Inelastic distortional buckling of cantilevers

Cantilevers are unique statically determinate structural elements with respect to their mode of overall buckling, in that the tension flange is the critical flange under gravity loading, and is the flange that deflects greatest during overall buckling. While this phenomenon does not complicate the calculation of the lateral buckling load, either theoretically or in structural design codes, it has been shown in previous research that the influence of distortion in the elastic buckling of cantilevers is not the same as that experienced in the elastic buckling of simply supported beams. This paper extends the study of the distortional buckling of cantilevers into the hitherto unconsidered inelastic range of structural response. A finite element method for studying the inelastic bifurcative instability of members whose cross-sections may distort during buckling is described, and the efficacy of the method is demonstrated. It is then used to study the inelastic distortional buckling of hot-rolled I-section cantilevers with two common patterns of residual stresses, and which may be restrained elastically from buckling by other structural elements.