Local Buckling and Moment Redistribution in Class 2 Composite Beams

In the 1991 draft of Eurocode 4: Part 1, up to 30% redistribution of moments from internal supports may be used in global analyses of continuous composite beams with Class 2 (compact) sections, and also some redistribution from midspan. A method of inelastic analysis that simulates local buckling is developed, calibrated against results of tests on beams, and used in a parametric study of failure loads for two-span beams with distributed loading. The method of Eurocode 4 is shown to be safe, and not over-conservative.