [12], Albermani and Kitipornchai [13]. This PEP element [11] is superior to the widely used cubic element in the accuracy and can be used to model a member by a single element, which leads to computational efciency. Using the developed procedure, the behavior of cable-stayed columns with different length, initial imperfection and pre-tensioning force is studied. For buckling analysis, there are two fundamentally different concepts to be adopted. Namely, they are the bifurcation and the non-bifurcation approaches. Whilst the eigenvalue analysis based on the bifurcation approach provides an upper bound solution to a buckling problem and it is insensitive to the member initial imperfection, it cannot be used for practical design. However, this approach gives a quick determination of buckling

load and the formulae can be close-formed. On the other hand, in the non-bifurcation type of analysis, the member initial imperfection affects the design strength of a strut or a column. The PerryRobertson formula used in the design code of practice assumes an initial imperfection of 0.001 of the column span for buckling strength determination of a column. This demonstrates clearly the practicality of the more complicated non-bifurcation method in practical design. This paper describes the use of the versatile nite element package, NIDA [14] which contains the PEP element, for stability analysis and study of non-linear response of cable-stayed columns.

3. Assumptions The following assumptions are made in this paper. 1. The stay remains linearly elastic both in the course of pretension and loading. Once compression is detected in the analysis, the cable element is removed from the model. 2. Connections are assumed to be rigid between the strut and the central core, pinned between the stays and central core, and between the stays and struts. 3. The stayed column is completely symmetrical and loaded concentrically. 4. The initial imperfection type is conveniently assumed to be in the following expression. v0vm0(1t2) in which t=2x/L (see Fig. 2); v0 is the lateral initial imperfection; vm0 is the amplitude of initial imperfection which is equal to the magnitude of imperfection at mid-span. The proposed shape of initial imperfection gives the more serious case of analysis when under axial compression, which is of greater interest in practical design. Since the loss of stability occurs in the mode of extensive lateral deection for most structural member, the torsional twist is also neglected in this study. To enhance the performance of the truss, the struts should be rigidly connected to the central column.

4. Analytical buckling load of pre-stressed stayed columns 4.1. Buckling analysis Considering a pin-ended ideal pre-stressed stayed column shown in Fig. 3, a pre-stressing force is applied to the central column by pre-tensioned stays. Figs. 3(b) and (c) illustrate two of the most probable buckling modes. For a pre-stressed stayed column with n panels, the

Fig. 1.

Two-panel pre-stressed stayed column.

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differential equilibrium equation of the elastic line of the kth(kn) section of the central core is given by Belenya [1] as follows.
k1

EIy(k)Fy(k)R0xk

i1

k1

(xkih)Qi

i1

Mi0

(1)

in which y(k) is the lateral deection of the kth section of the column and (k1)hxkkh. The equations listed above are relatively complicated to use. To illustrate directly the application of the general theory, a two-panel column reinforced by a truss on four sides is considered. For n=2, we have,

1 EI 2 EI 1 3 w3tan ww Q1 2b 2a w tan wtan w 1 h h h w M10

(2)

According to the rst buckling mode shown in Fig. 4(a), M1 is equal to zero and the characteristic equation is given by 2Ath2 sin2a1 cos a1 w3 1 tan w1w1 I (3)

Fig. 2.

Element with initial imperfections.

in which At is the stay cross-sectional area and a1 is the angle of the stay to the central core. If the bending rigidity of struts is small compared to the longitudinal rigidity of stays, the pre-stressed stayed column buckles in the second mode (i.e. Q1=0 and see also Fig. 4(b)). The characteristic equation is given by

Fig. 3. Analysis diagram for stability: (a) design diagram; (b) buckling mode I; (c) buckling mode II.

