Investigations of horizontal rotation at the support of bending beams as proof of global distortional buckling mode

Presented research aims to prove the appearance of lateral-distortional buckling mode by observing the beams' deflection characteristics. Eight-layer channel and lip-channel cross-section glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) beams subjected to pure bending in the web plane were discussed. The Finite Element Method and the Semi-Analytical Method were used to perform all calculations. Deflection angles at the beams' ends show that the lateral deflection sharply increases from load close to critical one and in the post-buckling range. It was observed that for simply supported beams subjected to bending, the lateral-distortional global buckling mode is accompanied by rotation at support in the flange plane. In the FEM approach, the lowest buckling mode is usually considered in beams subjected to bending, and the angle of rotation in the load plane corresponding to the critical bending moment is only analysed. However, in the interactive buckling analysis, the horizontal rotation at the supports is accompanied by the global mode, and its impact is often neglected due to its high bifurcation value compared to the lowest mode. Moreover, in the paper, the influence of this mode on the equilibrium paths, the critical buckling load, the load-carrying capacity, distributions of internal membrane forces, and vertical and horizontal angle of rotation was investigated.