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The relationship between Ti and the buckling load is shown in Fig. 5, where the relationship between the minimum effective pretension, Tmin, the optimum pretension, Topt, the maximum allowed pretension, Tmax, the maximum buckling load, Fmax, and the Euler load of the central core, FE, can be determined simply as, p2EI Tmin 2 Ct L ToptFmaxCt Fmax Tmax 2ns cos a (9) (10) (11)

4.2. Numerical example A plane two-panel, pin-ended, pre-stressed stayed column is analyzed to demonstrate the theoretical relationship between the initial pretension and the corresponding buckling load derived in the previous section. The column consists of a 3.05 m long central core and 0.305 m long struts at mid-height of the central core. Both the core and struts have the same mechanical properties and the same steel tube of 38.1 mm outer diameter and 25.4 mm inner diameter. The stays are made of 4.8 mm diameter solid steel rods. The modulus of elasticity of both the steel tube and rods is 2.04105 N/mm2. From the above structural and geometrical data, we have, Fmax1134.0 kN; Fmax2125.6 kN (12)

Fig. 4.

Buckling mode: (a) Mode I; (b) Mode II.

h w2 2 tan w2 tan w2w2 b12EI

(4)

2 3 12 3EdId+2EtAth sin a1 (5) b 6hEdIdEtIt cos a1 sin2a1 12, is the elastic angle of twist, resulting from in which b unit reaction moment of the central core at the column center. Equating the buckling loads for rst and second modes, w1=w2=w3, we have the following expressions from Eqs. (3)(5),

2EtAth2 sin a1 w 1 tan w 3EdId

The buckling load of this pre-stressed stayed column is taken as Fmax=125.6 kN. Equalizing the rst and second buckling loads of the column, we obtain, w h

(6)

Under this condition, economical design can be achieved. Based on the model of a two-panel pin-ended column shown in Fig. 1, Hafez et al. [5] derived a linear relationship between the initial pretension and the corresponding buckling load as, TfTiPaCt cos a Ct 1 2 sin2a ns cos2a 2K + + Kt Kd K (7)

EI 4.153
Fmax

(13)

(8)

in which Pa is the axial external load applied to the column, Ti is the initial pretension force in the stays, Tf is the tension in the stays after the application of external load, Kt, Kd, and K are respectively the longitudinal rigidity of the stays, struts and central column and ns is taken as 1 for a planar and 2 for a three-dimensional pre-stressed stayed column.

Fig. 5.

Initial pretension versus buckling load.

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Substituting w into Eq. (6), At is obtained as 11.36 mm2. Thus, more slender steel rods may be used. For various buckling factors of w, Fig. 6 illustrates the relationship between At and Id based on the assumption of equal buckling loads of the column for the two buckling modes. Beginning with w=4 or Fcr6.48FE, a relatively small increase in buckling load results in a sharp rise in At and Id, which leads to disadvantages in terms of material weight. Making use of Eqs. (7)(11), we have, Ct0.02606 (ns1); Tmin0.468 kN; Topt 3.273 kN; Tmax64.04 kN Ct0.02479 (ns2); Tmin0.445 kN; Topt 3.114 kN; Tmax32.02 kN The practical initial pretension force can be determined and the strength checked for the stay without difculty.

stressed stayed column as well as its buckling load will be determined using the nite element method with a mixed incremental and iterative procedure. This method is capable of providing a complete and accurate description of the behavior of a stayed column at all loading steps, either two- or multi-panels with four struts or three struts. The computer program (NAF-Nida) [14] using the PEP element is able to assess the inuence of several typical initial imperfections on the behavior and the buckling load of a member, to conduct parametric study with convenience and accuracy, thus enabling the engineer to design the efcient structural form conveniently, economically and safely. The typical PEP element is shown in Fig. 2. A polynomial displacement function of fth power is introduced as follows, va0a1xa2x2a3x3a4x4a5x5 (14)

5. Buckling load by the nite element method All practical members are not perfectly straight, but contain initial imperfections. Loss of stability is indicated by reaching the limit load carrying capacity instead of the appearance of the idealized bifurcation load. For a pre-stressed stayed column, the ultimate load carrying capacity in pretension stage is indeed the maximum allowable pretension, while in actual loading stage, is the buckling load. The initial curvature has a considerable effect on the load carrying capacity of the prestressed stayed column even though the magnitude of imperfection is small. In this paper, the nonlinear behavior of the pre-

In addition to the satisfaction of the four boundary conditions at the ends of each element, the equilibrium conditions for moment and shear at mid-span of the element are fullled. Thus, xL/2, v0 xL/2, vq1 xL/2, vq2 x0, EIVP(vv0) M1+M2 EIvPv L (15) (16)

M1+M2 L x M1 L 2

(17) (18) (19)

in which v is the lateral deection, M1 and M2 are the nodal moments at ends, P is the axial force and EI is the exural constant for the element. Applying the boundary conditions from Eqs. (15)(19), the coefcients in Eq. (14) can be calculated. Chan and Zhou [12] derived the secant and tangent stiffness matrix for the element with initial imperfection to complete the procedure for the NewtonRaphson type of incremental-iterative method. The derived stiffness matrix incorporates the effect of member initial imperfection and permits the use of a single element for each member even when the element is under a high axial force. In order to trace the solution path efciently, an incremental-iterative procedure combined with minimum residual displacement constraint [15] is used, which ensures a minimum value for the unbalanced error measured in terms of the residual displacement norm in each iteration. The incremental equilibrium equation of the structure can be expressed as
Nele

Fig. 6. Values of At and Id when rst and second buckling loads are equal.

{F}[Kt]{u}

[L]([T]T[kt][T]

(20)

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[N])[L]T{u} in which [L] is the standard local to global coordinate transformation matrix, [T] is the transformation matrix relating the six basic element forces and moments to the 12 forces and moments about the element ends; and [N] is geometric stiffness matrix for translational displacements. A pre-stressed stayed column with initial imperfections, which are referred to as Type I and Type II, will be investigated. The Type I initial imperfection is of a single curvature, whilst Type II is of a double curvature, as shown in Figs. 7(a) and (b). The amplitude of the Type I imperfection is located at mid-span of the member. The amplitude of the Type II imperfection is situated at the quarter points and of the same value as Type I imperfection. The buckling load is dened when the loaddeection or loadend axial displacement curve exhibits a snapping point or the value of deection is greater than 1/350 of the member length. 5.1. Effect of initial imperfection According to various magnitudes of Type I or Type II initial imperfection, the corresponding ultimate pretension force in pre-tensioning stage is calculated. The relationship between lateral deection, axial displacement at one end and pre-tensioning force is shown respectively in Figs. 8(a) and (b). Fig. 8 reveals that an increase in the initial imperfection results in a reduction of ultimate pre-tension force for both the buckling modes. When the magnitude of initial imperfection in the column is small, the ultimate pre-tension tends to the maximum allowed tension Tmax. For the column with type I imperfection vm0=2.0 mm (vm0/L=1/1525)) the

Fig. 8. Initial pretension versus deection at mid-span and end axial displacement. (a) Buckling Mode I. (b) Buckling Mode II.

total ultimate pretension for Mode I buckling is 127.1 kN, whereas the ultimate tension for the ideal pretressed stayed column is 136.6 kN. Similarly, for the imperfect pre-stressed stayed column with a Type II imperfection of vm0=1.41 mm, the total ultimate pretension for Mode II buckling is 125.75 kN, which is slightly below 128.1 kN for the ideal column. Fig. 9 shows the relationship between the ultimate

Fig. 7.

Type of initial imperfection.

Fig. 9.

Buckling mode versus initial pretension.

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load carrying capacity with the initial pretension for an imperfect pre-stressed column with Type I imperfection. A larger initial imperfection results in a smaller ultimate load. For optimum tension of 17.67 kN in a perfect column, the buckling load is 134.0 kN. With this pretension, the buckling loads are respectively 113.5 kN for imperfect column with imperfection 2.0 mm and 104.1 kN for the column with imperfection 3.0 mm. It should be noted that the relatively small imperfection (vm0/L=1/1525) causes a considerable reduction of load carrying capacity. This reduction reaches maximum when the initial pretension tends to its optimum pretension. When the effect of the initial imperfections are not included in the analysis, the obtained theoretical results are non-conservative. 5.2. Effect of pretension The curves in Fig. 10 show the relationship between the buckling load and initial pretension for an ideal and an imperfect pre-stressed stayed column, against the experimental results by Wong and Temple [8]. Fig. 10 indicates that reasonably close agreement was obtained between the experimental and theoretical results for the tested column, The difference is less than 10%, which occurs when the initial pretension is equal to the optimum pretension. Considerable discrepancy was noted between the experimental results and buckling load for an ideally straight column. This difference is mainly due to the varied denition of ultimate load for an imperfect pre-stressed stayed column. Fig. 11 presents the variations of the compression in central core and the tension in stays 1 and 4 (see Fig. 4) for an imperfect column with Type I initial imperfection. When the initial pretension is small and less than the optimum pretension, the tension in stays 1 and 2 on the concave side reduces to zero with the increase of applied load until the column stiffness diminishes suddenly. The column then deects laterally to a new equilibrium position. Simultaneously, the tension in stays 3 and 4 increases and maintains the elastic

constraint against the central column deection. It ensures a gradual increase in buckling capacity of the column. This observation is illustrated in Fig. 11(a). The other case investigated is the condition when the initial pretension greater than the optimum pretension, as shown in Fig. 11(b). Since the initial pretension in stays is large, the elastic constraint provided by the truss is stiff. It is more difcult for stays 1 and 2 to become loosened and inactive. Therefore, the buckling capacity of the column is enhanced signicantly. However, when the stays on the concave side completely slack, the remaining stiffness of the stays on the convex side is insufcient to maintain equilibrium and the buckling load of the column reduces gradually until snap-back occurs. Based on the above analysis and calculation, it is demonstrated that, for high initial pretension greater than Topt, loss of tension in the stays on concave side of the column will result in a sudden instability. It is suitable to dene the ultimate load as the load at which the tension in stays on the concave side of the central core reduces to zero. But for low initial pretension, loss of tension has a little effect on buckling load. The prestressed stayed column with lower pretensions in stays possesses a buckling load much greater than this denition. For the later case, it is proposed that an imperfect pre-stressed stayed column is considered as buckled when its lateral deection becomes very large or exceeds the allowed value of displacement specied in design codes. Fig. 12 shows the tension variation in stays for both a perfect and an imperfect pre-stressed stayed column. With regard to the perfect column, the tensions in all stays are equal and increased proportionally. For the imperfect column, the changes of tension in stays are shown by the dashed lines in Fig. 12. The curve on the left is the tension in the stays on the concave side, and it can be seen that the tension decreases nonlinearly with the increase of applied load. The curve on the right represents the tension of the stays on the convex side, which also decreases nonlinearly but at a lower rate. When the tension in the stays on the concave side diminished, the tension in the stays on the convex side experiences a sudden increase, then the curve shows a snap-back. Fig. 13 compares the tension changes in stays in the experiment and by theory for the tested column. The curves in Fig. 13 show that the experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical results. It can be seen that the magnitude of the initial pretension and the change of tension in stays have a signicant effect on buckling load. The structural behavior is improved greatly by the pretension. 5.3. Effect of cross-sectional area of stay

Fig. 10. Theoretical and experimental buckling load versus initial pretension.

With reference to the numerical example, the bending rigidity of strut remains constant, the h/Ld ratio is

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Fig. 11.

Applied load/stay tension versus deection: (a) when tension force is less than optimum; (b) when tension force is greater than optimum.

Fig. 12.

Inuence of initial imperfection on stay tension.

in Fig. 14. As the cross-sectional area of stay is larger, the lateral restraint against the central core increases. Thus the central core is stiffer at the level of the strut, and the column will likely fail in Mode II buckling. When the stay area is less than 11.36 mm2, Mode I buckling will occur for the perfect column and the buckling load decreases with the stay area. For the stay area larger than 11.36 mm2, Mode II buckling occurs and the buckling load does not vary greatly as the stay area is further increased. When the stay area increases, buckling load in Mode II increases slowly. Thus, if the pre-stressed stayed column buckles in Mode II, it is not an effective method to increase the stay area for the purpose of obtaining a higher buckling load. The dashed lines in Fig. 14 give the results for the imperfect pre-stressed stayed columns. These curves have a similar shape to the perfect column. The initial imperfection reduces the buckling load signicantly. 5.4. Effect of strut rigidity Fig. 15 shows the relationship between strut rigidity and buckling load according to buckling Modes I and II

Fig. 13.

Applied load versus stays tension.

assumed as 5 and the total initial pretension is 13.7 kN. The magnitude of initial imperfection dened above is given by vm0=2.0 mm for Type I imperfection and vm0=1.4 mm for Type II imperfection. The effect of stay area on the buckling load of two buckling modes for the perfect and imperfect columns is examined and plotted

Fig. 14.

Buckling load versus stay area.

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Fig. 15.

Inuence of strut rigidity.

for the perfect column. In the case of Mode II buckling, the buckling load increases with the strut rigidity and larger stay area will lead to a higher buckling load. It can also be seen in Fig. 15 that, regardless of whether the column is perfectly straight or not, the variation of strut rigidity almost has no inuence on the buckling load in Mode I. When the stay area is relatively small (At=4.52 mm2), Mode I buckling will occur for the perfect column. However, when the stay area is relatively large, say, greater than 18.10 mm2, Mode II buckling will take place. Similarly, irrespective of which buckling mode controls, the buckling load for the perfectly straight column is greater than that for the imperfect column with the same geometrical and material properties. If Mode II is the controlling mode, it will then be possible to increase buckling load by using stiffer struts. 5.5. Effect of strut length The strut length affects the buckling mode and load. With the increase of h/Ld ratio shown in Fig. 16, the lateral restraint to the central core provided by the truss system decreases but the rotational restraint increases. The decrease of strut length Ld will result in an increase in rotational restraint. For the following numerical

example, the stay area is taken as At=18.10 mm2 and strut rigidity as Id=I. Other parameters are constant for all examples. The relationship of strut length and buckling load is plotted in Fig. 16. According to the perfect pre-stressed stayed column, the Mode I buckling load increases rapidly with the increase of strut length. In general, this increase of the buckling load is almost unaffected by strut rigidity. As the ratio of h/Ld is varied from 1 to 10, the buckling load in Mode I is increased by approximately 100%. It can be seen that increasing the strut length will enhance the buckling load in Mode I. But when Mode II buckling controls, the buckling load does not vary greatly as the strut length increases. In the numerical example, the variation of the buckling load in Mode II is less than 15% of the maximum value. In summary, the buckling load of Mode I reduces with the increase in strut length of a pre-stressed stayed column. The optimum strut length can be obtained by equating Mode I to Mode II buckling loads.

6. Conclusion A nonlinear numerical method has been developed and utilized to assess the buckling behavior of prestressed stayed columns. The second-order analysis in pretension and external load stages has been performed. The inuence of various design parameters, which include initial imperfection, pretension in stays, stay area, rigidity and length of strut, on buckling mode and load was studied. The conclusions of this study can be summarized as follows. 1. The buckling capacity of a column will be increased signicantly by using pre-tensioned stays and struts. The behavior of the column can be improved. The pre-stressed stayed columns have advantages of economy and convenience, so they deserve wider applications in practice. 2. Comparison between the experimental and theoretical results has indicated that the PEP element allowing for initial imperfection and the incremental iterative procedure can accurately predict the nonlinear behavior of an imperfect and practical pre-stressed stayed column. The computer approach can be applied easily to any multiple pre-stressed stayed columns. 3. Initial imperfection has a signicant effect on buckling load, both in pretension stage and external load stage for an imperfect column. It is important to obtain a better and more accurate understanding of the type and magnitude of initial imperfection for practical stayed columns. When the initial pretension is larger than the optimum pretension, it is reasonable to dene the buckling load as the load where the ten-

Fig. 16.

Inuence of strut length.

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sion in stays on the concave side vanishes. However, when the initial pretension is less than the optimum pretension, the buckling load should be taken as the load for buckling of the imperfect column with a rapid increase in lateral deection or its lateral displacement exceeding the allowed value specied in relevant design codes. 4. When designing a pre-stressed stayed column, it is justied to take the pretension force as the optimum pretension, since this represents an effective use of pre-stressing and materials. The real optimum pretension can be calculated by an iterative procedure for second-order analysis, considering the pre-tension and external load stages. 5. When Mode I buckling controls the buckling load of a pre-stressed stayed column, increasing strut length or stay area will enhance the buckling load considerably. However, when Mode II buckling is in control, increasing strut rigidity is more effective.

References
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Acknowledgements The work described in this paper was supported by a grant for the project Nonlinear Integrated Design and Analysis in the Area of Strategic Development funded by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Project No. S569).